Rob

Bet it's an Isle of Man.

Wow. One of those rare times when a name becomes synonymous with an item or action. Pobjoy have done so many things for the IOM that someone has taken it as the local mint name, though it's probably been helped by Krause listing P(objoy)M(int) as the mint mark.

Probably reached the 80? character limit looking at the length of it.

Can't help. It's tokens, medals and plaques which are outside my interests. Try Paul Withers.

That puts a different complexion on things, though it isn't impossible that originals were also retained by the family. The Watt side of the partnership certainly retained Soho originals, but the Boulton side muddied the waters due to the restrikes with which MPWB appears to be deeply involved and retained in considerable numbers.

If it was difficult to tell whether bronzed or not, then it was probably a Taylor restrike which are passable to notoriously blotchy in their toning. You never see the even bronzing achieved at Soho, which is also darker than Taylor's. There are a good number of ex Boulton pieces in the market now. Obviously MPWB had a good number made of quite a few types which were retained by him and passed to his descendants. They have been coming out in dribs and drabs for the past 15 years or more through a multitude of channels. The one you mentioned in Heritage will have come through the guy who runs the Copper Corner, as he acquired a good number of them. They were also sold through various dealers in this country. I bought some that were listed in the Circular in 2007, which were all ex-Boulton too though not listed as such.

Difficult to say, I'm not very well clued up on my soil toning

Courtesy of mother natures showroom, eh? I'm going for a vegetable patch provenance.

So by implication is also likely to leave tiny black specks on your coins, which may in turn react with the metal depending on what is in the plastic and what leaches out. As ever, copper is likely to be more problematic than silver.

Not a clue, but best guess would be client no.640 wants one of these and the other bit could be and/or a price code, vendor and year of purchase. Could be a Baldwin's ticket, in which case 71 could be client number it was acquired from or alternatively it was acquired in 71. I don't know who Baldwin's 71 or 640 are.

Probably because they don't shout it from the rafters but consider it the norm. The amount of noise generated seems to be inversely proportional to the proximity to the centre and he who shouts loudest gets heard. The centre ground is a broad set of principles that can work reasonably well for all because of a general acceptance we are not ideological/racial/religious clones and so we give and take a bit to accommodate diversity of just about everything. The problems often arise when a (usually relatively small) sub-section of society works to impose its expectations on the majority.

We have the option of voting in a repressive one-party system if they were to put themselves forward as candidates. However divided we might be in our opinions, a mechanism is in place to change direction peacefully without bloodshed. That is never an option once the state removes or nullifies that choice. So, no I don't think we are being unrealistic.

The collotype images used up to the mid 1920s were much higher quality than the subsequent images. It is quite possible to see minute specks of wax on images which helps to confirm or disprove a provenance. The problem was the cost of a catalogue. The Bruun catalogue for the sale in 1925 (142 pages and 24 plates) cost a guinea! That's a huge cost when put into context - e.g. lot 128 sold for £1 and comprised 4 Aethelred short cross pennies in VF (2 Norwich and 2 Salisbury). The price had escalated from 2s6d pre-WW1 for a similar size volume.

I wasn't sure why they bothered having a vote in the first place given the outcome was pre-determined and wasn't really up for discussion in the first place / would have had to be re-run in the event of a voter mistake. When the opposition is blocked from campaigning, it proves to the world that nothing has changed. Same could be said for at least half the countries of this world. I noticed on the 10 o'clock news that there were prizes available as part of the election, but it wasn't clear whether they were for apparatchiks or repentant free minds.

Go home. That's awful.

There's always someone. Never underestimate the capacity of the uninformed to make a bad decision.

They should know what they are cataloguing given the length of time they have been in the business. However, I think you might fall foul of their rule 6 since more than 8 days have passed since you received the coin. A mis-described item would override any grading issues and one would hope is covered by the general conditions for purchase at auction sales referred to in item 7, but I have no idea what the wording is. If you compare the images of a couple of proof crowns on the London Coins archive, the rims are infinitely better than what you have there. IMO, the images of the obverse look like the surface has been polished. The reverse is less clear cut, but the rims are still wrong. They should be crisp, flat and squared off. Any edge milling should be relatively sharp to the touch compared to a currency coin. Compare yours with the rims on the two coins sold in sale 167 http://www.londoncoins.co.uk/?page=Pastresults&searchterm=1887+Proof+Crown&searchtype=1 CONDITIONS OF SALE1The auction sale is by upward bidding to the highest bidder against cash payment in EURO with a premium of 20 % of the hammer price.2The auctioneer is entitled to waive payment in cash and to supply the merchandise against invoice. Invoices are to be paid within 15 days. The cost of postage, insurance and bankcharges will be charged to the buyer. An interest of 1 % per month or part of month will be charged if payment of the purchase price including the premium, tax and any cost is not received within the stipulated period.3Title remains with the seller until goods have been paid for in full. The risk is for the buyer from the moment of knock-down.4The auctioneer guarantees on behalf of the consignor the genuineness of all items sold, unless otherwise stated.5Grading is made to the best of our knowledge based on our long experience but is to be considered as the personal opinion of the cataloguer only. All lots will be sold ‘as is’. Difference of grading by grading institutions does not give grounds for the returning lots bought.6Justified complaints can only be considered within 8 days from receipt of the goods.7Unless otherwise stated the general conditions for purchase at auction sales, as deposited at the Court in Amsterdam under number 388/1989, are in force. Should any legal action arise, the Court of Amsterdam has exclusive jurisdiction for both parties. Only the Dutch text of the conditions of sale has legal forc

Possibly a few too many contact marks on the obverse?

That's probably because they've identified the likely suckers as being on the other side of the pond. They could really go to town and get them certified as genuine, or maybe even the 'finest known'.

I can see it will be good for less scrupulous sellers as it provides style over substance and will probably appear on ebay at some point. Why show a truthful and accurate representation with a still image when technological smoke and mirrors are available? Sad but true - people like fashion, fads, novel ideas, things their mates have etc. at the expense of practicality.

I know it's a first attempt and has potential for improvement, but it neatly demonstrates the downside to videos which is the subject keeps moving position. When you study a coin it helps to keep the image constant and let your eyes move where you want them to rather than play catch-up. Trying to study a small area or feature is impossible. Take pictures from different angles by all means to try and emphasise a point or feature, but to show something, it needs to stay still. i.e. less technological input or video skills is more, unless it is done as an entry for a video competition. This was discussed a few years back when someone kept posting their recent acquisitions as videos. Couldn't view the coins properly unless the video was halted - which for most is the same as taking a regular picture. I really struggle to see any benefit in doing it this way.

Which auction house are we talking about?

I just drag the required file into the reply box. I've no idea about choosing files from a menu.

Which is how I treat it. The rarities were never very accurate and always seemed to be one person's opinion written on the back of a fag packet. TBH they are redundant for most applications because as long as there is enough to go around - nobody cares. Somewhat depressingly, the one area where they could be of use is the least attractive to collectors (proofs and patterns), but even then things seem to be based on a number plucked out of the air.

For many less widely collected varieties they were a guesstimate 70 years ago and mostly remain so. Nobody has the time or inclination to revise the complete book and so it is down to individuals to do their homework in their chosen field. Nobody has all the coins in the world at their fingertips, so any estimation of rarity will be just that. I'm sure we all have R's that we have seen but one, and R7s where you can pick and choose. Know your subject or be prepared to be pleasantly surprised or disappointed.