Peckris

PLEASE stop calling it "freemail". All email addresses these days are free, unless one has paid for one's own personal domain address, which few people do. The correct term for what we're discussing is "hotmail" or "webmail", to distinguish it from the free POP email addresses which you get from your ISP.

And of course its a private listing, so you (well, us mere mortals) can't message the buyers... Azda - over to you son! Oops. That's a fair bit of brass to pay for a fair bit of...

Yes, that's a good point. I wonder if it's because other varieties have to be 'discovered', i.e. one can pore over coins for sale to see if one is a rare variety and pat oneself on the back if so, whereas die numbers are simply 'there', and there isn't any mystery to them? Just a thought.

Depends how much you want to spend. Better are available and should be found in a reasonable timeframe. They are nowhere near as rare as the halfcrown or shilling in high grade, but are still scarce. Aim to pay 2-3 times that for a 1903 or 4 in similar grade. Thanks as ever Rob, priceless advice ... but why are 1905 florins priced at 3-4 times 1903 and 1904 (just going by latest Tony Clayton prices)? Is this an example where price guides are massively wrong? The price posted isn't excessive. I would have said that a 1903 or 1904 looking as the image does would cost about £100 with the 1905 reasonable value at £200+. Mint state you can name your price within reason for most years, but that requires a lot of patience to obtain one. 1905 florins quite often appear in lower grades. It is above EF that the price differentials really kick in. I'd say that the EF prices are too low for 1903 and 1904. Having said that, the market has softened of late for mid grade pieces whatever they are unless highly desirable. £120 for an EF 1903 seems very cheap. Thanks for the clarification, I thought at first you were suggesting that 1903 and 1904 florins would command higher prices in a similar grade as the 1905 pics ... now I think you are saying that £175 might be a fair price unless I want to wait for a better one. Thing is, I don't really want to pay top dollar to get all Eddie silver in GEF/AUNC, much more interested in early milled with my budget ... and have thought for a while that high grade Eddie 7 silver is a good investment, maybe aside from 1903 HC and 1905 SH and HC, but that is a different matter altogether! I think the price is probably fair - it's a good grade but not a good colour (one example where a BRIEF dip might do it some good!). Remember that most 1905 silver takes its cues from the halfcrown and shilling prices; other denominations are nowhere near as rare. If you're unwilling to pay a very high price for top grade, I'd say that's not a bad example to go for, especially if you're willing to experiment gently with its colour. High grade Edward VII is scarce indeed, but I'd not say it was a good investment as prices are sky high already, especially compared with 10 years ago. If you can get it for the right price, then bite the seller's hand off, but don't pay book price for the commoner items (1902, 1906, 1907, and possibly 1910).

A Mars a day turns your denticles into dentures

Could be interesting but, as always, close-ups with better images are needed, especially with a coin that's low-grade. Could be a 'T' ?TERITVS or any of a number of possibilities. There appears to be a second leg (?shadow) where the 'T' (as in fourth letter) should be, suggesting other potential rotational variables. You're going to have to start experimenting with the macro settings on your compact. firstly thanks for all input.ive taken another scan and lightened it as much as i can.also scanned it from a different angle.to me it now looks like an I over T I see the underlying right hand leg of a V to the right of the I?

Hmm, not sure. There is some damage to the edge of the coin at that point, but superficially it does look like 'L' upside down. There is an I over V variety, and it could be that what looks like the horizontal stroke of the L could be an extended serif of the top of a V joining the serif on the I. Do be aware that there are many lettering errors on William coins due to the scale of the Great Recoinage going on, and the low priority afforded to copper.

Yes, they are all webmail. And no, we never bothered with ISP mail as we've changed providers several times and hotmail offers us everything we needed. It seems daft they don't like web-based mail as it's so commonplace. Unfortunately there's no contact details so I can't even mail them to ask! I just wanted to see a recent find someone had posted about (and maybe offer some IDing expertise) so it's no real loss to me, just strange. Funnily enough, I'm still using my original (diallup) ISP email addresses from 15 years ago. When I got broadband with another supplier, I never cancelled my old diallup service, though as I don't use it anymore - except for those email addresses - it doesn't cost me a penny. In your case, you wouldn't lose from taking up one of your current ISP's email addresses and using it ONLY for registration at silly sites that insist on them. If you change your supplier again, you will already have registered for the site so it won't matter if you lose that address (don't ever lose or forget your password though!).

From Wikipedia (with the usual caveats although the article seems fairly sensible. Hope this helps. "In 1920, the silver content of all British coins was reduced from 92.5% to 50%, with a portion of the remainder consisting of manganese, which caused the coins to tarnish to a very dark colour after they had been in circulation for a significant period. Silver was eliminated altogether in 1947, except for Maundy coinage, which returned to the pre-1920 92.5% silver composition." That's not wrong, but the real story is a lot more involved - the first attempt at the post-1920 alloy resulted in coins that were too yellow, which is readily seen on 1920, 1921 and some 1922 silver. Then they tinkered with the precise composition of the alloy more than once - the next attempt resulted in coins that wore very brown (think your average 1925 halfcrown!). Ultimately, they came up with a process that caused a layer of pure silver to coat the blank making the UNC coins very attractive, though in wear the coins could form rather ugly grey patches, commonly seen on worn last issue George V and George VI pre-1947 coins. The early cupro-nickel coins caused as many problems, with a distinctive red streakiness apparent even on some UNC 1947 - 1951 coins.

That's very weird. Who on earth PAYS for an email address these days? I think they must mean "hotmail-type" email addresses (MS Live, Gmail, etc), but it would help if they said so. Is Yahoo! the same type as Gmail? Do you not have any email addresses as offered by your ISP? If not, I would take up one of them and use it for registration at sites like that.

Ok, what do you think of this theory.. We know that milled technology goes back to Elizabeth I but was initially rejected - violently - by Mint workers who thought it would put them out of a job. Also, it was apparently noticeably slower at producing coins in the early days. What if "finework" coins where quality counted for more than speed as only a very few specimens would be produced, were milled rather than hammered? This seems even more likely with Briot's issues, as his milling presses were introduced to the Mint in this reign. What I'm saying is, that BM example looks too high quality to be hammered, and it looks in all respects identical to the milled issue. Although regarded as a hammered coin because the currency strikes were indeed still hammered, the finework specimens could have been milled, yes?

Or even a copy in lead, judging from the colour.

Actually, there are / were more than one dealer who - once you got to know them and were shown the better items from the "inner sanctum" - were charm and helpfulness personified. I would place Gary and his partner at Format Coins in Birmingham in that "old school" category. Their current struggles vis à via UK coins are nothing to do with eBay, but with the proliferation of Chinese forgeries. And that is the tragedy and the shame of where our hobby is headed. I hope all our cherished memories regarding these wonderful dealers don't become only nostalgia, but I do worry...

To right!

Can't help wondering if this is part of that strange phenomemon associated with the internet where people seem to get overly aggressive and abusive at a distance, yet are mild mannered face to face. Forums are littered with such examples. On the PCGS forum the world coins section is always praised for being a haven of civility, whereas the US section is usually mentioned for being its antithesis. I think you're spot on, Rob. Trolls only have the courage of their own existence while hiding anonymously on the internet. But as you say, the UK coins world - this forum being a case in point - is a haven of civility. And long may it continue! As for Dave's experience on eBay, I think that's one place where - due to the scary protection of buyers, and the now religiously-regarded feedback system - they almost encourage people to fall out. I loathe the charges incurred at bricks and mortar auction houses, but at least they are places of general politeness and civility compared to the 'Bay.

Nonsense. Mine was English language - and I got top marks. To right you did!!!

Or a replica, about to make its debut on eBay..

I don't think so. She always faced to our left, but then switched to right facing after the Great Recoinage of 1816, and has done ever since I believe.

Well, we don't know for sure how the finework pieces of that time were actually made - it was probably hammered, but it is identical in finish and almost identcal in design to S2859 which is the second milled issue shilling of Charles I.

Italian goalkeeper?

Not such a good way if you can't bear to part with them!

I thought Senokot was four shit?

Yes - inevitable really, when the date uses the entire height of an exergue that, like all exergues, is |) shaped.

I knew that - but the extraordinary similarity of the unusual names made me think John had re-registered for some reason.

Oh I'm a permanent resident there.. but are you saying this isn't the argentum (John) we know and love?