Rob

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I has to be chemical. The legend shadowing is an expected result from acid based corrosion. The legend by definition involves a change in relief, i.e. you have metal flow to produce it, which will result in metal stress faults where the crystalline structure has been stretched. This will allow any acid to penetrate deeper and so result in a depression around each letter as the acid works more effectively in the stress faults.

corroded and cleaned

This is a topic which is causing grief in various ways around the world. Ancient coins are one such target of governments, which in the case of a CNG sale in New York, caused its cancellation because the coins were deemed to have been exported illegally (and were in some cases) and so the police dropped by to seize the goods. It focusses the minds of those with valuable artefacts and increases the value of an item with a good provenance. Some countries ban exports, others regulate them. The situation in this country is a lot better than elsewhere.

If you let the page load and then scroll down it is there Coin looks ok to me, Never thought of Rob's theory of the thin sheet. When you have a halfcrown struck on less than 6g of silver, it expands your thought processes.

The other possibility is that it is genuine and the blank cut from sheet intended for say a threepence. It can't be 4d sheet because they are smaller diameter and weigh 2g. Measure the thickness too while you are at it. It needs to be accurate though, so calipers are required.

Looks ok to me. First thing to do is step back and check the references. The website giving the orientation is wrong as they are struck en-coin. My examples are so aligned, and all the books agree with this (Spink, Davies etc). Treat anything written down with a degree of scepticism until a couple of cross checks with the info provided satisfy you the article is generally accurate. We all make mistakes, particularly with copy and paste. Next check the scales. The coin looks good from the images, so a weight that is genuinely 30% down would be a concern.

Google Trial of the Pyx. A change of mark usually followed the trial.The marks effectively tie down the coin to a particular period in time and so the Mint Master could be held responsible for the coinage. A slight variation occured in the Civil War where it appears that individual engravers had their own mark. In Saxon times the moneyer had to sign the reverse. Everything was to do with accountability.

I'm still looking for a 9+K

It doesn't matter as long as you identify what convention you use and are consistent in its use.

Thanks Rob I found some prices from my Coin News back issues, but unfortunately my subscription doesn't go back far enough for these dates. I do have some back issues somewhere, but not many complete years.

You might find them advertised by the RM in Coin News and if so are likely to be priced

Nope, but it might be a good indication that it's a Chinese copy. What does the edge look like and what is the weight?

The 1671 patterns in Peck don't match this 1672 die because the spacing and relative positions of NIA and stop are different. The I is rotated to a different position on the above example compard to the patterns, and if the same die would also require the flaws seen on P437 to be polished out. It doesn't eliminate the 1671 die being recut, indeed this would be in keeping with the need to save on production costs, but would require a problem free example to confirm.

You have to delve into the trays. Those gems are there You have to do the spadework if you want to find things. If you don't look you will never find. Nobody looked at the florin tray on my table yesterday, so clearly your searching was neither methodical nor thorough. (I didn't have one anyway) It is blindingly obvious that many visitors to the fair go to see a couple of specific people, but don't broaden their horizons. The table next to me was visited by a group of people looking for some proof sets. Some he was able to supply, others not. Two sets that were discussed for a few minutes were the 1973 and 1979 sets and the difficulty in obtaining them untoned. He didn't have them. Had they asked me about them I could have supplied both which were in a large pile of sets immediately adjacent to the next table, but they just decided they weren't available and went off to pastures new. You can't force people to look, but a fair appraisal is they are mostly their own worst enemy. Trying to engage people in conversation and establish what they are looking for is well nigh impossible. The best you can usually hope for is 'just browsing' (as they get out a list of things they are looking for)! Producing something off the list also causes problems as the item will inevitably not be at eBay's 99p plus free postage. Their eyes often stop at higher grade pieces, but the realisation that it costs more than the aforementioned 99p results in the euphamistic 'I'll think about it' - i.e. the decision has already been made. On a more positive note, you also get a handful of people who freely admit they know little about the subject and are just starting out. I once even managed to reduce a wants list requiring a full sheet of A4 paper to half a dozen coins. The person was not aware that certain dates didn't exist. That help would be available at most tables if customers could bring themselves to engage in conversation, but unfortunately many don't.

It's George III and either farthing or halfpenny depending on the diameter. Given it will be corroded from being in the ground for so long, if the diameter is over an inch it will be a halfpenny, up to 3/4" will be a farthing. I suspect the former given a 2p is about an inch.

The comment by Krugman and the opposition by some to what is seen as German intransigence are only one side of the coin. Germany has been on a 70 year guilt trip, which given that nobody can be held accountable for the actions of their parents or grandparents is long overdue to stop. Germans rebuilt their country from ruins to be one of the most efficient economies because at the end of WW2 they had nothing apart from a sense of duty and a work ethic second to none. They have effectively funded much of the EU in the interim without demanding a final say as paymaster. The original members - Benelux, France, Germany and Italy were not too dissimilar, but what has happened is the accession of countries with a much greater diversity in terms of living standards and development, which has already required large transfers of wealth from the rich to the poorer countries. What has not happened is the corresponding necessary improvements in productivity. In a generation, Germany has effectively assimilated the old DDR. Granted there is still higher unemployment in the east than the old west arising from the relatively weaker industrial base, but the job is for the most part completed. Contrast that with Greece which has been a member since 1981 but has never made an attempt to balance its books, nor to reform services. They fiddled the figures to gain entry to the Euro and now expect the rest of the world to fund their ongoing lifestyle without reform. They have to leave the Euro if they want to be in control of an economy with no intention of balancing the books. No country on this planet is owed a free lunch by any one else - a fact lost on those within the Eurozone who think their debt is something to be ignored and paid for by a handful of richer nations. In 2000, Germany was the sick man of Europe having taken over the mantle from the UK in the wake of the unexpectedly high bill for integrating the DDR. What did it do? It had a thorough review of benefits, cutting those which overlapped and thus saving the government paying out twice for the same thing. Crucially, they put their own house in order to overcome their own problems. There is nothing wrong with privatisation per se, but each needs to be argued on its own merits. The important thing is to get value for money for the taxpayer. In the UK, they have completely screwed things up for over a decade with the commitments to PPI schemes, all for the sake of keeping debt off the government books, but equally, other things were very inefficient and essentially an expensive way of employing people. My personal experience when working at the post office after I'd finished university was to be given a warning not to work so hard. I had committed the heinous crime of filling vans faster than the accepted 15/25/45 minutes required depending on size. We need to get away from Holy Cows and recognise that there is a part for both state and private enterprise. There is nothing wrong with doing something to generate profits - something that is acknowledged by all sides and craved by governments who rely on their taxation to partly fund their own profligacy. There is nothing wrong with expecting people to be efficient for the duration of their working day. British gold reserves were sold at rock bottom prices because we had Gordon the Moron as chancellor. Because the sun shone out of his ****, the country would never need a safety net. Never one to willingly balance the books, his idea of prudence was to spend over 40% more than tax receipts to fund his party's pet projects. Under his impeccable leadership, the country's finances were only allowed the option of being successful. Unsurprisingly it all went tits up. Don't blame me for putting him and the Labour government in power, and please note that I am still making my contribution to paying down the debts incurred by his mismanagement. Yep, surprise, surprise - I'm partly liable for my former government's unwisely accumulated debts just as Greeks are liable for their country's debts. If Greece is broke, fix it. Nobody owes Greece anything just as nobody owes the UK anything. The main difference between our two countries is that we have the flexibility to manage our exchange rate and so affect our economy. Greece gave up that facility on joining the Euro and now must play to the rules demanded by its creditors. I suspect this argument will go around in circles.

Irrespective of the rights and wrongs of various ideologies, the **** has hit the fan because debt is too high. If you want to be masters of your own life, you have to be beholden to nobody. It's a rule which politicians choose to ignore as they borrow to fund their pet policies. Greece is where it is because they have simply increased their borrowing to levels where repayment is not possible. It doesn't matter whether the national debt has been spent on public services or disappeared into the pockets of individuals, the amount is still outstanding. Like any other debtor, there is a point where creditors no longer believe they will get their money back and so, correctly, pull the plug. You should not be so surprised at the attitude of the other Eurozone members. Greece chose to join a cozy little club where everyone signs up to the ideal of a united Europe - except it isn't. Monetary union is not possible without political union, but that would be a step too far for all the constituent nations. As there is an unwillingness on the part of northern European countries to lower efficiency and standards to meet the southern countries, it is left to the latter to raise its game, however unpalatable this may be. It is always so much easier to lower standards than it is to raise them. Anyway, Greece is merely suffering the same effects as this country did in 1992 when John Major's government tried to track the ERM. An economy that is out of kilter with the rest within a fixed exchange rate system must either get out or adopt the ways of the majority. Either the market forces you out (as with the UK in 1992), or the majority will demand conformity from the outliers (of which Greece is the starkest example within the Eurozone at present). Greece is a very low %age of the Eurozone in terms of GDP (and population). You cannot reasonably expect the mostly strong majority to change their policies to accommodate a weak peripheral area. If the Eurozone is be strong, you have to adopt the ways of the big players. They are looking after the interests of their taxpayers - as they should. There is quite rightly nothing that says other taxpayers must bail out failing member states when there is no central political control. If Greece has confidence in itself and believes it is viable under existing policies, it should be able to confidently stick two fingers up to the rest of Europe and leave. Unless of course it is addicted to the free handouts that it currently lives on and apparently 'demands' should be maintained.

When you get down to VF, it doesn't matter if dirt has been removed by a light rub. At this level the real no-no is polished and buffed. It's frankly quite difficult to say how a VF coin with obvious wear got its marks. If it looks ok in the hand, it doesn't matter how it shows up with a flash.

Somewhat off topic, but seeing as we are talking about Mitutoyo, I have at least a couple dozen spare Mitutoyo micrometer drives in two sizes which I will offload at bargain prices if anyone is interested. They are currently attached to a 20.5mm AEI high vacuum flange with sealed bellows to provide linear adjustment under vacuum, but can be easily removed to leave just a micrometer with central adjustment bar having at least an inch of linear adjustment.. Take the image below and it splits at the first line on the stainless part. In the unlikely event of anyone wanting to use them on hi vac kit, they are good to at least 1 x 10e-8 mbar, but realistically should do at least 3 orders of magnitude better.

That's about right. I would have put it in the trays at 25

1887 - commonest year for the type. Grade VF ish. The reverse looks better than the obverse. A few marks, but no real problems for the grade.

Nicks are usually cut depressions in the rim, knocks are bruises which usually result in an upward movement in the metal at some point, though usually combined with a flattened distortion,

I like my job as well and I earn enough money in order to finance a worthily life Ah, a self confessed member of the elusive rich club who need to pay higher taxes to fund the have nots ???? Alluding to the misconception held by many that the 'rich' have to pay the taxes to fund social benefits rather than 'honest working people'. The reality is that we are all the 'rich' because the system as it stands is fully demanding of all taxpayers.

But it doesn't say that he was a shareholder of the company that bought the property. In fact they specifically say that there was no evidence he had benefited. He had a 15% stake in the Trust fund, which would operate under different tax rules to those for trading companies. The corporates in London who receive the most complaints have large businesses employing people in this country. To own a property in London when based outside the country does not imply tax evasion as you will be governed by the tax rules of the country where you file accounts.