Sylvester

So will you be collecting half pennies or farthings? or perhaps both to the same level as Dr. Nic? And actually now i come to think of it i have a near complete date run of US silver Washington quarters 1932-1964 (ignoring mintmarks), why? Well i just really like the design... it's the only coin i have actually just taken to without having to try. The vast majority are low grade specimens, most of the earlier dates grading Good-Fine. Wow i've just gone through them, only dates i need are; 1938, 1958 and 1960! Excellent, i though i had more to get.

I dunno, you'll have to see about that! I know i'm not alone in saying this i've heard many say it before; but i find when trying to put together a date set (or even a type set), once i actually have the coin it gets put in the cabinet i rarely look at it (well except that Mary groat i really like that), usually my attention turns to the next coin to get... the thrill of the hunt is what does it for me. I soon get bored once i have the coin and the novelty value has worn off (but i'm like this with everything). I think if i ever did manage to finish a set i'd probably sell it the next day and turn my hand to another set. This is perhaps why i pick sets that are actually just about achievable but they will take a long time to complete, like 30 years. I could try a set of 1937-1956 farthings but i'd probably have it finished within 6 purchases before the end of the year all in BU. I tend to like coins for their history connection (hence why i love the Stephen and the Mary so much), or the eye appeal (gothic forin, sixpences, Mary again). As for the tin farthing, well i like that cos it's tin. And you can never have enough tin! I think in 30 years when the sixpences are done and the the monarch one is done, i hopefully so are the other two small sets. Then i think i'll turn around and specilise in collecting tin coins, just lots and lots of tin farthings and halfpennies. That's if the hammered coin bug doesn't drag me into collecting Quarter Nobles or Stephen Pennies. Oh there's so much out there, how can you specialise?

I'd much rather have a small select few high grade expensive coins than a full date run of cheaper ones. I did have a near complete set of BU Sixpences 1930-1970; If i remember rightly i had 1934, 1936-1940, 1942-1950, 1953-1959, 1961, 1963-1970... but i got no real pleasure out of it. Even if i had a full set of 1901-1970 sixpences i don't think i would have been too overjoyed. Oh yeah i liked em but i much preferred my one off hammered coins. (Hence why i could never really specialise to just one series). I reached a happy medium of having two really expensive obscure challenging serieses supplemented by several shorter ones just to relieve the monotony. I've only ever been sure of one approach in numismatics and that was, not copper, and that's about the only thing i've stuck to since i started 14 1/2 years ago.

I think that would be an interesting one to have! And a gem of a coin too no doubt. I almost fancy putting together a small date set of farthings 1684-1692... C2 1684 (GOT) 1685 EXTREMELY RARE J2 1684 VERY RARE 1685 1686 1687 VERY SCARCE WM 1689 RARE 1690 1691 1692 SCARCE I suppose i could give that small set a bash, but it'll be on low priority with those half guineas. Sixpence collection has been reduced a little so that i just have to get one main type of each date (so i might still get all the obverse/reverse variants as well as the overdates, but i'll not be bothering with overlettering and transposed shields ansd spelling mistakes and what not)

Just relooked up the Ansell sov, Price in VF is £400, price in F is about £120-£150, so it's well within my range in the lower grade.

Mine rarely creep as low as £50, although the William III and George II ones sometimes do... the rest are nowhere near.

Well a few years back the most i had ever spent was about £50 so you know how it is... I just kept creeping up bit by bit... I slowly creeped up the £100 zone (for want of a better term), then into the £200 zone, then i climbed up to the £300 zone, and then i shot straight up to £500 land... I haven't done anything in the £400 yet.

It was a bargin, and that's why i couldn't let it go!

£525!!! That is the most expensive coin i've ever bought to date and it practically bankrupted me, but it was well worth it... I mean look at it...

And £400 is still cheaper than what i paid for that 1693 sixer.

I was kinda hoping for one in Fine, £400, that better?

It's not made out of conventional alloy either. Normal gold coin are minted with a alloy of .917 (22 ct) gold and the remainder being copper. Ansell are minted in 22ct gold, but the remaining 2 cts is a mixture of copper, antimony (poisonous), arsenic (poisonous), lead (yes you guessed it poisonous). The solved the brittleness problem experience with the Australian gold alloy, i doubt that they are very poisonous when mixed with other alloys... they use arsenic in steel production even now. You might not want to eat it though...

i really want one, can't afford one but i'd like to see one! Question is if you drop it will it break? And would it be wise to wash your hands after handling one... considering the stuff in there? (or is it non-toxic when alloyed?)

Can you get an Ansell sovereign there? Also on my to watch for list... 1694 & 1710 sixpences. And 1686 and 1687 half guineas to complete my half guinea set.

neither have i...

Probably, i think the best way of sealing a coin in to a capsule would be in a laboratory... If the coin and capsule was placed in a gas chamber, and the oxygen was removed and was replaced by a noble gas like helium or argon then the coin could be put in the capsule and it would be oxygen free and since helium etc. are inert then no further reactions should be possible. I haven't got a periodic table on me but any gasses in the same group as helium, so neon, argon, krypton, xenon, should all be okay... i'd stay away from radon though as it's radioactive... I'm sure helium is the best bet all round it is probably ascertainable cos they use it for balloons at parties.

Well abopve the right wing is one place i'm definately watching, but if you look above the R in QUARTER... If caught early enough it can be removed by a gentle scratch with a fingernail, but be careful cos you can scratch the coin... but of course if you leave it then it'll just ruin the coin further, so it's a no win situation. A small scratch near a spot or a bverdigris encrusted coin. The best method is prevention... As i can figure it out... CO2 + H2O + Cu = CuCO3 + H2 So eliminate the Carbon dioxide or the vater vapour and verdigris shouldn't form... So don't breath on you coins, a houseplant would (should), be a good thing to have as it will remove CO2 from the atmosphere... Then the only thing you have to worry about is carbon spots, or copper oxide (yes those little brownish black spots)... which is just as bad to be honest as it's corrosion all the same. But then again so is toning on silver coins...

Also pay no attention to the 'don't clean coins bit on the second link' when it come to encrusted ancients you don't have much choice. Plus most ancients have seen some cleaning at some point or other. Modern coins (well in comparison to ancients) on the other hand (interpret that as year 1000 and after should never be cleaned unless stricty necessary, and those dated after 1662 not at all)

There is a way of removing encrustation with these coins, i think olive oil is a good way... http://www.cbnoble.com/clean.htm Can't remember whether acetone helps or not though, but i know it is used to remove finger prints, might not be too good with encrusted coins. Vaseline is supposed to be a good one if used with a swab, see here... (it's in there somewhere) http://www.phantomranch.net/prospect/coins_cl.htm I think your best bet is olive oil, soak them for a decent period, it can take weeks or months, the main thing is once you have it free from the dirt, wash gently with distilled water (which can be purchased easily from any chemist), and when drying do not rub the coin's surface if you can help it... always tap it dry on a soft cloth, very gently. Hopefully the olive oil will work. Don't try vinegar under any circumstances...

oh by the way Oli this post wasn't meant to be rubbing it in, but was for the benefit of another member...

This is true... but most of the bargins are on the sovereigns, halves usually go at £45-£50 regardless of the grade... i once saw a load of fake 1915 halves in a jewellers, they didn't know either. So if buying from a Jewellers always be on the look out... and if you see any 1915 halves with funny dark circular marks around the obverses (all in the same place in every single one with slightly weak strike), then beware.

Greece have won! Erm it depends on the two side issue, some rings may have had St. Geo showing others Vicky, thus make one with both and it can be decided which to show later. Dunno... hopefully a real gold coin expert (GD) will be along who has had more experience in the gold area than any of us put together.

I believe that cheaper gold rings were often made with sovereign like (or half sovereign like) coins in them, it is very possible that you have a real gold pseudo half sovereign. You see from a distance they look like the real deal... Do you know how many carats the 'coin' is?

Gold definately has an aura about it, undoubtedly. I just love guineas, dunno why... the designs are sometimes pretty hideous (spade guineas aren't great... and most of the Geo. III later date ornamental shield ones look naff), but they are still nice to hold. As much as i am a die hard silver fan, i think gold is right up there with it, the feeling of holding gold is a nice one. It gets me a bit giddy and irrational too, it's what they call gold fever... i can see why wars have been fought over the stuff. Did you know that half sovereigns are rarer than sovereigns? Underappreciated though. You'll never have a problem selling the gold. When i sold mine up in January the dealer snatched the whole lot off of me no questions asked... exceopt for the shierld reverse sovs cos he had a whole load of them already, but another dealer was eager to get those. You can't do that with bronze!

Ah well longwave is totally understandable, i've picked up French Stations before, but FM stations are shorter wavelength and don't travel nearly as far, better quality when you are near (Unlike MW and LW), but go one county away and it's totally gone. Or something like that. If i remember my Physics lessons correctly, FM shorter but more intense wavelength... LW = well longer wavelengths, the latter go further and don't get as much interruption.