Rob

One might think that would be true, but apparently it isn't. Here's some analysis I found: The belief that Scottish independence would consign the rest of the UK to permanent Conservative government is one that inspires hope among Tories and despair among Labour. But both overestimate the influence of Scotland on general elections. On no occasion since 1945 would independence have changed the identity of the winning party and on only two occasions would it have converted a Labour majority into a hung parliament (1964 and October 1974). Without Scotland, Labour would still have won in 1945 (with a majority of 143, down from 146), in 1966 (75, down from 98), in 1997 (137, down from 179), in 2001 (127, down from 166) and in 2005 (43, down from 66). I think the demise of Labour governments is just wishful thinking. I would expect the prospect of more Tory governments to squeeze the Lib-Dems, who are essentially left of centre anyway and merge their votes with Labour.

<cough> I did once... But it was long time ago... And i almost forgot about it... I was referring to the grade/price combined with the problems. As we all know not all fines, VFs EFs or UNCs are equal.

You get a vote to leave the UK in November. I thought you had already done that? Rob, We left The UK in July...not November! LOL! Our General Election is in November. When does the Scotland vote take place? September 18th. Personally, I'm not too fussed which ever way it turns out. If Scotland decides to go it alone, then they will have to be treated as any other small foreign country. I think they are doing something for dogmatic rather than practical reasons. I take the view that the status quo is not worth changing unless you have a demonstrable improvement (say 10% or more) in profitability, living standards or whatever. The upheaval isn't worth a marginal increase, and if even that is in doubt then you should leave well alone. On the plus side, an independent Scotland will be self-sufficient in food for certain as Salmond has a large enough chip on his shoulder to feed the world - that's if he can overcome his own ego.

Internal. Which lot they belong to for accounting purposes.

You get a vote to leave the UK in November. I thought you had already done that?

They certainly shouldn't have any say in matters relating to the separation if the vote is in favour as that is akin to someone writing the terms of their own redundancy i.e a golden handshake. You only give these when you want to be rid of someone - something that Parliament has never demanded.

If they vote to leave, how soon do the Scottish MPs get kicked out of Parliament? Anyone know? It would certainly be unacceptable for them to have any say in this country's politics forthwith if they effectively represent a foreign entity. i.e. they should be as welcome as a politician from Brussels, but with absolutely no influence. Maybe the best thing is to float Scotland adrift, after all, we already have relatively little say on what goes on in Scotland, yet spend money regardless (despite Scottish MPs being allowed to vote on matters affecting England only).

Fine to good fine with problems. Spink quote Fine at £85, but I would be amazed if anyone would pay that much. £30-40? simply because most are better than this. Has it been mounted previously? And you have front and back reversed. By convention, the obverse (front) is the side with the monarch's head on it, or if without a portriat, the side displaying the titles of the person in whose name it was struck.

It's just one of those things - penny collectors don't want the proof as a high grade currency example is scarcer, proof collectors usually want the whole set. So proof pennies don't seem to come up all that often. We've got two problems here. The first is that the coins are usually found with toning from the ribbon, so a set that has been undisturbed for the past 60 years is unlikely to do the job. The second is that you need a set which was broken up early on. There won't be that many about. Sets that have been broken up at a later stage are likely to have been done for a reason i.e. there is some impairment which makes keeping it intact the worse option. I picked up a set a month ago which had horrible verd on two coins (6d & 2/6d). Don't know why, but the rest and the box were ok except they all had a toning mark from the ribbon. I think you will have a difficult job finding one tbh. Penny collectors would want one of each.

At least you have some means of operation with a choice of 4 gadgets whereas you're b*******d if the iPhone attacks the person on the other end and gets put in the naughty bin. Cunning things these iPhones, after all, you only have to look at the subliminal messages Dave's phone sends out. Wouldn't trust 'em an inch.

I think Mrs Rob got it right (as usual). For a couple of years they spent nothing on the team, but Ferguson being the motivator he is enabled the tanks to run on empty for a while. Once he had left, the pressure was off as the players felt able to take their foot off the gas and have a breather. They had already won the trophies, so chasing titles was not as big an inspiration as it would be with a hungry team that was still trying for success. Without a manager able to motivate to the level of Ferguson, the only way was down.

Don't worry about not fitting in. I'm odd as those who know me will vouch, but have lasted over 9 years so far.

I would think so, as it mimics the shoulder detail of G2 silver with the cuirassed bust.

brilliant

No idea, but I have never looked for it as a variety. It really depends on whether it is an inverted V or a filled die as obviously the latter is a normal event as opposed to an error. A lot of these spurious 'errors' are unwarranted IMO as they tend to exist in varying developmental stages, so are clearly not by design. The pricing in Coincraft suggests not rare as it is priced cheaper than the 1746 LIMA shilling and only marginally more than the barred 1745.

As a non-conformist, I like things which don't obey the normal rules such as the below which has a ↑→ die axis. The reverse shields are wrong for 3 of the 4, as only the French one is in the correct position. This is a useful piece as one might infer that the dies were normally aligned in the press by matching the top of the bust with the French shield.

Everything was en-medaille (upright die axis) from the Jubilee Head issues of 1887 onwards. From 1787 to 1887 there was a mixture, with some upright and others inverted (en-coin). Before 1787, an inverted die axis was the norm, though the odd example with an upright axis exists such as the 1663 first bust shilling.

I concur with the first sentence but not the second. True you see lots of comparable pieces that are graded miles apart, but this is a benefit of the system as it means you can pick up coins which have been undergraded very cheaply indeed, being as they are by extension, undesirable, having the wrong label or number. This is a bonus, not a shortfall and should be milked for all it is worth.

I think the halfpenny dies were used to destruction. Halfpennies are by far the commonest of the three denominations and presumably they were the ones in greatest demand. The lack of crispness is in the main down to the design which has quite a low relief laurel wreath, but there are a few contributing factors also. The reverse is usually crisply struck. One thing you see more often on halfpennies is the weakness in the legend. I have ascribed this to a build up of rubbish over time which blocked the dies. This blocking tends to be of annular form which I suspect might be the result of a small amount of play in the die fixing mechanism leading to slight rotation during operation which in turn would allow the rubbish to spread itself along the circumference. It is worth noting that the blocking only seems to occur where the legend is on the die. This is a significant factor in the apparent lack of crispness. The relatively low relief of the obverse design can be seen from the attached. The K43 halfpennies in the various metals are the only Soho proof (halfpenny) struck from currency dies. Ironically, the reverse die chosen for the type has two long flaws and is presumably an old and somewhat knackered die, meaning you see better on a regular currency piece. Apologies for the trimmed edges necessary to keep it under 500Kb.

There is no right or wrong about what you collect. Each to their own - thank goodness.

Probably the only feasible way to acquire rare date pennies for those who just have to 'complete' the series.

No - you rotate the coin either horizontally or vertically. If the sides are the same orientation, you rotate horizontally, if 180º degrees apart, you rotate vertically. I think oculus needs to clarify, because he either has two dodgy pieces, or more likely two normal and an ambiguous description.

I think you are both saying the same thing. i.e en-medaille is a rotation on the vertical axis etc. Peck, you misread it I think.

The residue looks like lacquer

It's just a currency piece struck from a very worn die that has probably been polished to remove rust spots of which there is ample evidence on Britannia's legs and in the legend. You can polish the fields easily, but not the incuse detail on the die.