Rob

Yep. I sold a pump to Hungary and there's about 6 or 700 quid involved. Three years ago ago I sold a similar item to the same business and there wasn't an issue - hence my willingness to offer the same payment route. However, after this I can safely say I won't be looking to help others over myself, so it will be bank transfer only. The fundamental problem with Paypal is that all lines of communication are directed to the waste bin. Until you get to a position where you can take a problem to the ombudsman (and bear in mind you have to give the other party 3 months to sort it out after giving notice of intention to refer), all communications are ignored in the hope you will go away. Last time, I sent a courtesy email to notify them I had sent off the file to the ombudsman in the absence of any meaningful discussion or resolution and for the first time in just over 50 emails I had a phone call (international) within 10 minutes accusing me of not trying to resolve the issue. I pointed out that reading just a handful of the emails would show I had tried. 10 minutes after that I had a second call indicating my money had been transferred (to the same 'dodgy' account of mine that had been blocked for over 6 months), and they also wished to make an ex-gratia payment (because if the ombudsman has to investigate, they incur a charge of a few hundred pounds whatever the outcome). i.e. they had done absolutely nothing in the interim to identify the 'problem', whatever it was. The sad thing is that all I wanted was a functioning payments system with the ability to resolve issues as and when they arose. Attached is what the compensation bought.

Most are a bit cheaper than Paypal, but there isn't much between any of them. Paypal however are less conventional when acting as a banker, being prone to holding on to your money at their discretion. Some of you may remember I fell out with PP in 2007 and received compensation when I took the case to the ombudsman for that reason. Wind the clock forward 14 years and it seems not much has changed. To make things easier for an international customer a couple weeks ago, I said he could use the wife's account to transfer the money (as he had done 3 years ago) rather than set up a bank transfer. Paypal are now holding the money indefinitely until they are satisfied it is legitimate. How they propose to do this is not explained. I can feel another Soho pattern coming on. I've never had a problem with a credit card payment. If only for that reason, people could consider prioritising payment by card over Paypal because there more people to consider than just the buyer.

Do we know for certain that it is silver? If it was a trial struck before the dies were hardened, then something not fully struck up becomes a possibility.

There is a benefit to returning overgraded or not genuine coins for re-evaluation, but that benefit is entirely NGC's as it removes them from the population reports and enhances their reputation for accurate assessment. You also have the contentious assumption that a coin which was incorrectly graded in the first place, is then correctly graded at the second attempt. Given they supposedly use a fixed set of standards for grading, it should be inconceivable that anything submitted for re-evaluation receives a different grade second time around from the same TPG. A far better public service is offered by collectors who point out the inconsistencies.

If it was an Edward VI Bristol shilling with this as the initial mark, I'd be happier We shall see how much interest there is. I might keep it if nobody wants it, but I already have a 1st bust SSC shilling.

As per the title. Quite obvious. Probably just the one die.

Google Chrome did an update last night. Maybe that's the issue. Mine's a bit sluggish this morning.

According to Krause, Gambia did 5 0.925Ag 20 Dalasis silver proofs that year on various subjects (World Cup, Queen Mother, Endanged Wildlife, Mungo Park and Olympics 1996, but no other denominations for Mungo Park.

Things do genuinely go missing as opposed to joining 'The Collection of a Postman'. My parcel of stycas to Paris three years ago which ended up in Tahiti, and a couple of lots from a Heritage sale in June 2006 that did a 7 month tour of the world's postal service before returning to Dallas, both spring to mind. Very few properly tracked items go awol, and then I presume it's mostly down to being put in the wrong sack, or quite legitimately, the auto reader/sorter can't decipher the address label correctly.

Quite possibly. Venues are a mess at the moment. The regular bookings of pre-Covid are essentially cancelled and people are starting from scratch. Wakefield happened last month for the first time since lockdown in ................Huddersfield. No Wakefield in Huddersfield or Wakefield next month due to a prior booking - probably a Christmas party even if it is the end of November. Wakefield is back in Huddersfield for January and February with a possibility that Wakefield will be in Wakefield at the end of March, though sticking with Huddersfield given the better room lighting would be preferable. Simple.

Bloody good job they don't smoke then.

Which basically means that without being able to view because Kent is a long way to go and they no longer go to Wakefield, that bids will be few and far between from me. I'm not sure where it will be held, so will have to wait for the catalogue to arrive in order to find out. That doesn't look very good from the surfaces perspective. I've never seen a solid raised narrow rim before as they usually have some tooth detail. It would be good to see if the edge is milled as it should be

I'm going to say dye polishing lines - trying to remove the colour seen inside the crown.

Looks undergraded at aEF. Mine is better, and was previously in a 66 slab ex Terner. Apologies for the faulty auto-focus.

There are a lot of people out there who refuse to accept that these are modern copies. A few days ago I was asked by someone who wanted me to authenticate some American 1940s cent rarity. I recommended he use PCGS or NGC as I knew nothing about US coinage and US coinage was their bread and butter. He said he wanted a professional to do this as he had no confidence in them. He had paid his subs to both companies and submitted a load of coins as he had all the rarities - 1933 penny, 1954 penny...... and they hadn't authenticated a single one. So he reiterated he wanted a professional appraisal. I suggested he use PCGS or NGC as US coinage was their bread and butter. I could go on...........

Buy two or three, mix and match the trays to suit your requirements, and move the surplus on.

Or this 1697B halfcrown has both large and small rust spots on the obverse.

And this 1762 quarter guinea has a few on the obverse too

The only real option if the coin is genuine is a rusted obverse die. It is somewhat comforting to see there are no spots on the reverse which you would expect to see if it was a cast copy, as casting bubbles would almost certainly be on both sides. Rust spots can be big or small. Here are a couple of coins from rusted dies. A Henry VII angel with a heavily rusted obverse.

Could be the same situation as with the dump halfpenny no obverse stops, where I suspect that a guide stop was lightly tapped in, but was never completely entered, leaving you with just a pimple that could easily be filled. To be a genuine 'no stops' I wouldn't want to see a trace of anything, even in high grade, and as a result I think the jury is still out as to whether it really exists.

Philip Hunt, whose collection of halfcrowns was purchased in part by Colin Adams in 2000 (who regretted in hindsight not buying the lot), with the remainder dispersed through Studio Coins (Stephen Mitchell). White tickets written with a black felt tip pen. I don't know if any other sizes were used, but one is 33mm and the other 39mm. The reverse is blank.

I remember being at the Baldwin's sale when he bought the P1236. He was sat in the middle, front row and I was by the window with Mick Martin behind. When he bid twice what we both thought was reasonable, we looked at each other and thought 'who is this geezer?' We both said at the time, we aren't going there. Rare coin though and the first time either of us had seen one.

Not sure about that. He only had 14 1797 pieces whereas Colin had 44 lots. With the gold penny you are at the mercy of when one appears.

I was pleasantly surprised at some of the prices today. I bought 3 lots today all for me - the W3 Y sixpence, which means the ex-Slaney coin will be returning to Manchester after nearly 2 decades on holiday in East Anglia. Also bought the 1821 6d and finally, the 1837 threehalfpence, which wasn't on my list, but it would have been rude not to bid at that price.

That's a fairly serious mismatch of tickets and raises questions. Obviously they are completely unrelated to the coins, but the prices of the ticket items is not insignificant and certainly considerably higher than the coins seen. The half pound is a four figure coin. The halfcrown pictured is a three figure coin. The shilling is a regular Tower issue (not Aberystwyth), and as such a hundred or more in value depending on the condition of the reverse compared to an Oxford 6d that books at £250 in Fine and £800 in VF. Is there any indication on the other side of the tickets to say where they came from? Nobody with a bit of knowledge would match these tickets with these coins. Were the other 3 correct? Could you put up pictures of both sides please of all the tickets.