krasnaya_vityaz

Oh... right now I have a Scottish Groat of David II: http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/coi...vidii2nd4dl.jpg Unfortunately this thing is in a plastic coffin that I am afraid of damaging the coin in the effort to get it out. The only thing I can fathom would work is to use a small vice and carefully wrap the "slab" in a hand towel or something and slowly compress the vice. I have the tools but still don't want to risk damaging what maybe the best known example of this coin. It is in an Anacs slab, and was bought from well known dealer in Massachusetts USA. I don't regret the purchase, I am happy with it even years later, I just wish it was not in the slab. Just my opinion, but more collectors prefer raw coins, and investors prefer slabbed coins.

I would say what comes to mind whence thinking of PC, but it is more appropriate for the Pub, and not this forum I am afraid. 300 more days to my Oxford Pub crawl:)

Slabbing is essentially dumbing down collecting. I don' trust some idiot in a slabbing company to determine whether or not I like a coin. Only I can. I have seen some very high graded coins in plastic coffins that were quite ugly.

Get with the programme - the correct term for the dustman is Sanitation Engineer. Gotta keep up with the latest perfumed up defecations.

Waiting to attain 16 before having the pint? I think I had my first Scotch by my 13th:)

Now why do ah favour me British coins? Ach aye:)

Thought it would be kind of interesting to pique some interests in Scots coinages: http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/pre...lliamipenny.jpg This is my earliest piece, it was posthumously struck in William I (1165-1214) name probably early in the 13th century. It bears the name Hue Walter, and was minted in either Perth or Edinburgh jointly. http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/pre...imal/7coins.jpg The early coins in Scotland, as well as England were solely pennies. Of course this was not convenient for smaller transactions, so often times the coins were halved or quartered, these pieces were in with a hoard of approximately 100 other cut coins mainly from England, but also a couple from Ireland and even one from Denmark.

Slabs are one of the stupidest ideas besides their foreign policy that the Americans have exported in years.

And now you can see all I have in their glory here: Scottish Coins

http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/coi...oins/coins.html After a 1.5 year hiatus, I restored this site this morning. I will probably do more about other numismatic interests soon, but will NOT restore the Scottish banknotes site I once had. Just too much work with the cumbersome 220 so html pages.

That approach sounds much more sensible to me than rushing out an incomplete revision each year like some publishers do... Every two years would suffice i should thnk. On that note, I really don't pay attention to the prices they have in there, Seaby seemed to have been a bit lowish, whilst CC tended towards the other end of the price spectrum. The prices are good as a guide, but only as such.

I emailed CC a while ago and they said that they have no plans to make another in the near future, presumably because of all the work it entails. Presumably they are devoting more time to putting out the "Phoenix" than any other endeavour, which are not quite the money makers as the "Phoenix" is.

I wonder if it is like the Seaby catalog, they come out with a new one when they feel like it? I like the CC catalog, but it is a bit large and cumbersome to take to shows, I like the Seaby because they were a bit more compact. I have a slight preference for the CC, it had more useful information and collecting tips.

2) What if Anne's children had survived? There were attempts by Anne to have established contacts with the Stuarts in France, seeking their conversion to the Anglican church, in the hopes of keeping the Stuart family on the throne and not having to bring over the Hanoverians. Needless to say all these negotiations came to naught. 4) Imagine if Mary Tudor had lived long and had produced an heir, would England and Spain be more closely connected? Mary Tudor believed she was pregnant on at least one occasion, however after all the excitement died down, reality set in and she realised she was not pregnant with an heir. Phillip spent very little time in England, he did not care for the climate, and Mary was quite unwilling to travel to Spain. Phillip actually despised Mary, and reported to his aides that her breath smelt of rotten eggs and that thusly it was difficult to be intimate with her. Even after Mary's demise Phillip still believed he had claim of throne in England, and thus the 1588 Armada. QEI had earlier rebuffed his proposals of a marriage alliance. 1) What if Princess Charlotte and her son hadn't died? There would have been no Victoria. cted? There was a frenzy to marry right after Princess Charlotte died, if not Victoria, then another would have surely assumed the throne. And here is the big big if on that one, what if the heir had been male, and under Salic Law been eligible to have assumed the throne in Hannover? Britain surely would have had more interests in contemorary German politics, and may have kept Prussia in check thusly.

My grandmother, yes my grandmother, owned a 1974 MGB convertible when I was a kid. It was a zippy little car that was fun to ride in on trips into the mountains with the top down. Unfortunately she never drove it much and it sat parked for 6 years undriven, she sold it for about £3500. Amazingly it had about 7500 miles on it. I lament the fact that I could not have gotten that car, it was a gem.

It actually existed on a website I had on banknotes and coins from Scotland. I ditched the banknote site back in 2003 due to logistical issues with updating over 200 different pages. I kept the coin site and moved it, but it was taken down by the webhost last year when they changed servers(I was not notified, but had a backup CD-Rom which is where these came from. I have webspace now, but just no real desire to do much with it. As of now all I have restored is the page about 17th century English Tokens, an area of collecting I really enjoy, especially the nice scarce better condition pieces. If I can come up with a shortcut way to redo the coin part of the website, and update it because of several acquisitions since the site went down, I may, but it is a pretty low priority when I have a house to paint inside and outside and work on top of all that.

At any rate the coins that purported to be of Edward V's reign are still scarcer than hen's teeth, so I would still take them at any rate. Even Richard III's coins are inexpensive by comparison.

Soviet and Russian Aviation history, and railroad history of North America.

Sometime back I saw the original 1977 Star Wars movie on TeeVee. I hadn't seen it since 1977! And shouldn't have bothered either, it stunk.

One good thing about earlier references is they sometimes note items which get left out of later editions because of space limitations etc. One area which is always interesting to look at is Edward V coinage. There has always been debate as to ascertaining what if any coins were issued during that reign. Go through the last 25 years of Seaby catalogs and you will see they swing back and forth in opinion on Edw V. Seeminly now the presumption is that if coins were issued during that reign they were only a continuation of the previous reigns coinage and no unique coins to that reign were issued.

In normal circumstances Charles II would have immediately ascended the throne upon the demise of his predecessor, however Britain during the period of the 1640’s through 1660 could hardly be described in any stretch of the imagination as normal. Charles was the eldest son of Charles I, and was 12 years of age whence the Civil War began in earnest. At the tender age of 15 he assumed command of soldiers in the West of England. Shortly thereafter as the fortunes of war changed, Charles left England for continental Europe in 1646. Whilst living in Holland in 1648 Charles learned of the death of his father at the hands of the Parliamentarians that year. Shortly thereafter he was proclaimed King in Jersey, and thence in Scotland with the provision that he accept the Scottish Covenant. The acceptance of the Scottish Covenant was anathema to many in England, which Charles II dearly wanted to assume said throne of. Religious fervor during this time betwixt Catholics, Presbyterians, and Anglicans cause much of the behind the scenes dissension during the Civil War. Charles skillfully and somewhat ambiguosly affected a treaty with the Scots in which he assumed the throne of Scotland but left the door open for differing religious opinions. Very shortly thereafter Charles II returned to Scotland where he was crowned at Scone on Scottish New Years day 1651. After narrowly escaping Cromwells forces in Worcester, he made his way back to the Continent, from where he travelled extensively and enlisted support for his cause. The demise of Oliver Cromwell in 1658 and the subsequent inability of his son, Richard Cromwell to exercise his authority left a power vacuum waiting to be filled, and Charles II was the willing contestant. His march into London in May 1660 was met with very little opposition, in fact many were enthusiastic to see the probability of stability returning to their lives. Charles was married in 1662 to Katherine of Braganza, by whom he fathered 3 children all stillborn. He had numerous extramarital affairs(at least 7 are recorded) and produced 16 children of at the very least questionable legitimacy. Charles II religion is subject to debate even to this day, he publicly professed Protestantism, however it has been suggested by some authorities that he converted to Catholicism on his deathbed in 1685. Numismatically some of the most significant events in Scottish coinage occurred during the tenure of this reign. For the first time significant numbers of milled coins were issued, beginning in 1663 with the minting of the bodle or Scottish twopence coin. These first examples were undated, however subsequent issues were dated from 1677-1679 with a design change. Silver coinage was initiated beginning in 1664, the values ranging from the quarter merk / sixteenth of a dollar on up to the four merk or one dollar coin. One of the striking curiousities from this era was the use of three denominations on all silver coins. For example the quarter merk or sixteenth dollar coin was tariffed at three shillings sixpence Scottish. Even though the dollar denomination was used in describing these coins, it appears to have not been a contemporaraneously used description. Denominations used during this reign: Silver 4 Merks – Dollar – 53 Shillings 4 Pence 2 Merks – ½ Dollar – 26 Shillings 8 Pence 1 Merk – ¼ Dollar – 13 Shillings 4 Pence ½ Merk – 1/8 Dollar – 6 Shillings 8 Pence ¼ Merk – 1/16 Dollar – 3 Shillings 4 Pence Copper 6 Pence – Bawbee 2 Pence – Bodle The silver coinage of this reign represents one of the most significant issues of larger denomination coins since the reign of James VI. In many ways they served to replace much of the earlier and well worn examples which continued to circulate long after issue because of the Civil War. Whilst at the time it was by comparison to earlier times quite common to encounter the new milled coins, for later collectors they would prove to be rather elusive, due in no small part to the recall after the Union of 1707 in which most coins were exchanged for the new coin of the realm. The recall collected significant numbers of known coins, which were subsequently melted into the English style coins with the E Mintmark from 1707-1709. Fortunately this reign authourised large numbers of copper coinage, the undated bodles of 1663 followed up by the issues of bodles and bawbees from 1677 – 1679 created a circulating medium for smaller denomination coins, which because of the Crowns later lack of desire to supplement small change requirements throughout Britain after 1707 resulted in their circulating quite late into the 18th century. Whilst the small change situation in the late 17th century was desperate, later would be proven by example to be even more dire. Perhaps because of this coin shortage, it was determined in 1682 that far more copper coins were minted than had been authorised in various Acts, resulting in an investigation and closure of the mint whence it had been determined that certain mint officials including Mintmaster John Falconer had engaged in fraudulent activities in the minting of these coins. This coin is a bawbee or sixpence minted in 1678, obviously one of the coins which saw a long term of service beyond normal, because of the accute coin shortage in Scotland during the early 18th century. Some of the copper for this issue was imported from Swedish mines. Because this coin managed to circulate long after the Union of 1707 as a halfpenny, it became common vernacular to refer to halfpennies as bawbees, a practice which continued on up to the demise of the halfpenny in 1971.

The son of James VI, Charles I succeeded his father on the latters death in 1625. During the earliest years of his reign, coinage continued to be struck in the name of James VI, this may have been an economic necessity, or may have given some continuity to what was then a rapidly changing series of coins. This reign was a remarkably unpopular one, both in Scotland and in England, indeed Charles I only was coronated in Scotland in 1633 and preferred to spend most of his time to the south in England. The above bodle represents the last coinage of this monarch, indeed this coin may have been struck posthumously during the beginning of the Commonwealth in England as Charles I was executed on orders of the Parliament in 1648. The above coin is a 30 shilling that was issued during the reign of Charles I. By the time this coin was issued, Scottish and English coinage had been fixed in value at a rate of 12:1 so this coin was the equivalent of 2 Shillings 6 Pence, and may have circulated in England as such. The coin portrays Charles I on horseback, which was a common portrayal of the British Monarch on larger denominated coins during that time.

From 1632-1639 the Earl of Stirling was lisenced to mint coins on contract for the Crown. Curiously the bodles issued during this time were notably smaller and lighter. The design was changed to one with the Crown over the monogram of Charles I and the denomination of the coin in Roman numerals. The obverse legend in Latin is "C R D G SCOT ANG FR ET HIB" which translates to Charles King by the Grace of God Scotland England France and Ireland. The reverse of this coin portrays the now familiar thistle emblem and the Latin legend "NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSET" which translates to Nobody Provokes Me With Impunity. One of the most curious aspects of this piece is that it is not the real thing, it is a contemporary counterfeit issued during that time. Small denomination coins were very scarce, and counterfeit issues as well as imported foreign coins became an integral part of the day to day economy in 17th century Scotland. The penalty for minting and or even tendering counterfeit coins could be quite severe, thusly these issues are now quite a bit scarcer than their Government issued brethren.

At one time I could list every English monarch from William I on up to the present QEII with their regnant dates. Now I would probably muck up the 15th century with the the Henry's and Edwards and the on again off again monarchs, ie Edw IV and Henry VI. I am only good with Scottish monarchs since William I of Scotland.

Denominations used during the reign of James VI: Gold issued before accession to the English throne: Second Coinage: Twenty Pound Piece, 1575-1576 Third Coinage: Ducat or 80/-, 1580 Fourth Coinage: 1/3 Noble or 25/-, 1584 2/3 Noble or 50/-, 1584-1587 Lion Noble or 75/-, 1584-1588 Fifth Coinage: Thistle Noble, ca. 1588 Sixth Coinage: Hat Piece or 80/-, ca. 1591-1593 Seventh Coinage: Rider or 50/-, 1593-95, 1598-9, 1601 Rider or 100/-, 1593-95, 1598-9, 1601 Eighth Coinage: Half Sword and Sceptre Piece or 60/- 1601-04 Sword and Sceptre Piece or 120/- 1601-04 Gold issued after accession to the English throne: Ninth Coinage 1604-09 and Tenth Coinage 1609-25: Half Crown or 30/- Scots Thistle Crown or 48/- Scots Britain Crown or £ 3 Scots, 5/- Sterling Double Crown or £ 6 Scots, 10/- Sterling Unit or Sceptre Piece, £ 12 Scots or £ 1 Sterling Silver issued before accession to the English throne: First Coinage: 1/3 Ryal or 10/-, 1567-1571 2/3 Ryal or 20/-, 1567-1571 Ryal or 30/-, 1567-1571 Second Coinage: 1/4 Merk or 3/4, 1572-7, 1580 1/2 Merk or 6/8, 1572-7, 1580 Merk or 13/4, 1579-80 Merk or 26/8, 1579-80 Third Coinage: Two Shillings or 2/-, 1581 Four Shillings or 4/-, 1581 Eight Shillings or 8/-, 1581 Sixteen Shillings or 16/-, 1581 Fourth Coinage: Ten Shillings or 10/-, 1582-1584 Twenty Shillings or 20/-, 1582-1585 Thirty Shillings or 30/-, 1581-1586 Fourty Shillings or 40/-, 1582 Fifth Coinage: No silver coins issued in this coinage. Sixth Coinage: Balance Quarter Merk or 6/8, 1591 Balance Half Merk or 13/4, 1591-3 Seventh Coinage: Twelve Pence or 1/-, 1594-6 Thirty Pence or 2/6, 1594-6, 1598-9, 1601 Sixty Pence or 5/-, 1594-6, 1598-9, 1600-1 120 Pence or 10/-, 1593-5, 1598-9, 1600-1. Eighth Coinage: Eighth Thistle Merk or 1/8, 1601-3 Quarter Thistle Merk or 3/4, 1601-4 Half Thistle Merk or 6/8, 1601-4 Thistle Merk or 13/4, 1601-4 Silver issued after accession to the English throne: Ninth and Tenth Coinages: One Shilling or 1/-, (1605-1625, undated) Two Shillings or 2/-, (1605-1625, undated) Six Shillings or 6/-, 1605-1622 Twelve Shillings or 12/-, (1605-1625, undated) Thirty Shillings or 30/-, (1605-1625, undated) Sixty Shillings or 60/-, (1605-1625, undated) Billon and Copper issued before accession to the English throne: All Coinages Penny, One Penny Plack Twopenny, Two Penny Plack, Hardhead, or "Turner" Fourpenny Plack Eightpenny Groat Copper issued after accession to the English throne: All Coinages Penny Twopence or "Turner"