Rob

Sounds like a laminating flan where a bit peels off, possibly due to an inclusion of some sort in the metal when the bar was made. Trapped air or a different material would do it.

Excellent, in that case please can you contribute to my request for pictures of Charles I coins associated with the Carey commission? It is in the same section of the forum, a few threads away from this one and gives a list of what I need. Thanks.

The only time I went in was for an hour on spec as I had a coin which I wanted to compare with theirs. They accommodated me, which surprised me somewhat. They bought out the tray(s) with the relevant coins while someone stayed in the room. Any coins you take with you will be weighed in advance to ensure you don't exchange them, but they are allowed in which is good if you need to compare dies. A down side though is if you want images of any of their coins as has been mentioned before. £50 for a uniface or £60 for an image both sides is simply too much for your average collector which has to be paid for in advance and arrives in the fullness of time.

I need pictures of two Oxford halfcrowns. Morrieson 1644 types C3 and C4 with the billet stops on the reverse if anyone can help. Thanks. I have a picture of Adams 192 (C3) already which is probably illustrated in Bull.

Console yourself that British coins are cheaper than US coins. The most expensive was the Edward III double florin that made £460K in June 2006.

Gulp... Ok I am framing this response for the next time the wife looks over my shoulder at my next acquisition Some people wouldn't pay more than 99p on ebay for a coin or live their lives searching the 50p bins whereas some pay a six figure sum or even more. Why assume this forum is any different? We are a broad cross section of collecting society and it's each to their own. As long as your priorities are to provide the basics for your family and dependants and that is covered, the surplus is disposable income/savings to be spent in any way you or your partner chooses or not. In the case of the above sum, £4500 will buy a nice coin, but there is an ever increasing list of things that it won't. As long as it is within your means, £45.00 or £4500 is irrelevant. Of course you can spend what you wish to, it's your money, it was just interesting to see how different people go about their hobby. Didn't mean to irritate you. Doesn't irritate me, just that some people like to keep their cards close to their chest and might feel the question a little intrusive.

Gulp... Ok I am framing this response for the next time the wife looks over my shoulder at my next acquisition Some people wouldn't pay more than 99p on ebay for a coin or live their lives searching the 50p bins whereas some pay a six figure sum or even more. Why assume this forum is any different? We are a broad cross section of collecting society and it's each to their own. As long as your priorities are to provide the basics for your family and dependants and that is covered, the surplus is disposable income/savings to be spent in any way you or your partner chooses or not. In the case of the above sum, £4500 will buy a nice coin, but there is an ever increasing list of things that it won't. As long as it is within your means, £45.00 or £4500 is irrelevant.

Brilliant. All those who don't believe in spending money on books take note. I presume the problem is the same in Portugal as it is here. No book covers everything, and even within a specialist book there are things missing. That's why you need so many reference books to cover all the gaps.

Wrong question. Most people buy expensive coins out of savings as well as disposable income, so the answer isn't related to earned income. How many people would say "I must spend £XXX more this month, I'm falling behind with my spending"? One, two.. perhaps, but then again, maybe not. Buying something out of the 50p bin is no different to buying a bar of chocolate. What percentage of your income do you spend on chocolate?

Depends on what you collect. If you collect copper as well as bronze, there isn't an alternative.

Sounds interesting Rob, is it for a new publication? I would have thought you are after high res images of the already known coins? as I would have thought these issues can't have many unknown pieces. There is the rough looking SA halfcrown with RR at the moment, but I guess you have seen that. Plus I know someone with a 'connon-ball' halfcrown which as far as I know is unpublished, might be worth trying to gain a picture of this one. Presumably with an unpublished die combination? The Besly SA coin illustrated has Allen die 41 which he didn't record. There must be a few other combinations out there which if they appeared for general consumption would simplify the chronology immensely. A picture would be useful - as I said before, any picture would potentially add something.

Never been in Spink AFAIK. It was in the Coincraft Catalogue and also CCGB but as you say, that doesn't go back far enough. Any copper and bronze weights are in Peck, except for the Irish that is. Woods coinage was struck at 2/6d worth to the pound. Ruding probably has all the info, but would need to be extracted.

Sounds interesting Rob, is it for a new publication? I would have thought you are after high res images of the already known coins? as I would have thought these issues can't have many unknown pieces. There is the rough looking SA halfcrown with RR at the moment, but I guess you have seen that. Plus I know someone with a 'connon-ball' halfcrown which as far as I know is unpublished, might be worth trying to gain a picture of this one. I'm trying to resolve the W, SA, Chester and Hereford problem plus all the minor issues which must impinge on the commission area. I need as many hi-res images as possible to try and sort out the punch movements and chronology. I think I have a solution for over 90% of it based on a radical rethink, but now need to prove my theory wrong. As always, the concept comes in a flash, the basic skeleton takes a day to write down and order, but getting all the corroborative data for, or contradictory evidence against will take ages (a couple years in all probability).ANY images are potentially useful, but the bigger the better. One I missed off the list above is the 1644 dated C H below the horse. The BM's is crap, but does show the date. The one illustrated in Besly's Coins and Medals of the Civil War has good centres but virtually no legend. I want to know the initial mark employed if anyone can help. Another thing that might be useful is to extend the Oxford dates through to the end in 1646. Thanks.

We had three or four inches yesterday and cleared the road this morning. The residue is melting rapidly. If it get cold tonight though, those who didn't clear their streets might have fun because there's a lot of slush out there.

type grains to grams or vice versa into google depending on which you want. A quick calculator comes up at the top. It's easier than remembering the numbers or having a table you can't find. You are unlikely to forget you are using a computer.

All grades or just the best ones? The market is still absorbing Bole's collection with relatively few collectors interested in the denomination.

Anyone on the forum want a copy of Peck 2nd edition before I list it on the website? No dust jacket, but internally clean. £110 + postage if you are interested.

Sensible policy, only buy what you know unless it is obviously cheap and worth more. If in doubt, leave it out.

I have no intention to sell and am on a roughly 30 year project assuming I last that long. I keep the family informed of where the collection is going and of new additions so that hopefully there will be a collective reasonable understanding of what's present if I'm not here to oversee it. It also raises the possibility of passing on the collection to someone who has an understanding and appreciation of it. history is littered with examples where the father or grandfather assembled most of the collection before being sold a generation or two later.

For what it is worth, every coin in my collection has a separate file with pictures of it and any associated tickets together with acquisition details, price, reference varieties, weight, rarity etc. Every coin has a ticket(s) too with details of the complete provenance so far established written on the back. I've already warned them about potential dropped b****cks between silver and nickel issues that look the same and other important differences so that they don't sell a £1K coin for a tenner.

As the usual coin was a penny, so cartwheel pennies (or possibly twopences) or later, not much chance of a rarity methinks.

I have to confess I know absolutely nothing about these. It's definitely 5/4, so where is the mintmark? If Krause is accurate, the only 1754 mint listed is WI (Wien), so any 5/4 is likely to be from here unless other mints had dies cut that weren't used. I suspect Krause may not tell the full story, so does anybody know the definitive volume for Austrian currency?

You can always break them out.

It will always be a case of personal preference. Even I have a handful of slabs in the bank which means of storage is another bone of contention. But that's because they are only type examples and they happened to come in CGS 90 slabs, so may as well leave them not being part of a research project or the main collection. Although I can't speak for everyone, I think for most objectors the dislike arises from the third party opinion tail wagging the collector dog, particularly in the US where many buy the plastic and not the coin.