Gary D

We have ebay to thank for that. Now they hide the identities of bidders there's no way to check it the same bidders come up again and again. Increases ebay profits or cause to allow shill bidding so no vested interest there then. Gary

The same happened to me a couple of months ago. I think it's his wife that buys and he sells. I sold a 1903 half crown in about VF which had a bit of toning. It was sniped for the reserve of £350 which was a bit of a disapointment. By the lunch time of the day he received it had been dipping and was back on ebay as EF to GEF. I saw it at £800 and didn't have the heart to see what it ended at. There have been complaints about this guy on other forums so he's not as respected as one would be led to beleive. Gary

Does this mean ebay has done something right for a change. Those ever rotating junk coins have added over 10,000 auctions to the average 10 day turnover. All we need to do now is get rid of all the birthday coins and coin cufflinks.

Hi Alan There is one here for £275 I know just how you feel...I've bought a few "must haves" recently. Good luck Peter http://www.ringramcoins.com/antique_coins_catalogue.shtml Ah yes the guy who buys £14.99 replicas from ebay and sells them for £125, 1933 penny, 1937 EVIII 3d, 1952 Halfcrown anyone.

There are dots and there are celebrated dots. 1897 penny, 1946 penny and less so the 1909 penny. The 1897 is value highly for some reason and the 1946 comes up too often to become very valuable. Perhaps I should make a killing err I mean sell my 1909 before the interest wains.

A good fake can be worth some money. EF+ 1905 halfcrowns go for anything up to £250 at auction as identified fakes, mind you they go for much more on ebay, there's one on there now. I guess the problem with modern chinese fakes is there's just too many of them to be worth anymore than bullion, assuming there's any silver etc in them. Perhaps in twenty or thirty years even they will start to appreciate. Gary

Actually shutting e bay down is impractical, as they don't just sell coins. Surely the way forward is to target those sellers who are correctly identified by buyers, or potential buyers, as being responsible for passing on fakes, whether deliberately or by default. The problem in the case of very good fakes is that the buyer may not even be aware of the fact that he holds a fake, until he comes to sell it, or some dealer looks at it at a much later date. I've no idea what UK law is in this respect, but it would be prudent to never buy from China, and I've noticed that many e bayers refuse to sell to China, as well. I suppose the only true 99% safe guarantee, is only to buy slabbed coins from e bay. Athough I'd guess that 99% + of the coins on offer, are actually genuine ~ especially the worn ones lol. Apart from the fake slabs now comming out of China.

Scarce is a slight understatement as there are thought to be 2 1933 pennies available to collectors. Coins with altered dates appear on a regular basis and there are also copies available, but as the last genuine 1933 penny to change hands in 2006 cost the new owner £45K, nobody is going to be fooled by a coin on offer at £125. A well executed altered date does have some value though because by definition there can never be more than one or two people able to own the proper thing and it is the key date for any penny collection. If it's the online coin site I'm thinking of the owner of those 1933 pennies is being very cheaky. They are a couple of the replicas readily available on ebay for £14.99

Yeah, not sure where they've gone. I'm sure they were still there last time I looked (in February). He seems to be opening a new shop and setting up a new website. Not certain why this has stopped him listing on Online Coins though. I know the shop moved from Sandy to Bigglewade last year sometime.

That's good idea, then can we have the next peak in 2019 around april - may time.

That's the commercial piece not the proof which is in silver. Take it to the post office and get your fiver, much less hassle. Gary

It happens, more often than you would think. I picked up an about UNC 1949 3d which I paided full book for but what the dealer wasn't aware of was it was the little publisized sharp corner variety which I believe is a very scarce variety of a scarce coin. I also at the same fair picked up a 1922 florin in nice condition with the much scarcer repunched 2s. I think my best find was a 1902 low tidepenny in UNC with the 2 to gap marked up for £25 at Coinex last year. An example had sold at Colin Cookes 2 weeks earlier for £400. Gary

As a coin collector surely money is the object

The hard bit would be getting all post 2008. If you just wanted 20p peices a trip to a UK bank would get you all that you could want, the problem is though they would be mixed, unless you could find some bags ready to be issued. How many is this guy looking for? You should be able to pick them up for face value plus postage to the States. The teacher just got back to me and said he needed 100 pieces of the new design. That's £20 face value if my maths is right. Weight would be 0.5kg. My brother is a bank manager I'll ask him if it is possible to get that nummer of one type. Gary

The hard bit would be getting all post 2008. If you just wanted 20p peices a trip to a UK bank would get you all that you could want, the problem is though they would be mixed, unless you could find some bags ready to be issued. How many is this guy looking for? You should be able to pick them up for face value plus postage to the States.

Toning can take on many colours from a single colour to a rainbow effect. The colour as well as depending on the alloy used in the coin will also depend on the conditions under which the toning occurred. Gary

It depends on the colour. The Americans are much more into toning than us Brits and will pay a premium for the more colourful examples. I prefer mine shiny but it's a devil getting the smell of Brasso off your hands.

Yes and they look at world coins through american eyes with vastly over inflated ideas of value. There was a guy on another forum asking the value of a 1953 scottish proof shilling. Another american came back with $150, it was soon pointed out that they were common and $15 was closer to the truth.

Ha cracking out coins from slabs is always a nerve racking experience. I have successfully liberated a few using the g-clamp method where you apply pressure until the slab cracks. The practice go with the Lincoln cent was a walk in the park, cracking out an Joseph II 2 ducat coin was not so pleasant, but it came out unscathed. I've cracked all the dozen or so slabbed coins I've bought. I would never pay a premium for a slabbed coin. I must admit it was a bit nervy cracking my PL67 1937 crown.

Both the 1958 English and 1959 Scottish are desirable dates, wouldn't mind a UNC 59 Scottish myself.

Condition will be everything thing but the mexican 50 peso, there is a "buy it now" on ebay for $1495 and the liberty head 20$ dollar from $1200 to $2500. If you are thinking of selling them, coins of that value need specialise advice. Gary

You could always try having a mad and passionate affair with your secretary (or anyone else's for that matter). That would divert her attention and, trust me, she just wouldn't notice those little brown envelopes anymore! I have my many little brown envelopes delivered to work. Mrs D is still suspicious

Wow. Never heard of that before, is that for real ? Where can you buy it - Middle Earth ? No, America lol Does this stuff actually tone, ie build a layer of oxide, or is it just paint?

A very interesting discussion although a bit over my head in places. I would suggest that Spink now days is just trading on past glories, they are no longer pre-eminent in the UK coin world. I would suggest in recent years their crown has slipped in favour of a new pretender, dare I say it, ebay with on average over 5,000 coins a day passing through their auctions. If ebay were to produce a coin guide based solely on the material passing through their portal it would be a far more accurate snapshot of UK coin values, did I hear a cry for regulation. Crazy and nonsensical perhaps, but much closer to the reality of what coins on average are realising. I will leave you to mull over my last thought, "would ebay resist any opportunity to inflate prices to their own gain".

So why do we buy these books if they are that useless. Agreed they are only a ball park but we have to start somewhere.