Master Jmd

If you do consider selling yours I'd definitely be interested. Do let me know if you have a price in mind.

It was a PSA 10 copy of a 397/SM-P Extra Battle Day Lillie. Back when I was contemplating buying a copy at $400 it was only believed that a maximum of 100 existed, but now it's generally believed there were probably more than 1,000 distributed, which makes the sale even more absurd. The card was listed on Japanese store Card Rush's website and sold in 17 minutes for 17,800,000 JPY: https://www.cardrush-pokemon.jp/phone/product/38932. From what I've been told from a few people I know with decent connections in Japan, it was bought by a "popular Japanese investor", but I don't know any more details than that. Nice to see someone collecting sealed Japanese product - one of the rarest items in my Pokémon collection is a Japanese 2001 Pokémon Center Company reprint Base Set booster pack. If you're on Instagram/Twitter I'd love to check out your collection. 😊 Edit: I've also just noticed that my post before mentioned that I was wanting to buy that Lillie in early 2019. The card didn't release until October/November 2019 so it would have actually been early 2020 I was interested. $400 to $102,800 in just over 3 years!

I'm loosely back to collecting coins thanks to the hobby I moved onto when I left here back in 2008: Pokémon cards. The amount of money that has found its way into Pokémon "investing" in the past 4 or 5 years is absurd. There are a lot of different cards which were difficult to sell for much more than £10 back in 2018 which are now easily selling above £1k. I'm laughing at myself at the moment because a PSA 10 copy of a Pokémon card I decided not to buy for $400 back in early 2019 sold in Japan last week for the equivalent of $102,800 just 17 minutes after being listed. It's completely bonkers. In early 2020 covid was keeping everyone at home, and a lot of late-20 to mid-30 year olds found themselves with nothing to do. Pokémon was something we played during our childhood, and nostalgia bought a lot of people back, then adults collecting Pokémon cards started making headlines around April 2020 ultimately attracting more and more people into the hobby. Thanks to the addition in the US of stimulus checks giving everyone free money, prices of pretty much every card ever made quadrupled between January 2020 and June 2020. Your typical readily-available £5 card was suddenly £20 and where demand was so high a lot had very low supply. A lot of us that had been in the hobby for several years beforehand thought it was a fleeting bubble, myself included. I personally stopped buying any Pokémon cards around August 2020, expecting prices to plummet by the end of the year. Prices did level out for a little while, but fast forward to January 2021 and the introduction of the second stimulus check only caused prices to go up even further. Those typical £5 cards that were £20 in June were now breaking the £50 barrier - a 10x increase in just over a year. But this was just the start... Minor celebrities with large social media followings started getting in on the action. Around April 2021 a friend of mine sold a PSA 9 "Pokémon Illustrator" card they'd bought in 2019 for $70,000 to a Dubai collector for $900,000, setting what was then the record for the most an individual Pokémon card had ever sold for. For over 5 years at this point I had been collecting cards in PSA 10 grade, and despite thinking I'd never sell any of my cards I made the decision to begin downgrading my collection in mid-2021. The gap in value between PSA 9 and PSA 10 was silly at this point. I sold a PSA 10 card for almost five figures and the very same day picked up a PSA 9 replacement for just over £100. In late 2021 a scummy influencer broke the $900,000 record my friend set a few months prior by purchasing a PSA 10 copy of the same card for $4,000,000 plus over $900,000 worth of trade value. Despite being a PSA 10, the card was well known in the community to have been crossed from a PSA 8 several years prior and it was later revealed that the $4,000,000 he spent was profit from some cryptocurrency scam he operated. Regardless, this made headlines around the world when he showed up to a boxing match wearing the card dangling from a necklace... as any normal person would. Despite Pokémon card values already being significantly higher than they'd ever been at this point, the trend didn't slow down there. China's economic uncertainty bought a lot of wealthy Chinese investors into the hobby, buying cards for far more than they'd ever been sold before. If a card sold for over $1k in a popular auction house like Heritage or PWCC it almost guaranteed that every other copy of that card would be subsequently bought out from eBay and other stores - sometimes these would sell over 5 times higher than the auction copy.This trend continued throughout 2022 and into this year. We're now seeing Japan go through a similar Pokémon card boom. Prices on Japanese cards - which were already greatly inflated from their 2019 values - now had significant interest from wealthy Japanese investors. That $102,800 card I mentioned earlier was a sale between a Japanese card shop and Japanese investor. It's one of 167 PSA 10 copies of the same card, and is a 3x increase in value since the beginning of the year. The downgrading of my collection I began in 2021 has now turned into me auctioning off all of my remaining PSA 10 cards. I don't value them anywhere near as much as people are paying for them, and whilst the income is something I welcome I'm quite sad that what used to bring myself and a lot of others great enjoyment has been transformed from a bit of fun into a serious investment. Very few people collect Pokémon cards for enjoyment any more, and demand is so high that it's almost impossible to find new product on shelves. I still very much believe Pokémon is going through a bubble, but it's been going on for so long now that I don't know when or if it'll ever burst. Sorry for writing a slightly off-topic essay. I mostly wanted to say that I'm enjoying being able to pick up farthings for not all that much higher than I was paying 15 years ago. It's refreshing.

I've been thinking about this coin a lot recently, so I'm going to up my offer to £2,000. If anyone would be able to put me in touch with the winner of that lot I'd be happy to throw in a finders fee of £100 if it leads to a successful purchase.

@myt that list is fantastic. I've just finished looking through everything. There are a lot of really great websites here that I've never seen before and I'll definitely be checking back frequently. Some on the other hand are very difficult to use - either they've not been updated in 20+ years; they list sold coins alongside available ones without any distinction until you click into them; or they make it as hard as they possibly can to search their inventory. 😅

Edit: Looks like the auction pages are working fine on the Easy Live Auctions website itself: https://www.easyliveauction.com/catalogue/894f5a1449590e6a02a2a453b39ca4d8/0af8d24542e81eb9357e7ef448a6646f/lockdales-coins-collectables-auction-229/ --- A lot of files from the provider they're using, Easy Live Auctions, is timing out. The page seems to be set up so that it has to wait until all of the requested files timeout before anything is able to display on the page, and after that the pagination doesn't work because the required JavaScript has not loaded properly. I imagine they've had too many visitors and have used up their quota with the provider or something. Trying again tomorrow would probably be the best bet.

I'm not sure if they made a regular 1 + A proof outside of the VIP sets. Wow! You're lucky to have one of the matte versions. Seems like they're probably the hardest to track down. Maybe one day if you feel like selling I may be a potential buyer. 😉

Interesting. From my notes I now have the following variants for the 1953 farthings: 1 + A 1 + A VIP proof 1 + A matte proof 1 + B 2 + A 2 + A proof 2 + B 2 + B proof 2 + B matte proof 2 + ? VIP proof (the variant from this thread) The £6,500 listing you mention supposedly included a 2 + B VIP proof, but I'm not sure if there are any features of the coin which would make it differ in any way from the usual 2 + B proof, so I'm not including that on the list above. I don't know if matte proof variants exist for 1 + B and 2 + A. The 1 + A and 2 + B both sold through Heritage (https://www.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=790+231&Nty=1&Ntt=farthing+1953+matte+proof&ic10=ArchiveTab-071515). Looks like I'm going to have my work cut out if I want to acquire all of these variants. 😧

Thanks for all the responses so far. I've not had much of a chance to look through all of them yet but I must say the back catalogue on Noonans is spectacular. I was hoping I'd be able to update the list in my first post but it seems I'm unable to do that.

This is a great discovery, thanks for sharing! In terms of the farthings, are there any differences between the regular 1953 proof sets and the VIP sets (without this particular example) aside from provenance? I'm trying to put together a list of post-1900 farthings I need to be on the look out for and I'm not sure if the regular VIP set example is something I should include.

Hello everyone. It's fantastic to see this place is still going strong after all these years. I hope everyone is doing really well. 14 years ago I packed my collection into a box and hauled it up into a far corner of my parents' attic before moving out to go to university. Shamefully the box has remained in the same place ever since - that is until a couple of days ago when I finally decided to move it all over to my own house. Back in 2004 when Colin Cooke's collection went up for sale I had put away just enough pocket money to be able to buy just one coin, the BMC 525 1673 both obverse stops omitted farthing: I don't remember why I wanted this coin in particular, but it's my favourite piece in the small collection I have, and I have no intention of parting with it. What I am curious about is its value. After a very small amount of research I'm aware of 2 semi-recent London Coins BMC 525 farthing sales: In Auction A151 (December 2015; lot 2310) a "better than Fine, bold and clear, superior to the Cooke collection example" sold for £200; In Auction A167 (December 2019; lot 2415) a "this example certainly compares favourably with the Cooke collection example" with an unfortunate verdigris splodge sold for £220. The December 2015 London Coins example was sold on at some point on the Coins and Banknotes website for £495 (link) which has no dates present. Considering this website has only been live since May 2020 I can only assume this was a relatively recent sale. I don't know how important pedigrees are any more in the coin collecting world, but Colin Cooke's website notes that this particular example is from the CDC Collection (I'm not sure what that is), acquired November 1975. The envelope I received with the coin (pictured below) states that it's also ex. G. Kay (1988) and P. W. Lawrence (1996). Naturally it's also ex. Colin Cooke (2004). I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that it's probably somewhere in the region of £300, but it'd be great to get an expert opinion! I know collectibles have been on a bit of a rollercoaster recently with price rises and falls, and I'm sure coins are no exception.

Well I tried to fight the urge to pick up some more farthings, but their siren song is hard to ignore. ☹️ I'm interested in acquiring a circulation (not the proof version) 1953 2+A farthing. Ideally I'd like as close to flawless as possible, but I appreciate that's probably a tough ask. I'd stick an offer amount here but I'm completely out of the loop when it comes to coin values. That said, I'm expecting to pay upwards of £75 for the condition I'm after.

Hoping my grandkids will one day appreciate them, so definitely not parting with them if I don't have to. 🙂 After a bit of digging I think I've found the coin I bought from Colin's collection, this BMC 70 James I Lennox Farthing (#991 on the collection website): Do please let me know if those aren't the same, but I'm fairly certain they are. Unfortunately despite having extensive documentation of all my 2004 and 2005 purchases, I appear to have nothing from 2006. I'd completely forgotten I had this coin altogether. I guess 1613 (James I - although I'm aware this post-1613) and 1673 are similar enough numbers and in my head at some point I started associating the 1673 farthing with Colin's collection instead of this one. I should probably try to source a tighter capsule for it so it doesn't shake around as much.

I've just done some digging and it turns out you're both correct! Colin's collection didn't go on sale until February 2006. All this time I've believed that my coin was the one from his collection, and even that I chose the coin specifically out of his collection, and yet I acquired the coin almost 2 years prior to his collection going up for sale. It's interesting then that the Colin Cooke collection page mentions one example of the coin being sold by Colin Cooke in 1999, but not this one from 2004. I guess perhaps those were from Colin's own notes and the entry for this coin hadn't been updated. Well this is embarrassing and confusing, but thank you for pointing this out! I definitely did buy something from his collection, but it obviously wasn't this! I assume < £200 is a more accurate valuation in this case?

Hey! I'm trying hard not to rekindle my passion for farthings as I don't think my wallet would appreciate it, though it is a bit difficult seeing all the different coins I have! I've been collecting Pokémon cards for many years now and often see coins pop up for sale on US auction houses like Heritage - I tend to get sucked into looking at all of the weird and wonderful examples they have and get very nostalgic. It's amazing that this forum still exists - I was very much expecting to see some generic This website is for sale! banner or a note about how the website shut down 10 years ago, so to see it both still up and active is incredible. What a wonderful resource - though I don't dare read through my old posts as I'm sure a lot of them will be very awkward and cringeworthy now. 😅

I still have the receipt from when I bought it (Mrs L. E. D being my mother), though I do agree it looks more worn now which is odd. I'm certain I would have placed it directly into the capsule it's now in as soon as it arrived and left it in there - though I was 13 when the purchase was made so I suppose there's always a change I mishandled it. 😮 Here are some slightly better pictures: It makes a lot of sense that more of them would be known now. I imagine the increased use of the internet made a drastic change to the perceived rarity of a lot of different coins. The examples you have are certainly in better condition - great to see so many of them in one post!

Hey! I had originally assumed that would be the case but I'm a bit confused that their website says it was acquired for his collection in 1975 but that it's also from a 1988 and 1996 sale - unless I'm misunderstanding what "ex. {name}" means on that envelope? I guess that's something I may need to reach out to Lee to ask about. It's amazing that his website is also still going strong.

Do you grade coins from before 1952 as EF if they have lustre?

Cirtainly a fine collection. I had placed a bid of £90 on both the 1953 2+A and 2+A Proof, but I've sadly been outbid. I detest the Black Finish Farthings, but the Edward VII ones here took my fancy, so I've bid on some of them instead. I agree with Chris that BU is being used quite a lot. It may just be the picture quality, however.

Sorry to invade the topic, but if I remember rightly Colin Cooke was planning on producing a Farthing referance, but since he passed away I haven't heard any more news about that. Anyone know if anyone is continuing that? An up-to-date referance that includes Farthings would be right up my street.

That's quite a collection After looking through most of the pages, lot 909 shown in the 'highlights of the sale' is probably my favourite of what's being sold. Can't quite afford the estimated value of $70-80,000 though. Just a couple of pounds short. Will be interesting to see how much the entire collection goes for.

Nah, I'll always be Master Jmd.. Mr. Jmd just makes me sound really old

Just thought I'd come back, say hi, see if you guys are all alright. Coins aren't a thing I'm involved with anymore. I think maybe when I'm a bit older and have a bit more money, I'll definantly get back into them. Farthings, of course. Oh, and Chris, I've just noticed I'm still in the Numismatic Research Group. That doesn't apply to me any more.

Awesome to know that the book production is running smoothely! I'm sorry I haven't been helpful the last few years. I must remember to leave a note for Santa asking for the new Collectors' Coins Great Britain 2008 for Christmas, I could be sitting on a fortune! N.. not that I sit on my coins or anything

Oo, the tragedy! I'd assume that the hole would be made either for a necklace of some sort, or maybe just for the metal. But I may be completely on the wrong lines with that. Anyhow, welcome to the forums, enjoy your stay