1949threepence

Sorry Rob, I misread your original post and must have edited mine, just at the time that you were replying to the original version. Very well done on that. I never managed to get one at all !!! Prior to the 1997 & later issues, the only £2 coins I ever got, were the very occasional 1986 commonwealth games ones. Never saw a 1989 Bill of Rights.

As my grandmother used to say "I'm as old as my tongue, and a little bit older than my teeth" Don't think I can beat 13 David (OAP) The only other time I've seen that phrase was in an Enid Blyton Famous Five book, which I read as a kid. Never heard it said. I'm 32, by the way.

I wish I'd been around when £sd was circulating, but in the absence of that, £2 coins seem to be the route to go down, as the Royal Mint are regularly issuing business strike £2 coins, of less than a million. In future these will become sought after. Of that I'm sure. I'd only seen the 1p & 2p's before today, but oddly enough, I did receive my first 2010 5p in change today Thanks for that, Josie.

Incredibly, I got Welsh and English flag ones within a few days of each other, from our staff canteen.

Have you got the 1992 single market 50p (mintage only 109,000) ?

Hi Beth ~ in addition to the excellent information advice given above, you might also be interested in looking at my thread on collecting £2 coins ~ here

I've never failed to receive anything from Royal Mail. Although as documented on here a few months ago, I have had numerous instances of recorded and even special next day delivery items, being shoved through the door, unsigned for. This, of course, is an opportunity for unscrupulous buyers to pretend they've never received the item. At the moment I am waiting for an 1872 penny from the States. I opted for a $20 tracked option which was despatched on 13.11.10.

I agree, and considering your contributions and excellent book, Derek, I'd also say you'd more than earned it. As I said in your "Members only" thread, an excellent site.

The fair is organised by Mike Veissid who ran the shop in Shrewsbury and whose business was taken over by Spink. There is a waiting list and if you do manage to get a table it will only be on an occasional basis - say once every few months. Ideally you want a regular table so that people know you will be there every month, but this isn't an option. I know of a few people who would take a regular table, but don't bother give the uncertainty. If you do get a table, you might not know until the day before. Not ideal. I too find it a bit unethical to hijack someone else's forum to advertise my wares. Nothing wrong in having ethics. Isn't it also the case that although the Midland has monthly fairs, it has much larger quarterly fairs in March, June, September & December ?

I bought that book back in May of last year, and it has proved absolutely invaluable (no exaggeration) to me in assessing the grades of potential coin buys surveyed by me on e bay and other sites.

Welcome Rob. We're fairly informal here, so look forward to you settling in and posting in the various threads

I'm not sure as I've never actually seen one, nor can I find a pic. Yours looks like an "R" somehow gone wrong. Maybe that's what they look like, but I'd always imagined it to be a perfect "B" inserted into the die as a direct result of a spelling error. Inconclusive from me. Hopefully someone else will have actually seen one.

I think that any plan to sell this effort has more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese

Best storage for these is white paper envelopes What, you mean ordinary bog standard postage type envelopes, David ?

Word up (if you're ok with this?) : 1. Regard Spinks as merely a guide. They overestimate the values of modern coins quite severely, and underestimate others. Treat it as a 'rough and ready' guide and if youre about to take the plunge, do some more research into what your target coins are selling for. 2. A few high grade 'type' coins of Victoria beats low-grade date runs hands down, and will prove a good investment in the long run. It's always good advice to buy the highest grade you can afford, and one EF item will always trounce 5 or 6 F items, unless you're talking major rarities. Good luck collecting! The very cheap coin yearbook seems consistent and reliable as far as prices are concerned. In fact there might ber a slight under estimation. CCGB? Yes, I agree. And it can be purchased easily through this very site, and no, we're not on commission! Yes. I'd also agree about buying the highest grade possible, unless an extreme rarity. If you don't, and you are serious about collecting, you will invariably go on to upgrade when you see a nicer coin of the same ilk. Hence the reason why many collectors have boxfuls of redundant fillers and VF/NEF/dirty examples they no longer need.

Word up (if you're ok with this?) : 1. Regard Spinks as merely a guide. They overestimate the values of modern coins quite severely, and underestimate others. Treat it as a 'rough and ready' guide and if youre about to take the plunge, do some more research into what your target coins are selling for. 2. A few high grade 'type' coins of Victoria beats low-grade date runs hands down, and will prove a good investment in the long run. It's always good advice to buy the highest grade you can afford, and one EF item will always trounce 5 or 6 F items, unless you're talking major rarities. Good luck collecting! The very cheap coin yearbook seems consistent and reliable as far as prices are concerned. In fact there might ber a slight under estimation.

Good luck Boomstick! It never stops you know, once you get the bug That's very true. Once it's taken hold, you're hooked for life ~ even if it appears to go away for a few years whilst busy with other things. The coins you have already collected will be there waiting for you, just as you left them, when your interest is re-awakened.

ah yes, Richparfishing, used to be called. He bought it for £50 odd not long ago... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=200534014259 either he can't take photos for toffee or he's done something to it. Be interesting to see what it goes for. Watch list! I'd say the latter, more probably than not.

I found the only things that made scrotes bend at the knees were; A) A kick in bollocks A punch to the solar plexus C) Compression of the trachea D) A red dot on the chest coupled with the word "tazer" Tony Martin had the right idea as far as thieving toerags are concerned. The thought that something I have worked, saved and scraped for over many years, could be taken by low life criminal chavs, really makes my blood boil.

Nice capture, Scott. Those 1897 HT's are hard to come by in any condition.

Do bear in mind that even mahogany CAN cause what is called "cabinet toning". I have two Peter Nichols cabinets, and the smaller one (with punched coin recesses) causes no toning. The larger one with flat felt-lined trays (no recesses) causes some toning on silver. Which ones are they from the range he provides, Peck ?

Peter Nichols mahogany coin cabinets are the best IMO. Very expensive to be sure, but probably the best medium of storage in order to avoid damage to your collection. Peter Nichols website

There are at least two I would really like to get my hands on. Absolutely. There's suddenly a lot of good stock available, and it's difficult to know how many to go for, whilst still keeping within budget.

I've bought from him in the past, he often has good bronze for sale. Meanwhile this 1875 non-H narrow date (F80) penny has appeared on eBay, very nice coin yes, but a starting price of £380??? Link Fantastic coin, but as you say Beebman, the starting bid is perhaps too highly pitched. He's probably hoping to pique someone's interest sufficient to make the only bid at that level. Mind, you don't often see pennies before about 1880 in that good a state. Pretty much full lustre. Very desirable specimen.

A lot of excellent buns being auctioned by the seller "alfnail" at the moment. Don't know if anybody else has noticed these.