Peckris

Aww, no bids. That little item deserved some interest

It appears to be Tower Mint, reference S2785, mm harp. The shield should have CR to the side, but the wear makes that hard to tell - I think there could be a C to the left? The bust appears to have a lace collar (there are six bust varieties for this particular type). For the rotation question you would need someone more expert in hammered than I am.

Our friend 1887 will know the answer if anyone does He opened my eyes to the sheer number of minor varieties that exist. Thank you for your vote of confidence. All you say is perfectly correct the Arabic 1 was used in the sets which would indicate that 797 were Arabic 1 but I have read that mintage of the proof double florin was, as with the other silver coins, 1084. This allows for up to 287 others. Recent work shows the proportion of Roman to Arabic double florins in a sample of 591 to be 200 Roman to 391 Arabic. This is using the reverse A and B as given in Davies. I have no way of knowing whether this proportion holds for the remaining 287 or if it applies at all, all I can say is, yes there are proof Roman I coins. You should also remember the specimen sets have a proportion of Roman I coins and people often mistake the high quality coins for proofs. Again the currency coins, that is those using the currency dies also have occasional proof or proof like strikings. As the years go by the best uncirculated coins, especially early strikings, take on an appearence of being proof but held up against the real thing it is easy to tell the difference. I would be happy to examine anything you think might be a Roman proof and send you photos of mine if you provide email. Obverse and reverse needed. As to value the last one I picked up for £140 not long ago. If I were pushed for a mintage number it would have to be less than 150 unless of course all the 287 are Roman. Many thanks for the information. I do have a decent Roman I example, but it is definitely just a currency piece. However, I now have hope that there is a Roman I proof out there somewhere that might appear for sale at some point in the future. I remember reading somewhere that there are many Victorian coins produced from highly polished blanks that appear to be proofs, but are not. All of the genuine proofs I have seen possess a distinctive uniform rim with sharp edge milling. I think it's unlikely that these were polished blanks (i.e. prepared for proofs) - the proof striking quantity would have been known in advance and the right number of blanks (plus maybe a few extra for contingency) would have been prepared. There are simply far too many prooflike currency pieces - or at least, UNC examples with highly mirrored fields but with the raised design not mirrored - to be explained by polished blanks. I believe it is more likely that the proof dies were used on normal blanks once the proof strikings were complete, as there would have been plenty of life left in them. Even with a single strike rather than double, this would have produced coins with a prooflike finish, but without the sharp rims that the specially prepared blanks would have had. The next step down would be the early strikes from new currency dies, which might have had something of a prooflike appearance, until inspected fairly closely.

Certainly looks like it. Appears to be a real overstrike rather than a 'double bounce'.

£9.99? I hope it's the 50% silver version at the very least. Somehow I doubt it though. Still, as you say, a free plastic sleeve..

I wouldn't wait, personally. On the news today, they reported that copper and tin prices have already fallen sharply very recently. Silver won't be far behind, I should think.

I agree with scott - it's most likel to be 8/7. That's a known variety, worth a little more than the regular issue, but not much more. By the way, Freeman only covers bronze issues. Peck is still the main copper authority.

Some do, some don't. If there's a lot of work involved, all dealers will charge. However, if you took in one or two coins for valuation, it's doubtful any reasonable dealer would charge you. And if they can give you a quick opinion off the top of their head, they wouldn't charge for that either. In between those two extremes, it's up to the particular dealer.

I think you're absolutely right. However, I stand by my point that all upswings are inevitably followed by a downswing. That's a rule that's never failed yet, except in the cost of living in the West since WW2 (though Japan proved that negative inflation was possible around 10 years ago).

Sorry to hear about your grandad. One thing puzzles me though - you say he was a collector for many years, yet only had one single modern series? It may be worth asking what else there is ("My family wish to sell some of the coins")? It may be that, not knowing much about the subject, they looked at these modern glossy proofs and decided that was where the value was. Yet actually, if he had other, older coins, they could be worth much more if of the right type and in the right condition.

That's what they said about the 90s "Bull market", house prices before 2008, and "boom and bust"...

And for gods sake, DO NOT PART WITH THE SILVER COINS, they have bullion value, if they have no numis value then just pop them in a jar for years down the road. Silver is sky high right now, so if its pre 1920 do not part with it. ??? so u saying it will go up in price? i was selling the silver not just giving it away If "Silver is sky high right now" (which it is) then now IS THE RIGHT TIME TO SELL!!! Always sell when the market is rising high - those of us with longer memories can recall what happened after 1980-81 (the last time the silver market went sky high) - it collapsed spectacularly back to its former levels and didn't recover for years.

Our friend 1887 will know the answer if anyone does He opened my eyes to the sheer number of minor varieties that exist.

You would be a real Hero Dave, if you could scan them all in and publish a PDF..... I wonder who owns the copyright? The publishers were the Numismatic Publishing Company of Brentwood Essex - when I googled them last year, nothing came up so I have no idea who - if anyone - currently owns the copyright. I'm still hoping to upload a brief page to Wikipedia with a very short account of the British coin periodicals and annuals, as they don't seem to have one. This is my list so far - does anyone spot any omissions? Coins And Medals Coin Monthly / Coin Exchange and Mart Coin and Medal News / Coin and Banknote News COINS AND MEDALS ANNUAL / COINS & MARKET VALUES COIN MONTHLY YEAR BOOK / COIN YEAR BOOK. COIN NEWS YEARBOOK / COIN YEARBOOK CHECK YOUR CHANGE / COLLECTORS COINS GREAT BRITAIN THE STANDARD CATALOGUE OF BRITISH COINS

I don't collect these, but many years ago I picked up a tiny copper with lustre - on the obverse was a baby's head and the legend ALBERT PoW (which as we all know stands for Prisoner of War ), while on the reverse is the legend arranged in horizontal rows TWELVE PENCE MAKE 1 SHILLING. Can't help you much further I'm afraid, but I'm sure there are one or two here who know more?

It's a 25p (crown) issued in 1977 to commemorate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Rather common I'm afraid. It's a shame they issued so many. I think it's one of the finest modern designs, especially that reverse. Quite probably the finest crown-sized piece of the decimal era. The silver proof version is not at all rare so that would be the one to go for, as it's even more attractive (can be picked up for less than £20 I should think, which is less than twice what I paid for an uncased example in 1979.

That's a genuine one in the picture, that will mysteriously get "lost in the post" on the way to the successful bidder, I'm thinking? (With a feedback score of 97.7, it looks decidedly iffy!) Here is a link to the photo of the 1933 (with some other rare pennies) on Tony Clayton's site: link OMG, that's a direct steal. The successful bidder will be one unhappy bunny. It's up to £38 which is £38 more than I want to throw away!

That's a genuine one in the picture, that will mysteriously get "lost in the post" on the way to the successful bidder, I'm thinking? (With a feedback score of 97.7, it looks decidedly iffy!)

Good work, Bill. I'd never realised that double florins were still legal tender. That means (along with the Crown) that both the coins that contributed to the "Barmaid's Ruin" in the late 19th Century, are still spendable! Anyone know a short-sighted barmaid?

Scunny We're playing Bristols Titty Another one that falls foul of that sort of AR censorship software is Marseilles. That infamous port in southern France. Tell me about it! The Apple website forums automatically convert innocent words like "damn" and "hell" into **** and **** respectively.

I can't answer your question I'm afraid. But I will say this - what you call 'tarnish' is what hobbyists call 'toning', and many collectors look for it and even prefer it. Don't even THINK about removing it! (Not that you have necessarily, but just in case ...)

now there was a man who knew the meaning of Shock and Awe ..for which the Japanese are still paying Here is the generally accepted reason for the attack on Japan..... The USA was facing the prospect of invading Japan to subdue it. The last few battles, Iwo Jima and Okinawa particularly, were incomprehensibly bloody. Japan had no regard for its own citizens' lives and planned to turn their whole island into a fortress. It was estimated that casualties would be 1 million Americans and half a million British in the first invasion alone. Some cynics say we used it to scare Stalin as well, but the fact remains that they ignored an ultimatum on 27 July 1945 after enduring the worst conventional bombs could do. A powerful argument remains that the Bomb saved allied and Japanese lives. The Allies demanded unconditional surrender of the Axis. In the Pacific Theatre, the Allies, led by the United States, rolled up the Japanese expansion island by island. When Guam was taken, the Allies had a base from which stage an invasion. The estimates of American casualties for an invasion of mainland Japan was in excess of 1 million Americans. Possibly in excess of 2 million Americans. The United States dropped two atomic bombs to save American lives and speed the end of the war. Prior to using the atomic bomb, Japan was given ultimatums to surrender along with warnings of the dire consequences. The Japanese government ignored the warnings. While the use of the atomic bomb was a technological and strategic turning point in both WWII and all future diplomatic and strategic activities, there were more people killed, maimed, and injured during the Tokyo firebombing campaigns than by the atomic bomb. To force Japan to surrender without further fighting. Japan surrendered very quickly thus saving the lives of over 100,000 American soldiers and perhaps as many as 1,000,000 Japanese who would have died if we had invaded Japan. Many additional explanations have been brought forward in the succeeding years, as there are always theorists, that can't be helped...it is always easier to say what we should have done! I don't argue with most of this. The only thing I take issue with is that you've conflated a very short period of history (a few days) into a single phrase, when it's now known that a hell of a lot went on behind the scenes between those two bombs. However, this isn't the argument of "theorists", it's actually the work of historians trying to uncover the truth behind the contemporary propaganda. Yes, I'm sure people can argue even for the necessity of the propaganda, but that's a separate issue.

No, you're wrong. You're talking about the pre-Hiroshima situation, not Nagasaki. That's why Hiroshima "bought it", and you can retrospectively argue until the cows come home about the rights and wrongs of it (if it ensured an atomic war would never be fought, then perhaps that's a glimmer of hope from an appalling event, and perhaps the death of 000,000s of civilians was "worth it" to protect the lives of soldiers??). However, after Hiroshima the Japanese WERE ready to surrender. They just baulked at one solitary condition of those the Allies imposed, to do with the Emperor, whom they revered almost as a god. For that one bit of unnecessary stubbornness on the part of the Allies (and let's not forget - the condition about the Emperor was imposed for no strategic reason, but to ensure total humiliation) the Nagasaki bomb was dropped. Much of the real history of that period and the ending of the war in the East, has only been made known comparatively recently. All sides were expert propagandists, and that's what was fed us as "history" for decades.

Except it's NOT a flat disc

now there was a man who knew the meaning of Shock and Awe ..for which the Japanese are still paying It is an argument on which I could easily bat on both sides. :unsure Thankfully it is the only time the A/bomb has been used in war. If it wasn't used then I don't think it wouldn't have been kept in cotton wool for the past 65 years. Tell that to the residents of Hiroshima. Actually no, tell it to the residents of Nagasaki, a city A-bombed quite unnecessarily after the US had received firm indications the Japs were ready to surrender. But no, Truman had to make a BIG GESTURE to the Soviets, "Look what we got, and we're not afraid to use it". I hate the man.