1949threepence

Hope you eventually received your item OK, Bruce.

That did cross my mind actually. Although it'd be a very different outcome than with the individual concerned in your case. I like to think I'd act more honestly & intelligently than he has done so far.

No, I'll bet he didn't either. Don't think it's anything to do with the pandemic now, as they've done the last two as public auctions. Do you know the reason, Richard?

Another one gone missing in action. This time a next day tracked delivery. Dropped off at Post Office on Monday but initially too late to be sent on to the Mail Centre that day. Sent to Southampton Mail Centre yesterday, where it's then shown as despatched to the destination Mail Centre (should be South Midlands). But there is no scan in shown. Needless to say, it's not arrived and we're now past 1pm. Royal Mail advised me earlier to contact the sender in the event it hadn't arrived by 1pm, in order that they themselves can initiate compensation enquiries with Royal Mail. So I'll do that. Link to the tracking No here 1806 Bronzed Proof penny. Cost over £500. Frustrating to say the least.

Hmm, pity they can't just give you a straight, honest answer of where they're currently at with the issue, instead of all this cloak and dagger stuff?

"Earnest" the word, not "Ernest" the name. Subtle but big difference. Bit like when people write "your" instead of "you're". The difference between "your shit" and "you're shit"

Yep, Longfield. I've worked out that even if I still lived in Chelmsford it would be a slightly awkward place to get to. Would probably have to use the Dartford Tunnel from Thurrock. From where I live now, it's simply not a viable journey for a day. Too much hassle around the London area.

Just dawned on me Richard, that Bracknell's in Berkshire, rather than Kent. So presumably they have already moved to the new venue, and auctions at the Grange Hotel are no more?

No idea what they are. Just saw the link and posted out of interest. Using the zoom they look like foam or plastic inserts.

Whilst going through some coin books/magazines today, I came across an Italian vendor of coin cabinets. The craftsmanship looks very good, although his tray recesses are square rather than round. The link is for one cabinet, but if you scroll down there are others shown underneath. link

According to the link header, it's still at the Grange Hotel Bracknell - scroll down a bit here But when you actually click on it, there is no mention of the location. I know they're changing to somewhere else in March 2022. That was in the last hard copy catalogue. Didn't really take much notice of where it was though.

Indeed - my error by omission. They're in the SOHO collection.

Interesting. Since I bought the device, the humidity has varied between 38% at the lowest to 53% at the highest. Average around 44%. Does vary according to outside weather conditions, and goes up when I have a shower or am boiling potatoes. 75 degrees F (which is 23.9 degrees C) is a bit higher than the room my coins are in, which (currently) averages about 22 degrees (72F). First thing in the morning it's around 18 degrees (64F). Obviously much higher during the Summer months. Probably the humidity will be too.

Talking to a colleague today about the raising of the contactless card limit to £100 next month. We then got onto the subject of a potential cashless society going forward, which seems to be what government, HMRC (which is obviously a part of government) and major financial institutions want, as they seek to possibly negate the anonymisation of exchange as afforded by the use of notes and coins, thus giving them control in the form of overseeing what we all do, and where we get our money from. He then mentioned bitcoin as the digital equivalent of actual hard cash and rambled on a bit as though I had the remotest clue what he was on about. I didn't, and essentially still don't even after looking it up. I didn't really want to appear thick/uninformed as this guy is a superior, condescending git. Websites on the issue are very technical and don't really explain the mechanics of the process as they would apply to an ordinary bod like me. How do I buy it, sell it, spend it, and what the hell is "bitcoin mining"? I mean, I genuinely hope we don't go cashless, but would still like to know how bitcoin works for dummies like me. Anybody understand it? I think paypal are already accepting it.

Sorry, I thought the question was fairly straightforward. If as you say modern graphics cards are far better, then why are the machines so expensive and who's buying them? Anyway, thanks for all the contributions chaps, I've bought myself a crypto currency book to hopefully better understand how it all works.

With regard to the "1933 pennies" and other manifestly obvious rubbish, should we protect people from their own stupidity, or do we carry on along the lines of caveat emptor? It's sometimes difficult to believe that seemingly intelligent individuals can be so naively dense. Sadly you're going to get those who will exploit such lack of awareness, for their own ends.

I've noticed the ones which come up for auction rarely give the tray recess sizes. So you don't know whether the given example is suitable for your own coins or not. I can't understand why they don't. It's only a minute or two's work and would help punters no end.

Precisely.

I would imagine it will still be possible to obtain mahogany. The world isn't going to just abruptly cease producing and trading in wood because of deforestation commitments. For example, Peter Nichols obtain mahogany from plantations in Honduras. Thus a sustainable and renewable source - link

Indeed - over 34 years ago ! I daresay there are many collectors who have never read Bramah (as the book is so rare) and are completely unaware of the DFF variant. Of course, Peck doesn't mention it, and as far as I know they are literally the only two books of significance on copper between 1797 and 1860.

Just looked at it Richard - thanks for the quote and your hard work ! Finding one is going to be difficult. Finding a specimen in high grade is going to be extremely difficult, although hopefully not impossible.

Useful info - thanks. Are you (or is anybody) able to explain how one of these expensive crypto mining machines work and what they are used for?

Sorry Richard.

There's 4 at LCA, Richard - link to 1843's 6.3.16 - lot 3115 1.6.14 - lot 1881 1.9.13 - lot 2623 1.9.13 - lot 2624