£400 for a Penny ?

That's a part of numismatics that fascinates me. 1988 is a low mintage, attractive, distinctive unique design. So we all hoard it and in 100 years time, because we have looked after them, people say "oh not another one of THOSE" Meanwhile a 1983 in BU probably is as rare as rocking horse poo. Pennies are my thing, and it seems to me that it is rather harder to find a 1915 or 1916 in the best condition, yet the mintage figures either side are 1913:65m, 1914:50m, 1915:47m: 1916:86m, 1917:107m, 1918: 87m inc H. I don't know if anyone else has found the same to be true ? But for me the interesting thing is that I reckon all the people who would have hoarded '15 and '16's were busy on the battlefields of France, or times were too tough to put a penny aside, so nearly 100 years later, they are rarer than their mintage figures suggest they should be. And that is before one considers subsequent reclamation and meltdown. With the £1 it's harder, increasingly sophisticated fakes, re-strikes, copies, silver proofs, piedforts.... I don't know of course, and never will, but I'm willing to bet that the rarest £1 from circulation in 100 years time isn't the one with the lowest mintage ? The 1988 is the best though, comfortably.

Sorry to harp on about the preservation of lustre on bronze coins, but I have a few and I want to make sure that I'm doing the best I can. My next question is about the practice of keeping a naked copper ingot with one's collection to act as a 'bellweather' for the presence in the environment of any 'nasty's', as I have seen mooted as an extension of the intercept shield principle. Sounds a good idea, but not being a metallurgist I don't know if it would be drawing potential toning agents away from the coins or as the title of this thread alludes to, acting as a base camp for them to get established and wreak havoc i.e achieving exactly what I set out to avoid in the first place. Any views ?

What about a Northumberland Shilling ?

That's actually quite funny. Any sign of an 'unresearched' and 'unopened' mint roll of 2009 20p's yet ?

Hmm, And the person who started this thread was a first time poster. It's probably something and nothing but it does remind one of the short selling that went on and got banned on the stock market 6 months ago - people whipping up mayhem and making money in the midst of it. Glad I'm not alone in thinking that something somewhere in all this isn't right. No idea what though

Ah, no-one does mass hysteria quite like the British. Makes you proud.

Morning, My first post. Lately, I've been sending the odd penny to be slabbed - maybe not everybodys cup of tea but I like them (not too sure about some of the subsidiary goings on though) and I've also been reading some stuff on the web, mostly US sites, which has just raised a slight doubt about the wisdom of slabbing bronze. Depending on who you believe, some say that there is evidence that encapsulation accelerates the ageing process. Not talking about a badly slabbed coin here, but if it is done well, anybody have any opinions ? I note that NGC in the US only vouches for it's slabbed bronze for 10 years. I've asked the UK company that I use for an opinion, but heard nothing as yet, don't know if I'm going to....

Last time I looked it was £200 ?? NURSE, It's time for my medicine.

Anyone want to sign up to a conspiracy theory ? With the 1933 penny in mind, or maybe Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory there is a part of me that thinks "what an excellent way to focus everyone's attention on the coins in their pocket - to broaden the audience for collectable coins" I had £15 worth of 20p, only 5 new style, no joy. Perhaps I'm jealous ?

I also have some reservations about grading as well as accreditation - seen some very ambitious grades which have put me off buying any US slabbed GB coin unless I can examine it first. But, that said, I've also seen some lovely Lincoln Pennies etc, perhaps it is only right that each country specialises in it's own coinage? There is an Australian slabbing company now I believe, and we have CGS-UK What is interesting is that it seems that CGS-UK in order to establish credibility, has adopted an extremely strict regime perhaps in a deliberate attempt to distance itself from some of the US companies shortcomings. Not in itself a bad thing, it's consistency that collectors are looking for and as has been previously said, I'm not over fussed if it's 80, 82, 85 or 88 I hope I didn't just lie there....

As always, each to their own - that's what makes the world interesting. The 'newish' Uk based TPG seems to be doing well though, mid 7,000's is the highest number I have seen, probably a drop in the ocean compared to PCGS and NGC in the States, but not bad in 3 years or so ? I'm sensing a lot of upward pressure on prices attached to it as well - this could be the fact that in theory they are more suited to trade online. Hope we don't get to a situation in the UK where the number on the slab replaces the coin itself as the commodity as I've heard is the case in some circles across the pond. All in all though, I come out on the side of imprisonment. Into the slab you must go.......

I guess a badly handled bronze coin will deteriorate anywhere, in a slab or a paper envelope whatever. Trick is to ensure that a 100 year old sparkler continues to stay in shape for the 'hopefully' 30 years or so that it will be my responsibility and I think encapsulation is the best all round compromise between preservation and accessibility. Colin, haven't seen those DIY slabs before, seem like a good idea.

Well, that's reassuring, thank you. For me, slabbing has pro's and con's probably the biggest pro is accessibility, I can look at the coin quickly and easily whenever I want without fear of dropping it, or sneezing on it, etc, etc. Just want to be sure before I commit the expensive stuff that I'm not making a known mistake. Enjoyed the story of the cent collector, guess we all feel a bit like that sometimes, but my personal opinion is that coins are beautiful and beauty is there to be looked at. If one has got to a position where the coins are wrapped up out of sight, for me that's just become financial. Same as putting coins in a bank vault on the other side of town - they were designed to be seen, often. Thanks again