Stechlin

Sorry, I forgot a part of the answer. "Mint" means the town where the coin has been strucked. I don't know, what "Metal observation" means, but there should be a field in your software, where you write in, what kind of material your coin is, i.e. copper or bronze. If there isn't, this could be meant with Metal Observation. But I'm a German, there sure is better help for this question in this forum.

It means exactly the shape of the coin. So i.e. an enneadecagon is a polygon with 19 sides and angles. Just look for the terms dodegacon etc in Wikipedia and you will understand, what is meant with those terms in your software immediately

Hi, Hus Lets go into details: (this posting is a really difficult one with my school english ). Your pictures now are really good (better than 95 % of all coin pictures on the web), but if you are looking for a nearly perfect documentation of your own coins or a perfect picture, if you want to sell coins: Looking at your new photos, two things are interesting: 1. The right side of both pictures shows more details than the left side, I don't have an explanation for that, because you've seemed to have photographed straight upside down. But, as the author in your article already said, try to bring a bit more distance between coin and camera. 2. You wrote, that you are using photoscape as one of two programms to improve your pictures. As a German, I’m not really sure, what you mean with the “circle cropping toolâ€, but I think, I know what you mean. It’s a tool, that recognizes a shape in a picture, marks it, and – as you said – you can change the background afterwards. If we are talking about the same tool (I know it from German programms with the name “Zauberstabâ€, especially in the professional “Photoshop†programm): Don’t use that tool in coin photographing, because it ruins the “outer side†of your coin pictures (the edge), as it certainly does in your pictures, if have a close look at your pictures in that region. 3. I’m adding a picture of one my coins (I have had to reduce the quality, to get it in here), not a good one in terms of coins (but an interesting one, I will show later on). But as you can see, all details from the highest points of the coins to the lowest one are quite sharp (concerning number 1 above). And the edges are sharp too (concerning number 2 above). I had a similar “background problem†as you perhaps had, but for my “cup of teaâ€, I have determined, to use a black background in general and I’m using a kind of felt for that, because that reduces reflections. But: There is another problem, and I have to admit Panterex is right: My coin picture concerns a Copper one, and is quite easy to photograph, because there are only a few reflections. I had lots of “light troubles†photographing the few hammered Silver Pennies I have. You have managed a perfect light to your picture of a reflecting Gold coin, so all in all it seems you solved the difficult problems before the easy ones. I’m looking forward to collect more hammered – Silver - Pennies, so you can imagine, I’m keen to hear, how you solved the light problem. Regards Holger (or, as Chris would say: Herr Stechlin)

Great effort Hussolo! I've been interested to photograph my coins as best as I can already for a long time. About a year ago I started a question in a German digitalcamera forum and received a lot of help. Although my pictures are now much better as they have been at the start (as yours), there is still room for improvement. Thanks for the article you showed us. Its a great one and whenever the author writes "important", he hits my own experiences. Concerning the true color a manual White Balance is important, if your camera offers this feature. I had a lot of "colour-problems" with my old digicam, which didn't have this. The settings and other things are described in the article, so the rest means experiments with light. - Afterwards you can improve the pictures with an image editor programm (I'm not sure, if this is the right translation), but it means an awfull lot of work! Will you start to photograph your whole collection again, when you are satiesfied with the results?

Sorry, I meant Thatcher

"Herr Stechlin": As the former German Bundeskanzler Helmut Kohl said to Maggie Thachter: "You can say "you" to me." I will still need some time to sort things out, the main question is: Is there life outside the Pennies?

Thanks Chris. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I plan on making it for coins/numismatics only and I will advertise it in numismatic sites and magazines. I'm not going to give up my day job and I'm going to be realistic. I've had the logo,banners, advertising and business cards professionally designed but as you say I have seen auction sites come and go. I'm just hoping that many have reached the end of their tether and if it works it works, if not, so be it. I just want to offer collectors and dealers an alternative. I might be of interest for you, that there is a working german alternative to ebay concerning coins http://www.muenzauktion.com/ . Quite attractive for sellers, because they don`t have to pay any fees for there offers. Instead of that you can (but you don`t have to) let register yourself as a sponsor. In that case you pay at least 12 € (or 24, 36 and so on) a year. As a sponsor your offers appear minor or more often, when people are visiting the website. The side is used by amateurs and professionels as well. I thought about selling a few coins there, but I didn't, because I'm afraid, not many people are searching for british coins there (although you will find quite a lot).

I`m very glad about your new offer und have just ordered some. I was forced to collect coins as a young boy (haha!?). I have to admit, some of this coins are still in the original albums and you can see green material on some of those (sorry for my bad English), which is caused by the bad plastic material. I know, that nowadays envelopes in general are much better. When I started coin collecting voluntary again about 4 years ago, I saved some of those, but a few nice coins had been damaged with no chance of rescue at all, espacially younger coinage. What is really nice concerning your new offer is 1. certainly, I could save a lot of coins for a long time and I will need this time until they will find their way to you, into a capsule, to ebay or into litter, 2. the new construction of your envelopes, that minimize the risks of damaging the coins, while putting them in or out the envelopes and 3. the clear "look through". All in all, just a great idea and it will find its market.

I don't want to bore you, but that coin you showed awakend my interest (close to my hometown). As already mentioned, your coin is a part of "Notgeld" in Germany during Worldwar I. All of the "Notgeld" issues have been forbidden by law in the "Weimarer Republik" (I'm living in Weimar now!). All owners of "Notgeld" coinage were said, that they have to change that coinage into regular coinage in a time of three months. I found a view of that law in the most original form you can imagine. Look at: http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plu...mp;x=11&y=8

Accidentally I found exactly your coin: http://www.muenzauktion.com/gaebler/item.p...=de&id=2089

You are right concerning the offers from ebay, espacially for "Kleingeldersatzmarken", sorry. But you will find those under http://www.muenzauktion.info/auction/searc...geldersatzmarke. Prices are between 3,00 € and 50,00 €.

The town Bingen is a beautiful small town in the Rhinevalley. I come from Ingelheim, which is 2 miles away from Bingen. Chris is right, the coin you are showing is a token, in German numismatic terms Notgeld. Unfortunately I could not find out very much to that special coin or "Kleingeldersatzmünzen" in general. One of the few things I could find out, that this "Kleingeldersatzmünzen" as part of the "Notgeld" during Worldwar I have been used as a substitution for regular coinage espacially for the small denominations in the time between 1916 and 1922. There is special literature for those coins, the standard catalogue seems to be from somebody named Funck, look at: http://www.amazon.de/Notm%C3%BCnzen-deutsc...n/dp/3924861404 (Part 1, there also exists a Part 2). You will find lots of examples for that kind of coinage, if you try http://muenzen.shop.ebay.de/items/Ersatzmu...1QQ_sacatZ21802 - I'm afraid, those coins are quite cheap to get. Holger

The town Bingen is a beautiful small town in the Rhinevalley. I come from Ingelheim, which is 2 miles away from Bingen. Chris is right, the coin you are showing is a token, in German numismatic terms Notgeld. Unfortunately I could not find out very much to that special coin or "Kleingeldersatzmünzen" in general. One of the few things I could find out, that this "Kleingeldersatzmünzen" as part of the "Notgeld" during Worldwar I have been used as a substitution for regular coinage espacially for the small denominations in the time between 1916 and 1922. There is special literature for those coins, the standard catalogue seems to be from somebody named Funck, look at: http://www.amazon.de/Notm%C3%BCnzen-deutsc...n/dp/3924861404 (Part 1, there also exists a Part 2). You will find lots of examples for that kind of coinage, if you try http://muenzen.shop.ebay.de/items/Ersatzmu...1QQ_sacatZ21802 - I'm afraid, those coins are quite cheap to get. Holger

Thanks! You saved me about 1 hour of my probably short life. Holger

Hi! I have decided to concentrate my collection just to my loved Pennies. So I'm now selling nearly all my other "Non-Pennies" on ebay, starting with the farthings. I want to describe my coins as good as I can, but I have a problem with a 1850 Penny. Not a really good one, I have to admit, but perhaps interesting. The coin could be graded perhaps only as a lower Fine one, but the "5" in 1850 seems strange to me. What I think about is the upper bar of the 5, look at both ends. What also seems strange to me is, that the "end of the 5" meets the "middle of the 5" with only a small open inner area. Well, perhaps just a result of usage, on the other hand I won't give up an interesting variety without even knowing about it. Sorry for my bad English, but I hope, you know, what I'm talking about. I'm afraid, I will need a few tries, to put the pictures in. Every opinion is welcome! Holger

Great! But in end you should be glad, that most of the forum members do know nothing about those strange people in the ore mountains, haha. I can confirm that this region has an own language, which nobody outside does understand. And there is no LEO in the internet to help. . Thank you very much for your posting. Is there any question, you cannot answer? I`m once again impressed. Holger (alias Herr Stechlin)

I had to laugh so much about Hussolos experience with babelfish last night, when I looked at it (Lord of the rings, indeed!!). I tried it the other way round, letting babelfish translate the sentence Hussolo received from babelfish again into German. Beautiful! Chris – Living in the “ore mountains†– what sounds very strange in my German ears -, your German is quite good. I could show you your small!! errors, but perhaps you know the nice German saying: “ Wer im Glashaus sitzt, sollte nicht mit Steinen werfenâ€. Try to find out what that means, perhaps with the help of babelfish, Hossolo, haha. What it means: My English is so awful, I should be very careful to criticise British people with their German. Otherwise “ würde ich das Echo nicht vertragenâ€, what means: I would have to expect sharp reactions. And yes Chris, you are totally right describing the development how German people meanwhile are using English idoms without being able even to pronounce those words correctly. Only you would be able to explain Hussolo, what “Brätel to go†means, haha. But: “Du weißt Bescheidâ€. To give this posting a drive to numismatical terms: You all know the inscription on a lot of English coins, not at last the Victorian Bronze Penny coins “Honi soit qui mal y penseâ€. I know that this is the motto of the Order of the Garter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honi_soit_qui_mal_y_pense). As it seems, Edward III (living from 1312 to 1377) still spoke French, what seems to be the language of the upper class up to this date. I’m not sure, but I think I’ve read somewhere, that the English language has been already made the “official†language by Edward I. Chris mentioned, that this bloody German language is spoken in the region of Germany today since about the 1500s (with good reasons, because it’s a difficult, but beautiful language, as the forementioned nice idioms showed), but: At what time average British people started to speak English? And what language did an average farmer speak for example in the 13.century? A kind of Latin? All the inscriptions on the hammered coinage are abbreviations of Latin words. In wide parts still today as a tradition.

Haha! A long time ago I used to play Darts in a pub in Newhaven Sussex "The Prince of Wales" (every holiday all over the late 70ies and some years later on), joined by a friend or a girl friend. Sometimes (to be true, not very often), we (or one of us) won a game and whenever that happened, somebody said "Send those bloody Germans back home!", but that was meant just for fun and developed to a running gag over the years. I never met so many nice people in one place again, one of the reasons, I'm now collecting British Pennies. Thank you for your offer! I still have a problem that has been already discussed somewhere else in this forum on the right place: What coins are interesting to collect - in my case: outside the Pennies? Interested in history, varieties or just beautiful coins in UNC condition? All! I asked Bill Gates last night, and he had exactly the same opinion. I will make my decisions, and will send you the other coins. I know, that I will get a fair price, although I’m afraid, there will be no really big financial transactions. I don’t want to bore the forum with details, instead I will find out how to send you a personal message. Holger

Hi Chris!, Hi John! Your answers are absolutely great!!! Thank you so much. My deep respect to your knowledge. Collecting varieties of the Victorian Copper Penny coinage without any idea about the reasons for the appearance of those varieties seems to me like owning a car, but not even knowing how to start it (typical German, isn`t it, haha). Well, I still can`t drive this car, but the motor sounds good and now I`m looking for the first gear. Holger

looks like to me although you have most probably sold it as well as had a better answer or may even be the same one , however it looks like the mint making a mistake happens all the time on the coins that are normal currency now there have been several mistakes while it was being made . i have seen some coins go to £15 on ebay just for the mistakes. sorry ive replied if this is too late only just joined Thanks a lot! I haven't sold the coin yet. I started to offer a few of my farthings on ebay, but in average they are only in perhaps Good Fine or Very Fine condition (the shown 1850 Farthing is even worse) and nobody is willing to pay much money for that. So I stopped the offers and keep the coins. Thanks again for your answer. I think you are right, there seems no other explanation. Holger

Hi Chris Learning English sometimes is very amusing. I never heard this nice idiom "variety people", but I'm sure I know, what you are talking about and yes, I'm a member of those. - But I have to admit, I'm a bit confused now. Starting as a date runner of Victorian Bronze Pennies from 1860 to 1901 in the first step I always thought, a variety means a different die for the same coin (in that case for example a 1 Penny coin from Victoria). Best example perhaps the different dies being used for the coinage for the 1860/61 Pennies. A lot of Pennies had to be strucked changing from Copper to Bronze (large mintage), the dies lost on quality by the time and new ones had to be made. Similar, but different. Then, second step, I believe having realised, that this is not the whole truth, haha. For example the 1854 Copper coins, that was my question. Now I think, for what reasons ever existing dies have been renewed instead of producing a completely new die. So this would be another kind of a variety. Am I right or what is the reason for a “4 over 3†variety? (as one example for so many date “overstrikesâ€). I don’t want to force you writing a new book just to answer to my question, but if you could manage to explain me with two or three sentences, what you meant with “because they were often re-punched into different dies†I would be very grateful. Otherwise you could perhaps give me a hint for literature for that special question. Hi John. – I’m teasing Chris with this questions, although you have offered me help with this very special questions. Perhaps you could give me the answer too, I will pay the pint of lager, that Chris will pay you to answer the questions of that bloody German, haha. No problem Chris, you are living next door to me. Thanks a lot! Holger

I have been helping Michael with his Copper Penny images for a couple ot years now, he does update on occassion but concentrates more on his bronze work, which I understand he hopes to update his Penny book sometime in the near future, but as you rightly say little, if any, literature is avaliable on Copper Penny and Halfpenny varaitions. Pecks tends to ignore a fine works by Bramahs which lightly touches on the obvious variations, but nothing apart from Michaels site looks at the variations in any depth. Unfortunately Holiday season is upon us, and the forum seasonally quiet, but I'll attach an image of the 54/3 sent to me courtesy of Gary Schindler. http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i141/spr...3close-upHL.jpg http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i141/spr...4-3close-up.jpg I am happy to try and help with any Copper questions, my area is 1825-1860 Penny and Halfpenny. John Hi John, Thank you so much for those beautiful pictures of the "4 over 3" variety. Now I know, what I have to look for. And many thanks for your offer to help me with other questions about Victorian Copper Pennies. I can need this help. I’ve heard from the Bramah book, its generally often mentioned in Pecks work (BM). Must have been a very interesting person, I took a look at wikipedia. A few days ago I’ve started to read the book from Dennis Cooper about coin striking technices, I think this is basic knowledge, otherwise I will never understand the origin of varieties at all. But unfortunately being a German, it’s very difficult to read it. Nevertheless I will try to get a copy of the Bramah book, although I must stop smoking then to find the time to read it, haha. I visited Michael Gouby in his shop a few weeks ago during a short holiday in London. A very nice man, although I think he was bit astonished by the appearance of a German Victoria Penny collector. He told me he is looking forward to offer his new run of his Penny book in October, but he didn’t promise. - Concerning the 1854 Pennies, your answer shows in the same direction as the answer of Chris. Bad luck for me: None of my 1854 is a “4 over 3â€, so I will sell 7 of my 9 1854 Pennies and nobody will be interested in, those are not really scarce, haha. But at least I’ve learned a lesson. S.y.s. Holger

To get any reply to my posting, haha: 1) I' m still looking for a "4 over 3" variety, but I don't even know, how that variety looks like. If somebody has a picture of that, I would be grateful, if he/she could post one. 2) I spent 2 hours to find out, how to combine 2 (or more) pictures in one picture. In my case: To put 9 pictures in one picture, and I'm quite proud to find out the right internet help, which is not as easy as it looks. I will give away that secret for every helpful answer - O.K. on request, for all the others too. Holger

Hi! Looking for infos about a crusader coin (?), I bought at ebay, I found an interesting list of literature concerning british coins being strucked in the Middle Ages. The author of that list is a German (or German speaking) collector. Perhaps the list might be of interest for some of the forum members or vistors. England, Schottland, Irland Allen, M.: The Durham Mint, London 2003 (ISBN 1902040511) Archibald, M. und B.J. Cook: English Medieval Coin Hoards: I. Cross and Crosslets, Short Cross and Long Cross Hoards, London 2001 (ISBN 0861590872) Blackburg, M.A.S. und Dumville, D.N., Hrsg.: Kings, currency, and alliances: history and coinage of southern England in the ninth century, Woodbridge 1998 (ISBN 0851155987) Blunt, C.E., B.H.I.H. Stewart und C.S.S. Lyon: Coinage in Tenth Century England: From Edward the Elder to Edgar's Reform, Oxford 1989 (ISBN 0197260608) Boon, G.C.: Welsh Hoards 1979-1981: the coinage of Cnut in Wales, the coinage of the Empress Maud, the earliest portrait esterlings: with an appendix of other hoards from Viking times to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Cardiff 1986 (ISBN 0720003008) Buck, I.: Medieval English Groats, Witham 2000 (ISBN 1897738420) Challis, C.E., A New History of the Royal Mint, Cambridge 1992 Craig, J., The Mint: A History of the London Mint from A.D. 287 to 1948, Cambridge 1953 Feavearyear, Albert E., The Pound Sterling: A History of English Money, London u.a. 1931 Gannon, A.: The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage: Sixth to Eighth Centuries, Oxford 2003 (ISBN 0199254656) Hill, D.: Sceattas in England and on the Continent, Oxford 1984 (ISBN 0860542261) Ives, H.E.: Foreign Imitations of the English Noble, New York 1941 Jonsson, K., Hrsg., Studies in Late Anglo-Saxon Coinage: In Memory of Bror Emil Hildebrand, Stockholm 1990 (ISBN 9185204102) Metcalf, D.M.: Thrymsas and sceattas in the Ashmolean Museum, 2 Bdd., Oxford 1993-94 (ISBN 1854440470) An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon & Norman Coin Finds c. 973-1086, London 1998 (ISBN 1854441108) North, J.J.: English Hammered Coinage, Bd. 1: Early Anglo-Saxon to Henry III: c. 600 - 1272; Bd. 2: Edward I to Charles II: 1272 - 1662, London 1991-94 (ISBN 0907605044) Pirie, E.J.E.: Coins of Northumbria: An illustrated guide to money from the years 670 to 867, Llanfyllin 2002 (ISBN 0951667149) Coins of the Kingdom of Northumbria c.700-867 in Yorkshire Collections, Llanfyllin 1996 (ISBN 0951667149) Seaby, P.: The Story of British Coinage, London 1985 (ISBN 0900652748) Withers, P.: The Halfpennies and Farthings of Edward III and Richard II, Llanfyllin 2002 (ISBN 0951667181) The link with the article containing this list can be found under: http://www.numispedia.de/Fachliteratur:Index/Mittelalter Holger