1949threepence

Thanks a lot, John. I received my Freeman 30 this morning. Yes, I could have waited till John received his unsolds back, and saved myself £93.00, but I balanced that against the possibility of losing it in the meantime, and decided it was worth the extra. Here it is. There is a little graffiti on the reverse by the shield, and it's quite worn, but for such a rare coin, it's still not bad and the 6 over 8 is very clear. Made up for missing out on the F24.

As last time, e mail received from LCA to say my item has been despatched, together with a tracking number. Looking forward to receiving my coin tomorrow.

Hmmm.......interesting. You might want to consider contacting the Royal Mint for their observations on the issue. They could also test the coin in order to determine the precise breakdown of constituent metals. I'm somewhat sceptical though, because I'd normally expect such a 3 to 4 year old coin to be in generally better shape. For example, the vast majority of 1 & 2p coins dated 2013 in circulation, are still almost fully lustred.

Rumours are rife in parliamentary circles that she's been diagnosed with early stage Parkinsons. Also, her and Michael Portillo used to be a double act on "This Week", but recently it's Portillo and A.N.Other. She hasn't been on, and that goes for the period prior to the election being called. No idea how true, but there's no doubt her car crash interviews of late, have been highly embarrassing for Corbyn.

Cheers Richard - not in the best condition, as very few are. However, the variety is very clear and it's another notch on the 1861 Freeman types.

Contacted LCA today and laid claim to unsold lot No 2847 - the Freeman 30, 6 over 8. Happy days

Pipped to the post on the Freeman 24 and 105. Never mind. However, I note there were some unsold items, and I wonder if John would be prepared to accept an offer on one of them?

Tony Clayton is as good and up to date as any. But most price guides are limited in that they do not include all the different varieties, and take a more broad brush approach.

Cheers Pete - will do.

Hi Richard - you've got me as the quoted poster, in your post. But it was actually Ian B

Often the way of it, Brian.

Welcome to the forum, Duncan.

I've been successful on maybe 40% to 45% of the LCA bids I've made over the years. Made bids on two items this time. I'll be quite happy if I get one.

The only one who comes to mind is George Bush junior. Favourite poodle, leastways.

......Clearly not your favourite guy, John.......

Always open to different interpretation, and assessments partly subjective. The reason I went for VF for the reverse is the strength of the ONE PENNY lettering and the trident, which show no flattening, the intact shield (as you say), the folds of the dress all still visible. Also the border teeth are all still very prominent. Looking at the descriptions in Derek's grading book - which I've just unearthed - at pages 116 to 117 - the reverse is pretty much matching the VF photo. For me anyway.

Yes indeed, nice coin. I must admit, I'd grade at GF/VF - the reverse looks better than GF.

That's pretty much my thinking as well. I understand why collectors want to, but the ultimate issue is that you're not replacing like with like, You're replacing a precious, painstakingly built collection, accumulated over many years, with a roughly equivalent cash value. As you say, use your imagination and find a place no thief will think of looking. Create a dummy collection of rubbish and leave it somewhere semi obvious, if you're well known for having a great collection.

I thought Corbyn was impressive last night. Much better than I thought he would be. May was her usual self. For me, the poor showing was from Paxman who is a shadow of his former self. As you say though, Peter, they're all lying wankers. Wouldn't trust any of them. Also why do ukip choose leaders who seem vaguely like comic cuts characters? First Farage, now Nuttall.

Good thinking. Probably never need to retrieve them but it's definitely additional peace of mind.

Probably a bit more than that - maybe £150, with a bit of luck. It's a nice coin.

Sorry to bump this ancient thread, but given all the things that have happened recently, would anybody welcome Tony Blair having a second crack at PM. He seems keen to get involved again?

A useful extract from the 2017 Coin Yearbook, in this regard:-

In fact, Pete, you only have to look at any major collection to realise that not all specimen types are present. Far from it.

Good points, Stuart. But one thing that strikes me is that even if you limit your penny collection to Freeman types only, and nothing else, I'd say it's still virtually impossible to obtain every single last specimen type, even over a 60 year collecting period. Some, such as the Freeman 2,5,19, 34,44 and every single proof type, will elude you for a lifetime. OK, you might get one or two of the examples I mentioned, but not all. Plus, that's just a sample of the "almost impossible to get your hands on" brigade. There are innumerable others, such as die No 5 under 1863 date. Even then, you're almost certainly going to have to content yourself with a fine or less example of the rarer Freeman varieties, you do manage to obtain. Tough old business being a completionist