Rob

It was lot 2358, listed as a straight 1732 1/2d. There is something special about early copper with copious amounts of lustre that I find difficult to resist.

Peter, you can still get your Anne and 1717 farthings for considerably less than the price of a lottery win. Try London Coins again. 5th March lots 882 and 883. Following on shortly from these two lots there is even a nice run of proof and pattern farthings should you feel the urge to improve standards.

I wouldn't bank on it. Colin may have fully documented and labelled his collection, but we have no means of knowing so. Unless Neil takes a ready made list and uses that for the sale, it would be reasonable to assume that many varieties will be missed because as a dealer he simply doesn't have the time to spend on learning about and correctly identifying 1700 farthings which were ultimately Colin's pet project. A few months ago he was selling some of Peter Jackson's unsolds from the Cheshire Collection and I purchased the 1732 as it was actually a 1732/1. When I pointed this out, he shrugged his shoulders and said he wasn't surprised because PJ as a dealer hasn't the time to check all the coins for overstrikes etc. That is a reasonable argument, and is clearly a common situation because in the last 5 months alone I have acquired 9 or 10 coins at auction or from dealers that were incorrectly described or insufficiently checked to accurately describe the variety. Only 2 of those omissions or incorrect attributions were in my view acceptable, the remainder being down to sloppy work on the part of the vendor or their agent. I have also seen many more that I was not interested in. Therefore, for the more astute observer, opportunities are likely to be there for the taking. Farthing collectors, fill your boots.

Hopefully someone will have the funds to buy it as a complete collection. Pie in the sky I know, but it would be a shame if the full collection were to be dispersed without full documentation of all the varieties. If I won the lottery tonight, I'd offer to buy it intact.

It would depend on the variety and grade. Register and then you can post a picture of both sides..

It's a 1956 halfpenny with obverse 4 (thicker rim and I of GRATIA pointing to right of border dot) and reverse C (L of HALF points between two teeth 1 of date to a tooth). Freeman assigned a rarity of R12 (1001-2000 known) but most people would be lucky to see more than 1 and it's seriously rare in high grade.

Good. I've just acquired the 3 issues and can see that they are very informative. What does the CD add to this list? Give me the email address anyway and I will sort something out when I have a spare moment. How much is it? Thanks. I can therefore add to that list 1861 6+G with the first 1 over a higher one assuming it's not on the CD. It's not the best coin in the world with only traces of residual lustre and struggles to make EF, but at least is clear.

I'm not familiar with that article, so you will have to fill me in on it. Some of the things match but not all. The date is wider on the short hair, narrower on the long. The triple incuse line is only on one side of the cross (nearest the bottom of the shield), the other side of the cross has 2 incuse lines. The wrist doesn't appear to be thinner at the narrowest point and any difference would have to be minute. Having said that, it does appear to be narrower over a greater distance i.e. the shape is different. The flagpole is non-existent on mine but that could be die fill. I'm not sure which incuse line near the shield base you refer to, but both have a short vertical incuse line of the same length to the left of the cross at 6 o'clock which goes approximately 35-40% of the distance to the join with the St. Andrew's cross

I should also add that although this feature also applies to Peck 1751 (Nicholson 390) it is not a currency use of a former proof die. P1751 has much of the linear circle missing and a mast connected to the flag on the ship. My piece has 99% of the linear circle and no top to the mast.

Best picture for the 1738 is this link to the Nicholson pictures. This is the 1863, but a scanner doesn't show the amount of original colour remaining. If anyone knows how to get good scans of bronze and copper with a realistic colour for lustre, please let me know.

How on earth can you find it stressful? A should I / shouldn't I decision if getting carried away at auction is about as stressful as it gets. For everything else there is time to seriously rationalise your thoughts. Relax, be happy.

I don't get the Mail. Was it the same gold mancus sold at Spink in Oct 2004 for £230K ish and bought by Allan Davisson for which he presumably had to get an export licence? I assume the BM would try to raise funds to buy it. If so it's a pity as they have so many coins that virtually the whole collection is inaccessible to the public because nobody knows what is there and most are locked away for eternity. At least a collector will sell it on in the future so that others can enjoy.

Cancel this request. I've got one.

Help please. Has anyone out there got a copy of Glendinings catalogue for the auction on 30th April 1986. If so, please contact me as I need a scan of a pictured lot. Thanks.

I'd like to be a professional coin collector. The trouble is that I don't have a grade A* bank account so have to continue working.

Yes. I routinely walk to the pub and back every Thursday night for a game of darts.

There is Davies - British Silver Coins since 1816 which is available on a few sites. If you can't find one, his ebay id is rapprochement, that's the only contact details I have but he does have copies too as I bought mine on ebay off him.

1+A, 1+B, 2+A and 2+B with values of rarity C7, N, R and C15 respectively. Obv. 1 & 2 are similar with colon dot between GRA and BRITT nearer the A on 1 and almost touching both adjacent letters on 2. More border dots on 2 and colon dots after IMP are direct to tooth on 1 but not on 2. Rev. A wide date, B is close date and lettering is slightly closer on the latter, but the date is the easiest. 1911/2 is rev. A and 1914 on is B.

Yes.

Sorry, brain in neutral, it's a 1 not 3 ore. Everything else applies.

Very good Mint Mark. It's a 3 ore from Sweden. ref KM253.1, mintage just over 12 million and gives values of VG $1, Fine $2.25, VF $8.00 and XF $40

Davies only notes that the two may be distinguished by checking the "ring" by quote "placing the coin on finger tip and gently tap with a pencil. A low note indicates sterling silver and a higher one debased silver". He also notes the finish on the 0.500 silver is dull, so a comparison of a pre 1920 sixpence with a 1920 piece could also indicate which variety it is, but this would only work for a mint state example. I would also add that the debased one may have traces of verdigris being 50% copper. Hopefully not, but it does help the I D.

No. It can't migrate from one coin to another because it isn't alive. The first coin to suffer does so because the storage conditions aren't ideal and it is the least protected for what ever reason be it surface deposit or in an area of the cabinet with a greater temperature differential. The root cause is the environment the coins are stored in.

It isn't mobile as such, it's just oxidation of the copper as a result of a humid atmosphere and will affect all copper similarly. Different rates of oxidation between coins are probably down to variations in surface contamination in the toning/crud/whatever is on the surface. Just make sure the collection is kept in a dry and preferably constant temperature environment as this will ensure no condensation can occur on the coins which will enhance oxidation.

Yes