1949threepence

Yes, although I'm limiting myself to Freeman types only, otherwise it could just go on forever. Ultimately, collecting the series has to have a natural limit (for me anyway), and I'm not a border tooth counter, or letter to gap kind of collector. Kudos to those who are, I greatly admire their dedication. But I reach my personal gold standard with varieties where differences can be seen with the naked eye, even if only just, or maybe with one lens of the loupe, such as spotting the L C or "I" C WYON on the obverse of an early bun

Yep, head spinning. I know. But once you're in it, it's too fascinating to let go, until you're finished. Or as finished as you ever can be with buns, as you're unlikely to ever be complete

Dunno Matt, to be honest. It's so long since I finished my brass threepence collection, and moved onto other things, specifically the myriad varieties of bun pennies, that I've totally lost touch with them.

I bought this 1950 specimen for just 25p at a jumble sale in the 1990's. It is UNC, just a shame about the carbon staining. Illustrating that it's swings and roundabouts when collecting coins. Some you get as real bargains, and others you pay a lot for.

Nonetheless rare so worth hanging onto. There were only 464,000 minted. Contrast that with over 103 million in 1942, and over 101 million in 1943, for example - and many millions most other years.

It is if it's in uncirculated or near uncirculated state, yes

There's a lot of 1882 pennies like this, where the H has been pretty much worn away, but the vestiges are still just visible, especially under magnification . In truth there are very few genuine no H 1882 pennies, and those that do exist have a different die pairing to the 1882H's.

Interesting piece on BBC news where shoppers from the Irish Republic are crossing the border to cash on on bargains as a result of the weaker pound against the euro. Irish shoppers are flocking in particular to Newry and Londonderry, where many stores have signs saying that the euro is welcome. It's a win win for both the Irish shoppers and the stores, who are doing a roaring trade.

Many years ago myself and a couple of mates toured Wales in my mate's clapped out old van. We found the South of Wales very friendly, but it was a different story further North, and we got a distinct air of hostility at times. In particular one pub in Gwynedd, where it was 100% Welsh speaking, and we got served by very surly bar staff who deliberately kept us waiting. We couldn't understand what the group of youths on the next table were saying, whilst they were staring at us and laughing, but we did hear the expression "English twats" and decided to leave rather than rise to the bait.

Love it, that was brilliant. Of course, all that said, if I came across the serial number AA11 111111, I'd keep it, as that really would fetch a bit down the line.

Yes. It would be interesting to know what the reverse of the halfpenny looks like.

Lustre is affected in all manner of different ways, dependent upon what comes into contact with the coin and the coin's reaction to the atmosphere around it. You get mottled lustre as shown on the 1889 penny above, streaky lustre, lustre on one side of the coin only, and lustre on different parts of the obverse and reverse, just randomly distributed. Sometimes you'll get a virtually uncirculated coin which has toned to the extent that the lustre has vanished, and other times you'll get a coin which has worn down to just VF, still with traces of lustre. Typically, of course, lustre lasts for longest in the lettering where it is most protected from contact with hands and surfaces, rather than on the field. Often difficult to pin down the precise reasons for a given lustre distribution in each case.

I can definitely relate to that.

Well I've just received my first one today and it's also AJ.

Cheers Pete

Love the deer.... Mention of haciendas always reminds me of that film "Lone Wolf McQuade" when David Carradine says "Welcome to my hacienda, Mr McQuade" to Chuck Norris, before they had their martial arts fight.

The original by Otis Redding is one of my Dad's favourites and it got played a lot at home when I was a kid. Along with many others, including his real favourites like Pink Floyd, King Crimson and "underground" music as he called it. His weirdest old 45 record was "Wet Dream" by Max Romeo, which was not allowed on the radio back in 1969, apparently. Understandable if you ever heard the lyrics

Of course that £100 limit was set in 2006. Maybe Chris would now consider upping the ante a bit. Don't know, just a thought.

Yep, I'm with you on this one, Jon. I don't get any special thrill from the chase, but I do get a real buzz out of ownership, and being able to get the coins out of their trays and look at them every now and again. That's something that can't be beaten in my estimation. Strange to say that I'll often contemplate the fact that I'm holding a coin which was in existence and looked pretty much exactly the same when my parents, Grandparents and Great Grandparents, and even beyond that, were born.

You might find this link about dipping helps.

Some nice coins there, Jamie. Are there any particular bun types you are seeking, out of interest? I've been collecting buns since 2010, and have the entire date run intact. Now trying to complete (as far as is possible) the 1860 and 1861 varieties. Recently completed the 1874 series, I'm pleased to say.

Welcome Jamie, you're in great company here

Yes. It's truly difficult to fathom that if the bidders were genuine, there are people who are really that dense

Apparently, the winner refused to pay up for an "AK47" serial No Well colour me surprised !!! ETA: Incidentally, as far as the guy who found his landline telephone No matched the last 6 digits on one of the fivers, evidently he isn't very competent at probability theory, by estimating the odds at trillions to one. I've had one myself in the past. Rare, but not that astronomic.

Paddy Power has Clinton at 2/11, and Trump at 9/2. His odds aren't going to be improving anytime soon.