Sylvester

George III's wife was also called Charlotte, i do believe she died around the same time, 1816-18 but she would have been much older than 21!

Sounds like George IV's daughter to me.

Can you post a picture (you'll need to be a member), but the price rests entirely on the condition.

I think GEF coins are usually nicer than UNC anyhow.

Firstly i have no experience with Scottish coinage (but it does follow the lines of English coinage in someways but with a continental twist to it). So Secondly which James? I, II, III, IV, V, VI or VII? That could make a difference. The C could stand for a mint, a denomination value marker, the queen's initials [like Henry VIII coinage e.g HK, HA, HI] etc.

Regardless of what Spinks may or not think i still think an UNC hammered coin is an impossibility. AU i can understand, UNC sorry but no.

I like that! If only i had that kinda money...

Anyone got a link to that article? I can never find my way around the Spinks website...

Guernsey has an e in it, and generally has two 'l's. Realise is spelt with an s.

Sometimes i wonder JMD. Firstly Anglo Saxon coins particularly those of Æthelred II, Canute (yes i'll take the liberty of including him here) and Edward the Confessor can often turn up in EF (Especially Æthelred II ones), and i've seen examples of those go in AU condition too. As for the Plantagenet and Tudor stuff i dunno if UNC is possible, EF i've heard of but UNC? I doubt it. Oh by the way what's higher than UNC? I suppose you mean BU, How many hammered coins grade BU? I've never seen one yet!

If i were you Jon rather than going to 1970 (as much as i like the Golden Hind reverse), i'd probably go the other way, you could expand back to 1895 for starters. Then perhaps go backwards through the 1800s taking it a decade or two at a time, so do the 1880-1895 next, then 1860-1879.

I read ages ago that the were leopards, but hey they still look more like lions and if everyone else calls them lions who am i to argue... Plus leopards would really ruin the fooball song!

Hmm getting the orange and blue on was not as easy as it may seem. What i will do when i copy it to a disc is i'll put the orangified florin pic on there too, as well as my version of the cover. You're welcome to have a play around then with the colours and the positioning of the writing, just to really make it look the business. It should only be minor things though really! I've changed to a lighter blue for the union Jack, but it's easy to chage it back cos the dark blue that was used previously is a default colour on paint. So it could be changed within a matter of seconds.

Anyone else have trouble opening these Acrobat files Chris puts up? Half an Hour to download! Oh the joys of dialup. I'll look at it when i'm at uni, it can be loaded with a few minutes there.

Do you still want my cover? It'll be in the post tomorrow if you do?

Well if it's only £150,000 then it's not bet the British coin record, the most expensive British coin record has been held by the Henry III Twenty Pences for... well put it this way my 1985 Spinks said a Twenty pence had just made the record back then, i'd bet that it's just these Twenty pences that keep re-breaking their own recrds over and over again.

If it's English then to go for that much it would have to be one of the following. Florin, Half Florin or Helm. But those don't come on the market often, at all? I've never seen one for sale they're probably all in museums. My bet is Henry III Gold Twenty Pence, the last one of those sold in 1996 for £159,000. I've never even seen one in the flesh! (I'd like to!)

Just to confuse you further proof coins can be circulated. Many have been broken out of their sets and spent by people who know or care little about coins Older proofs from the 1700s often turn up circulated, more than not. How can a business strike coin be UNC? You're in a shop the person behind the till opens a roll of 2p's straight from the bank still in their bank wrappers(i've seen this done), these coins have just entered circulation for the first time as they land in the till. You see this, you get one in change... it's shiny and flawless would you keep it and put it on one side? (Just incase you're one of those awkward people that answered no there) Well many people do and they take them home, throw them in a drawer and there they stay. Ten years later someone comes across it and thinks wow i've never seen one from 10 years ago look so new (probably cos they've forgot), so they keep it longer... the longer it stays in that drawer the less the chance it is gonna get spent. It's not uncommon for UNC coins dated 2002 say being off loaded into circulation in 2003/4. People keep them as soon as they find them, but as soon as they start seeing coins of that date turning up left right and centre in decent condition (they gauge that theirs is common and never going to be worth much) so it gets thrown back in circulation. And by that time they are usually looking for the next new ones anyway. [Most of this is subconcious to the general public they wouldn't be aware that they are doing it]. If a UNC coin can get through the first five years out of circulation then there is a good chance it's not going to rejoin circulation all too soon, and even if it does get spent by a child who found it in the drawer, the next person it goes to or the one after that will probably hang onto it anyhow, cos it's shiny! (People generally like shiny new things) As for AUNC, well thats for a coin say like the one out of the till as before but lets say the person behind the counter drops the coin before she can hand it over to you. It lands on it's edge and gets an edge knock, it's hardly UNC cos it shows signs of being circulated (edge knock and a few small scuffs/scratches) but other than that it still has full detail no wear, because it's not really been used... so AUNC it is. It would have been UNC without the knock and the scratches.

Oh i'm afraid the number meant nothing to me. But those Droz patterns get around don't they, they have sixpence ones too.

NGC eh... Can you post a photo?

I agree with Chris on this one. I'd grade it AVF.

If you think that you should watch out for James II!

JMD is confused he's thinking of the plants. England is three lions (formerly 2), Scotland is one lion rampant, Ireland is a Harp. France is 3 fleur de lis, Wales would be a dragon if it was on.

Probably most definately a counterfeit. Does it have a lower looking relief, or a waxy feel to it, and lacks sharpness. If so it's a dud. It's not unknown to get wrong edge inscriptions with correct obverse/reverse date matches or vice versa. Other times you get everything that could be wrong wrong, like a Welsh one dated 1994 with DECUS ET TUTAMEN on the edge!

Right tell me if the size is right Chris (in the JPEG Interchange format i just sent?), if so i'll touch everything up (i've got a copy saved in the bmp.) i'll add the rest of the writing, make sure it looks as good as the last, i'll burn the bmp version onto a disc and post it you tomorrow. But if it's not the right size then i can ammend it now.