Peckris

Hi Dagz - your avatar is my second favourite £1 reverse (after the Welsh dragon)

Pre Elizabeth II? I understood it was some point in the 19th Century that they changed this practice? The silver hyper-inflation was 1980-81 when the Bunker Hunt family in the States tried to corner the silver market (and failed). I vividly remember that (in Coin Monthly) the values listed for BU George VI florins went from £2 in one issue, to £12 the next time they featured florins. Of course, it didn't last. And then there's the discovery of large quantities of certain coins well after the issue : one issue of Anne shillings, 1697 late issue sixpences, Maxentius follis (dug up!), 1912H BU pennies ...

Except for micro-fibre cloths - they clean glass without any scratching whatever, so will be safe for coins. But of course, not to be used with cleaning or polishing fluids!!

Yes, indeed. That's an In Memoriam medallion for Geo IV, I'm not an expert in these, and don't know how rare those particular issues are. I'm guessing not rare, as the 19th Century was a high-water mark for commemorative medallions. What sort of size is it? (Yes, a picture would be useful).

Sorry, was that a reply to me Sion, or haven't you found time yet to read through my War & Peace of advice?

Reminds me of the old Benny Hill sketch of an Englishman going into a German/Dutch grocer's store which went something like this; 'FUNEX?' 'SVFX' 'FUNEM?' 'SVFM' I think you really needed to be there. Gah, It was The Two Ronnies doing a sketch set in Sweden with "subtitles". I think the next line went O.K. M.N.X.N.T.4.1

I disagree strongly. In base 12, there's no quick way of advancing in units of 12, or even half units of 6. Yet counting up in 5s or 10s, or multiplying, is simplicity itself. Division isn't the only way people count!

There are at least two silver versions of this which are worth more (though not a fortune lol). One is 50% silver, the other is sterling silver. Then there are proof versions too, which are worth three to four times what the ordinary one is worth.

I've got experience of Filemaker Pro, which is a similar type of app. The first and best advice I can give you is this : PLAN YOUR DATABASE in advance! This means : 1. Work out how many different tables (files) you need : for example, now I don't deal anymore, I use three - one for the coins themselves, another for the pictures, and a third for all the Spink prices in various grades going back years (you may not want or need all those) 2. Work out the relationship(s) between the different tables : for example I have a unique Coin ID that links to its picture and its list of prices; that ID is defined as a field in all tables Setting up and defining your database : 3. In your main table (which will be the coins themselves) define a master layout with all fields you want : DENOMINATION / DATE / VARIETY / DATE PURCHASED / AMOUNT PAID / CURRENT VALUE / CONDITION / WHERE PURCHASED / COMMENTS will probably be a minimum, but don't worry : database managers like Access allow you to add, delete, or change field definitions over time. So too with layouts; you can add more as you need them. I have about twenty! 4. Once you have tables and relationships and fields all defined, you're ready to go! You will need to input your data, though if you already have Excel it will comparatively easy - Access will have an Import dialogue where you define the Excel spreadsheet you want to import and how you want to map Excel fields to Access fields. Then Access will do it for you. That's a start. It sounds daunting, but if you've worked a lot with spreadsheets, it isn't really. Think of a database as a spreadsheet made of putty that can be pummelled and shaped into the configurations you want. Good luck!

I think that it certainly would have made more sense if Britain had gone Decimimal when it was first proposed. It makes a lot more sense and certainly is easier to count and work out money using a Decimal System. I think as you say, it comes down to fear of change and 'The Unknown.' I imagine that many people then, as they are still today, would have been 'Set in their ways' and the proposition of change would have horrified them. Much as it did for many people when Britain finally did go Decimal in 1971. I can also imagine that the Florin would have been an unpopular coin when it was first introduced due to the fact that it was also intended to replace the very popular Half Crown. A similar thing happend with the proposition to do away with the Sixpence, there was much Public outcry due to its popularity and it remained with us until 1980. The 50p Coin was also very unpopular with certain members of the Public when it was introduced. Some even called for it to be withdrawn. I guess that even though the years pass us by, some things never change. lol And yet ... such conservatism in the face of the utter radical changes the coinage has seen : - the introduction of milled coinage - the Great Recoinage of William III and the withdrawal of all hammered - the introduction of tokens due to the small change crisis - the mechanisation of Boulton - the Recoinage of 1816 - the change to bronze - the new 50% silver alloy - the removal of silver altogether - the sporadic appearance (and sometimes disappearance) of denoms - BoE dollars, 1s 6d tokens, florins, double florins, etc.. To fight against sensible decimalisation after all those changes, seems downright perverse.

How did they manage to do that? lol You're very welcome Rob As for the Spink 'bollox up', the "nose to S" is what they've listed for the deep-cut portrait; it's not, it's the shallow portrait. Plus, their price differential for the two types of 1921 shilling is ridiculous - the deep-cut portrait is RARE (only discovered long after decimlaisation); even with a small market for them, the differential should be much greater.

And just as a bonus, here is the document I sent to Spink for them to use (or rather, bollox up!)

The easiest way - by far - is to line up a pre-1920 and post-1921 shilling side by side and examine them. But briefly : the deeply engraved portrait has a higher and bolder rim; it's slightly concave, dishing upwards towards the rim; the gap between legend and rim is only about half the distance; the higher modelling of the portrait makes it look a little smaller; the hair detail on EF and above is much better cut; George's nose doesn't point directly to the S as it does on the Shallow portrait. Please note, this only applies to 1920 and 1921 (rare) shillings, where there are two types. If you get a shilling dated between 1922 and 1926 (pre-ME) then they are all shallow recut portrait.

The only issue I have with it is why there isn't a '0' on the end of the sentences. And if we did it every time, we might clear these kinds of people away permanently, leaving the country a whole lot nicer place to live. The physical (extended) article arrived through the letter box today. Now I'm in receipt of a few more facts (assuming the reporting is true) I'm inclined to agree with you. The person assualted has brain damage and can't write or perform tasks safely with his hands such as making a cup of tea. The two offenders had 14 and 3 convictions respectively since 2002. 2 years is ridiculous, and why you can't take previous behaviour into consideration beggars belief. If I pick up a speeding ticket or tickets, they take those previous convictions into consideration and if enough points have accumulated I get banned. I'm clearly more dangerous to society than someone who is liable to assault you without warning or due reason. I've tried to keep out of the more 'hang 'em flog 'em' aspects of this thread, but I agree with you Rob, that's patently absurd. The previous convictions are rightfully (IMO) withheld from juries, but the judge would know all about them when coming to pass sentence. Either the judge was a wet lettuce leaf, or what you said first about "assuming the reporting is true" has a bearing.

That's Azda's, apparently.

OMG, wasn't it just? Downright plain ugly! That wasn't the reason. It was actually the first stage of an intended decimalisation. Florins - as one tenth of a pound (the legend on the first issue) - were to replace halfcrowns, which is why there are no halfcrowns for 25 years until popular support demanded their return in 1874.

Josie, I'm not an economist but this much I do know : For inflation to occur, there must be underlying trends - the most common one is an expanding money supply outstripping manufacture. Also, it can be caused by over-spending governments, interest rate changes, etc etc. For example, the increase in petrol prices is causing price inflation which continues for month after month. Then there was the increase in VAT, which will cause inflation for a few months until things shake down (i.e. an increase of 2.5% on all items that are VAT rated). Now let's look at decimalisation. The change affected prices at the level of less than 50 pence (remember - the 50p was introduced in 1969 and was a straight swap for the old 10/- banknote). Below that level, prices in whole shillings converted EXACTLY to their decimal equivalent. the ONLY opportunity shopkeepers had to artificially inflate prices was where - at the level of less than one shilling - the old money did not convert exactly to New Pence. Most shopkeepers would certainly have rounded prices up to the nearest 1/2p. We therefore had trivial price inflation at the level of a few coppers, for one month only. While this was going on, the Heath Government was busy bailing out Rolls Royce and other British companies, failing to control the money supply, giving in to wage demands, etc; shortly after this there was a big Middle East conflict affecting the cost of oil all over the world, plus in this country, a miners' strike, a 3-day week, huge cuts in productivity, etc. Now, how can anyone claim that decimalisation caused any significant inflation? It was one straw in the haystack of inflationary conditions that co-existed at the time. It was an urban myth that spread at the time, was something that 'ordinary people' could pin the blame on readily, but had no basis in reality.

1872, 1881, 1883, 1884, 1886 - they are all affordable florins.

and now the picture with the right Date! That's interesting. I checked both my high grade 1911s yesterday - the one where the I of BRITT points clearly to a space has a slightly hollow neck. Whereas my non-hollow neck penny has the I of BRITT pointing to the left of a tooth. Just how many 1911 varieties are there???

Seems to be a refuge for the exceedingly banal most of the time. I joined it to see what colleagues were saying about whom, in their spare time. I figured if I was there and showing my face regularly, they couldn't say too much about me Interesting. My experience is different. I'm in touch with a childhood friend, a former classmate, a former lover, family and friends too far away to get to see, and sundry people I've met there, all into 70s music, and politics, etc. I find that little community is vibrant (I said VIBRANT - wash your ears out) and full of stuff to join in with.

True, I believe. The adjective comes from a troublesome Irish family who lived in London in the C19th I think... So did my Irish ancestors; we might be related. Oh, the shame of it... Ah, but you could just as easily be related to "Hotlips O'Hoolahan" of M*A*S*H fame! Oh wait, that was fiction...

Is "coin" a euphemism for "sister"? Is "gold" a euphemism for "hot"? Is "rare" a euphemism for "sh*gs like a barn door"?

True, I believe. The adjective comes from a troublesome Irish family who lived in London in the C19th I think... Yes! My etymlo etymollo etimologi dictionary confirms this.