Peckris

Good idea. But don't get rid of your low grade stuff until AFTER you've upgraded!

"The Internet changed everything". Or did it? I think the only real difference the interweb has actually made (apart from making research easier, and to save on expensive catalogues) is to ensure the greatest quantity of crap is placed before us more frequently than ever before. Finding quality items is as difficult as ever, i.e. collectors for the mid-to-top end material, if not actually harder as the supply of predecimal coins is finite and ever-shrinking. I don't think prices have gone up beyond all reason : Seaby/Spink have been saying for decades that the UK market was undervalued, and maybe now it is finding its true level. Or at least, the highest levels since the early 80s, when being a collector was no easier than it is now. However, let us also not forget that prices do go through peaks and troughs over periods of time. I would say that now is not the best time to buy, as we are due a slump in values, or possibly a stagnation such as we saw between the mid-80s and mid-90s.

Interesting ... but AU ??? Who are they trying to kid? Not even remotely EF, not even allowing for the differences between UK and US grades! The grade is irrelevant. The scarcity of the token is far more important. Some of you fellows seem to care more about what the TPGs in the USA put on the label than some of the folks over on this side of the pond. I bought the token because it is extremely rare, and it wasn't even noted that it was the Noble specimen. It sold for $290 back in 1998, I purchased it 16 years later for $70. The plastic and grade were not what I was looking at. I purchased the token...not the plastic. If you must know, it was called Nearly extremely fine and extremely rare. in the 1998 Noble auction. You seem to think my post was an attack on you and your purchase. It clearly and obviously was not. It was simply an exclamation mark about the stated grade by the TPG, is all.

Absolutely agree. Before 1967 it was the commonest penny ever by a long long way. 150 million if I remember? A better one will show in a very short time. Don't pay more than a tenner (ignore the catalogues).

Interesting ... but AU ??? Who are they trying to kid? Not even remotely EF, not even allowing for the differences between UK and US grades!

Oh, you can trust CSG implicitly

Via a bigger fool

Up to a point - I'm having real and enduring difficulty finding a genuine top grade (GEF or better) 1806 halfpenny to go with my penny and farthing; they're nowhere near as easy as people think. Common as hell up to VF+ but progressively harder after that, especially one without complications.

FOR WEAR ONLY <------ it's VF (obverse NVF, reverse GVF). Trouble is, there's too much else wrong with it, such as rim dinks, slight pitting, and uneven toning. So for value I'd say less than VF - possibly GF only.

By the time a weak strike has become VF, it's VF full stop. It just took less time to get there than a strong example.

Oy! Totally totally wrong. The Specials were NEVER EVER a skinhead band, and Madness attracted skins only for a few gigs until the skins realised they were onto a loser. Both bands were haevily featured at Rock Against Racism gigs, etc etc. I have the 'unofficial' LZ tour programme from 1972, sold outside venues as there was no official tour programme. Last I saw it was valued at £75, don't know what it's worth now. That too was 50p I think?

Oh if only it were, but sadly both of mine are, I think Obverse 6 - there's no sign of W Wyon on either of them. In my case, the gap at the top of the bust is only marginally smaller on one example compared to the other, say 0.8mm against 1.00mm - in other words a tiny difference. The misaligned 'T' is similar in range to yours, but in mine the left hand cross piece of the 'T' drops downwards, not the right hand side as on yours. Finally, the 6 and 2 in the date are wider on one example than on the other. If I could get my camera working I'd put up a photo or two. If not I'll see what I can do otherwise. That's absolutely normal and very common for the first 4 years of bun pennies - all it signifies is a different die, not die variety. The spacing - and even orientation - of the final 2 to the 6, is extremely varied.

Hahaha - I was a would-be Mod (born too young ) and a bit too old for credibility in the late 70s resurgence. I did have a Lambretta though, and I've always preferred the Small Faces to Gene Vincent. I've always loved The Who too but they weren't real Mods, they were a temporary creation of their then-manager. Having said that, My Generation was the first punk rock album, the first heavy metal album, the first Art Rock album .. not bad for a group being passed off as Mods!

Do you know what has always fascinated me? That you are obviously SO passionate about photography, yet opted instead to scan your other great love? I'm surprised you never tied the two together.I'm furious, just think on what we're missing! Yes, I do realise the irony! However, when I first scanned everything, it was simply to put lifesize images on my database for insurance purposes. Now unfortunately, disability has advanced to the point where I'm able to carry a camera around on my scooter, but not able to hunch over a camera on a tripod with a lighting system etc etc. And as all you who've done it will know, lighting is everything.

Once I've digitised all my photos and slides (probably 1/3 of the way through) they will take up less space!

Declan is a bit low in my opinion. It's not far off EF but it has some edge knocks which let it down. £20 at a rough guess (£30+ if it didn't have the knocks). All the common varieties from 1861 to 1863 are just that - very common, with big mintages following the Mint's changeover from copper to bronze. From 1864 the picture changes, and many dates are scarce until 1874 and 1875. They get really common again from 1889 to 1893.

Can't help with the graining, sorry. But yes, it's EF (minimum - possibly a bit better).

But not on his birthday!

And the key to THAT is to have a lunatically high disposable income!!

Upgraded coins are always sold or exchanged. What's the point in keeping them? (Unless there's a story behind them, like my first 1926ME penny and 1949 3d, found in change when I was a schoolkid!)

He probably picked it up for 99p...

Before Elizabeth II, yes, it's the number of coins minted IN the year, not OF the year. It's fairly reliable for George VI, slightly less so for Geo V, and so on the further back you go. And no, I can't think of a reliable way of knowing the figures you want, as no record was kept except of the coins actually minted. Classic examples: 1797 cartwheels1804 BoE dollars1754 farthings1758 shillingswhich are all either 'single type' coins minted over a period of years, or 'last of the series' coins minted when required in later years when coinage was going through turbulent times. There are many such examples.

I can't find any reference to 'patina' in the second description? In any case, patination is little more than a fancy name for toning applied to copper and bronze. It's slightly different though, in that patination can cause a complete re-colouration of the coin which is less usual with silver.

I can do it in Photoshop .. but there is a bit of a difficulty in that assuming each coin is at 50% opacity, it can be quite hard to make out the details on each, especially if they are very similar. However, it can be done, after a fashion.

Don't need one. Wouldn't touch it with a bargepole means you don't need a bargepole to not do the thing you have decided not to do.