argentumandcoins

You'll just have to stick to Chateau La Poo for now mate You may get the real stuff if you send the pics away to Michael Gouby though.

Oh, it was something to do with her female house mate and I asked if she may be a lesbian and never heard from her again. I was just making conversation, it wouldn't have bothered me. Nice pussy by the way. You do have a way with the ladies Chris. Are you gay? No Steve, judging by his comments I would guess he just helps them out when they're busy (Frankie Howerd re-incarnated?)

It isn't the BNTA that keep the knowledge sacred, it's the IAPN of which there are precious few members worldwide. As a dealer my access to the info is exactly the same as yours so you have to use judgement, experience and gut feeling when buying. The only plausible explanation for secrecy is to stop the forgers from perfecting their wares by gaining access to the information, thin you may think but I couldn't possibly comment.

As a potential bidder on this lot (My father was extremely keen on it) I'll put my two penneth in; I had 2 hats on when considering to bid or not to bid, that was the question. As a dealer (like Chris) could I sell it at a considerable premium over a "normal" 1874 Penny, the answer was a resounding NO. It is unrecorded anywhere in what is a relatively common and abundantly available year among the series. Never having been seen/sold before does not make it less saleable but we have to examine the "uniqueness" of the coin and the differences to other coins of the same date. For me as a dealer there is nothing that is stand out, no die letter or number, no different die pairing, no errors in the legend etc and hence no real key selling point (I'll come to the 1's later). As a collector the question has to be does it enhance the collection? My father argued it did and I argued it didn't. Interestingly he was more focussed on the slanted 7 being indicative of a Heaton Mint strike than anything to do with the 1 in the date. I argued that the slanted 7 indicated nothing more than a potentially hand punched number that was slightly off centre, I won out and we picked up the 1860 instead. Having looked at the excellent close up of the date you have ask the questions How and Why? Well, I am no expert in minting at the time period in question but I am quite good at investigating. IF the 1 is truely an inverted Arabic over a Roman 1 where did the smaller 1 come from? The halfpenny of the time used Roman, the Florin was still Gothic and the sixpence, threepence, farthing all too small. This leaves the Shilling, which I have had a good look at and it too is too small, so where did the 1 come from? Coinery states it has to be a smaller 1, welll, it doesn't. All it has to be is a damaged Roman 1 punch with parts chipped off either by accident or design. It is clear from the pics that the 8 and 7 are original and the 1 and 4 either re-cut or re-punched. I struggle with the CGS lable as I struggle to see where this "smaller Arabic 1" originated and why it would have been used to repair or strengthen the die. As I stated earlier I am not an expert in RM production at the time and can only apply a modern thought process. Did each engraver/repairer have his own set of punches? Were the punches stored on the presses being used for the denomination? Were the different denominations minted in different parts of the mint or side by side? Was one man responsible for all die work? Did he shout "Someone pass me a 1 for this bloody die" and was given the first one that came to hand (which he punched upside down for a laugh)? We'll never know the answers to most of those questions, but my own view is that it was strengthened with a damaged Roman 1 punch, or a punch that was damaged during the process of strengthening/cutting the date. Still a very nice coin though and worth the hammer price.

Two of my best buys have been in the March auctions. It could be that it's March that's the problem. I must admit the results were variable. Some more expensive pennies (eg. 1843 & 1856OT) didn't really make big money but, to me anyway, were poorer than the photos would suggest. On the other hand, lot 2168 (1860 Satin 1, Gouby BP1860A1 Obverse A1 with R of REG rotated) with a guide price of £700-£1,000 sold for £2,300. Which was £200 less than the commission bid placed on it

You never know what the winning bidder(s) was/were willing to go to though Gary.......

One of the best altered dates I've seen.

The engraving was certainly done by hand. I used to deal in antique silver (and still have some for sale) and have seen tons of similar crests. They are usually on tableware so that the guests could admire the wealth of the host. Your halfcrown has a small appeal to numismatists and a small appeal to silver collectors (sorry Debbie but you are in a small niche in our market ). It would probably add nothing to the value to pin down the family crest but it will add an immense amount of interest to the piece for you if you intend to keep it. Is it a piece that has come through your family? As for value, I think £50/£80 as an interesting and attractive oddity wouldn't be out of the way.

It was a halfcrown on issue that has been skimmed and engraved on the reverse. I am no expert on heraldry but it will be some family crest. The counterpunches on the obverse will probably relate to the time of the engraving (which could be any date from 1750 through to 1850 judging by the style)

Continental, possibly Swedish, other than that......

No keep them all Patrick. You have a long road ahead of you and you will probably find yourself returning to old hobbies later in life (it's a middle-aged thing that most of us on here have had or are having ). You will only regret it and find yourself trying to buy back examples of your favourite coins. US coinage can be bought quite cheaply, even older stuff if you look carefully.

There was a batch of brass threepences released by the mint to vending machine operators of the time to adapt their machines (first year of issue of this type of course). They were recalled by the mint but stunningly enough some were kept back by recipients.

I sold a repro Gothic Crown on ebay last year or the year before. It was obviously a piece made in late 19th Century and was an exact copy but on a slightly reduced flan and in a base metal.

You will see it fly past the £100 mark. 1703 Vigo Crowns are a bit of an anomaly in that they normally turn up in high grade (like your Northumberland). This creates a problem for the collectors at the lower end of the market (who cannot afford or justify a spend of £1k+) and pushes the price of low grade coins way over what they would be worth for a coin that was abundant in lower grade and scarcer in high grade.

You should probably wrap them in a Sunderland top if you are going to carry them through Newcastle, that way you can be certain that if you get mugged the coins will not be taken from you If you fancy a trip over to Penrith I'm working Thursday and Friday of this week at the saleroom (just found out from the local paper that I am doing valuations!!). Other than that you are welcome to come to my home and I will take a look if there is nobody closer to you that can help.

:D :D :D

You could try Corbitts in the Toon, but do not sell them to or via them.

I will be doing a couple of free valuation days at PFK auctioneers in Penrith in the next few weeks. I will email you the dates if you want to travel over and I will have a look. As for insurance you can forget it. They need to be in a safety deposit box at the bank if your gran wants to keep them. Any UK insurance company will not touch you for small portable items worth tens of thousands unless you take out a speciallist policy.

They look more convincing now. What is on the edge (rim) of the 1921 coin?

A 100 year old, part-toned, lustre coin, doesn't mean it's free of 'sh**e,' this particular coin certainly wasn't! Equally, there are the invisible finger greasings that have been mentioned, a million things. I think it's just a mistake I'd hate to see happen to anyone else. It does make your blood run cold when something you hoped to improve upon, suddenly appears from the tissue a horror story. In 15 years I have not had the experience of snapping a 2x2 or capsule shut, thinking 'phew, that's done, I can just relax now, it's timeless!' I look forward to one day completing the process of handling, weighing, measuring, researching, and cataloging, with the ultimate satisfaction of decontamination, preservation, and final pleasure of snapping that coin shut, or storing it away, in a place where I can enjoy it and feel reasurred that it's in suspension! Paranoid? Maybe! Would be so good to get this one ticked off! I wouldn't stress too much about preservation. I don't think former custodians looked for the ultimate suspension solution yet we still have 300 year old copper coins and 150 year old bronze coins retaining superb lustre.

Thats a great article, thanks Michael So I will have to go down the expert/dealer examination in hand route again (still got my dud Charlie one shilling), would anyone care to offer up their services? I have just informed the seller that I am having it looked at. I would take a look for you but I think you would be better off with a professional report as the implication from Downies is that they will do nothing without one. Robert Matthews from Coin Authentication Services is your man. I don't think Downies or anybody else can argue with his qualifications. Thanks, is he a member on here by any chance? No, but a quick google search will direct you to his site.

Thats a great article, thanks Michael So I will have to go down the expert/dealer examination in hand route again (still got my dud Charlie one shilling), would anyone care to offer up their services? I have just informed the seller that I am having it looked at. I would take a look for you but I think you would be better off with a professional report as the implication from Downies is that they will do nothing without one. Robert Matthews from Coin Authentication Services is your man. I don't think Downies or anybody else can argue with his qualifications.

In 95% of cases it is possible for an experienced collector/dealer to establish whether or not a coin is genuine just by handling it. The digital age is a big problem as most purchasers now are buying on images rather than by getting "hands on". When I am buying for stock or collection if I have the slightest doubt about authenticity I walk away, whether or not the coin is rare or otherwise desirable. I do not foresee a time when people will shy away from coins due to concerns of authenticity (Northumberland Shillings being a good example), but they should only buy after inspecting or buy from a reliable source. Rob continually bangs on about provenance and this is the key to satisfying yourself that you are buying a genuine coin when purchasing from an untested source. A good indicator is grade. Forgeries are generally not UNC coins as they attract a greater degree of inspection from potential purchasers. A VF or lower coin usually doesn't warrant close scrutiny and could be passed off as genuine quite easilly (I certainly don't inspect mid grade coins to check whether or not they are genuine, unless they are coins of which there are known copies). Hope that helps.

The Crown was only in the sets for 1927 other than possibly a handful of VIP type strikes. Drop me a PM if you have a price in mind and I'll see if I can negotiate it down to half of what we both want

Here is a genuine one that I sold last year for comparison.