Rob

Don't know who attributed it, but the mint signature is TVT.

The problem is that you have to sift through the crap to find the occasional gem. I'm only on this planet for three score years and ten. It's ok for you youngsters though.

Block the crap sellers. Gradually build up your list. Ebay were meant to limit sales to 100 listings per month.This doesn't seem to work. When you get stuff like this it is cringeworthy. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290953441637?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 trouble is punters occasionally actually buy this tat. I just block eBay (wouldn't have a clue how to block individuals). I don't bother going on very often, and when I do it is just to search for a specific item.

I think ebay is saturated. Too much rubbish means too few viewers of quality because they can't find what they're looking for. 6 or 7 years ago there were 100 pages of British listed. Now it is 1000 - mostly c**p. There simply aren't that many people looking for junk. Go to a regular auction and the sifting has already been done to a large extent.

Mary, Philip and Mary, Cromwell, and James II will be the most expensive to fill. A Mary groat is about the cheapest option, and you don't get a lot for £250. Philip and Mary you can do with a base penny. £200 would buy a nice one. Cromwell will break the bank unless you economise elsewhere, and there isn't really much in the way of cheap J2 apart from maundy.

Hint. Some of the reigns are prolific, others have a few cheap options and an awful lot of expensive ones. Sort out the latter first and use the common ones to diversify.

George VI might be a problem. There's no 'Goldilocks' coin at that value. A quality 1946 or 1949 threepence would be over this as would the gold or proofs. Most of the rest are cheap as chips, but I would however consider selling anything with a value of £10 for £150-250 if you are desperate. With the best will in the world, you will struggle to spend too much on the later monarchs, so why not set a target for the total spend? That way you can get a better example of the rarer ones.

Value is a question of grade, as always. Searching out past auctions would be the best indicator here. If identifying them is a problem, I suggest you get yourself a copy of Dalton & Hamer for the 18th century pieces. I'm sure there will be something on line, but with the book it is always to hand and if you have a large number to identify, it is always easier to thumb a book. An original would cost a few hundred pounds, but there should be a modern reprint available for less than a tenner. The other book to consider would be Davis, 19th Century Token Coinage. Both are standard references. Try Amazon or AbeBooks.

I wouldn't give either side better than EF. Britannia's fingers are flat holding the trident and so is her thumb on the shield with quite a significant flattened area

Without a picture it's impossible to say, but from the description Fine would be melt, VF £15-20

According to their population report (key: graded, rejected, highest grade) 1905 HC, 16, 1, 75 1917 SV, 1, 5, 65 1864 die? FL not sure what this is 1763 SH, 10, 5, 78 1864 florin with the known copies. Can't remember which die it was.

Which begs the question for anyone who has access to the CGS statistics - how many 1905 HC, 1917 sov, 1864 die? forins, 1763 1/-, etc have been slabbed? i.e.the known dodgy items where your neck is on the line for saying one way or the other.

Know your stuff and you can't go wrong. Believe the hype and you may well end up s**t creek without a paddle.

You have been my biggest influence Rob! I recommend you and your views to all newbies It can get out of hand though At the moment, I have the following numbers of boxes to tick. People in whose name or under whose authority a coin was struck - 251 Denominations, either circulating or in pattern form, used or struck in this country - 130 Attributed designers - 173 Mint locations - 152 Privy or mint marks including overmarks - 327 Errors - 21 Metals/Alloys used - 50 Metal provenances - 11 Minting processes - 8 Misc features - 45 Type examples or too nice to sell - As many as I want The list could never be completed, is regularly extended and the diversity means there is always something to go for. Combine that with an attempt not to replicate designs and it is quite difficult - and fun.

I'm glad people are coming around to my way of thinking. :) :) It's very rewarding.

The one on the left is larger in diameter than the one on the right. Only a mm or so on the screen, but perceptible.

And the one in 'Another question' just now. Looks like Chris might have to start considering restrictions again. Do people have to shout out so much of no or so little importance, or is this just a feature of modern day social media where nobody meets face to face, nor communicates in anything other than text-speak?

Firstly, I agree with the opinions voiced about the 1684 1/- being a typo and would suggest a grade of good VF or nEF was intended. The three coins in the lot sold for £52 to Willis which is a bit low for these pieces at the time in gVF or nEF. The 1645 Oxford F7 I mentioned previously is a little more indicative though of a general tendency throughout salerooms (and for that matter TPGs etc to this day too) to inadequately catalogue the lots. I don't think it is a question of genuine grade creep, as the same people who catalogue become quite critical when buying and grade very conservatively. It is more a case of cataloguers consciously extracting the most out of a description. Or to put it another way, giving a grade based on the best bit rather than the worst. I also think the vendor will influence the grade given. My F7 was graded VF in Montagu, mint state in Lockett, but back to VF in Willis. Clearly we can disregard mint state, but there are also grades around EF assigned. All this points to inconsistency rather than grade creep, though given the influence of places like eBay and the explosion in collector numbers, all of whom have gone to the eBay school of numismatics, it is little wonder that you see so many examples of inflated grades. The same goes for the TPGs and their slabs. Whilst there must be commercial pressure to keep the customer happy by giving a decent grade, there is also a fair sprinkling of undergraded items (by both their standards and others') leading to quite choice 'undesirables' The question of the web is interesting. It has undoubtedly brought more examples of an individual type to the fore, but should not have influenced the grade assigned as the previously high grade examples in collections can still be used for comparison in museums where applicable. What people probably fail to accept is the absolute rarity of choice, high grade pieces. These account for a fraction of a percent of all coins and is why they fetch apparently astronomical prices. The old joke about rare being something that wasn't on eBay this week is only partly tongue in cheek for many, and the quality of fayre offered below that which would pass through a saleroom. We therefore have two parallel sets of collectors, graders and coins with occasional crossover between the two groups.

Another new poster saying the same thing, but nothing in terms of content? As Peter said yesterday, if there is no spam then you are welcome.

I think it may have been planned but never happened. Anyway I think the Nazis would have made a better job of it, I mean its under weight by about a third and has a milled edge. Only a fool would have been fooled by that one. Chinese?

That's ok. A while back there was an Ethelred XII coin cunningly disguised as a Chas.1 shilling.

? Is this a question about a specific coin you have, or the issue? The normal issue isn't a mule which is defined as two dies paired which should not have been. Obviously the current coinage is by and large struck as intended, with the undated 20p the only item known to have escaped quality control. If you have a coin which doesn't conform to the normal issue, please post pictures.

To check it out you will need better images than a phone. Try getting something in the order of 600dpi and use a hosting site such as photobucket and a link.

Is anyone technologically gifted enough to copy the image of the reverse into a program that can adjust the contrast etc. I have tried to copy the jpg file off the screen, but it doesn't want to paste into another jpg file. On my screen it looks as if there is an ascending 45 degree line right off the bottom LHS serif of the 1 and a slight disturbance by the top serif, both of which would be commensurate with a 2

I looked, but couldn't find an appropriate image.