Peckris

My family variation on that was 'enough blue to make a sailor a pair of trousers'. Yes, we were told the sailor variant also - except it was 'mend' in both cases, not 'make' (perhaps it was a smaller patch of blue sky? ) My mother always said "It's going to be sunny if there's enough sky to make an Englishman's trousers" followed by "Bloody Englishmen". This was all in Welsh of course. She was North Wales I guess? As a Scouser we were always told that they were the "unfriendly lot" - mind you, putting up with scousers trailing through your country must be a bit irritating!

I was brung up in Liverpool - the number of times we holidayed in Wales and passed the "Croeso i Cymru" sign - I can hardly NOT know what it means! You're welcome Sion

Thats right Chaps, you tell him! lol If only there were some way that we could get Peckris to join us in the 'Dark Side' of collecting £2 Coins from change... LOL You think I can AFFORD to stockpile £2 coins???

Oh, but it has! The standing Britannia is a feature of the "Britannia' series of coins since the late 80s - check out Spink S4281 and S4500 for example. Whether it is as remarkable as the Edward florin would be the subject of a big debate here I'm sure, but I think it is an excellent design. One of the best of the recent designs.

Yes, though the difference between the two is quite subtle - many so-called 'soft strikes' are simply the result of worn dies I believe. It does make you wonder when exactly the Mint out-sourced the Heatons and Kings Norton jobs in 1918 and 1919? Clearly, from the numbers struck in 1912, and the good state of strike, the Heatons job must have been set up pretty early on that year. Perhaps in 1918 and 1919, the two subsidiaries were asked to be on 'standby' and more precise instructions would be sent along with the dies to be used? Clearly, in both years, many Mint pennies are also poor obverse strikes as a result of worn dies - it may be that the dies sent to Heatons and KN were a mix of very worn, quite worn, and the odd one that was still quite good (which would account for the tiny number that are found not only in high grade but with good detail. I wish there was a good source of information about all this.

Croeso i predecimal, Sion!

Krause are like the 'respectable' 'international' equivalent of that perennial paperback 'Coins and Market Values' (Link House) which as I'm sure all long-time collectors will remember set pretty low values up until a few years ago. Then again, so did CCGB until our Chris Perkins bought out the title.

The brass 3d has a thrift plant on the reverse, not a thistle. On the assumption it is a standard 3d but silver in colour, I would expect it to have been plated post issue. This must have happened quite a bit. Someone earlier mentioned they had one in these forums, and I have one I picked up as part of an auction lot. Though to be strictly accurate, mine has been 'chromed' I think, rather than 'silvered'?

I remember near the end, around 1991 or so I was sent to the shop with a George V Florin to purchase a bottle of milk (despite my protests that I didn't actually want to spend this), my mother won the argument and it was spent. OMG, not a 1932 or a 1925 I hope?? I remember near the end, around 1991 or so I was sent to the shop with a George V Florin to purchase a bottle of milk (despite my protests that I didn't actually want to spend this), my mother won the argument and it was spent. It was receiving a GEF 1951 florin in my change in August 1990, that sparked my interest in coins. That sounds like someone - with no idea about coins - desperately spending that 1951 before it got demonetised. But every cloud, as they say ... {Ok chaps, diversion over - now you can drag the discussion kicking and screaming back to the boring old £2 coin! }

It does appear a lovely penny, but closer inspection shows it's not the strongest strike - the folds across Britannia's lap, and Victoria's hair especially below the wreath.

HIS is certainly a marginally better reverse strike than yours (Britannia's face, that is - her right tit is still as flat ), but not enough to make it worth paying good money for, as in all other respects yours is the more attractive, higher grade coin.

No guesses, it's a penny of Queen Anne. Although commonly called Maundy money, the early small change (4d, 3d, 2d & 1d) wasn't produced every year for the Maundy ceremony but rather was struck according to demand and circulated freely. The fact that it has been pierced for suspension means that its value will be little more than melt - say a few pounds at most. Queen Anne maundy isn't rare, so any damage will be detrimental to its value and collectability. It's a real shame about the piercing. The coin is in a high grade and would probably be worth between £50 - £75 without the hole.

That's interesting, because the FTSE has had it's strongest December in 20 years. Clearly, there are forces at work which we can barely comprehend. FTSE = Frost Then Snow Everyday?

You've already put these in another thread Az, or am I suffering déjà vu? Or maybe it's Dave ja Vu

Add a zero!!

Has there ever been one - just one - £5 design that hasn't been plug ugly? I can't think of one.

I bought a HP netbook with Windows 7 on, to tide me over when my Mac was being repaired. I thought "actually, this doesn't look bad at all". Then I tried to do a few things I'd done in OS X - e.g. Secure Empty Trash, create encrypted folders, etc. HAH! "Not available on Windows Home / Starter edition". And there's no email client either. Typical Microsoft rip off. It is pretty though, I'll give it that.

The rich choccie eclair please 1949 You'll need that coat : 'twas -14ºC in these yerr parts yesterday evening

Actually it had ended by the time I got round to messaging him, but by none of us doing so we are our own worst enemies. If everybody messaged sellers mis-describing their coins, then its incidence, although unlikely to be totally eliminated, would at least dramatically reduce. Yes there are many instances of it on e-bay, but that doesn't make it right. I know it's a bit heavy for something as minor as this, but to quote Edmund Burke; 'All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing'. Q.E.D. Hear hear, Derek! Well said [shuffles his own soapbox sheepishly out of sight] Famous example! Sadly, all too rare. I believe the war didn't stop as in stop, it did continue for another 4 years ski I think we knew what he meant though

Alas, my condition won't allow me to 'do it right' any more But, a very happy Christmas to you all anyway!! ('Twas reading -14ºC on my dashboard thermometer when I drove back here).

Should be approx. 28.4g. As it is likely that only one or two (if any) 1934 crowns found their way to China, then any defects to the original coin will be repeated on the reproduction. Essentially the process used is for the forger to employ the genuine coin as a hub from which he then cuts a die and ultimately copy coins from that die. For this reason, many of the copies are far from high grade and can be as low as fine. Unfortunately I do not know the particulars of any 1934 forgeries but someone else on here may know, failing that a search of the internet might yield an answer. Incidentally, there was a previous wave of forgeries emenating from the Middle East. I have now weighed the crown as advised and I am pleased to say it weighed 28.3g. Which hopefully is within the tolerance of the accepted weight of this crown and the weighing scales. With all your advice, I shall now consider my next move. Thank you for your help. Out of interest, which area of the country are you in? I'm in the East Of England Ok - well if the NE then there's the York Fair, if the SE there's quite a few in London, but if the E Midlands then my knowledge of fairs has run out (though if not too far from the W Midlands there's the Midlands Fair near the NEC). Either way, that's a rich source of expertise and advice on your coin.

No, quite. What is it with these older, non coin collecting females ? Am I a goose being fattened until my liver bursts and can be used in fois gras ? I mean for Christ's sake, I've basically been pinned down for 9 hours and had food driven down my throat. I'm all in favour of a bit of festive spirit and I try to reciprocate, but approach me with a pie (any filling) for several weeks and I will gun you down like a dog. That’s the thing these females are lethal! The sheer quantity of chocolate that appears to circulate through this house in December is phenomenal and its all female doing. If I am to even mention the word coin in their presence I am told off or told to make sure I keep those ‘dirty old pieces of metal’ away from them or the living room. Speaking as a male chocaholic I'd like to put the record straight - and it was so in my case even before I saw the lovely Ms Binoche in 'Chocolat'. Happy Crimbo everyone !

Should be approx. 28.4g. As it is likely that only one or two (if any) 1934 crowns found their way to China, then any defects to the original coin will be repeated on the reproduction. Essentially the process used is for the forger to employ the genuine coin as a hub from which he then cuts a die and ultimately copy coins from that die. For this reason, many of the copies are far from high grade and can be as low as fine. Unfortunately I do not know the particulars of any 1934 forgeries but someone else on here may know, failing that a search of the internet might yield an answer. Incidentally, there was a previous wave of forgeries emenating from the Middle East. I have now weighed the crown as advised and I am pleased to say it weighed 28.3g. Which hopefully is within the tolerance of the accepted weight of this crown and the weighing scales. With all your advice, I shall now consider my next move. Thank you for your help. Out of interest, which area of the country are you in?

So, let me get this straight. It's a 2009 £1 with missing letters, that's been overstruck on a 2008 £2 without missing letters but with a missing dot?