Rob

It isn't important as a broad classification will suffice for most things. Every die is different, so the fact that a particular individual has done something in a personal style is neither here nor there as long as it conforms to a particular class using most features. You can always sub-divide a class based on the odd quirk seen on a particular die, but most of these are inconsequential. Some things clearly take a higher priority such as the initial mark, which we know is changed for a reason. But garnishing or embellishment is not easy to tie down as a deliberate and defining change of detail, and thus worthy of being designated a different type.

Not much has changed in the past 300 years. There's still no shortage of people who somehow failed to learn to read and write and live out fanciful lives.

None of the above. You have a lis topped sceptre and a trefoil topped pillar. But given the absence of initial mark, you would have to say IIb. I would guess an early one given the use of the lis on the sceptre. Can't be IIc because the stops are trefoils.

I blame the penny boys for starting a penny only acquisition thread. Coin aquisition (sic) of the Week was doing just fine with nearly 14000 posts until Upinsmoke put his own purchases into a separate thread, then others joined it and now we have a multitude of disparate acquisition threads. Can we not just merge all these into one and keep it simple?

I would suggest that most of the problems arise in provincial auctions which are not specialists in anything other than arranging and executing an auction. Any specialist auctioneer has to tread very carefully and failing to withdraw iffy lots in its chosen field would kill any reputation that was painstakingly built up over time. I've not had any problem with the major players in refusing to take note of anything requiring either a saleroom notice or lot withdrawal. The number of withdrawn lots on the grounds of authenticity are minimal.

So, auctioneers are all crooks. We know eBay is full of crooks. Where else would you buy your coins? China? At least there is no pretense, as you can buy multiple identical examples of whatever coin you choose very cheaply. There are decent auctioneers who will pull an item if there is doubt cast on it's authenticity - most in fact.

That's possible. But then it is eBay. Whilst you may not know what item you will get, you are on firmer ground when assessing the seller. Horses for courses. That's what eBay is and why people won't pay too much for items and why sellers try to counteract that. I think eBay may one day contract to be a one-stop shop for useful everyday items from business sellers only, or maybe split into 2 with a sensible and silly section. It's biggest problem has to be public selling items with a grossly inflated expectation of value.

We should be able sort it out on here. Just post a high res picture that has been cropped to make the coin occupy the full width and height of the image. You might have to resize it to fit the 500kB maximum size. That will give approx. 78% of the image made up of coin with which we can do something. The current useful area is 2% ish.

The point I'm making is that due to the vagaries of eBay, it is easy to inadvertently list something twice. No malicious intent, just human error.

I know from past experience you can list the same thing twice if you inadvertently close a listing in the process of doing so. A copy then goes to drafts. After the interruption you list the item only to find out later that you also have an unfinished listing, which you duly finish.

Because to invert the punch you would have to use the other side, i.e. the bit you hit with a hammer, so the repair would probably be a round or square blob a few mm in diameter depending on what it looks like - I don't know. It is pretty certain not to have an engraved inverted E on the bit you hit. If you rotate the working end it would place the bar on the right

Where would they get a reversed F punch from? If it was upside down the vertical would be on the right hand side of the character. More likely a broken E punch or an I with the arms entered separately.

The description is as you say. Probably a typo as the following item was an 1826 with the same description, which is a year for sets. I have a complete set of SNCs for the year if interested. It's illustrated.

An illusion

Sixpence 19mm dia, shilling just under 24

Those are shillings from when I used to collect shillings and halfpennies as denominations. All four were culled over the past 10 years when I refocused the collection. Although I don't have them any more, I thought they were pretty enough to include on the thread. Here's another, a Wiener pattern, ESC 1380.

A Wiener pattern shilling, ESC 1382

Quite a pleasing 1849 shilling

A few that have been culled to follow.

If you want any more fuel thrown on the fire, my F465A does have a frosted bust.

All the contradictions are generated by those who wish to have a proof designated VIP because suitably attributed coins would probably see a sudden increase in value. Everyone wants the rare coin rather than being content with a bog standard one - think about the number of people claiming to have a satin proof Churchill. Oddly enough, it is probably easier and cheaper to buy a regular 'VIP' proof from the non-set years, than a wishful thinking 'maybe it is' from 1937 or 1953 etc. The VIP label was always given as the rationale for the very low mintage proofs. As to where they went? Who knows. The mintage determined the exclusivity and so the phrase was coined. In the case of the toothed reverse penny, you do have a particularly rare variety, so their VIP attribution could well be a reflection of the people it was made for. The same might possibly be said for the Freeman 465A halfpenny. For an R14 I have seen precious few examples, and the picture on the link above does suggest the rim might be a bit thicker than normal.

People have been mixing and matching sets since they were made. Even if the original coins make up the set, there is no rule which stipulates they have to tone the same, nor whether they are frosted or not. People are still getting far too exercised over this VIP nonsense.

Do the legend punches match, or the datal figures? Can't tell from the images as they are too small, but Chris' image is good enough to compare.

probably should read NAF. Where are the fingers, or does hidden detail form part of the assigned grade? Helmet's flat, drapery's flat, clear date and the picture is devoid of relief. I think that's a dream on.