Gary D

The question is how you collect your coins. All of us are on a limited budget, it is just a question of scale. A low ranking local government worker from Steeple Bumpstead may have £1,000 to spend on coins; he could go for one corker or 10-20 middle grade coins. If he goes for the forer then he has a coin, the latter a collection, which would tell him far more about coins and history in general. Mid-grade coins may get hit in a recession but most of those collecting them aren't investors, so it is of little moment to them if they're in it long-term. And if he manages to hang onto his job through the lean years then he will be able to expand his collection exponentially. Collectors of low-grade coins can, in my experience, also be the elderly who are on a very limited budget and want an absorbing hobby for their twilight years - it doesn't cost much and can give many hours of pleasure. We are all different and there is no right or wrong way to collect. Just go with what suits you. Completely off-topic but Red why did you mention Steeple Bumpstead, not exactly the centre of the earth. Are you local to that area?

Sorry missing the point here. Why would showing you collection on the internet and who said it would reduce it's value if you, surely the opposite. When I sell my collectin in about 7 years time I want everyone to know about it as the well known collections attract more attension. Look at Workman, Crooker, Freeman, Cooke, Peck etc. Of course touting your collection around may also attract the wrong type.

The H is not really there. It's because your mind is so used to seeing an H that you are automatically putting one there. If you look really close you can see that it is just a figment of your imagination.

That's closer to UNC than most wazzocks on ebay get to.

£22 postage looks a little excessive!!! Must be for the insurance as 1927 pure silver coins are like hens teeth They could be in pure silver because the picture shows the obverses of two identical pieces. If they were different there would be more reason to be suspicious about the pure silver claim, but as we are talking copies they could have been made yesterday and so the description must be taken at face value. I though silver was debased to 0.500 in 1920?

That's because the maundy 3d and proof 3d are different coins Ok, so if I understand this (please correct me if I'm wrong). There are three different 1911 3d coins: - Currency - Maundy (produced with polished dies) - Proof (produced with polished dies and polished flan) Therefore it doesn't make any sense to say currency proof or maundy proof unless there are exclusive design differences between the currency and maundy dies. And four varieties of the currency 3d Are all four known to exist? Davies has the 1+B as unconfirmed? I've only ever found three of them. Regarding the proof/maundy question. All my 1911 proof series have toned a dark cobalt blue whereas the maundy set it the normal golden colour. Also the 3d from the proof set has obv 2 and the maundy 3d has obv 1.

That's because the maundy 3d and proof 3d are different coins Ok, so if I understand this (please correct me if I'm wrong). There are three different 1911 3d coins: - Currency - Maundy (produced with polished dies) - Proof (produced with polished dies and polished flan) Therefore it doesn't make any sense to say currency proof or maundy proof unless there are exclusive design differences between the currency and maundy dies. And four varieties of the currency 3d

That's because the maundy 3d and proof 3d are different coins

£22 postage looks a little excessive!!! Must be for the insurance as 1927 pure silver coins are like hens teeth

Is this the winning formula. My link

The proof sets only included 8 silver coins. 2/6, 2/-, 1/-, 6d, 4d, 3d, 2d and 1d. If we were to assuming the 3d is part of the maundy series there would be no proof currency 3d.... but are the maundy coins proof or maundy issue. I say proof which would make the 3d a proof currency 3d because the normal issue maundy 3d has a different observe the proof issue.

I don't sell very often on ebay, just to shift some upgrades. After losing a couple in the post now I'll only mail with insurance. I have an outstanding loss whit the Royal Mail for a couple of coins sent to the States. The buyer let the time limit expire before trying to make a claim with ebay/paypal so has lost out there. Lucily I sent the coins insured as it's about £140. Royal Mail make you wait 15 working days before making a claim then once the claim has been made they take up to 90 days to investigate, which will be this comming Monday, assuming they don't mean working days that is. They also expect me to get back in touch with them.

The half crown appears on ebay occassionally. Usually someone has taken the 1910 medal box and put a half crown in it and call it a specimen issue

I did coinex this year and was even more disappointed, even more roman, even more hammered and even more hammered god. Very very little 20th centry predecimal. I thought I'd pulled a flanker by suggesting Mrs D should have a look around the new shopping centre in Stratford and I'd jump on the tube to Coinex, even though there was every chance that she could spend more than me at Mayfair. A major disappointment at Coinex was that a dealer had the 1965 Churchill crown struck without a coller that I had been 2nd bidder earlier in the year at a Baldwins action. I had been kicking myself because I had intended to attend then couldn't be bothered so put on a stupid pre bid and got beaten Anyway there it was in all of its glory at about 2x what it went for at action. Sorry but I just wasn't going to shell out that sort of money, even for a Churchill crown. Grrrr. Mind you still had a result, Statford is an amazing place and the Mrs didn't spend any money.

I don't think it does, Gary. Obverse 1 & 2a do, but not obverse 2 for 1903. See Gouby's website. Reading Gouby's site I take "1903 to 1906 - 3 Obverse dies" to mean that it does. So is the general concensus that it doesn't

Convention has it that if you use a hyphen between stated grades, it applies to the overall coin, i.e. both sides are the same. Otherwise, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you!, it's a / with the obverse first and reverse second. True, I wasn't paying attention and replying on the fly between jobs. Ok, so it's a decent VF, but still not gVF and only a full grade or so over. Therefore, the only question is, what would the price of a Fine coin relative to a decent VF be? A gap of over £5K in this instance seems reasonable given the absolute rarity of the item irrespective of whether you would personally want to pay £3-4K for a farthing in fine. £2K seems too cheap though. If a coin is that rare would the price differential between grades be that great, and would it be more a case of do you want one or don't you.

In the case of the 1693 you already had a guide for VF-gVF, so the only questions that needed answering were 'how many are available and what grades are they?' If all are similar in grade then a reasonable assumption would be the date of the last sale, the price achieved and a multiplier to account for across the board price changes since that date together with a mark down for the lower grade of this piece. If something is sought after (and it's probably fair to say a 1693 is sought after), then maybe half the VF price would be a reasonable target. There are more than a handful of serious farthing collectors out there, plus the esoteric always appeals to someone who wants a quality collection in numismatic terms. Not everything has to be in high grade to appeal if rare enough, though it does help if it looks ok. I would have thought £3-4K incl. premium would not be excessive. At £2K I would have been over the moon if bidding and won it. I know where you are coming from on the question of certain key dates, but the problem with these is that the price is likely to be determined by the number of serious collectors present on the day and hence volatile. On the plus side, if Spink quote say £300 for a coin in their annual tome and you know full well that they always exceed that at auction, then it's clearly time to monitor their website and the Circular closely as you may well pick up one cheaply. They may list higher prices on their site than those quoted in the book, but are unlikely to exceed them by a vast amount. Do the spadework and it will pay off. A couple of coins on the spink site that caught my interest were 2x their book and had flown the nest within a couple of days. On the general subject of coin prices there were two 1935 proof crowns at Coinex, one for £4500 and the other for £6000. Three have gone through auctions in the last 2-3 years at £1900, £2000 and £2200. Baring in mind there is only assumed to be 3-4 of these and I've got one of them someone is trying to make a good profit.

LOL Gary - didn't you try it on with that picture once before?

I think the rare 20thC pennies have already caught on. A 1933 or 1954 would certainly be 40k+ and may reach 6 figures on a good day. The 1922 rev 1927 or 1920 3+B would be several k. Higher grade examples of 1908 1*+C, 1926 ME, 1911 Gouby X, 1903 open 3, 1909 2 +E, would probably all make 1k+ Also, 1913 2 +A and 1937 1 + B proof won't be cheap (if the seller knows what they have)! While on the subject, I've lost count of the number of UNC 1913's I've bought or searched looking for the elusive 1 + B combination (only rarity R, according to Freeman) so if anyone has one to sell (UNC only, sorry) please let me know? I was just about to offer you a 1913 1+B but then read the bit about UNC, I've been looking for this sucker in a good grade for years as well. Whats this about 1937 1+B proof penny. I have three is there a forth?

I'm having the same problem with the Obv 2 1903 Shilling. Since the recent descovery of the rare 2a every Obv 2 I've seen has been a 2a, does the Obv 2 even exist?

I also wish they would keep the tickets with the coin in question on bulk lots Also auction houses won't always tell you who the seller is. When I bought my 1935 incuse proof crown I asked at the time but they were not forthcoming.

I went once, can't remember if it was last year or the year before. I was somewhat disapointed, there wasn't much there unless you are into hammered gold. Although I did pick up a bargian on a misattributed coin. It was also surprisingly small, about half the size of the Midland coin fair. Also is something like £25 to get in unless you go on Saturday?

Bill, There is two pointers for the 1904-1906 observes. The I in BRITT points to a gap (obv 1)and tooth (obv 2). I of IMP to tooth, wide gap to : (obv 1) and I to gap, narrow gap to : (obv 2). For 1905 Observe 1 is the maundy issue (proof like) and observe 2 is the currency issue. All currency Obv 1 I have seen to date have been either circulated maundy pieces or to worn to tell.

90 deg is quite a jump although small rotations don't appear uncommon. You need a full 180deg before it causes any excitement.