Rob

A large number of slabbed British pieces are overpriced in the US, whether it be eBay or saleroom. Stick a higher number on the label and the price often doubles or more. eg. the latest Heritage sale has an 1887 crown currently sitting at $1100. A good few years ago now, someone paid approx £300 after add-ons for a 1901 penny, and there has been a number of Elizabeth II bronze selling for £50+ against a couple of quid for a raw coin. It's a parallel universe.

Why would a majority view in Parliament for a second referendum be any more legitimate than the original referendum? Ok, I appreciate we have a problem here with the decision of the people given to a bunch of opponents to implement. A group who in the main reject the outcome and can't be trusted to deliver, but could work for and possibly deliver a no Brexit outcome would be an absolute disgrace, and I think would lead to considerable unrest on the streets. The view of those MPs saying we should have a second, third etc referendum until we produce the right outcome would be entirely in keeping with EU standards, so one can only assume that MPs are comfortable with their emasculation from decades of being told what to do by Brussels and have lost the will/ability to do things first and foremost for the people of these islands. It should not have escaped people that the French and German leaders recently agreed to discuss, formulate and enact a policy of greater integration with cross-border projects connecting the two countries on various subjects whereby there is joint ownership of projects. This onward drive to a European superstate is the reality of the future and just one aspect of the EU that voters rejected. If this country's MPs aspire to be under permanent Franco-German control (because the EU is essentially their project, being the two major economic powers), then they should be honest and say so. 40+ years of EU membership has had mixed benefits for this country, but it is fair to say that since the introduction of the common currency, that path has been resolutely down. The hopelessly undervalued German economy vs the Euro has ensured they will be in clover for years and years to the detriment of the rest of the EU, which probably helped the French decision. Yet despite this, you still find a majority of our politicians refuse to contemplate going down a path that would free us from their control. Why? Germany is on a free lunch relative to the other member states courtesy of the Euro rate, and the French want to see the back of us anyway as it would improve their clout in the 2 country ruling elite. Somehow we have to get a no deal outcome from this mess as it is the only way to no longer be subservient to Brussels. All other options would negate the referendum result.

Josie has been around for years, just not posted recently. English is not his first language.

Blocked dies. When coins are struck, a small amount of metal debris is created which over time can gradually fill the incuse detail on a die leading to what you describe.

We really do need a button saying this item was listed because there was an error in the member.

There were a lot of problems at the beginning trying to register etc which I'm not convinced have been ironed out properly, as I usually have to make a phone call to find out if the registration has worked. As for the lot won, you were lucky. Last auction in London I wanted to buy a piece and was willing to go to about 1K all in. Bidding opened asking for 600 so I bid, but there was no reply bid at a higher level, just a comment that 600 wasn't enough because they were looking for 700, so the lot was passed as I couldn't increase my bid due to the fact I was highest bidder. Not to worry as no coin is a must have at any price, my life won't end if I don't get it and there are many ways to spend the funds available - which I did the following day. But it p's you off at the time. CNG didn't cover themselves in glory last week either.

Nothing special, just a regular group D obverse. Ex Lockett 4451, Brooker 90A and Selig 28

If you look at the letters on my FLORENNT unite, five years on you can see the letters are now a single punch. I would suggest the later piece is also Briot's work, as it has his characteristic A with the slanted top. Much better workmanship than in 1630, even if the literacy has gone downhill.

I think the same exercise has been performed for all 3 Ns. They are of similar style and both appear to be a composite letter made from 2 Vs, one upright, the other inverted. Many letters were composite at this time. I would say not an error, just a reflection on contemporary engraving and limitations. Advances were made in the following decade, such as the shilling E3 bust punch which was the first one punch bust, previously all having been made from separate crown, head and chest punches.

Surely a general collection would include Maundy money? Anyway, books about topics other than a collector's personal criteria expands knowledge and may inspire to branch out.

All the coins are covered in the 1977 book, though the majority of text relates to the historical aspect. Not too surprising really when you are only looking at 4 essentially identical coins per set, and a change in monarch is required for a new design.

Pity it has been dropped at some point, o/w I might have been interested.

Rather more interestingly, neither the post office address/postcode finder, nor Google maps are able to find the address given. Chapeltown, up by Turton reservoirs, is not the centre of the universe, nor did the road name ring a bell as it should given we frequently do the circular walk around Wayoh and Entwistle reservoirs followed by a pint in the Strawbury Duck. The house number 65 implied a fairly long road with houses, but didn't match the two main roads heading towards Darwen/Blackburn, nor the cross road linking the two. All in all, more than a little suspect.

Even when kept in a bank, it is up to the depositor to insure their own goods unless specifically insured under the T&Cs of the bank. I suspect a good number of deposited items are not insured for whatever reason.

A lot (all?) of the High St banks have stopped offering a safe deposit facility, which given most branches are still open seems a rather strange business decision. A clearly defined area of a building occupied by little boxes that people were quite happy to pay rent for in my mind is a no brainer. It has recurring profits year on year written in big letters. All the overheads are known, so matching these costs to the available space and renting it out allowing for a predefined profit margin isn't rocket science. It's essentially a utility.

They might as well not have bothered advertising them as I've never seen one. Thankfully the fact the designs are by 'The Royal Mint Team' and Jody Clark and not a new named designer means I won't need to tick any boxes here. That's a bonus after the Olympic 50ps.

No, but impex transactions may give rise to a tax liability, so it is simply ensuring that taxable goods are accounted for. Without any paperwork, anybody could claim an item was their property originally and avoid paying any taxes due. Yes it is ball-ache for the individual, but for a business, the directors have a legal responsibility to trade within the law. Any business transaction has tax implications. The paperwork is just recognition of the fact that not everyone has a moral compass, plus it simplifies the aggregation of data for financial transfers between countries via the banking system. It would be impossible to operate if all the info was only held individually.

4th November 2017.

No, you have answered your own question. The first copper penny sized coin was the first copper penny. Other diameters are available and have been/are/will be used for both medals and coins. Any apparent links are entirely coincidental. Nice medal though.

Kronos hasn't posted on the forum for 8 years.

Does anyone have any literature which gives the names of any Dutch engravers in 1640 or thereabouts, or have knowledge of any names. We are talking in the middle of the 30 years war here, so the reference material might be about coins, or something military and related. They would be active in the protestant United Provinces, i.e the coastal regions. I'm trying to think laterally. The reference to coins struck at Hereford in the Civil War mention a 'Rude the Coyner', but given Prince Rupert came from Holland to support Charles I, it is possible that he brought a Dutch mint worker or two with him. Ruud is a Dutch name, and the style of the early W/SA coins is odd in that you get two letters separated by colons. In other words, exactly the same as seen on continental issues such as contemporary ducats etc. when there a number of titles to incorporate. It is clear from this layout that the engraver wasn't completely au fait with this country's obverse legends. Ta.

Thanks. Any Rudigers in there? That's another possibility because it would naturally be shortened to Rude. Sorry, no immediately accessible umlauts

Auction houses will accept anything they can make money on, just as any other business would. The odd one might reject it on image grounds, but most would be ok given the quantity of coins involved IMO. The known valuable single pieces will remain so, but the remainder would need a significant amount of bulking in order to raise the lot value to a sensible level. A handful of VIP proofs of each reign and denomination would have helped attract the money because they sell for a hundreds/thousands compared to a few tens of pounds at best. Even a single VIP proof of each denomination/type from G5 & G6 would attract the person looking for just an example. Although there are a handful of later pieces, it would make the collection appear 'complete' if a representative was available of each type from 1926 on. You could sell to a dealer either acting on commission or as a straight sale. The fact that you have already imaged the collection might be a good selling point as it would alleviate a lot of work re-imaging for little gain. A handful with the odd colours could be redone, but the majority look ok. One downside to the dealer route is the prevalence of 20th century material on eBay with which you will be competing. For common pieces the main audience will be found on eBay as opposed to people who scour dealers' lists or sites and these mostly expect to get everything for 99p with free P&P. The decision will in large part be determined by how quickly you want to sell.

Get one of these. It doesn't need winding up - ever. https://www.google.com/search?q=sundial&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR4sbb5cjfAhVoTxUIHXH9Dy0Q_AUIDigB&biw=1920&bih=916#imgrc=R7IOVYmbtg93cM:

Thanks Paul. Was Francois Rude from the right period and location? It could be that Rude the Coyner was the correct spelling. I threw Ruud in as an Anglicised version of a foreign name to broaden the number of possibilities. If Rude is French, there is also the possibility that Queen Henrietta 'borrowed' him, being of French Royal blood. As for the van Loon book, my Dutch ability is zero, so unless there is a translated version, I'm b*****d. Rude the Coyner was mentioned as being at Hereford in October 1644, which by my reckoning was the same time as Gerard's troops returned from west Wales for the winter recess. I also think he was the person responsible for the initial SA coins and the Tower marked W coins together with halfcrown obverse C plus a number of reverses. Also the early W/SA shilling obv. B and the tower marked 6d. I also think he followed Rupert to Bristol in Sept. 1644, but was sent to Hereford later that month or in early October as Prince Rupert was still President of Wales at this point, and so responsible for all things in Wales and the Marches.