Rob

Dream on. Anyway, a Paypal transaction will still go through the US, so no help there.

see an even sillier case here - "For in the description the seller had put that this was an Ilkhan silver coin, minted in the 13th century in the Tabriz region. And Tabriz that's in the heart of darkness in American eyes: IRAN !!! So PayPal immediately blocked this evil attempt to evade trade restrictions with Iran." Yep, they're great aren't they? Big brother wades in, but at no point allows the accused to discuss any bone of contention. Auto reply by email is their modus operandi. If you have the temerity to write, it will be ignored and a mistake claimed once you have a judgement in your favour. The sad reality is that people won't walk away from eBay and Paypal because it offers an easy way of selling things. If you want to change eBay and not get some paranoid US offical worked up, there needs to be an alternative to eBay which people have to use and be seen to be using. Given the prices obtained on eBay of late, it strikes me that mass abstention would be timely, and frankly, I couldn't give a sh*t what they think other than if they try to impose their will on me, I go out of my way to stick one up theirs too. I feel tempted to open a new account and flood it with hundreds of free listings of Iranian postage stamps or similar. Anything of zero value that would tie up their beaurocracy has to be worth the return on investment. In the land of the imperialist prat, I become a revolutionary and vice-versa.

Has anyone received a proper catalogue yet that you can use in hand at your leisure rather than fighting an indifferent website?

I'm still waiting for the sale entitled "The property of a Postman"

I doubt it as long as you don't include the word Cuba. They aren't that intelligent. Sort something out with the auction house. If they are stopping transactions to a Spanish auctioneer, that's got sod all to do with Cuba

Get them to cancel the transaction or you cancel it from your end and send them the money by Paypal without any mention of Cuba. Lot XXXX for example.They will go along with you as it means they get their money quicker, and if Paypal eventually release the funds, the seller will refund knowing the hassle involved. Have faith in humanity. As long as a human being is involved you have a chance. You can't argue with a bot.

There are a few discussions on US boards about this too. Because Cuba is persona non grata, or at least the Castro brothers are, buying any Cuban coin or anything else to do with Cuba in the US is possibly illegal(?). What ever, Paypal automatically block anything with Cuba in the title. Try again but this time buy a Caribbean coin after you've ok'd it with the seller. Paypal (and the US govt) are playing Big Brother. Don't let the buggers get you down. I guess you could really wind them up by saying something along the lines of 'Come on you revolutionaries!'

When you have a very large pile, something is always missed by the vendor. The bigger the pile, the more likely there will be something desirable.

To hell with washers. Based on what the wife got tonight for an unc G5 penny, I shall be throwing anything up to EF (and probably beyond) in the bin. It simply isn't worth the effort to buy them for listing when they sell for a couple quid.Welcome to the wonderful World of ebay, its been poo for quite some time, everyone wants something for nothing Agreed. When you receive just over a tenner for an unc G5 penny, an EF G5 penny and a presentable 1913 halfcrown, it isn't inspiring. Having said that at least it isn't as bad as having to send something abroad for more in postage than you will receive thanks to ebay's option of flat cost postage to all, or collection only. At least via the website I can charge for postage accordingly. Where's the incentive to send someone a free item and also take a hit on the postage? Tonight I have the privilege of paying about a fiver for postage, but only receive 4 back after fees thanks to flat rate. OK, mea culpa, I should have told the wife to block overseas buyers, but it is nice to offer things to everybody. You either frighten off UK buyers by inflating the postage, or frighten off UK buyers by clearly starting it above its value. Obviously neither is likely to sell. From now on, only things worth a quid or less to be listed. No overseas buyers, and if it's worth more than a quid, it doesn't go on eBay. Why bother making a loss? I think I made £2 overall tonight after all wins and losses, and that's without spending a penny on listing.

To hell with washers. Based on what the wife got tonight for an unc G5 penny, I shall be throwing anything up to EF (and probably beyond) in the bin. It simply isn't worth the effort to buy them for listing when they sell for a couple quid.

If you get yourself a copy of CCGB or similar (price reference books), they will list the pieces you are looking for. It isn't imperative to get the latest issue as long as you keep up to date with knowledge about yearly issues from the Mint, but for a few pounds you might as well. Chris (the owner of this site) publishes CCGB, there is a link below the first page which will take you to his shop. Or you can get it downloaded.

The only commemorative 50p dates are 1973 (EEC), 1992 (EEC presidency) &1994 (D-Day 50th) for the old (larger) sized issues, but since the introduction of the smaller pieces, there has been a commemorative every year and sometimes 2. Or sometimes 29. In 1992 there were both standard and commemorative reverses. 1994 was D-Day only. The small ones have been issued in both standard and commemorative.

As I was informed when I tried to interrupt an attempt, Ebay's fraud dept have a policy of not dealing with members of the public, only the police. Individuals are therefore p'ing in the wind if they think eBay will stop fraudulent acts on their behalf or if you try to report it to them. You will probably only bypass the system because you have reported an item that is not as described which is against ebay rules rather than against the law. As far as I was aware, selling something you don't own is effectively fraud, so as a rule you are on a hiding to nothing if you try to be a good citizen. Selling a triple unite based on the image posted in the listing is therefore as described. Rhetorical question, but why bother?

You could find either in change if someone has broken up the set and spent them.

As the title reads. It clearly isn't a stratospheric piece, but must be elevated to some degree. Thanks.

I'll probably put that into LC next time as somebody would want it. At around 3p it hasn't broken the bank, so no rush to cover costs..

Thanks Steve. I'm not going to retire on it, it's just that I don't follow pennies with a great deal of enthusiasm.

F164A is much more exciting Rob! On a personal level, neither are exciting. It isn't something that would grace a collection - it's horrible. i.e. one where I would prefer the attractive red felt On a more serious note, it has marginally less wear than AC's on the reverse, the obv is similar.

Thanks Declan, I didn't think I would make a fortune on it. The only other thing of note was an F164A, but at least there is data on that variety on the LC site.

I just picked up a load of shi*e and it happened to have an F175 around the fine mark on the obverse, the reverse a bit weaker from ghosting..

I would take the 1837 penny every time.

Happens all the time.

Very good question! Some get included, some don't. It's all down to who compiles the literature. This one has been in all the books for years, so it's widely recognised as a variety, when strictly speaking, it ain't. What makes die fill NOT a variety, when a die flaw is? I don't think either should be varieties in the hyped up way they are. It isn't a case of unambiguous varieties where there is a clear legend error for example, but a case of a change in die state which people initially wanted to highlight to make a case for something more valuable than it should be - because they had one or more stashed away. They serve to satisfy the individual's desire for self importance and from a collecting point of view permit an expansion of the collection. As long as there have been reference books, there have been entries which are questionable. From the die filled ESC 773A - no colon after OMN on a 1926 2/6d, to the die flaw inverted A in GEORGIVS 1722 1/2d (P802). There are an infinite number of sub-divisions of the variety whether it is the die fill progressing or in the case of Nicholson 194 http://www.colincooke.com/coinpages/nicholson_part3.html clearly shows the inverted A to be an extended flaw to the left of the V - yet people still persist in calling it an inv. A for V error. Again we have an infinitely variable error. All these errors do more to satisfy the individual, than to act as a rigorous categorisation of variety. Both categories are a function of die use and should be recognised as such. I include the silly random dots in legend in this category, such as the Irish sounding O'NE PENNY, or the 1946 flaw. They have a place in a die study, but inflated prices for general wear and tear features is unwarranted.

£120-130 is probably about right. It's a bit better than VF and close to gVF, but nowhere near EF as the flattening on the laurels is wear as opposed to a weak strike or die fill. I would take 130. The reverse might be slightly better, but is fuzzy. Even with a tailwind, I would say £150-160 tops.

I do indeed. Thank you.