Rob

You don't realise how many disappear if you only keep one example of each Freeman obverse and reverse for example. It's quite easy to lose 80 or 90% of a date run. Bronze halfpennies now only require 60-70 pieces or so. G3 patterns are down to a similar level, Victoria patterns are fewer, pre-1860 is quite simple too. After that it's just little hammered pieces which realistically are only a trayful.

Yes, it's Norweb's

I have got rid of most of them and have only kept a basic core of a couple hundred pieces covering all possible designs, rulers etc

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P966 (gilt copper)

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1857-9.

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Judging by the reporting of the primaries, it is everything to do with personalities. A bit short on substance IMO.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol6/pp51-53 You get the relocation of three moneyers from Wilton to Salisbury in 1003, Godwine, Goldus and Saewine. Salisbury is only recorded for Ethelred's last two types, Wilton for everything except his last two. When the mint reopened, the moneyers stayed at Salisbury. In July 1180, Winchester burnt down as a result of a major fire. The mint moved to Wilton which reopened temporarily, so you get dies of Winchester with the last letter of the mint signature overcut with an L, i.e WIN becomes WIL. e.g a short cross 1b die of the moneyer Rodbert exists in this form. It didn't close immediately following repairs to Winchester, but only produced coins of types 1a & 1b from the above moneyer and another called Osber

What's the unrecorded bit? I can't see anything different to normal?

I don't think there is over and above the odd short article on a new type for the mint, or reference to the relocation to Salisbury when Wilton was sacked in 1003, or the temporary re-opening of Wilton following the fire at Winchester in 1180.

Hear, hear. Even if we are on different sides of the debate.

Probably. This country is only divided from Europe by the English Channel. In the case of slabs, the gulf is as wide as the Atlantic

If someone in the room bid it should be yours, but if someone put in a commission bid at the same max before you it should be theirs

Not the end of the world if I don't get it. From the thin pickings of the past couple years, sellers have now come out of the woodwork in droves. Lots of decent material about this year. Hopefully too much to keep prices inflated. You just have to look at what's in DNW & Spink and what has just been through LCA and the US to see an improvement in supply.

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.