Rob

I only ever see it when the incident light is from the opposite direction to normal. So as I normally scan a coin in the correct orientation with light from above, when I scan it inverted, my brain takes a while to adjust. It's initial reaction is that the bright areas are reflecting light which by default comes from above the coin. The detail at this point becomes incuse. It works best with simple designs though. This is one that always causes the effect to my eyes. If you can somehow copy the image and invert it you will see what I mean.

Unless the source of the information was the original manufacturer of the item in question, I would treat any rarity value with a pinch of salt. That applies in both directions, but doesn't mean that you average them out to believe the info is on balance correct.

Phew, thank God. He's only willing to mail it within the US. That's as good as a minor lottery win for the UK.

because dipping on ebay can double your money Sad but true. I've bought some really attractively toned examples on the cheap over the years, yet seen bright, lifeless, cleaned etc sell for far more. That is a plus on ebay for people who like antique toned original surfaces, but a bit of a bugger for those who want full lustre.

My favourite coins (many of which aren't among my best, by some way) I would never want to part with, for all kinds of reasons including the sentimental. But I have others, which I wouldn't bat an eyelid about parting with. I kind of feel about them, "Ok, got that, seen the film, worn the T Shirt - what next?" Anyone else feel they could divide their collection in two : one lot that they'd never part with, the other that they could part with without too many qualms? And that the first lot doesn't necessarily include their finest specimens? I think that applies to most people. Some pieces are just too nice to sell, whilst with others you are ambivalent.

Midnight oil? Nonsense, it's nearly 2am.

Oh, come on now. Didn't you see that it is "A Splendid Highly Collectable Example "!? ... that and the fact that this is eBay, not the real world of course. It's not that bad an example as they come, with the question being whether you want one or do you want the gap. You would pay into 4 figures for any shilling around the EF mark with E or E* below. High grade examples are seriously rare.

Huge (1-5Mb) photographs of any York halfcrowns required if anyone can help. All types would be useful, but especially those with the groundline (1A, 1B & 1C). Thanks in advance.

Being a proof only issue, most examples turn up at around the EF mark. At not even VF with tooling and rim marks I think you would struggle to get much more than the fine price for it - say a couple hundred.

The rim marks hit you in the face the minute you saw the coin. I didn't look very closely at the fields as the marks on the rim would have been enough to put anybody off on their own. Although not the commonest piece, it certainly isn't rare with a few examples passing through every year, virtually all of which are ok.

It depends on what the coin was in contact with. Looks like rust, and the world isn't short of objects made of mild steel.

Edge marks and polished fields are described, so you might have a job saying not as described, but will probably get away with it as it doesn't say tooled. The tooling scratches are the worst problem, but I wonder why you bought it in the first place with these. I hope you didn't pay too much. Basically, someone has taken an electric polisher with a fine point and attempted to buff up the fields giving the damage seen.

Where did it come from and what was the lot description? Any auction house with a sense of decency would have said tooled at least. With all due respect to Scott, this one is in his territory and budget.

Tooled to b*****y. The wear on the portrait should be indicative of what you would expect the fields to be. Horribly bright with tell-tale gouges to both sides. How was it described? I bet it didn't have a very full or accurate description. This is close to melt value (assuming it is silver). Someone's having a laugh - at your expense.

Happy birthday from me too.

Things can get clipped and the weights of some of the small denominations can vary more so than for the larger pieces. The smaller the coin the larger the spread about the mean. If in doubt, measure the inner circle. The penny will be 11 or 12mm dia, the halfpenny 10mm or a bit less.

I ordered a 69 and got beanshoots I don't know if is the same now because this was 10 years ago, but the Chinese near the Star & Garter at the top of the High St in Wigston, Leicester did it properly. Whilst discussing what we wanted, my friend said he fancied a 69. The menu informed us that was Shrimp & Mushrooms. You couldn't make it up if you tried.

That's just modern crap, the guy's talking out of his bottom. The genuine originals came in a twist of blue wax paper. Another sad old git who remembers them. Those were the days, when salt overload wasn't a requirement for eating crisps. Lets face it, when was the last time you had a choice of salted or unsalted?

An excellent question! I personally have no clue, but will be watching this thread in the hope it's a long one! I have a half ( no pun intended) interest in these myself! I think Peter's right, in that the single, most important, feature, must surely be that the halves and quarters must clearly identify the host coin! I would think this area is begging for a catalogue! Then watch the prices rocket! £££££ It would never work. Hammered coins were never struck on a predetermined die axis. As it could be anything from 0-359 degrees, any cut fraction is a one off. As for prices, a £5K rarity sells for about £500-1K as a cut half depending on what is legible. Fractions of common coins might sell for more than 10%, but are unlikely to exceed 25% of a whole coin in similar grade.

You could add, why is he only selling to the UK only, too? Nobody in their right mind is going to pay more than a quid for this whether slabbed or raw.

It's not asking too much of any program, but it would certainly take some time to adjust each of the layers to ensure that the sizes and rotations are compatible once the distortion has been adjusted. Checking for distortion is easy enough. If you have two coins from the same die which overlay exactly, then there is no distortion. This then becomes the 'standard' against which you compare the variable one. It is just a problem for the first three Chester halfcrowns, as the kit seems to have been either repaired or replaced by the time that the 3 pellets obverse die was introduced.

Somebody give me a clue please. I'm trying to make a collage of coin images which are superimposed so as to resemble a pile of coins. I am unwilling to physically pile them on top of each other for obvious reasons. I don't seem able to draw a freehand outline in paint to crop, copy and paste, which seems to be about the only suitable program you get with Microsoft. I also can't work out how to cut out a circle and save it as such without taking the basic square or rectangle and manually filling in the bits I don't want with white, but it always keeps the original dimensions even after saving. Not a good day. Yours, frustrated, confused and completely in the dark. Thanks.

It does that in paint too, just the image is over 1Mb so can't post easily. It is a case of adjusting the images and overlaying that I need. The level of distortion varies from coin to coin, so I want to be able to overlay images and then adjust the LHS for example of the variable one until they are superimposed. Is that asking too much of any program out there?

Anything will resell instantly - if the price is right. What you really mean is what do I buy which will appreciate more quickly than a second item. Not a good idea, as you are setting the price you are prepared to pay without the necessary knowledge to make an educated judgment. Buying bullion as an investment is a simple matter of trying to anticipate the gold price. Buying coins that cost many multiples of their intrinsic metal value and then sell them at some unspecified date in the future for an even greater multiple requires a crystal ball which you or I don't have. If you are collecting coins as a hobby, then there is some leeway in the price paid as you are doing it for pleasure. But please do not try to combine investment with pleasure, because one will take priority over the other. Don't treat coin collecting like a standing order to a savings account. Read around a bit, find out what appeals, see how much the items are selling for and only when happy should you buy. Information is the key to happy collecting, and I might add, investment.

Sorry, let's get that the right way up! Sod it. Too big. How can a 147K image become 203K when inverted? anyway, you know what I mean from the image.