1949threepence

You can clearly see the smoke on this Met Office radar image as of 19:15 today, 27.6.18, starting on Saddleworth Moor and stretching out Westwards over Greater Manchester in a plume and into the Irish Sea. Shows up well against the otherwise clear skies. ETA: you can zoom in and see where it starts, which is near Glossop on the Derbyshire/Cheshire border.

Just about sums it up. Germany out - boo hoo.

First time I've ever heard of serious fires breaking out on Saddleworth Moor. I know it happened during the hot dry Summer of 1976, but that was mainly the New Forest, I believe, and also much later in the season. August. No easy way to put them out. Let's hope for rain at the weekend. There is a possibility, but it appears to be uncertain as to how far North it will get. Got to be a very unpleasant experience, even as far away as you are. Terrible for asthmatics.

The route passes through Kenilworth which is quite close to where I live, and had to go there today. The initial ground works are already in evidence, and the site which will house the rails, is adjacent to thousands of baby trees on both sides. Presumably part of some green initiative. I had started to wonder if anything was happening at all, as the infrastructure was supposed to have started last year, but there hasn't been a peep about it on the news - leastways, not the actual work on the ground. Of course, phase 1 - to Birmingham - is supposed to be completed by 2026, and phase 2, which branches North East and North West away from Birmingham, is due for completion by 2033. My own view is that whilst it may seem a waste of money and a white elephant, there is absolutely no doubt it will relieve a lot of pressure from both the East and West Coast main lines, and hopefully free up a lot of sitting space, which will make train travel a great deal more bearable again. No idea what the situation will be with the railways, franchise wise in 2026. Could be wholly state owned again by then, or still in private hands. We will see. But whichever, I hope they simplify the absurdly complicated ticketing system.

Hmmm, you'd think so wouldn't you. That was my immediate reaction, and would be the case if James had been William's brother. But since James Wyon was William Wyon's cousin (presumably first cousin), that officially makes him Leonard Charles Wyon's first cousin once removed. William Wyon being Leonard Wyon's Father.

Be all over by the time we get to York coin fair.

Another possible reason why the LCW might have been dropped on pennies after 1861, is highlighted at page 422 of Peck. At the asterisked point 4, it reads:- We know this, for example, from reverse D, especially on Freeman 26's. Although this apparently only applies to the reverse, maybe it was decided that it was just not worth the effort of keeping on with the LCW or L C WYON, because of the signature degredation issues.

4-0? 6-1 more like Bring it on !!!

Hear, hear, hear. Very well said Diaconis.

Oh indeed so, Pete - plus there is one penny there which I am really keen on getting. With that said, of course, Jerry did find that really nice F24 on e bay for a bargain basement price recently. It's just the ton of dross you have to wade through to find the very occasional diamond. Maybe that's part of the fun.

Part 2 added to the dnw auction for 19th - 20th September. Runs to 3 pages. Some nice pieces, one of which greatly interests me. But so far not stupendously exciting. Maybe they will add more in due course.

I can't get anything on it. Had to sign in, but I can't get past the first page without adding card details. Why should I do that just to view the ruddy items? ETA: Ignore that. In it now.

It is indeed !

Although in that example above, the end of the nine does indeed point to a gap, or appears to. Just looked at my 1900, and the pointed end tip of the nine definitely points to a tooth

Incidentally, here's a photograph of Wyon, who lived from 23rd November 1826 to 20th August 1891, succumbing, at the age of 64, to Bright's disease and apoplexy, at his home 54 Hamilton Terrace, St John's Wood. He's buried at Paddington Old Cemetery. He was married in 1852, to Mary Birks (1831 to 1902). The couple initially lived at Maida Vale, then moved to their St Johns Wood address in 1856. He designed many other coins, some for the Empire. No idea if his initials appeared on them, and if they did, whether they continued to?

Interesting thoughts. To be honest, who knows? Yes, he had a signature on obverse and reverse, although whether or not this was authorised, and if so by whom, is anybody's guess. Obviously, too, that signature moved about a bit - at one point, on the reverse, even moving to underneath Britannia's foot. We do know that on 4th August 1859, Gladstone, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, received parliamentary approval for the news smaller, thinner and lighter bronze coinage. Wyon started work on the designs immediately, which proved to be a far from easy task. Notwithstanding that, Gladstone expressed satisfaction with the design and appearance of some specimen coins that had been sent to him by the Master of the Mint, Thomas Graham. There was subsequently a debate regarding the obverse lettering, which was eventually settled on 21st May 1860. On 4th July 1860, Wyon records in his diary, "bad news today:- The Queen wishes the portrait on the new coins to be altered". Finally, on 6th August 1860, after modifications, Gladstone wrote to Graham saying that Her Majesty was now well satisfied with the modified designs. Wyon had his signature on the pattern pennies as well, which must have been seen by Her Majesty and her staff. I'm reasonably confident that if this had been something that was not allowed, or faced Royal disapproval, the signatures would have been noted by someone, the Queen consulted, and the signatures removed. Moreover, to what extent was Wyon involved in any modifications post initial minting of currency issues? Probably very little. Yet his signature continues to appear until finally the Obverse 6 Reverse G type becomes the accepted norm in 1861. Even then, it would still have appeared on the mule Freeman 38, with obverse 2, in 1862. What we don't know, of course, is why the signature was suddenly removed. Maybe in the subsequent absence of Leonard Wyon's influence, it was just thought unnecessary to continue including it. Again we will probably never know the true reason.

Indeed, they are not only infuriating, but also totally incomprehensible. Surely, surely, any organisational management with even half a brain, must know that confronting the public with such inane questions on an outgoing call, is going to wind them up, and accordingly arrange any outbound campaign to exclude any questions which might give rise to having to ask questions which require data protection laws to come into effect (GDPR now) Or write to them. Or arrange for all customers to have a reverse means of identification - eg: they have a password which they ask the caller of the organisation concerned to say before the call is proceeded with. Security is two way, not one.

Or the other favourite now imprinted indelibly in my memory "calls may be recorded for training or monitoring purposes" "may" be. Either they are or they aren't, Why not just say calls are recorded. Then it should be manifestly obvious that if needs be, your call be subsequently listened to unless they've messed up the recording. Just give straight. easily comprehensible logical facts, and no ambiguous BS.

Nice one Richard.

Great that the ATM was kept, but this whole call centre culture which has developed over the last 20 odd years, and emanating from local closures (not just of banks) has definitely led to a significant drop in customer service standards. 1) The caller is immediately confronted with an array of annoying options, the intentions of which are sometimes unclear or overlap. 2/ Often it's difficult to actually get through to an agent, as you are patently discouraged from going any further via references to their website/experiencing high call volumes etc. 3/ When you do get through it often seems to be to the wrong person, and /or they have difficulty understanding you and you them, as English is not their first language. 4/ If you complain you either get a completely nonsensical reply - literally !!! Or they just defend the indefensible. Apologies just don't happen these days.

Absolute highway robbery, and some naive sap fell for it. That is so obviously not a mule.

Christ Almighty, Richard, what a bloody frustrating time you've had of it. What with non receipt, wading through the robots you have to deal with subsequently, and then finding the coin had gone to somebody dishonest. It's enough to put you off trading abroad for life. I'd certainly never buy or sell anything from/to Italy - that's a cert, given their reputation. Nor the other places you mention. Although so far I've been lucky in buying coins from the USA, and two from Australia, which have always duly arrived without having been opened.

Not encountered him before, but his website is here Quality and price good, as far as I can tell..

I'm not iannich48, Richard, but your spare pennies website isn't letting me in. It prompts me for a username and password, but I don't think I ever had a password. Also, I've lost the link to your personal collection as I had an upgrade which has obliterated my old e mail account.

I've never heard of one, Richard. That one just looks a bit worn, which sometimes distorts true perception. Cue someone to now say they are known