Rob

EF or better. It looked no different to any other that had been taken from circulation reasonably soon after issue, i.e the coins in the parcel were all high grade, but not full blazing lustre and this was in keeping.

I don't, though this is not restricted to the person above. It's the incessant listing of (badly or deliberately misdescribed) crap on eBay that has killed off the fun. 12 or 14 years ago the British coins listed ran to about 3000 items at most. When I last looked it was well into 6 figures, most of which were 'very rare' coins from change struck in the last year or two, or washers that were hard to identify. eBay could do the world a great service by charging an up front fee with no charge for relisting and no final value fee. It would kill off much of the speculative s***e

Sorry to hear this.

No he doesn't. He has it listed as a mettle detecting find. I would suggest he is wanting in that department. Crap English, with all the full stops saved up for the end to save having to scratch his head wondering where to put them in the unintelligible mess he so carelessly constructed. This country is seriously going to the dog's (sic)

If it is any help in muddying the waters, I was shown a penny dated 1954 a few years back which allegedly came in a parcel bought from a lady. I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the claim and the coin did not show any obvious sign of manipulation under a glass. However, as a penny which was not available to purchase and not having the references to hand at the time it is impossible to confirm the dies were right. When I enquired about 3 years ago, nothing had been done with it.

What soil was it in? The condition is very good for a dug piece of tin. The surfaces don't appear to have too much corrosion, no serious tin pest, so the temperature must have been kept relatively high and the conditions anaerobic.

I think it would work much better with her facing left

Not seen it - do you have a picture? Could potentially be quite interesting. e.g. Do we have the twin peaks of Scafell Pike, or is it a case of Scafell and Great Gable with one bigger than the other. The other obvious feature must be the enormous backside that is East Anglia, which means that Britannia is sat on a correctly placed London Things could be a lot worse.

I've only got one in fine, so probably not good enough

What grade? You are talking anything from melt to four figures depending on.

The relative value of the sovereign to wages and general prices had to restrict its use to larger purchases and to a small section of the population. A pound or even a half was simply too impractical for daily transactions where bread or beer cost pence and the weekly wage for many was less than a quid. You only have to look at the relatively low numbers of crowns in circulation to establish that the day to day use of higher denominations was not extensive because the crown would be the first coin of choice to be given as change and they effectively stopped making them in 1900/1902. One obvious use was by travellers abroad who could take a readily convertible coin to foreign countries. Think in terms of Smithson, or the Duoro, where clearly large sums were moved around the planet. Having the highest intrinsic value, gold has long been used for settling trading debts, but was of little use to the masses.

The area immediately above has a clearly rounded line which suggests it might possibly be badly mixed metal with a little inclusion spot

http://www.1messydesk.com/MTTs/m_theresia_talers.html

You still have the same issues that apply to the lighthouse trays. Unless the coins fit the holes in the tray exactly, you will still get plenty of movement if you carry the case around. I'm not sure the carrying handle was the best addition to the case unless you are looking at those with a top handle?

That looks unattractive. It was probably dipped at some time and not washed properly. TPGs don't seem to mind dipped coins for some reason. Cleaning is a variable exercise.

It's a question with no 'right' answer. It boils down to what suits you best. If you want to pick them up and look at them on a regular basis then some on here use quadrum capsules. Ask Nonmortuous for advice about these. Adherents of slabs will of course suggest that these are best because they are sealed, but the downside is that it eliminates any research because the surfaces are always viewed through plastic. When you say put them in a tray resting on a ticket, I am assuming you mean the Lighthouse trays which are a bit inflexible, but convenient for stacking etc. I also assume you would be careful when taking the tray out to minimise friction whichever system you use. You should obviously avoid contact with potentially chemically active substances if you are unsure, so that would eliminate resting the coin on a ticket, but if using the trays with square holes, then you could cut up Mylar sleeves to fit which would eliminate contact with the ticket, stop the coin rubbing against the synthetic surface of the tray and also provide a barrier when examining the coin in hand as it would be sandwiched between the flaps. If you were looking at a cabinet then the felt would be removable and you would put the ticket under this. The felts used in wooden cabinets is much softer than the Lighthouse trays. And they look good.

Certainly is in the world of pattern halfpennies

Why not look to buy from places other than eBay? Sure eBay is convenient, but they wash their hands when it comes to dodgy listings, preferring instead to just take their cut and ensure the business is satisfying their shareholders. They are both judge and jury, so any dispute will end in their favour. If you recognise there is a problem and have an issue with them, it's incumbent on you to alleviate your problems. You can only change your side, you will not change anything within eBay. Part of this is not throwing good money after bad. This forum is regularly asked if a purchase was a good one after the event. The principle of caveat emptor should rule. Do your homework in advance. Virtually nothing for sale is a one-off lifetime changing purchase. There is far too much reliance on others and their opinions, with taking responsibility for one's own action a distant last. There is little point in 'bombarding' the seller with questions - all he has to do is ignore them. If you know something is wrong, don't buy it and report it.

Thanks Pete. That's this one, which I bought in 2008.

Things have moved on. Also need images of R41 halfpennies - either P1050 or P1051. When the logic fails, it's the human bit that's wrong. I've got a new derivative die, so all R42s are not equal

Oh dear. I'm not sure why they accept lots they know nothing about as they are ultimately liable for the description. If there are a few lots with obvious copies, then steer clear of everything unless you know better. Given the 8R and the Anne, it would be a fair bet that the G4 crowns are also iffy.

You'll know whether it is real or not by checking the ring, weight and edge. Should be about 27g, silver rings lower than cupro-nickel or white metal etc and the edge will be the usual circles and squares. Looks too good to be on a market stall and in any case, why would a market advertise individual's coins? Seems strange.

Broken punches, die flaws, filled dies........... All the usual reasons for the effects seen and normal wear and tear, hence there is no logical reason to include them as varieties by design which is the purpose of most references. The same goes for the obsession with filled dies on £2 coin edges seen today etc. Just normal wear and tear..

The area I'm interested in is as highlighted below. If anyone has an aluminium example, I assume it would be very late given the metal was only commercially available from the 1880s. I don't have a copper example either All pictures gratefully received. TIA.

I'm not sure there is that much quality going into auctions either. I can make a list for every sale of reasonable size that starts off with a page or two of potentials, but by the time you have weeded out the overgraded or those with unmentioned faults, or those that simply don't cut it aesthetically even when the grade is right, the list is usually down to quite literally a few pieces - if you are lucky. I think there are buyers in today's auctions who are genuinely unaware of the better pieces that might become available in the future, but that has probably always been the case. The number of auctions is astronomical, so this must invariably dilute the quality of offerings. The near 25% typical buyer's premium means that to buy at auction for selling on, a dealer must mark up things by at least 50% of the hammer price to have a viable business. You can't do it, because everybody sees the increase over purchase price and cries foul - see elsewhere on the forum for examples. This can only result in fewer dealers long term, and that will not help the hobby. Or maybe our little hobby is not as important as some would believe, with a narrow customer base to match.