Peckris

What Peter means is that he has a few mistakes to sell you if you're interested Then if you're still interested, I have a few mistakes for sale also Me too! Did I mention what a fascinating series the hammered shillings of Charles I are? And how examples can be bought (from me) for well under £200? Always pleased to help. So that is why your all so helpful.... you wanna sell me all your junk! You really think I am that stupid?.... Im interested... how much do you want? Oh, just name my price, I'm sure we can come to some arrangement

They are carved from gemstones or seashells that are naturally layered. One layer is cut through to another, so that the design stands out against the (lower) contrasting layer. This one is carved from sardonyx, a type of onyx. Thanks for that Tom.

Just to strike (forgive the pun) a serious note - Americans are mad for those Geo III evasions for some reason, and you might do quite well to sell it on USA eBay.

Spink's usefulness is in being able to use it to identify virtually any English coin back to Roman times. Also, the photos - with very very few highly rare exceptions - show you what the coin looks like in the highest grades known. So you can compare the detail on any coin you are looking at against its photo in Spink, and judge how much has been lost, and therefore what its approximate grade is. Derek's book is the only way to check all major obverse and reverse types from 1797. You really should get it.

That's not new - it's been happening steadily since the 1960s when the rarity:condition ratio was wieghted heavily towards rarities , and it's been one area where we in Britain have been playing 'catch up' with the States. But heaven forfend we ever reach a situation where a "perfect red" 1971 new penny is slabbed, certified and sells at auction for 4 figures. It's where a combination of frosting and toning causes an almost 100% difference between the raised design & legend, and the fields. Frosting is often white, but there it seems (unless the photos have been 'Shopped) that the raised parts have darkened to look virtually like a negative of the field's colour. If you see an actual cameo e.g. a brooch, it's often white on a dark amber background (I'm not sure what the material is that they are carved from?).

What did you expect for a quid?

What makes you think I haven't already "got going"?

Don't wrap yourself up too tightly otherwise you will never buy a coin.Go out there and make a few mistakes...it's part of the fun. What Peter means is that he has a few mistakes to sell you if you're interested Then if you're still interested, I have a few mistakes for sale also

Unfortunately you can't take the 25% lump sum and leave the rest invested until annuity rates improve - I checked. So you have to make a choice - will the 25% invested now bring a better return in the short term than leaving the whole lot where it is and waiting for rates to improve? And what if they don't? The whole thing is a dreadful gamble. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't your future income at stake. Maybe coins really ARE the answer.

It's really weird. Back in the 60s, and probably for a time after that, stamps put coins right in the shade as a minority hobby. Yet now it has reversed completely, and stamps are almost nowhere. Anyone got any idea why that happened ? I have no idea why but when I was a lad, probably around the same time as you, virtually every boy collected stamps to some extent but few collected coins. I still have my GB collection with the prize penny black and dozens of different plate numbers of penny red etc., but it's worth so little these days. Looking on eBay, you can't give first day covers away and stamps which I could only have dreamed of owning are way down in price, relative to 40 years ago. Mind you, any lad wanting to collect stamps today would need a mortgage just to buy a full set of stamps at what the Post Office charges now. And when you calculate that they issue several commems each year, it puts the cost of an annual BU coin set in the shade somewhat (and if you're hard up, you can pull new issue BU coins from your change). And who posts a letter these days when you can send an email? At least if coins go out of fashion, they will have an intrinsic metal value.

And don't forget that grading is an art not a science. There's room for disagreement even among experts. You could probably allow 1/3 of a grade for this. And even some perfectly honest dealers will grade at the bottom of this "disagreement scale" when buying, but sell the item at the top. That's life.

You're rather jumping to conclusions with the "grandfather" reference Peter! Can't argue with the rest of your good advice though ???? Peck is it me or you being Whhooooosssshhhed? The grandfather collected the coins. The grandfather was from the original post in 2009... the recent poster only mentioned someone deceased, who may have been a grandfather of course. Correctamundo

Conservatively, GVF. But it wouldn't outrage me if someone graded it EF/NEF either. Nice coin! and well done!! I wish I could find coins like that for £25. I'd ask where you got it, but I'm absolutely sure you want to keep your source secret for now Oh, and the picture is "fine" A good size on my display - those who post "dinner plates" use an external hosting site such as Photobucket, but I prefer your comfortable size of picture!

Sorry Rob, I used up all my energy and time responding to Colin's points about disability benefits. I've nothing left for the banking situation. I'll read it all tomorrow and see if I have a sensible response to make. Not to worry, we'll all agree to disagree in the end. I can't comment on the history of the Eurozone and its economic woes, but I was thinking earlier about your (and many others') analogy between the state and an ordinary household, i.e. how a state should 'balance the books' like householders have to do, and I was thinking that as an analogy it leaves something to be desired! After all, the average householder has a mortgage - i.e. they are in deficit. They may use all the overdraft facility their bank offers - another deficit. And if someone wants to start a small business up, maybe employing one or two people, where do they get the funds to begin? That's right, from a loan, i.e. another deficit, even though that particular deficit may put money back into the wider economy from wages paid and goods produced and sold. So I guess a state is acting no different, especially if you believe in Keynesian economics (which I do) which got many a failing economy out of a dire hole in the 20th Century. It's ok, my anger's gone now! I think the source of my frustration is how many ordinary, decent, intelligent people just have no idea what's going on. Why? Because they're not informed. If you have time or inclination, do have a look into these factors : 1. The role of one Mansel Aylward in promoting the "Social Model" of illness (a large part of which is the theory - rubbished by many healthcare professionals - that in a welfare state people deliberately or otherwise develop symptoms of illness; and that some illnesses, i.e. backache, are almost entirely figments of the imagination; this theory has subsequently been extended by its adherents to include even MS). In his time, Aylward was both a senior official of the DWP and also on the board of UNUM Provident, the giant American health insurance company. 2. The 'selling' of this theory by Aylward and UNUM in the 1990s to the DWP and all governments from Major's onwards. The evolution of ESA to replace Incapacity Benefit as a result, purely as an agent to reduce the welfare budget. 3. The role of UNUM Provident in America, where they routinely denied disability benefits to people who had paid premiums and then had illnesses or disabilities and claimed on their UNUM policies. UNUM were described in some US Courts as a 'benefits denial factory' and banned from operating in certain States. 4. The role of Atos Origin, a French IT firm who are or have been wholly owned by UNUM Provident, in administering the Work Capability Assessments on Britain's disabled, using the techniques acquired from UNUM to give seriously disabled people "null points' and thus deny them benefits. 5. The LIMA software developed by UNUM and Atos which asks "healthcare professionals" to ask the client a range of questions with a YES / NO tick box to complete, with no subtlety relating to people with complex and varying conditions. To give one example "Do you watch soaps on TV?" is interpreted by the software that a person can sit for half an hour and fully concentrate on a task. I've barely scratched the surface. It's a long and tricky story that has evolved over 20 years. It makes unhappy reading. The problem with the tick box mentality is its simplicity, naivety, deliberately built in bias, and most obvious of all, the total absence of a "none of the above" option. Many of the Doctors who have to perform personal capability assessments on individuals, are very intelligent individuals, and I can imagine just how irritated they must feel when a person who is patently incapable of meaningful work, is systematically tramlined into a finding of "fit for work" via the wording of the questions which must be asked, and the snapshot nature of the tests concerned. My personal scepticism in this regard applies especially to the mental health aspects of the test, which in no way lends itself to ticking boxes. Absolutely agree, especially with respect to the mental health issues which even now aren't properly resolved despite Professor Harrington's (hired by the governemnt to do an independent report) many criticisms of the process. And the PCA which you mention was positively benign compared to the current WCA which is the route to ESA ("Personal" replaced by "Work", you notice). It is to get worse, much worse, next year when DLA - paid to the disabled whether in work or out of it - is to be replaced by PIP, with a mandated 20% reduction in the bill, irrespective of whether this reflects the needs of the disabled or not. I know, Peck. My girlfriend suffers from quite severe rheumatoid arthritis, which limits her mobility to a significant extent, and causes a lot of pain. Although she does still soldier on at work, her DLA mobility allowance will no doubt be under threat when the new Personal Independence Payments come into effect. She musn't give up or give in. I will PM you a few useful links that might prove quite helpful if she gets a poor decision.

I bet the 'long mac' brigade were around even in those days Looking at that illustration, I'd have paid good money to see that fight!

Tom's advice is also very useful - I would much rather have an eye-catching and pleasing GVF than a rather dowdy EF. I actually learned grading from several sources : 1. my own experience of collecting built up over years 2. as a newb, the Coin Monthly Yearbook printed pictures of 4 grades of every monarch obverse from Victoria YH to Liz II - invaluable 3. my early mistakes! In those days you could also send away for a set of 20thC pennies in all grades from Poor to Unc, for a modest outlay. For the current newb, Derek's book (above left in the banner ad) is essential reading and will repay what you spend on it several times over.

And you don't actually need a copy of Freeman - just ask Dave! He will then ask us

You're rather jumping to conclusions with the "grandfather" reference Peter! Can't argue with the rest of your good advice though

Have you got the link to the relevant page(s? The "prices realised" don't x-ref to the actual lots except a lot number that means nothing without a description. And trying to find the coins themselves in their unfathomable listings ("World Currency" doesn't include British coins it seems ) is an occupation I just don't have any time or energy for. Sigh. Cancel that - I finally located their Search facility and typed in 1887, and there they were! I do have to say that those are really lovely proofs - I guess a collector with the funds would snap those up - gorgeous coins. Ok, way over book price, but I've never seen such good looking proofs for that date,

"One is doing a Number Two. When One does a One, the corgis get a drink."

Sorry Rob, I used up all my energy and time responding to Colin's points about disability benefits. I've nothing left for the banking situation. I'll read it all tomorrow and see if I have a sensible response to make. Not to worry, we'll all agree to disagree in the end. I can't comment on the history of the Eurozone and its economic woes, but I was thinking earlier about your (and many others') analogy between the state and an ordinary household, i.e. how a state should 'balance the books' like householders have to do, and I was thinking that as an analogy it leaves something to be desired! After all, the average householder has a mortgage - i.e. they are in deficit. They may use all the overdraft facility their bank offers - another deficit. And if someone wants to start a small business up, maybe employing one or two people, where do they get the funds to begin? That's right, from a loan, i.e. another deficit, even though that particular deficit may put money back into the wider economy from wages paid and goods produced and sold. So I guess a state is acting no different, especially if you believe in Keynesian economics (which I do) which got many a failing economy out of a dire hole in the 20th Century. It's ok, my anger's gone now! I think the source of my frustration is how many ordinary, decent, intelligent people just have no idea what's going on. Why? Because they're not informed. If you have time or inclination, do have a look into these factors : 1. The role of one Mansel Aylward in promoting the "Social Model" of illness (a large part of which is the theory - rubbished by many healthcare professionals - that in a welfare state people deliberately or otherwise develop symptoms of illness; and that some illnesses, i.e. backache, are almost entirely figments of the imagination; this theory has subsequently been extended by its adherents to include even MS). In his time, Aylward was both a senior official of the DWP and also on the board of UNUM Provident, the giant American health insurance company. 2. The 'selling' of this theory by Aylward and UNUM in the 1990s to the DWP and all governments from Major's onwards. The evolution of ESA to replace Incapacity Benefit as a result, purely as an agent to reduce the welfare budget. 3. The role of UNUM Provident in America, where they routinely denied disability benefits to people who had paid premiums and then had illnesses or disabilities and claimed on their UNUM policies. UNUM were described in some US Courts as a 'benefits denial factory' and banned from operating in certain States. 4. The role of Atos Origin, a French IT firm who are or have been wholly owned by UNUM Provident, in administering the Work Capability Assessments on Britain's disabled, using the techniques acquired from UNUM to give seriously disabled people "null points' and thus deny them benefits. 5. The LIMA software developed by UNUM and Atos which asks "healthcare professionals" to ask the client a range of questions with a YES / NO tick box to complete, with no subtlety relating to people with complex and varying conditions. To give one example "Do you watch soaps on TV?" is interpreted by the software that a person can sit for half an hour and fully concentrate on a task. I've barely scratched the surface. It's a long and tricky story that has evolved over 20 years. It makes unhappy reading. The problem with the tick box mentality is its simplicity, naivety, deliberately built in bias, and most obvious of all, the total absence of a "none of the above" option. Many of the Doctors who have to perform personal capability assessments on individuals, are very intelligent individuals, and I can imagine just how irritated they must feel when a person who is patently incapable of meaningful work, is systematically tramlined into a finding of "fit for work" via the wording of the questions which must be asked, and the snapshot nature of the tests concerned. My personal scepticism in this regard applies especially to the mental health aspects of the test, which in no way lends itself to ticking boxes. Absolutely agree, especially with respect to the mental health issues which even now aren't properly resolved despite Professor Harrington's (hired by the governemnt to do an independent report) many criticisms of the process. And the PCA which you mention was positively benign compared to the current WCA which is the route to ESA ("Personal" replaced by "Work", you notice). It is to get worse, much worse, next year when DLA - paid to the disabled whether in work or out of it - is to be replaced by PIP, with a mandated 20% reduction in the bill, irrespective of whether this reflects the needs of the disabled or not.

Crap?? Pffffffffft! I just listed what was left over from my joblot box on eBay, as UNC of course! But of course!

Sorry Rob, I used up all my energy and time responding to Colin's points about disability benefits. I've nothing left for the banking situation. I'll read it all tomorrow and see if I have a sensible response to make. Not to worry, we'll all agree to disagree in the end. I can't comment on the history of the Eurozone and its economic woes, but I was thinking earlier about your (and many others') analogy between the state and an ordinary household, i.e. how a state should 'balance the books' like householders have to do, and I was thinking that as an analogy it leaves something to be desired! After all, the average householder has a mortgage - i.e. they are in deficit. They may use all the overdraft facility their bank offers - another deficit. And if someone wants to start a small business up, maybe employing one or two people, where do they get the funds to begin? That's right, from a loan, i.e. another deficit, even though that particular deficit may put money back into the wider economy from wages paid and goods produced and sold. So I guess a state is acting no different, especially if you believe in Keynesian economics (which I do) which got many a failing economy out of a dire hole in the 20th Century. It's ok, my anger's gone now! I think the source of my frustration is how many ordinary, decent, intelligent people just have no idea what's going on. Why? Because they're not informed. If you have time or inclination, do have a look into these factors : 1. The role of one Mansel Aylward in promoting the "Social Model" of illness (a large part of which is the theory - rubbished by many healthcare professionals - that in a welfare state people deliberately or otherwise develop symptoms of illness; and that some illnesses, i.e. backache, are almost entirely figments of the imagination; this theory has subsequently been extended by its adherents to include even MS). In his time, Aylward was both a senior official of the DWP and also on the board of UNUM Provident, the giant American health insurance company. 2. The 'selling' of this theory by Aylward and UNUM in the 1990s to the DWP and all governments from Major's onwards. The evolution of ESA to replace Incapacity Benefit as a result, purely as an agent to reduce the welfare budget. 3. The role of UNUM Provident in America, where they routinely denied disability benefits to people who had paid premiums and then had illnesses or disabilities and claimed on their UNUM policies. UNUM were described in some US Courts as a 'benefits denial factory' and banned from operating in certain States. 4. The role of Atos Origin, a French IT firm who are or have been wholly owned by UNUM Provident, in administering the Work Capability Assessments on Britain's disabled, using the techniques acquired from UNUM to give seriously disabled people "null points' and thus deny them benefits. 5. The LIMA software developed by UNUM and Atos which asks "healthcare professionals" to ask the client a range of questions with a YES / NO tick box to complete, with no subtlety relating to people with complex and varying conditions. To give one example "Do you watch soaps on TV?" is interpreted by the software that a person can sit for half an hour and fully concentrate on a task. I've barely scratched the surface. It's a long and tricky story that has evolved over 20 years. It makes unhappy reading.

It's really weird. Back in the 60s, and probably for a time after that, stamps put coins right in the shade as a minority hobby. Yet now it has reversed completely, and stamps are almost nowhere. Anyone got any idea why that happened ?