Rob

Ah, the beauties of education. I quite like the crossed arrows and pitchfork description. The identification of writing and a man's head deserves plaudits too.

£22 postage looks a little excessive!!! Must be for the insurance as 1927 pure silver coins are like hens teeth They could be in pure silver because the picture shows the obverses of two identical pieces. If they were different there would be more reason to be suspicious about the pure silver claim, but as we are talking copies they could have been made yesterday and so the description must be taken at face value.

Or a £5 bank bag of mixed bronze that has been sitting in the back of a safe since the mid 1880s would suit me, hours if sorting! That would be one of those amazing once in a lifetime, never to be repeated moments, that rarely happen At £5 face, it would still have minimal numbers of rarities (probably), and still be missing some of the rarer types. Also, even by the 1880s there would have been significant wear from circulation, so it's unlikely you would have picked up many desirable pieces.

That's a pretty good summary of where we are with slabs. The main problem as far as the US TPGs are concerned is their lack of knowledge, or their indifference regarding attribution. One of the regular people on the PCGS forum bought a proof Geo.III halfpenny from me. It came back as a currency MS62 despite complying with the full page description in Peck regarding the type. The devotion of many in the US to slabs means that the grade and attribution won't be queried. The TPG is the ultimate arbiter and I as a nobody must be wrong. It's no more than a business model that some subscribe to, but with recognisable faults that an open-eyed collector can see through. For the initiator of this thread, do not expect higher prices from UK buyers just because a coin is slabbed. If slabbed by NGC or PCGS then it would appeal to US buyers more, but only if the number is exceptional for the coin type. If in doubt, don't bother, as you are unlikely to be only uncertain person as to whether slabbing adds value. Slabbing for protection has a rational basis for use, but paying someone for a numbered label and an opinion on the grade can rarely be worth the effort unless the coin is exceptional given the ever increasing number of slabs in the market place. I learned the hard way not to overpay based on grade having bought 2 or 3 MS65s with edge defects which were only seen once out of the slab.

They used cut up silver plate, weighed it and stamped the value. That is why you get the odd denominations. No melting involved.

Thanks Accumulator. If anyone else wants to do similar searches and report the results in this thread to confirm or repudiate the suspicion, I'll have a word with Phil tomorrow if necessary.

1) B.P. are the initials of the designer of the famous George and Dragon reverse - Benedetto Pistrucci. 2) Perhaps gF to aVF. 3) Spink catalogue for Half Sovereign without BP in exergue (S.3881A) has prices £100, £125, £395, £2150 for F, VF, EF and UNC respectively. Nick, I think you'll find those prices are for the 1897 without BP. 2011 Spink doesn't list the 1900 without the initials, hence it may be an interesting find but need Marsh to confirm. Marsh (half-sovereign 2nd ed.) notes at the top of p.42 that "B.P. for Benedetto Pistrucci do not appear on this type". This would suggest that all old head halves are without BP and that the initials are the exception. Not being into half sovereigns, I can't comment, but perhaps someone can add to this. Sovereigns do have BP in the exergue. Neither the image in Spink, nor my 1893 London half have BP, so it is quite possible that the half section in Spink was written assuming that BP is normal as per the sovereign, but when the 1897 was added to the list later, the person suggested inclusion noted the BP was missing having read the text to assume that BP was present. Note that S3879A is a Melbourne 1896 similarly noted as being without BP. If people can do a check on all the images they can find for veiled head halves and can confirm the total absence of BP, it would be worth getting Spink to remove S3879A and S3881A from the list with a note added to S3878 that BP is not present. I would suggest that Marsh is probably right on such a fundamental point. We could do all this today and get in touch with Phil tomorrow if correct, in time for inclusion in the next edition.

Thanks Joey, I've had several oportunities to buy this coin but always declined because of the wear to the laurel leaves and knee. I already have a normal flan piece without this detraction. A wish list might be a bit misleading as I already have the two posted, but they stand out as a realised dream. On the question of unrealised dreams I would put forward this Truro crown as a candidate. Ex Montagu, Murdoch and Wakley, it was bought by Spink at the Wakley sale in 1909 and as far as I can establish has not reappeared in a catalogue since then. It may be in a museum by now, but on the assumption it isn't you may rest assured it will go for a lot of money should it come up for sale. At the Wakley sale it realised £30 compared to the Petition and Reddite Crowns' £43 each.

The weight is 1.95g. Nothing in Wilkinson, have not got Brown. Despite being slightly clipped, it still appears to be slightly undersized to be a 6d. However considering there is no evidence of any such groat and assuming it is not a forgery, I assume it must be an unusually small 6d flan in combination with slight clipping. It can go in the scrap hammered pile for eventual bulk sale unless new evidence comes to light. Sounds like a copy. A well worn sixpence would still weigh around 2.5-2.6g. To take 20% more off that would require more clipping.

There isn't anything to suggest it is a groat. It looks like a 6d because it's slightly clipped and in any case they came on different flan sizes - see Spink p.254. The mark is pheon, so 1561 ish onwards. It should be possible to confirm that with the weight. From your questions I presume it doesn't conform to any of the descriptions in Spink, Brown Comber and Wilkinson or any other reference, so do you suspect a forgery? It's so dire that I can't imagine anyone would want it, though I suppose there's always a willing buyer on eBay as I presume you are looking to sell? Don't ask anyone to identify the bust type though unless specific to the flan size.

Slightly more mundane. A pattern shilling in copper.

That's an early milled beauty, it really is. Just supposing your dreams came true and you had the funds to realise it, how much would that set you back? £9645.25 plus postage at 2003 prices

You don't want this one, the lustre is suspect.

Now I get it, it's your birthday present. Happy birthday and well done the person who chose it for you.

No groats, not even patterns. There is a dated 1st issue penny, but not much else. The countermarked Edward VI shillings from 1560 were dated, though the date was obviously either 1549, 1550 or 1551.

Scott, you remind me of the son of a person I met from London about 20-25 years ago. When we first met, his immediate reply was "Cor, you dun ahf talk funny mite" - an unlikely arrangement of letters and words. ..Yes, well..... Unlike my friend's son, is there any danger of using your mother tongue in a written form that I can recognise? It's worse than Azda's teutonic iPhone. Thanks in advance.

Is that yours, and if so is it the one that Roddy had? my pin brain thought it was ExBarr, did not see your prior reply Could be for all I know. I just remember Roddy having one recently.

If we are in fantasy mode, will Father Xmas bring me one of these please? Ceonwulf penny David No we aren't in fantasy mode. That's not allowed. If you get hold of it, please could you bring along the Hywel Dda penny for me while you're at it. Ta very much.

Is that yours, and if so is it the one that Roddy had?

I live in a thousand parallel universes where each has a different piece to idolise, so here's a coin from one of them. Peck 834 thick flan silver proof halfpenny and my website logo coin.

The images are a bit small. You need straight on clear pictures with this series because portrait and letter features determine the type and hence the reign.

He has.

I have problems with the "Ashby" attribution. Lots of things don't add up when taken as part of the A & B mint scenario hypothesised by Boon.

How about rare coin in a common grade?

Dire, but as Hobson's Coice - desirable.