Rob

But as nice as it is, it still falls a little bit short of say my 1867 bronzed and 1879 bronze proofs. Both are ex-Nicholson http://www.colincooke.com/coinpages/nicholson_part5.html for comparison.

And the regular one.

Now that's a very interesting discussion. What do you make of this catalogue footnote to the sale of an 1874H penny by DNW in 2006: FootnotePeriodically, the Heaton mint struck carefully finished ‘specimen’ coins of varying denominations as an example of what the company could produce; in some instances they were presented as gifts to dignitaries and government officials and in other cases were part of the travelling portfolio of a Heaton sales representative (cf. Gunstone, SNC December 1977, p.545; cf. Tansley Collection, DNW 67, lot 369). Truly genuine Heaton mint proofs of this period (cf. Adams lot 268 = SNC April 2005, 2467) are exceedingly rare; most of those so catalogued in the Freeman sale were in fact ‘specimens’ That's fascinating. Presumably though, such specimens had the H mintmark? Seeing as I have one of the coins in question, here is the halfpenny ex-Freeman and Terner collections. Unfortunately it's only a scan which reduces contrast a bit, so if I find time later tonight I will try to take a picture alongside both slightly earlier and slightly later RM proofs for comparison purposes. I don't think you need to make too much of some of the lot footnotes as they are often reiterating past footnotes, or even copying them verbatim. It is probably better that collectors make up their own mind. I can see the arguments for both sides, but compared with a regular currency piece that has proof-like fields, there is no comparison.

Good news/happy feely stories make for dull media. It ain't going to happen. Conflicting views brings surprises (good media), agreements mean you already know the news.

My son supports independence on the grounds that he often works out of Aberdeen, so it would boost his days out of the country for tax reasons.

The two catalogues above were available at the Midland on Sunday, the other one will be out shortly.

HVE is HUE. I can't think of an example prior to G2 (1740 halfpenny) where U is used to replace V.

I don't know about being frightened of Scottish indepemdence, but I sure am wary of having to adopt Scottish spelling.

North is a start, followed by the numerous articles in the BNJ and the various sylloges of the SCBI series. There are specialist works on small sections/mints/reigns etc such as Mossop's Lincoln work, Sadler's Ipswich mint volumes etc. As with all publications, no one reference gives all the answers. The list is very long indeed, so narrowing down the field of interest may help giving guidance.

I like NGC more too, but mainly for their greater propensity to mis-atttribute. Fewer potential profits are available for this reason in PCGS slabs. I concur with the idea of their acquiring a grading book or two. Cheap loupes from China might not go amiss either.

He could have been French given that the French version for Lincoln was Nicole. Alternatively, it should be borne in mind that the language of the nobility and court was Norman French following the conquest, so this may be normal for the period. Not a clue about HVE the individual though. In the Mass sylloge, Lincoln has 4 moneyers for Va, Alain, Andreu, Hue & Iohan. 4 moneyers for Vb, Andreu, Hue, Rauf & Tomas, and 2 moneyers for Vc, Andreu & Hue. These all write the signature NICOLE in all three classes.

They haven't attempted to… they just say 'mostly uncirculated'. While some are, many are most certainly not. so they got the 1967s right?

How did they manage to grade them in that case?

I suppose the question is, is it available? I have many images of desirable but unavailable coins.

They aren't popular because the design is fairly boring and monotonous across the entire series. However, for anyone wanting to assemble a complete coinage they are the ideal material. Cheap, relatively available despite the low mintages, and ultimately quite a satisfying venture for the collector.

As was said at the time of the farthing mule debate. It was a mule in PCGS' considered opinion..................................................precisely. Something other individuals and TPGs are incapable of making, apparently. A guarantee is a safeguard against their making a balls-up. They and other TPGs, of course, do not make them.

Great. 2013 1p. Brilliant, as struck. Uncirculated. est. £0.01-0.02 Provenance Tesco, Bognor Regis. Till 5. 3:45pm 23/12/2013

I'm not sure why anybody gets particularly exercised with any price guide given we all accept that they aren't perfect and that the numbers are a vague fictional approximation. It's a case of doing your homework.

They are in a business where the entry costs are not very high, nor are they operating in a highly skilled professional business. In short, anybody could set up a similar business and copy their proven model. Their continuing success relies entirely on the perception of the coin collecting fraternity when comparing PCGS with its peers. Stock prices will increase in anticipation of business growth. Maybe the market is looking at the past decade or more and saying it is time for prices to take a breather. A correction would be healthy as it would enable a few people with broken stop buttons to realise that losses can also happen, either paper or real if financially constrained. Whilst this would not directly affect the prices charged by the TPGs, it would possibly result in fewer submissions as a result of lower sales. A market correction would also have to be reflected in the 'official prices' of slab grades due to a reduced demand. A valid question is whether the TPGs have ever been affected by a genuine downturn. As the last major reduction in prices was the 30-40% fall at the beginning of the 1980s, the TPG model is in danger of entering unfamiliar territory, because to date the market has either been nominally flat or increasing.

The second one.

Bargain! If that is MS65, someone should have an example that was too good to fit on the Sheldon scale - so they refused to slab it. Obviously wear to the hair, bun and wreath means nothing.

This sort of ties in with a previous topic I brought up where I asked if the H or KN dies were reused at the mint after I thought there was a shadow of a letter present, but nothing clear. Can't remember the thread name though.

I'm not getting what I used to before we had a speed upgrade done today by BT. eg. I have Lots of British, Enquiries about British, Members only and Rotographic research only. Coin software and oo er mm have gone. Ideas anyone? The bottom half is not quite a full forum either.

I think you would need to be on the same 'medication' as Peter to make that a 3 over 1.

It's all going to depend on how much money you are prepared to throw at the hobby. If the amount is seriously limited, then modern things would be better as you get more for your money, but you should always get them in top grade if you take this route. If you want to get mostly G3, increased costs come into play. At that point you need to sit down and do some costings to ascertain whether you have, or are prepared, to make sufficient funds available for the target you set yourself. 'Re-stamping of foreign coins' implies you are interested in the countermarked 4R & 8R and/or restruck Spanish 8 reales pieces by the Soho mint. These are not particularly popular as a collecting area, but many collectors want an example of the type(s). As a consequence they are quite cheap in comparison to crowns or halfcrowns. The market is quite thin, but there are many rarities within the series as you have to consider the host coin. There are a few forgeries knocking about in the form of false countermarks or silver dipped copper casts.The latter are quite obvious, the former less so as you need to familiarise yourself with the punches used for the genuine article. Even within this small series, there are some rare pattern and proof pieces which go for eye-watering sums. I personally think they are a good series due to their relative unpopularity.................... but I am a natural contrarian.