VickySilver

Yes it's PCGS65RB Truly best I've seen and IMO undergraded as we all like to say about our own.

Please check the "Test" posting on this forum. I do need constructive help with attribution of the 1882 which even under 30+ magnification shows no sign of an H or one taken off. Funky alloy in the flan but generally better preserved than many.

My thoughts are that even if this is not the exact procedure, it brings to the point of feasible that such type of thing is possible. I had pointed out some time ago, and to no avail on the PCGS boards that coins with these appearances did not seem IMO to appear until the last 12 to 15 years. Also, I do have some chemical background and the appearance of this "neon" toning is just not like normal oxidation. I am wondering if there is a way to layer other metal oxides on to the surface of silver coins in particular. I asked a couple of the champions of these coins to submit them to spectroscopic and this was all poo-pooed.... It might just be my sensation, but I get the feeling that the market for this type of thing may [hopefully] be panning out...

Can I send the photobucket to an email to someone? Wow, that is a lazy thing to say...

1131.photobucket.com Yikes, I couldn't copy it onto here so put it "direct" Reverse only of 1893 6d.

Umm, don't get the bit about paste and can't find the "Direct Link" Duhh, feel like Homer Simpson.

OK, I am not getting this. How does one use photo bucket in an idiot's form?

I think this is a very interesting specimen despite getting only a "62". It is a bit limited by no reverse, and no date, and by being in copper nickel, and without the standard "MODEL" on what would be the oberse. Perhaps others could pitch in, but therefore I think ballpark - WAG: wholesale 600 retail 1200 This is the type of coin that Baldwin would list for BIG money. I have no trouble with an offer on PM to me.

OK, I am going to lose the laziness and check my '68s this weekend also. I think this date in unc. is not so very common. Homework assignment will be to try to figure out how to get pictures up...

Yes, those last two are showstoppers in unc. I won't say I traded the farm, but kind of... Dritanniar of 1878 in unc. almost impossible, and some other dates as well. Have to settle on less than fantastic unc.s sometimes (well, for a while as it just gnaws at you).

Uhhh, yea that would be the excuse for no London 1882 in the collection. I think I have one, but have got to figure out how to picture it and see if you guys can massacre it for problems....Pretty much GVF but does not match the die combo with NO microscopic evidence of H or erasure. I gotta find it and put it up here to get crushed. PS Bought it from a very good source as well...

Yes, I did do that and maybe should have held it (the '03 2/6) but it was beautiful. Maybe Spink vintage early '90s? Can't remember, but the one I have is quite pleasant.

And maybe that will stimulate me to take it to another level. I want one of the new ones. Who will the authors be? I thought maybe Baldwin's might turn an effort in. Congratulations on following through with these dies...

Wow, you make me feel bad. I love Vicky silver (obviously) and rather fancy I have a decent 6d collection but just haven't gotten into the Davies varietals and kind of follow ESC however crude it might be. Congratulations on being "truer" numismatists! Does a gem unc. 1893 Jub give me brownie points?

You know the height of this type of absurdity is the assembler of certain large sovereign collection who did just that: collected by die number AND die state! Yikes!!

OK, confess your guilt to hoarding! Well, I do on occasion but note that in recent years as I want pieces that I have no business owning, I put them up for trade and make the impossible somehow and magically happen. I do regret some of those "B" coins, and remember one Unc. 1903 half crown that I hate thinking about....Yikes!

Yes, too snotty. Sorry, off my Wheaties on the home front.

Ummm, because I have some?

Yes, that is true mostly. The problem as I found out when I sold some proofs at Spink not so very long ago is that the prices were a bit UNDERWHELMING and less than I would have been able to sell for otherwise, and had to subtract out shipping, insurance, and commissions not to mention all the other sundry charges. The two matrices you showed would likely not attract a lot of interest, the crown moreso though sadly lacking a date and being only the rev. trial. Another thing the RM did was to mark/inscribe or number specimens and then either leave them that way, or heaven forbid, SCRATCH out the details. In fact, I have a pattern 1951 where they did just that - yikes! Your firstmost piece appears to show some rough handling as well and was lucky to slab as a "62". In general, the more valuable bits are either those with complete obverse and reverses with date or second choice either the obv. or reverse complete with the designation "MODEL" on the opposite side.

This also looks to be matrix material. Hopefully not too much corrosion or damage... This would be George VI not E8. Also, Steve Hill at Baldwin would be the man on this material IMO. He will also confirm there are many such pieces NOT in Merry Olde' LOL, I might know something of quite a few...

This looks to be a type of matrix....

Yes, I am also quite familiar with many of these trial strikes and patterns. I must admit, this particular specimen is not generally known but follows the trend of what the Royal Mint was doing in the 1920s with George V and 1937 with earlier George VI - 1937 issues- in which there were entire denomination runs with trial obverses and reverses. Also true for Edward VIII. Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins has a section on patterns and trials, but mainly reporting on the earlier bits I have mentioned. Dies from this era I am unfamiliar with. Are you sure they are not matrices as these were also made. I might be interested in this material as well as I am rather advanced in this area, so you may PM me if you don't want it all out on a public forum.

Haha. OK, I'm not guilty of that one! I retired the aggressive techniques except for the "two plier twist mode", rumoured to have been used on a FIVE FIGURE coin by somebody... If I needed the date, I just don't think I could come up with a bid for that one. Good Luck to the seller!

You guys have already seen the London Coins Auction Lot 1985 (I think!) which is an "EF" 1905 2/6. Wow, just too much edge business going on and some less than strategic hits on obverse, etc.

Yes, I still like CC, though the firm has changed a bit & have gotten some very nice bits through NP. Ras, as you like to call him, has the most interesting lists that are like treasure hunts - a lot of stuff very high but some great bits hidden in there. Have even bought some fairly cheap stuff that was really good and a couple of farm-ransoming bits as well. Funny, don't seem to recall ever dealing with Mitchell but will keep my eyes and ears open. Back to the original coin, I like to see how these perform in auction but best to be there live or over the 'net to follow interests and the pacing of it. So just how an '05 do in a competitive auction? Unc, EF coins...