1949threepence

This reminds me of the time I went camping with the scouts. When we arrived at our destination it was discovered there wasn't enough room in the tents for all of us, and one would have to sleep elsewhere. I drew the short straw and because the farmer had said we could use the barn, I made my way over there. But it stank so much I decided to move away from there and took my sleeping bag into a nearby field, in the darkness, having climbed over the gate. This'll do, I thought, there was a good hedge one side which provided a great windbreak. Went to sleep. When I woke up it was about 5:30am and light. It was then I discovered my error - I wasn't the only occupant in the field, as there was also a lone bull, who was staring menacingly at me as I stood up. I chucked my clothes and sleeping bag over the hedge (or at any rate that was the intention) and tried to work out if I could make it to the gate and scramble over it. I took a chance and dashed for it, but needn't have bothered as the bull wasn't interested anyway. The only injuries I got were from scratches all over my stomach and chest, trying to retrieve my clothes from the other side of the hedge, as they'd landed on top of the bloody thing instead of going all the way over, and there was a ditch that side. Fortunately everybody else was still asleep.

Finally got it - had to buy another 6 I'd already got, with it. But that wasn't a problem.

Quite an interesting 1880 with an obviously raised second 8, and the 0 pretty much touching the top of the exergue as well - link

I'd say GEF Cliff. Especially nice crisp strike to the reverse. Also, the tide line shows up really well. With many it's quite faint.

Yes, I've seen a few low grade ones as well, Ian. But very few above sub fine. They seem to be almost in the "hen's teeth" class at high grade.

Freeman has them as R9, but I'd say they were scarcer than that.

Not sure whether you watched/listened to it. I was a bit disappointed to be honest - not with Van Tam, but with the overall choice of questions. It was too geared towards "can I hug my Mum?" type stuff. There was even a question about Father Christmas. Not really scientific/quantitative enough for me, but I guess that's the general reflection of what viewers want, so fair enough. Predictably the question of how long will the vaccine confer immunity was asked, to which the by now blindingly obvious answer of "we don't know" was given. I think most people are already aware of that. The one question I did find totally relevant was whether certificates would be issued with the shots, as I know many places will be insisting on some proof of inoculation before they will let you through the door, in the future. But again he was somewhat ambivalent on the point. There would be a strict medical record kept, but he wasn't really sure on actual certification which could be carried around. Which again is an understandable response as he's not a government minister.

Do you think he was fooled by it? Or was he just, as I suspect, playing a joke? After all, if he'd just wanted to pretend, he could have taken two completely different coins and put them side by side. I wonder who the current owner is?

Chris, that might be worth sending an e mail to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk to possibly look at. They've got a special "your questions answered" programme at 9am tomorrow morning on the BBC news channel, with no less a person than Jonathan Van Tam addressing the points. It's something I'd be interested in too, as my partner has rheumatoid arthritis and takes innuno suppressive medication, so that might be relevant to her. It's totally anonymous, they only read out your first name.

Yes I did spot the rim nick Pete, but it was impossible to determine how far it extended. Many aren't visible on the other side. I'm assuming you have some inside information maybe - spill.

That's interesting Terry. Freeman had the F189 down as R19 (2 to 5 specimens extant). Also, the poster @Gary D had one in his collection, which was later sold, almost in its entirety by Colin Cooke to a single buyer. The link to Gary's 189 is here. I often wondered if it was just a joke on Gary's part to make it look as though he owned one, especially as the obverse and reverse look somewhat different to each other. But he's not been on here for a long time, so I've never had a chance to ask him.

A fair number had an infection back in January, supposedly before Covid was in the UK. It wasn't very severe, but I did have a sore throat and a cough. Problem is, we'll never know. Also, given that the symptoms are so variable from person to person, it's quite plausible we did have it. Or it could have just been an ordinary cold.

Great news today about the MHRA approving rollout of the Pfizer BionTech vaccine. Just fed up with hearing conspiracy theories from various people, including some I know, like "it's a mind control measure", "all part of the Great reset" (whatever that is when it's at home) and "same company that issued thalidomide, and look what happened with that". Just a constant depressing joyless moan. Personally I'll be glad to get the vaccine, whichever one it is. Although I'll probably be well down in the queue.

I've had similar with DNW in the past where it's passed from "still with me and against you online" to "and it's now online", where I know damn well I was the last bidder before the hammer, but I've not got the coin. So now I always advance bid high and video the proceedings of the relevant coin, in case there's any subsequent shenanigans. That's absolute hard proof of winning (especially if the last bid has not reached my advance bid), from which there is no possible way out once they've hammered and moved onto the next coin - plus it shows on screen.

Will you be querying the situation with them?

Indeed. His first recourse when challenged should have been to examine the evidence and report back having done so, to either counter with a rational disagreement, or admit he made an error and apologise. Instead he chose to fly off the handle, which is offputting as far as possible future transactions are concerned, as it looks defensive. Which might lead a potential buyer to believe he has something to hide, even if that is untrue.

All part of the modern trend towards negation or denial of hard facts, perhaps.

The mystery deepens still further..... According to that Lockdales list above, lots 228, 229 & 232 were unsold, whereas when you look on Lockdales website, they all have a hammer price - link

Or unsold lot 232? The 1854 he is supposedly selling is a PT, and 232 is an unsold, also a PT. Whereas the unsold lot 229 is an OT.

I've got a reply - see screenshot. It's self explanatory, but is factually incorrect as the coin in the pic is owned by, and resides with Richard. Judging by the aggressive tone in the replies you received, Jerry, he's very much on the defensive, having been well and truly caught out.

Yes, not having a freetext box, or having one that cuts you off before you've finished, is truly irritating. Maybe it's because their agents are too thick to understand what's written, or more likely, English isn't their first language in many cases, or possibly it's due to many illiterate offerings from the public, or a combination of both. Either way it means that much of the time you can't get your message across, and/or that "none of the above" applies to the preset options. I did have the misfortune to speak to one of their agents in a rare successfully made call a few years back. I couldn't work out whether the individual was frighteningly stupid, or deliberately taking the wotsit.

Just out of interest what's your association with the coin? Seems a bit of a random thing to suddenly pick up on and recognise the previous provenance from such relatively hidden clues. DNW gave no indication in the write up to Lot No 184. But yes, an act of vandalism by a complete idiot is no exaggeration.

Thanks Jerry.

Very pleased with this 1857 small date penny which has just arrived from the US. Worked out to about £276 which I reckon is a pretty good deal for such a nice item. Not easy to get so good. NGC MS 63, now busted out of its slab.