1949threepence

Where was it, just out of interest ?

I agree with most of what has been said so far in the thread. I'd also add that, in my humble opinion at least, one of the big problems we have these days is "regulations" ~ way too many of them. Organisations across both the public and private sector are totally tied up in rigidly applied procedure, right down to scripted telephone conversations, which cannot be deviated from evben though the damn fool irrelevant questions posed to customers, must be extremely irritating. There is less and less room for people to come up with original solutions to seemingly intractable problems. I myself was told; "You're not paid to think, you're paid to follow instructions to the letter and work" ~ well fair enough. That's pretty much exactly what I've done ever since, and even though I can see where things are outright incorrect, I just stay silent and follow the rule book to the letter. At the end of the day, it's managment's problem, not mine. You also hear of people who get the sack or are disciplined for stepping outside the rule book to perform totally laudable and well intentioned actions, such as the ambulance driver who stopped out of course to help a pedestrian who had been knocked down, or the numerous others who are dismissed for whistle blowing, even in the public sector. But really, this state of affairs is woefully negative. It stifles, initiative, enthusiasm and originality. All qualities needed to do well. Yes, there has to be structure and laid down procedures. But these should not become a strangling end in themselves. There should always be room for new ideas, and above all, originality of thought, especially from grass roots level, where much of the work of industry, is done.

Hello Clive.......Thank you also for your reply, much appreciated. I am in silly old Suffolk, also fairly near the Essex Border, ie Colchester. I do feel like screaming, as I just feel so helpless and clueless. I did sit on the floor the other day and try to sort out 1 Tin of coins. I tried putting them into countries for starters, but gave up totally frustrated as I just dont know what I am supposed to be looking for......if anything! I have got a bag of around 50 maybe more of Halfpennies.......but???? what do I look for/do with them? Arrrrrrrrhhhhhhhh Just to give you an example, I am looking at a silver coloured coin(about the size of a old half crown) with CC CP OANH Py6n6? on the front and 1870-1970 and a mans head on the back. Er??? Another brown metal coin that looks a bit like Britannia on the front (very worn) say Britan NIA on one side and what looks like GEORGIVS III REX. The date is badly worn but could be 1775??? I need some Anadin quick! I could still be sitting here this time next year trying to figure some of these out! Thanks again ~ Toshgirl You're not too far from my hometown of Chelmsford ~ and I do believe one of our other FM's lives in Suffolk. Might be Peter ~ not sure. But anyway, I agree with what the others have said on here. Also, it could be worth sorting the British from the foreign coins, learning a bit about grading, and getting a basic valuation book to see what sort of values attach to the coins you have. That won't be too difficult for the UK coins, but the foreign coins are more tricky. From what you've said, I think your Dad was putting the grade against the coin anyway ~ terms like EF (extremely fine) are very familiar to us all here. If you want to take pics of any of the coins and post them on here, I'm sure we'd be only too happy to try and grade/value it for you. Mind, photographing coins is an art form in itself !!! Good luck, Toshgirl

Thanks Mongo ~ let me say I have also gained massively from both the level of knowledge and the enthusiasm on this forum. It's a great community. Also, welcome back, Ski.

They are nice coins, Chris. But like others on here, I don't have a significant interest in modern series. Good luck, and feel free to join us anytime.

I'm going to start keeping a record of how many £1.00 coins I end the day with, and every time I get a fake £1 coin, make a note of it. That way, I might be able to reasonably approximate the types and percentages of fakes in circulation after a couple of years or so.

Having attended a number of auctions recently, it is my contention that e-bay is actually the cheapest place to buy coins at present, and you are right as a seller there is no way I would sell anything of any quality in a one week auction format. Even so I think the 1868 penny at £285 (as opposed to £1k in the latest Spinks) would seem to represent an exceptional bargain. How much longer there will be such rich pickings on there, I don't know but over the last few years I have noticed a drift away from auction format to BINs for even moderate quality lots which, if it continues means that e-bay bargains will be a thing of the past. E-bay may have kick-started the upward drift in prices, but it has really only been a catalyst and the market is now sailing full steam ahead irrespective of what goes on in online auctions. Notwithstanding any of the above, there are still regular sellers on e-bay who always seem to get high prices for their auction lots and that obviously makes me doubt that their auctions are fully above-board. Much of the stuff on e-bay, you wouldn't see in a traditional auctioneers catalogue except in the bulk lots section but perhaps this is the future as far as coins on e-bay are concerned when sellers of quality lots realise that they will get better prices elsewhere. There also must come a time when more buyers realise that many of the more successful vendors 'sell dirty'. But I wish I'd seen that 1868 penny... You've got to trawl through pages of dross to find and earmark the decent stuff. I think you're probably right about e bay and rich pickings, though. Whilst the casino mentality will continue, the bargains are beginning to dry up in what is a hot market. As for those 1868 pennies...... well I'm still very pleased with the one I've got.........

With the exception of the idiots who list 1967 pennies or similar items at £1000 starting price on eBay, the more expensive items on ebay will often be known to dealers and collectors alike as an individual piece with some sort of provenance and hence an indicated value. It doesn't matter whether the sale was last week, last year or last century as long as you have a reference point relative to its peers. If you know the coin from seeing it in hand, so much the better. Anyone can spend as much as they like on ebay, including individual collectors if they are prepared to put their money where their collective mouths are. It isn't rocket science, just information gained from doing the spadework. If books or catalogues were bought or otherwise accumulated by individuals who then did the same research, they might like to spend a bit more too. As Peter keeps saying, know your subject. I presume that is deliberate ironic exaggeration on your part ? Probably not though......

You can always create a shortcut to any given thread, of course. That will last as long as the device you've shortcutted it to. It's a pity you can't see further back than your previous 5 posts though. I also remember that 1905 shilling thread which Coinery mentioned.

That's also the vicious circle engendered by eBay - collectors get used to the artificially inflated prices and become conditioned to pay them. The problem with that is, they then have to SELL on eBay to recoup their outlay. If they tried to sell to a dealer or at a provincial auction, they would experience a massive reality check. eBay has become its own little universe with its own rules and its own values. Yet outside the secluded world of hobbyist collectors, those rules simply don't apply; you can pick up ordinary goods at (generally) their genuine real world market value, or even well below. The same applies to common or low value coins of course. Yet high grade rarities don't necessarily obey those rules either - eBay wouldn't necessarily be the best place to sell an UNC 1905 halfcrown, as if it was in the catalogue of one of the better known auction houses, it would attract bids possibly as high - or higher - than on eBay. Having said all that, I think you're probably spot on when it comes to lower grade rarities. There's something about the e bay:private dealer:auction house 3 way equation that I've begun to notice more and more, and it's wholly related to the price and quality angle. On e bay, uncirculated items with a book value of say £100, will often go for slightly more. Might well be a bit more than you would actually from a private dealer. However, there is a major crossover point in the price/quality dynamic, and I'm not entirely sure where it falls, moneywise. Certainly not an exact science, but the higher quality items will tend to go for a lot, lot less in an e bay auction, than they would from a dealer and certainly less than they would attract at, say, a London coins auction. I've noticed this time and time again. For example, I bought a near uncirculated 1868 penny last year, for £650 from a dealer. I then saw a similar 1868 penny, possibly slightly better, go at auction on e bay for just £285. At London coins, it might easily have gone for more than £650. Colin Cooke currently has a GEF non lustred plain 4 1864 penny on offer for £1200. I got an EF example on e bay for just £99. They've also got a fantastic near UNC with lustre 1865/3 for £1250. I guarantee that it wouldn't get anywhere near that on e bay, but might easily exceed it at a private auction. Not sure if anyone else has noticed this trend, but it has become very obvious to me over the last 2 to 3 years. Forgive me talking in buns by the way. It's my recent experience and current field of expertise.

Your collection will turn up again, Patrick. It's merely mislayed, not lost. Good luck

Just a trash talking troll trying to elicit an angry response. Best ignored, John.

Happy belated birthday wishes

Yep, it's a very worn 1882H, with the H worn away.

I'd have said EF/GEF. For £8.50, you weren't ripped off by any means. Fair price for a nice coin.

Absolutely well done Spinks. It's very rare for anything numismatically related to appear in the national press.

We need photos! There you go.......

I started collecting one hot Friday in early August 1990, when I received a GEF 1951 florin in my change. Very slow at first, but that sparked my interest in coins. Difficult to identify a star coin though. Very difficult.

Just as a matter of interest, how long did it take for the 1973 sets to get so badly toned ? I mean, they can't have been like that when they were first bought. I'm given to understand this was 1976, as opposed to 1973.

Haha - the awful 1973 sets! The £100 price would be for an UNtoned set, of course. That really is a notorious year for the proof set - it may be due to something in the red dye used for the foam insert. The weird thing is that some sets have survived with no toning at all, and I'm hanging on to mine! Or with some still seemingly untarnished, could it be an issue with the cases used in 1973 ~ maybe non airtight ? That's a thought. Though quite why some exposure to air would cause such ugly toning is a mystery - many proofs live out of sealed cases and never get toned. Well, here's a theory, which may well be wide of the mark, but here goes. Suppose it was a combination of the red dye, and not properly sealed cases. Where the cases are properly sealed, there is no reaction. Like your set. Possible ?

Haha - the awful 1973 sets! The £100 price would be for an UNtoned set, of course. That really is a notorious year for the proof set - it may be due to something in the red dye used for the foam insert. The weird thing is that some sets have survived with no toning at all, and I'm hanging on to mine! Or with some still seemingly untarnished, could it be an issue with the cases used in 1973 ~ maybe non airtight ?

Secret dealers...........We KNOW your secrets Peter I've got a bath full of Baked beans and mushy peas to dive into later...Mrs Peter is on a leash. You're Roger Daltrey in disguise? WHO? Very clever

Coins are very subject to various marks and staining, and it's very difficult to know what they are. Although many are labelled as "carbon spots" My 1860 F6 beaded border penny, is otherwise UNC with probably 60/80 lustre, but disappointingly has a small stain on the reverse and a larger one on the obverse.

http://www.ebay.com/ Web address copied and pasted for you, Dave. As above.

No matter how it is dressed up, it is pyramid selling, it relies on additional layers of sellers beneath you for you to recoup your costs. The people at the top of the tree, and the odd good seller will make their fortune, and use the evidence to convince those further down to join. Inevitably it doesn't take that many layers before the numbers of people required to continue the pattern becomes mammoth. The last ones to hop on board have no chance of convincing others and the bubble bursts leaving them with products for which they have overpaid. The names may have changed but it is the same principles that have been used in previous schemes. That's what I was trying to say. I think "recoup your costs" could be replaced with "make real money" but otherwise you are spot on. It relies on you being emperor at the top of your own pyramid, raking in the commission from your 'subjects', while you yourself are in turn a vassal of someone higher up the tree than you, who is raking in even more. Like you said, a pyramid. A legal pyramid, but a pyramid all the same. You apparently get a $40 commission for each new member you can bring in. Which is presumably why Will was here touting for business. Well, he gets 10 out of 10 for trying! Full marks for effort, more ordinary marks for persuasion.