custard1966

I disagree, i think in a proper democracy everyone should have the right to say what they want, that is free will and freedom of speech, in a democracy everyone is (or should) be equal to say what they want or choose to say. The vast majority will fall in line of their own accord because of the fear of social disapproval. What i do hate are those (like Mr Blair) that rant on about the importance of democracy and then go about trying to limit people's rights, including their freedom of speech. So i'd ask Mr Blair, is freedom of speech and equal rights only good when it suits him? I don't like racism myself and i think those that are, are bigotted, uneducated morons, plebs if you will. That is my own personal opinion of them, that's my freedom of speech on the matter, as far as i am concerned racists can say what they like, just don't be shocked if i don't have any sympathy for them. As they say democracy truely is an awful system of government cos power can get in the wrong hands, Mr Churchill certainly had a point. But of course i'd be blind to think we live in a true democracy, what we actually live in is a political system of meritocracy with a facade of democracy. Why not just drop the facade it's insulting to us all? Blair pushing 'democracy' on the one hand whilst trying to make everyone carry I.D cards, or go to war against Iraq without the people's consent. You have a right to express your disagreement I don't think it's unreasonable that either right-wing groups or Islamic fundamentalists should be prevented from preaching death to those they consider inferior. Note also that we have libel and slander laws which constrain what you may or may not say/publish about individuals. I don't quite see what any of this has to do with your diatribe against Blair. I don't recall him doing anything to lessen or impair freedom of speech - though I am strongly opposed to the proposed law banning insulting of religions. Your point about the Iraq war seems to be based on a misunderstanding about the nature of our democracy. It is a representative democracy and our representatives voted in favour of it. A true democracy would be where all the enfranchised decide on every issue - government by referendum. This would be appalling in my view.

More eloquently put that my reply Custard. I was in two minds whether or not to edit Master JMD's post there to prevent any offence to anyone, but i realised that i'm not moderating this part of the forum. Plus Master JMD has the right to express his opinion even if i don't agree with it myself. Although reading his post it sounded alot like he'd pasted it straight from one of the aforementioned tabloids. There are some things that no-one has a right to express. There is a crime called incitement to racial hatred which prohibits certain opinions from being expressed. There will and should always be some limits on freedom of expression.

If this actually happened then it's appalling and unforgivable. But you Master Jmd should be ashamed of youself for making a ludicrous and unfair generalisation from this one incident. Presumably these people were English - should we be careful when approaching any English people? This is the kind of scapegoating and name-calling that the Daily Mail and others seem to delight in, but it's irresponsible, ignorant and just plain wrong.

Sorry, that was me. Didn't notice I was signed out.

Chris, you asked about top-notch 1869 pennies a while ago. There's one listed here http://www.croydoncoinauctions.co.uk/ (I can't find a direct link) Click on Auctions (on the left) and then Penny £2400 for what looks like a stunner.

I notified the seller of the 'real' coin who is perhaps best placed to complain

And what about this one? Here's the original http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...3965002128&rd=1 And this one looks to have the same spelling mistakes and the same pictures http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...me=STRK:MEWA:IT and wants a Wire Transfer as payment.

Is the seller here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...3964089545&rd=1 geniunely ignorant or is it just a clumsy attempt at fraud? Look at the reply to Questions from other buyers

This is a bit steep http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...3966021446&rd=1 I paid £40 for mine - about 5 years ago.

It might be worth a few quid if it's the high-tide variety.

There are two minor varieties, see here for details http://www.michael-coins.co.uk/GBpenny3.htm

This is definitely the way to go. It's well known that Peck doesn't list all the known varieties. Taking pennies as an example: Peck omitted one/some listed earlier by Bramah Freeman identified several more Michael Gouby listed more than Freeman (and is still finding more) John Jerrams listed even more... And new 'varieties' are still turning up. It would be particularly useful/important to do a thorough update on the coppers. The bronze series have been catalogued much more frequently.

Chris, are you selling them on EBay? I expected to see 'Buy It Nows' all over the place, but can't find any.

As an example of how NOT to do it, take a look at Stanley Gibbons British Coins 2004 - the first edition. I spotted one for the first time today. Some of the pictures are appalling and as for the content... The copper victorian pennies are covered by a one line entry Penny (1841-1860) from F £5 VF £10 EF £75 and it's the same for every reign/denomination It's the most useless, pointless 'catalogue' I've ever seen.

Apologies if this is old-hat, but I didn't hear of it at the time. This collection http://www.spink.com/news/news_archive/3011.asp sold by Spink is just awesome. Some useful prices for very rare pieces too. If you're not a total copper-phobe it's well worth a browse. It's almost an on-line Peck.

And I'm sure this is one I pointed out! It's a bit mean to point out typos once the book is in print - I have kittens everytime something of mine appears, particularly if I've proof-read it myself - but there is one lovely one on p.75 which tickled me. "Asterisk" has appeared as "asterix" You're right Geoff. I only pointed them out so that if there was another print run Chris could get them fixed. I don't know what software Chris is using to produce the book - whether he's authoring pdf directly or converting to it - but it ought to have a spell/grammar checker which would spot these things. Be interesting to see whether it complains about asterix

Got mine today - thanks Chris. Looks great. Spotted a couple of typos on page 3 British Musuem Collection and existance (right at the bottom)

I was at school with someone whose middle name was Pounderham.

I voted to just get rid of Dee I'm afraid. He lacks the gravitas the role needs Did you take a pic of that 1869 penny ?

I'd go along with Chris. It does seem to be the case that die flaws are much less collectable than altered dies (overdates) etc.

Perhaps Chris has had to take account of the fact that the pdf can be copied.

I certainly wouldn't disagree with Chris Nice, problem-free coins.

Great news. Can't wait for it to hit the shops. Any idea when that'll be ?

Another know anything about this ? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...3935656411&rd=1 I've never heard of this 'rarity'. Is it genuine or is he trying his luck (or genuinely ignorant) ? I have a 'silver' 1973 penny (bought for 99p) I've found this http://www.24carat.co.uk/silverpennies.html but that doesn't seem to cover the non-plated earlier decimal issues.

Here's an illustration of its rarity. Michael Freeman had a collection of 60,000 pennies (mostly removed from circulation) Of these less than 10 were 1869 There are only an estimated 2-3000 in existence.