declanwmagee

Back to the original question - are things settling down? No. Got my arse kicked soundly on this ugly old thing... 1827 Penny

Well, from Rainham, the nearest will be Bexley (in Bexleyheath) or Essex (in Chelmsford)... contact details for both can be found on their websites as below: Bexley - click here Essex - click here How about closest to Stroud/Cirencester, Mr Cerbera?

any offers? highly collectable investment...

Well Danny, I started collecting when I was 9 (34 years ago!), and started selling 5 years ago, but I still couldn't live on it, it's still just a hobby if I'm honest, and I'm still nowhere near up with most of them on here - that gives you an idea of how long it takes to build a business out of coins! Do it by all means, but don't expect quick riches!

In my continuing quest for the scarcer varieties of common coins, can anyone tell me if it's really worth looking for: 1965 6d D.2503 Groom 3+D 1964 6d D.2502 Groom 4+C 1956 ½d F.473 Groom 3+D 1937 3dAg D.2231 1+B These are the ones that I've never seen anywhere! cheers Declan

Yes - the older references (Peck, for instance), reckon the Obverse 1's are scarcer than the 2s, but it's definitely the other way around now. After a few months of looking properly, I only have the 2/- Obverse 2 to find, so neither are that difficult. Crowns, not being from the sets, are broadly similar in occurrence between Obv 1 and Obv 2. There's 1.3m Pennies, so 1.3m plastic sets. To be honest, the plastic sets are such horrible greasy PVC I say break 'em out. We're coin collectors after all, not plastic collectors. The other ones that jumped out at me when I was doing it: 1937 pennies. Freeman had them down as all roughly similar scarcity, but F221 trails well behind. 1925 6d: broad rim much commoner Recessed ear pennies. CCGB says whack 20% on for recessed ear - I say whack a bit more than that on.

I think you were looking at the 1909 halfpenny which is in the penny folder Declan. The 1909 penny is too worn to tell. Sorry to say sweetcheeks82 but there is not much of interest there. They are all pretty worn as to be uninteresting to most collectors. The silver coins will be worth there weight in silver, perhaps one or two will fetch more. The 1860 penny may fetch a few pounds. oops! I just looked at the date, and at the 1 pointing squarely at a bead!

there's a flippin' F169 in there!

Well, luckily, I still have scans of most of the coins that have passed through my hands over the last 5 years, so here's a straw poll of some of these. It's not quite V.R. Court in terms of sample size, but you get the idea... 1967 ½d Normal rim: 21 1967 ½d Wide rim: 7 1965 6d D.2503: 0 1965 6d D.2504: 30 1964 6d D.2501: 30 1964 6d D.2502: 0 1962 2/6 D.2329: 25 1962 2/6 D.2330: 0 1962 2/6 D.2331: 1 1962 2/6 D.2332: 4 1959 1/S Groom Type 1: 11 1959 1/S Groom Type 2: 18 1956 1/E D.2413: 9 1959 1/S D.2414: 9 1956 ½d F.471: 6 1956 ½d F.473: 0 1956 ½d F.474: 0 1956 ½d F.475: 0 1955 6d D.2491: 5 1955 6d D.2492: 23 1955 1/S D.2451/2: 3 1955 1/S D.2453: 10 1954 ½d F.466: 3 1956 ½d F.468: 1 1953 5/- D.2280: 7 1953 5/- D.2281: 4 1953 6d D.2480: 31 1953 6d D.2481: 2 1953 3d Obv 1: 23 1953 3d Obv 2: 1 1953 2/6 D.2310: 35 1953 2/6 D.2311: 1 1953 2/- D.2360: 24 1953 2/- D.2361: 0 1953 1/S D.2440: 34 1953 1/S D.2441: 3 1953 1/E D.2400: 29 1953 1/E D.2401: 2 1953 ½d F.463: 25 1953 ½d F.464: 1 1953 ¼d F.660: 18 1953 ¼d F.661: 2 1953 ¼d F.662: 0 1953 ¼d F.663: 29 1946 1/E D.2120: 26 1946 1/E D.2121: 1 1944 1d Groom 2+C: 6 1944 1d Groom 2+C1: 1 1940 ½d F.435: 0 1940 ½d F.437: 0 1940 ½d F.438: 4 1937 3dNB B to corner: 6 1937 3dNB B to right of corner: 31 1937 3dAg D.2230: 15 1937 3dAg D.2231: 0 1937 2/- D.2070: 16 1937 2/- D.2071: 0 1937 1d F.217: 13 1937 1d F.219: 14 1937 1d F.221: 2 1929 2/6 D.1704: 9 1929 2/6 D.1705: 1 1928 2/6 D.1701/2: 8 1928 2/6 D.1703: 2 1925 6d D.1879: 2 1925 6d D.1880: 14 1923 2/- D.1751: 8 1923 2/- D.1752: 0 1922 2/6 D.1680/1: 3 1922 2/6 D.1682/3: 5 1921 2/6 D.1677: 0 1921 2/6 D.1678: 9 1921 2/6 D.1679: 0 1921 1d F.190: 8 1921 1d F.191: 15 1921 1/- D.1805: 0 1921 1/- D.1806: 2 1921 1/- D.1807: 1 1921 1/- D.1808: 0 1921 1/- D.1809: 7 1920 2/6 D.1672: 9 1920 2/6 D.1673: 1 1920 2/6 D.1674: 0 1920 2/6 D.1675: 0 1920 2/6 D.1676: 0 1920 2/- D.1744: 5 1920 2/- D.1745: 1 1920 2/- D.1746: 5 1920 1/- D.1803: 13 1921 1/- D.1804: 2 1916 1d Normal ear: 8 1916 1d Recessed ear: 1 1915 1d Normal ear: 6 1915 1d Recessed ear: 0 1915 ¼d F.593A: 0 1915 ¼d F.594: 7 1914 3d D.1926: 1 1914 3d D.1927: 7 1914 2/- D.1735: 0 1914 2/- D.1736: 0 1914 2/- D.1737: 10 1914 ¼d F.592: 3 1914 ¼d F.593: 4 1913 1d F.174: 2 1913 1d F.175: 1 1913 1d F.176: 0 1913 1d F.177: 10 1912 1/- D.1794: 1 1912 1/- D.1795: 3 1912 ½d Groom Rev A: 6 1912 ½d Groom Rev A*: 0 1911 6d D.1860: 0 1911 6d D.1861: 0 1911 6d D.1862 Groom Rev A1: 0 1911 6d D.1862 Groom Rev A2: 0 1911 6d D.1863: 5 1911 3d D.1920: 4 1911 3d D.1921: 1 1911 3d D.1922: 0 1911 3d D.1923: 0 1911 2/- D.1730: 2 1911 2/- D.1731: 0 1911 1/- D.1790: 1 1911 1/- D.1791: 7 1911 1/- D.1792: 2 1911 ½d Groom 1+A: 3 1911 ½d Groom 1+A*: 2 1911 ½d Groom 1*+A: 5 1911 ½d Groom 1*+A*: 2 1911 ¼d Flat neck: 2 1911 ¼d Hollow neck: 1 1909 1d F.168: 4 1909 1d F.169: 0 1908 1d F.164: 0 1908 1d F.164A: 0 1908 1d F.165: 0 1908 1d F.166: 7 1906 3d D.1598: 2 1906 3d D.1599: 1 1906 1/- Groom 1+A: 1 1906 1/- Groom 2+A: 0 1906 1/- Groom 2a+A: 2 1905 3d D.1596: 0 1905 3d D.1597: 4 1905 1d F.160: 1 1905 1d F.161: 4 1904 1/- Groom 1+A: 0 1904 1/- Groom 2+A: 3 1904 1/- Groom 2a+A: 0 1904 3d D.1592: 1 1904 3d D.1593: 0 1904 3d D.1594: 1 1904 3d D.1595: 0 1903 1/- Groom 1+A: 0 1903 1/- Groom 2a+A: 1 I'm quite happy to collate if anyone else fancies contributing more numbers. I have the numbers for the more well known varieties too. I doubt any of you lot have bought from me, so we shouldn't count the same coins twice anywhere... interpretation welcome...

I know. I do worry sometimes whether my place in heaven is in any jeopardy by getting into this buying and selling lark. I'm such a terrible negotiator in real life but when it comes to coins I'm Mr Hard Nosed.

Not that scarce I don't think - it's another one most people don't notice, so you could probably find one for peanuts being sold as a 1967. I knock 'em out for £8 each but for gods sake don't pay that!

Declan, In my experience, these dates and denominations are so common, that you are unlikely to see their varieties identified and advertised by the average dealer. The more knowledgeable may do so, but for most there is probably little incentive to go through their stocks to see if a rare variety is lurking. As far as eBay goes, again I doubt that many sellers are aware of the varieties, so there is always the possibility that one will pop up - having said this, it seems likely if they do that forum members will pick them up quickly. So from my point of view, the best options are either rooting about in boot/antique fair pots of run of the mill coins, or boxes of similar material in general auctions. If you are lucky this will reward you with specimens albeit probably not in top condition. No you're quite right. In fact, looking for the varieties has brought the treasure hunt back to the hobby. I found a D.2331 1962 2/6 the other day unidentified from a well-known dealer. My question really was not "has anyone ever seen these advertised?", but "has anyone ever seen these?". I've only been seriously looking for a few months, but I must have checked hundreds of 1964/1965 sixpences, and 1937 silver threepences!

Thanks for the reply, Mr. Peckris - I'll keep looking. Davies says the 1937 silver 3d is unconfirmed but I've got an eBay search set up so I can check each one that gets put on. Think its worth my time?

Why have so many coins from around that era, got bloody holes drilled through them ? There must be a reason Not only that, why are there so many with initials & such like stamped on them ? Trench art maybe? Let's face it, you'd cling on to anything you thought might be lucky in Passchendaele.

Now if Mr Groom fancied doing a 1797-1899 set, then the urban legends would really get a run for their money...

There's no substitute for Davies for the 19th Century, but Mr Groom does a far better job than Davies in the 20th. There's varieties that Davies doesn't recognise in Groom's, and Davies usually just shows one identifier for each die type, whereas Groom does (and shows) them all - a good long list in some cases. I use Davies for the numbering, and Groom for the ID. It's a must-have - same goes for the Bronze one, a lot easier to navigate than Freeman.

One that clear is good, definitely. It gets a footnote in Peck, so that makes it official in my book!

Well, down at my end of the market it's going nuts as well. I usually buy for half the CCGB price but I'm getting my arse kicked using that rule every night. I probably win 10% of what I bid on. It means the margins on what I'm selling are very healthy, because I bought most of it a while ago, but I am constantly worrying about running out of stock - got to keep the wheel spinning you see. So do I drop my standards on grade just to keep the numbers up (no, definitely not!), or do I change my rules for determining maximum bid? Makes me grind my teeth but I might have to.

See how the broken R that Dave's shows has been repaired in the fake!

So glad I could reignite your interest Declan! But make sure you also look for the 1964 sixpence with the I of GRATIA missing (oops sorry, didn't I mention that before? ) I had to draw the line at those types of things - filled dies, missing engravers initials from 61 halfcrowns etc. Not deliberate enough. Yes I know 1881 xx/ri florin wasn't deliberate either, but that one's in all the books, so it has to count! I'd still love to know why they thought they needed to make two different kinds of sixpence in 1964 and 1965. I suppose we'll never know....

Fantastic! I can't get enough of these varieties you know. It's livened up previously dead areas of my collecting and brought back the treasure hunt aspect. I just bought another high grade 1887 Shilling for a few quid so now I've got all three. Even my previously complete Elizabeth II has been shot to bits now - I'm looking at 1964 and 1965 sixpences trying to find the scarcer pointings. I'd more or less got to the point where I couldn't afford the coins I needed till all this...!

Ooh look at that...once ten people download it, they take it off. Would have been right up my street too...

A crosslet 4 looks something like this...

Exactly. Everyone know's that's Derek.

So who are these superheroes who do the attribution, authentication, and grading? The coin world isn't that big, and there can't be many people better qualified to do it than you lot, I'd have thought. Are they deliberately incognito, are they full-time, does anyone here do it?