Peter

Also be aware of ironed notes. A while back I was hunting down £1 & 10/- notes including replacements and used Rotographics excellent little book.It all started when a fine art auctioneer and a good mate gave me an unopened 1940 wage packet....happy days as it contained UNC 1933 1d's I would like a white fiver but the Ebay route would seem a bit dodgy.You can get some nice 1940-1980 notes though...check the feedbacks.

Colin Goode (Aboutfarthings) has promised a definitive list of 1672-1724

No one seems to have a handle on this series.I bet if you collected 100 coins the majority will differ from worn dies to missing stops double exergue lines and clogging. As mentioned before Colin Cooke did a detailed research on 1694.List 51. There is no easy answer.Buy a copy of list 51.

I think if you pay a fair price then the main factor will be time. Had I kept hold of many coins until today, I would have turned a nice profit on almost all of them. However I wanted the money to buy other coins at the time and didn't. Dealers sell for a profit so are going to want to buy at a discount to the current market value. Wait a few years for the market price to go up and the dealer's offer will approach (and hopefully exceed) what you paid. Sell too soon however ... OK, rarities are a shortcut in that if someone really wants something that rarely comes on the market they will have to pay the asking price. But in the end there's always a risk. The only way to hedge against it is to know your stuff so you don't pay too much and buy what you like in the hope that others will like it too. Personally I wouldn't rush into it. Decide what you like and do some homework. In every coin series there are gaps that are difficult if not near impossible to fill. And when that time comes you will have to pay for the pleasure, so it's always handy to have a 'war chest' for when that coin appears. But knowing which are the really tricky coins to find, and which just take patience, isn't something that can be picked up overnight. If it was, I personally think it would take some of the fun out of collecting! Though you can learn some of it from other collectors - I think that kept me going for about five years, before I started to get a feel for which coins can be found in decent condition and which are almost invariably poor, making better examples particularly desirable. And I'm still learning! Part of the fun is the chase.When I do get something that I really want I'm like a dog with two Di***

Very nice Richard, I'd be happy with this one, though a bit of a side-step from your usual Charlies, however! Nurse...I'm wiping the slobber off my screen.What a fantastic looking coin. :)

FFS close this thread.

Hi Debbie I hope your mum is OK Sometimes things don't go as planned.My policy is enjoy and bugger tomorrow.I've just hand fed Jake with chicken breast,yorkshire pudding and mashed spuds...he is now on my feet. My mum is late 70's but we drag the old dragon out as much as possible...she breathes fire but still gives more than she takes.

The fog on the Tyne is mine all mine..lets have a wee up the wall.

THAT is as good as you will get. Maybe I'm an old duffer but some coins are awful. Do you just need an example ? I just leave alone.I took an early BSE mint Ed 1 penny described as VF but was a pile of tat.It was VF for issue.S1377. I don't like it,never will.Then Clive sends me an Aethelred 11 and I must have looked at it every day.

I do believe he likes a good dig.

Don't disregard quality farthings.They are the size of sovereigns.Buy a quality piece pre 1775 and you won't lose.The price variation between dealers is massive.Most of my quality coins have come from dealers not specialising in copper.Before you buy anything just know your market.

For those that are interested just do a google search ...images on Hobo tokens.

I'm almost like George Pill except rather than stealing it I'm hung like one

I wholly agree, that's why I collect Anglo-Saxon and Norman primarily and am working on a paper on the iconography of these pennies and their influences. The pennies of Edward I really look awful in comparison. I agree but all the peck marks on early coins proved coins were merely lumps of silver.I think by Edward 1 coins were more trusted and even the issues copied on the continent.I find early hammered as quality works of art..what happened then until the recoinage after the 1st batch of Edward 1?...again we slipped back to shoddy until the Fine silver issue of 1551/2. To cap it all how the heck did we end up with paper money?...I promise to pay etc...A good spin doctor. and today? I went to pay for Mrs Peters car with cash...they would not accept it and wondered why I didn't want their finance deal.I said if I couldn't afford it I won't buy it.Next time I will take 15,000 sovereigns....but hey they are now worth £450k

When we talk about Normans,Celts,Romans,Vikings,Saxons ETC. Remember we are a Mongrol race with wet noses and waggy tails. The architecture is our inheritance My wife has Scottish,Irish & French blood in her...she also has a bit of Suffolk

Although it isn't too desirable to have hammered silver in varying shades of green, if the metal wasn't mixed well it can easily occur. Civil War coinage is more prone to it as is the debased coinage of Henry VIII and Edward VI. If they were trying to miantain a certain standard, sometimes it became necessary to throw a bit of copper into the pot. A very dangerous collectible...I would not go near this unless unlimited funds are at your disposal.

That wouldn't have cost you more than a groat where I come from. What did you do with the other tuppence? Oh, I'd install an actress in a house 2 miles distance, and keep her in oysters, oranges, and mead Peck You are Charles 11 reincarnate & I claim my £5

It is easy to collect silver of the period wanted to be counterfeited. Get a skilled oriental from the local chinky to make the dies,dig out that bunsen burner you borrowed from school and away you go. I've got my 1st batch of Aethelstan 1's maturing a foot below my cannabis patch.

These crop up on Ebay all the time.Even when described as Ashmore the punters love them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Ashmore

I haven't seen Andy Bruce about for a long time!!!! A visit to BNTA web site lists dealers and their sites.

It is London mint.I haven't got my reference books handy.

Why would anyone get less than £20 of silver bullion slabbed? The slabbing must = the bullion value. Fools and money are soon parted.

I'd go along with that. Decent Edward V11 florins are difficult to find at a reasonable price.The last date letter wears quickly.

There are websites but cash wasn't always king and bartering was common place. I checked a google search and it returned a 6d as having £3 buying power in 1700.

The River Tay also has its attraction.We also walked up a stream in Aberfeldy...how we all survived I will never know.We lived on a diet of beer,scotch and toast