Rob

Possibly one for me as it was at my max, will have to wait.

Personally, i think that the immigration issue is a red herring. All countries can benefit by importing the skills that can't be met internally. Let's face it, on the numismatic front we can go back to the Short Cross coinage of Henry II when Philip Aimer of Tours was brought over to cut the new coinage. J P Droz, Mestrelle, the Roettiers etc. were all brought in to do a job, so immigrants are nothing new - we need them. We just need to be selective. Australia, Canada, the US and many others keep strict controls on immigration, we should be no different The crux of the issue is that all countries want to be masters of their own destiny, even those that are committed to the EU, which is why there is no clarion call for a politically unified Europe and ultimately that is why it must fail as a project. It can only work if all the countries pull in the same direction without regard to their sovereign interests. Ain't gonna happen.

I'm afraid it goes back further than this. We are on a second generation of dependency lifestyle which is why it is such an intractable problem. The work ethic cycle was broken when industry started going down the tubes in the 70s and 80s with the large reduction in demand for unskilled labour and the provision of sustainable lifestyles for much greater numbers than before. This is arguably a much bigger problem than whether we are in the EU or out. Productivity worldwide is too high to provide jobs for the population, who are needed purely as consumers.

People come to this country and are willing to do jobs that some in this country won't do. That is partly what I had in mind when I said a change in mindset is required. If foreigners are willing to do them (even from within the EU), then it should send out a message that it is far too easy and convenient to live off the state in this country. Of course, you don't have to, but many do, and not because the migrants are displacing them but rather because the indigenous pepole are unwilling to work for their living or better themselves. This is a much bigger problem than some will care to admit.

You have punches for regularly used features such as letter, numbers, shields etc. These are not hand engraved, but entered onto the die by physically hammering the character into the soft metal before the die is hardened. It is this action which allows you to identify different dies because the detail is never an exact replication of the previous one. These punches are made of hardened metal, but can break just like anything else, so the finer the detail, the more likely it is that a piece could break off.

The broken tails would indicate either a broken punch or a blocked die. Whilst the latter would not be expected, a lot of special strikings do not have perfect legends or other parts of the design.

Substitute the word batch. i.e. the number of shillings that would be made from 60lb of silver. (about 4500). I don't know how the quantity of silver in a journey was determined. It could be based on the expected life of a die pair, or fraction thereof. It may have been the standard weight for a silver ingot at the time. It will be written down somewhere. The current journey is about 100-120000 coins, so for example, there were one and two journeys for the 1950, 1951 pennies. The undated mule was also one or two, but they aren't sure which.

Out, because the present system is unworkable operating as it does under disingenuous aims. The objective of ever closer union is at odds with a successful union, because there are 28 countries, each with their own agenda - so a politically unified Europe is not going to happen. It might just have been possible to have a single political unit at the outset with the 6 founding countries, but the time wasn't right. Now it certainly isn't. This country joined a trading area, designed to ease the flow of goods and services. This is desirable. What you have now is a group of countries with wildly different economies, but no political structure to ensure that problems are resolved. The poorer Euro countries are nowhere near the economic position of Germany, which in turn is able to sell its goods more easily than it should because the tail is wagging the dog, i.e. their trade should be based on a stronger Euro than it actually has to use. So the physical centre (a bonus in itself) and workhouse of Europe becomes stronger by the day as it is selling too cheaply due to the discontinuities of European economics to the detriment of the periphery. Unless you can equalise the economies of Europe, the Eurozone is doomed to failure. It is doomed to failure because nobody is willing to cede absolute sovereignty to a group of unelected blokes (and women) in Brussels. The European Community (etc) has been going for over half a century, but nobody dare suggest political and economic union, which is the prerequisite for it to be successful. All have a misguided belief that we are better being closer together without crossing the drawbridge and willingly pulling it up behind themselves. Basically, I think a unified Europe is probably the right tool for the job if they wish to have a greater voice as an economic force, but the operators are incapable of using it correctly. Therefore, it is better for all if it were to return to the trading area we all joined 40+ years ago. Whether Europe allows that is a different matter, but a reduction in the power of Brussels would benefit most people in the EU, profligate spending being the order of the day. It is too unwieldy to be efficient, or accountable. This country can stand on its own two feet just as most others could too if they chose. What would be required however, is a change in the mindset of people from today's dependency culture to one of can and must do, which is a moral compass issue at the end of the day.

No I'm not. I just read books, match images and absorb the info - something within the reach of anyone if they are willing to take the time. A copy of North (2 vols), Withers' various hammered small coin references, or even a copy of Spink's annual tome will permit the identification of most things. For £20-30 you can cover pretty much all the coinage of this country and certainly those you are likely to encounter. Persuading people to read and learn is the biggest obstacle.

It's Elizabeth I, you can see the date above the shield 15 62 but the denomination would depend on the size and weight. The 6 isn't visible, but the pheon mark gives the date away

VAT is payable on all buyers premium unless you are outside the EU, or in the unlikely event of the auctioneer not being VAT registered.

Some reference to Thor or similar?

An allegorical expression of the Sword of Damocles?

Alex might have got hold of a batch of them. There has been a number of 20-50 lots of 100 year old coins touted around over the past few years. 50 mint state 1905 sixpences spring to mind

Just rummaging through my tickets and it appears that it was the one thousand and first coin they slabbed if the number 0001001 at the beginning means that. I've assumed so because the other info is definitely coin descriptive. FWIW, I have seen very few Ed.7 halfpennies with well struck up finger detail despite being unc. I suspect that the design was too fine to avoid blocking at this point.

When the auctioneer passes, it is because the reserve hasn't been reached. If that happens to be 20% under estimate, then so be it, but it could easily be at low estimate, or 40% below, even no reserve, but as happened in the December sale, they might still pass them if the lack of interest is too embarassing. Estimated at 1K and selling for 100 doesn't look good for the auctioneer

They aren't the easiest thing to get hold of. I got mine about 10 years ago in a CGS 80 slab, but I'm sure there are a few better pieces out there.

Normal for the Mail. Nothing in the real world is ever reported in it.

A considerable period of time must have elapsed between the early strikings and the later ones on account of the rusted reverses seen. This P724 (dies 2+A*) has large areas of rust, seen in front of Britannia. ex Hazlitt 1142, Sotheby 1909 & Foster 45, Glens 1953

Anne P724 pattern halfpenny obverse. This is the later obverse die, identifiable by the lack of serif to the base of the right limb of the N.

yes

This is just one of a number of patterns made in the period 1857-9 leading up to the bronze issues. Most of them had the word decimal in the legend, but not all. In fact some only had a number or fraction, or even nothing at all. You also had things like One Dime, One Centum, 10 Centimes etc, so they were clearly influenced by foreign currencies as well as retaining good old British units.

P2037, decimal pattern halfpenny struck in Cupro-Nickel. Ex Baron Ferrari de la Renotiere 399, (Sotheby 1922), V M Brand & M J Freeman 221. The wax is from the 1922 sale.

Looks like a 6+G to me. Having said that, the image quality doesn't help. I've got a 6+G 1 over higher one on the site for comparison if you need it. https://www.rpcoins.co.uk/collections/half/products/00002572

It's a rev B with the dots on the shield, so restricted to those years. You can't tell which though.