Sylvester

I used to start a 9.00 and finish at 3.00 and when school finished i used to get as far away from the place as possible as quick as possible. Uni is 9.15 start at the earliest, i think the latest finish is about 5.15. This year i only have 6 hours teaching time a week, my earliest is 9.15 and my latest finish is 1.15. But i work through dinner, so there's not 12.15-1.15 break for me. Oh and i get tuesdays and fridays off.

These copper collectors are everywhere! I guess i'd better buy more gold to counter-balance... yeah that's right counter-balance... ha!* * = Any excuse, i've been looking for one! Oh and welcome!

What time? If i'm around at home that day i'll just try it in Yorkshire, i doubt i'll get it but hey there's no harm in trying!

Rubbish. All silver coins pre-1920 contain .925 silver. Silver coins from 1920-1946 contain merely .500 silver. Regardless the 1935 crown is .500 silver. They are not terribly expensive, the expensive one you saw may have been one of the rare proofs.

I know what you mean, School uniform doesn't help on saturdays though does it? Some look so much older than they are, it's they way they dress, my mate once fell for that, started chatting a lass up who he thought was about 17 she was well, 14.

We never had ties, but then again we didn't have uniforms till Y10... and still no tie even when we did thank god, i don't like ties.

Easy mistake When you siad Laurel you caught my attention.

Tell me how big it is and i'll tell you what denomination it is. In mm or inches.

Well i'm convinced!

Have you got my 10p capsules in yet? I haven't posted the 5 pounder off yet... prob next week, i haven't had the time yet.

I like £2 coins!!! My grandmother hoards the things.

I knew it was the real deal (the pic that is) you can tell, they were darkened at the mint. (So were 1935s though), the date looked genuine (not altered). If you see a 1933 coin dark like that in such high grade with lustre shining through you can be sure it's not an altered coin. (Could be an all out fake i suppose, but not an altered one). If it had been an ex-35 one then the date would have been iffy. The question is not how the coin ended up in the seller's loft but rather more what the heck is he actually claiming to be selling? I for once don't actually know... Te penny, the half penny, some strange hybrid? An Edward V coin (notice Edward V coins are also extremely rare)... i think this guy knows something about coins. He knows Edward V is rare (even if they are all gold/silver and hammered and many centuries too early it matters not to this seller), he also knows some 1933 coins are rare,perhaps hedoesn't know whether it's the penny of the half penny though and thus he's used both descriptions... Very odd. I know the trick he's pulling... he's trying to come across as the "i know nothing about coins [he does really however limited it may be], here is a 1933 'penny' [look at the pic see it is a 1933 penny] i don't know if it's worth anything [but you know that and you'll think i'm not trying to scam you if you think i don't know what i've got hold of here... so you're gonna get it for a bargin are you?]" Now surely he'd just lable it as 1933 George V penny? Why confuse things further?

That is the general idea. Some collect by type, some by date. For my sixpence collection i'm collecting them by date from 1674-1787, all dates. (Admittedly the Victorian copper/bronze collector has far more on his hands than i do!)

oh and his title and description don't match...so is it a penny or a halfpenny he's selling? Or is he actually selling a lemming but decided to describe it using as many coins as possible? With an Extremely rare 1933 penny pic to boot.

Well i'm not sure what to think about that one! First i thought he'd just got an Edward VII Halfpenny, but for some reason had just nabbed a picture of the nearest coin he could find to make it look right (and used the wrong numeral). Then he says it's 1933 and insists it's Edward V (Still showing the picture of the penny though), how could anyone get GEORGIVS mixed up with EDWARDVS? I mean does GEORGIVS even look like Edward? What an idiot.

I'm totally hearing you!

So i hate them but i feel compelled to collect them for the sake of completeness, and i always always loose interest. Who want 20 types of a coin all of the same date?

Date runs would have been easier to complete without all the sloppiness. I hate coming across date runs where there are tons of minor types varieties (it's what makes me lose interest), yeah you could ignore them but i can't seem to, somehow the collection feels incomplete without them...

Right halfpennies and farthings are as good a place to start as any. For newbies i'd advise against ebay (too much junk being sold on there), once you've got you're footing and a bit of experience in the grading and you've got an idea of the prices of your chosen area then by all means ebay can be alright. As far as books go i'd like to recommend either Collectors' Coins (owned by our good friend Chris here), or the Spinks catalogue, which will be good for the grading tips. Ideally i'd say buy both and away you go. Welcome to the hobby (or perhaps welcome back!), and good luck with your chosen course of action!

i had thought that, it happens to me from time to time.

That's what i thought, holiday season has just finished!

I think it's the way the toning has reflected from the light (be it camera light or scanner light).

Athenian Owls!

Yes it apparently is.

Really? You're kiddin right?