Peckris

Dose lions are leopards! Hence the lack of mane and long body hair. (Sorry, just a personal bugbear - nearly everyone gets this wrong). Including the England sporting teams! "3 leopards on my shirt..." Yes - them too

Apparently (according to the commentators) most things featured would be widely known internationally - pop music, Shakespeare, Blake, the Industrial Revolution, James Bond, Mr Bean, Paul McCartney, Chariots of Fire, etc. Not so sure about the Arctic Monkeys, but their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together" while those "doves" slowly flapped their luminous wings in the dark, I thought was a particular highlight. I'd have thought cash should be far quicker than credit cards!

No, not replicas (though these and fakes do exist). The pattern 1933 pennies were designed by André Lavrillier with a supposedly more 'military' looking George V. The reverse is very similar to the actual issue, except that Britannia has a thicker trident and the waves are different. One of the patterns is uniface (just the obverse). The Lavrillier 1933s are contemporary with, but even rarer than regular 1933s, though do not command quite the prices (it's a difficult one to call as any 1933 appears so rarely). The first picture I ever saw of them was in an old edition of Collectors Coins GB. I think the reference to replicas and copies requires both the highlighted sentence and the previous one to be considered together. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I tink Mongo was referring to the numerous modern pieces dated 1933 appearing on ebay. You don't get very many Lavrillier patterns listed, unsurprisingly. Good point. But hopefully Chris will have learned something about 1933 patterns that he may not have known before?

It's still cheap compared with the commission rates of auction houses.

Dose lions are leopards! Hence the lack of mane and long body hair. (Sorry, just a personal bugbear - nearly everyone gets this wrong).

Yes the Mark Cavendish thing was a gross failure on two counts - 1. the Beeb computer not flashing up the names of the leaders, or the timing splits, so the commentators just had to guess and 2. did no-one inform Team GB how far ahead the leading pack were getting? It seems to me that if they'd caught up with plenty of miles to go, they would have given Mark the fighting chance of a sprint finish. I thought the ceremony was awesome. Nothing could have prepared me for the factory chimblies rising out of the ground, nor the actual forging of one of the five rings that floated overhead to form the Olympic logo. I thought the musical segment was a bit heavy on punk and hip hop, and would have liked a teensy weensy bit of prog in there (though perhaps Bohemian Rhapsody counts as prog?) You'll have to explain that one Peter! Unless you're against multiculturalism, I couldn't see anything for the Tories to gnash their teeth over.

Edward VIII's face was not particularly symmetrical and he didn't like the side that should have shown on the coins - so he faced the other way. Yes, Edward VIII was extremely vain. This even superseded his political leanings, which would have made the correct right-facing portrait far more appropriate. George VI simply restored the natural sequence as if his brother had faced the proper way. Interestingly, the Abdication was so late in the year that the issue of 1937 George VI coins must have been a very rushed job. This can be seen in an almost unchanged portrait, and reverse designs that were more often identical than not.

If you see a coin you really like, and it's 'only' VF (for example) and you could actually afford something approaching EF, don't be put off. A filler of this type, with lots of eye appeal, will be easy to move on, or even keep!

Forgive me Rob. I was going to reply to this, but then I realised... I have no idea what you are talking about! I will have to start learning all these terms, I have just about got my head around what a pattern is. The joys of being a newb! Join the club! No, not replicas (though these and fakes do exist). The pattern 1933 pennies were designed by André Lavrillier with a supposedly more 'military' looking George V. The reverse is very similar to the actual issue, except that Britannia has a thicker trident and the waves are different. One of the patterns is uniface (just the obverse). The Lavrillier 1933s are contemporary with, but even rarer than regular 1933s, though do not command quite the prices (it's a difficult one to call as any 1933 appears so rarely). The first picture I ever saw of them was in an old edition of Collectors Coins GB.

That's true, but blame the people who don't post in the varieties forum! Or use Search instead... In any case, having somewhere for ALL varieties would be almost like having a forum for all coins

I'm with Peter on this - ok, old mad George may not have been the best subject, but there is something beautifully balanced about portrait. I do like the Vicky Gothic portrait but it comes in a little behind this.

Even slimmer if all 60 million of us buys a ticket! That's odds of ... um... er... [launches Calculator]... um... 600,000 to 1? (I was never any good at maths ) I like those odds! I am feeling lucky You know what the sad thing is?... Forget houses, cars and helping family, I am thinking of all the lovely coins my winnings will buy me ...which will mysteriously double or triple in price once they see you and your wad coming

Too bl00dy right I would, if I needed £4443.43 in a hurry!

I agree with the idea for a separate sub-forum for fakes. I rarely use Search (such a hit and miss affair) but a separate category would put them all in one place, which as you say would be a boon. Pictures and identifying features would be a must, needless to say. We already have one scott! It's the sub-sub-forum in this sub-forum...

I would rate it EF but you're right about the general ugliness. Someone paid way too much IMO.

Wow, you don't think it could be an actual silver medal awarded to someone or other?

Yes, it appears to be a contemporary forgery which would interest Seuk - it just looks so wrong on so many counts, that it is unlikely to be a Chinese fake. I think I can see copper patches beginning to show through? I've sent the seller a message saying it's likely to be a forgery, and will be interested to see his reply. P.S. - do bear in mind that the 'kosher' example is slightly angled which would distort immediate comparisons; that doesn't affect my verdict that it is most probably a wrong 'un!

Even slimmer if all 60 million of us buys a ticket! That's odds of ... um... er... [launches Calculator]... um... 600,000 to 1? (I was never any good at maths )

Their prices have always been a huge joke! I can't believe they sell much stuff, and yet they must - they're still in business (unless the coin business is a front for something else? [Any lawyers reading this, that was a joke ] ) I'd be more than happy to get £245 for my VF 1696 Crown. £350 in Fine, what on earth do they charge for rarities? Oh, that's right, they don't deal in rarities at all

"HAPPY BIDDING!" he says at the end. It's now standing at the exorbitant total of £3.01 - I wouldn't be happy even at that price We still have pay phones down here? My God, we're living up to our country bumpkin caricature! Mind you, I can sympathise - my mobile is Orange and I couldn't get a signal anywhere in my home. Now they've teamed up with T Mobile, if I wait a minute or so, suddenly I get bars appear, then dial manically before they disappear.

It must be so frustrating for you as ex police to see these things going on John! It is blatant that this person knows what he is doing. If more than one person told me I had a fake listed I would cancel the auction right away. I just had a reply from him saying he was "leaving it up to his nephew and the highest bidder to take it to the Royal Mint for identification"...???? On a lighter note, he also said "he has had some abuse" about it, so thats nice                        I got this as a reply                        Dear phpies, Please don't bid on the coin I am waiting a descision from my nephew who found the coin on his building site. He takes his metal Detector with him on every site he works because his friend discovered a small hoard of Gold Coins. I ask you not to bid as I am proposing to take the listing off because I have been unindated with messages that the coin is a Chinese copy therefore to be sure I am sending the Coin to the Royal Mint to have it checked out - dullahan78 Reply in your email program or through My Messages From: phpies To: dullahan78 Subject: Details about the item: phpies sent a message about 1860 Victorian Copper halfpenny #180937503486 Sent Date: 26-Jul-12 22:11:38 BST Dear dullahan78, Hi I'm interested in bidding on th 1860 halfpenny. You stated that this is a metal detector find but the coin is in exceptional condition. Has it been cleaned in any way Regds Colin - phpies                    1860 Victorian Copper halfpenny Item Id: 18093750348                Really? I thought it was dated 1860

I'm a bit confused - are you saying that a Georgian forgery has itself been faked in China and passed off as a genuine item? I'm assuming you haven't started collecting modern Chinese fakes! Its a standard fake of a genuine coin - All fakes of George III (silver) is of interest to me. Seems the model for the chinese fakes were a 1818 coin as both the 1819 and 1820 counterfeits are incorrect. Nope, I'm still confused! I don't know what you mean about '1819 and 1829 counterfeits are incorrect'? However, if you've extended your interest to Chinese fakes, then it's your business of course, but I'd advise caution... Well the thread is about the modern Chinese fakes and how to spot them. I don't find them very interesting in themselves (unlike contemporary counterfeits) but its a good idea to know what to look for when buying from ebay or other web sources. So far we have high quality 1818 fakes and low quality ditto plus 1819+1820 (Spink mentions 1817 as well but I've yet to see one). Looking at the bottom row examples of the Chinese fakes from the year 1818 to 1820 you will see that the figures 1 and 8 are basically of same design as on a genuine coin. (1 being a little thinner on 1819/20 + The 8 on the fake 1820 is a somewhat damaged). But on the fake 1819 halfcrown the 9 is simply a differnt design being more narrow than on a genuine coin (also the year are misplaced on the 1819 fake). Same with the 1820 halfcrown where both 2 and 0 are different from the genuine thing. I'll leave it your obvious expertise! Mind you, the 1820 fake is very very easy to spot, the date being incuse.

It's still there, so I've sent him a polite message too.

I know, I just couldn't resist