Peckris

A very good point. For most of the 80s and 90s - when I bought most of my collection - Seaby/Spink would always say in their 'state of the market' introduction that in spite of a few gains the British coin market was undervalued, "as it has been for years". It had to correct itself at some point, though I feel that eBay has helped push that correction too far the other way. My hunch is that early milled is about right, but there is scope for reductions in modern coins.

Before the 1816 Recoinage, coins had to be worth their face value in metal bullion. As Rob says, the value of silver was volatile during George III's reign, which is quite probably the main reason why there was so little regal silver issued before 1816 (the 1787 shillings and sixpences were issued to BoE customers rather than a general issue to meet demand; the counterstamped Spanish reales were an unofficial measure and went no way to meet the shortage of halfcrowns, shillings, and sixpences; the token issues of 1811 onwards were only temporary 'stop gaps'.)

Why are you smiling? Scotland didn't even qualify ... as per usual. Was there any point in England Qualifying? They were embarassing. I smiled due to my adopted country winning the tournament You live in Germamy now? When did you move?

Definitely not KAW - the Greeks didn't have a W! I think it's a partly corroded N. "ASI" might be the abbreviation of a city-state. Don't forget the Greeks and Macedonians spread far and wide. It could, for example, be Sicily, though I know nothing about Sicilian coins or even history.

Why are you smiling? Scotland didn't even qualify ... as per usual.

That would be difficult. The denarius is largely a solid silver coin, but the later antoninianus varied from being a proper silver alloy, to being a bronze coin merely 'washed' in silver which - like seuk's GIII fakes - comes off fairly readily; however, the antoniniani are genuine issues and the quantity of silver in them depends very much on how much money the emperor needed to raise at the coinage's expense, for either his personal pleasure and aggrandisement, or for necessary wars. As I said - buy from reliable sources until you know more about this subject. (I'm afraid I'm not an expert in the field!)

The first 2 coins look fairly typical of late Greek / Macedonian types. The legend on the reverse of the first is in Greek, and the first word ends ASI (DASI? RASI?), while the second word begins KA and probably followed by N. I have no ideas about the third. I hope this is of some help.

Yeah, right! About what we expect from The Daily Mail.

Your life ain't gonna be worth living for a while - Germany have just scored towards the end of extra time.

Within reason Well, look at it this way ... an investor has a $50 million portfolio. They put just 2% into alternatives. That is still $1 million. Sorry, I must have dropped my wallet with that 50 million in. We're talking real world Jaggy, which means for people who do a regulär job and have a mortgage and other outstanding Bills to pay monthly I've every sympathy with your POV Dave. Sadly though, it's the few with well-lined pockets who actually form and dictate the market, at least, at the highest end of quality and rarity.

Close to the original design, or a laughable approximation?

What's on the reverse?

No, that would feature an obverse of Andy Coulson (effigy phone-hacked by Rebekah Brooks ) and a reverse depicting a grave with an episode of Strictly Come Dancing being filmed right on top of it.

The major auction houses and slabbing companies should be playing a part here. Each time they reject a coin as fake, pictures should be stored in their online archives clearly labelled and searchable as such. What are the legalities about owning a fake or submitting it. Could the TPG before returning it take a metal punch and stamp a great big F in the middle of it. There's nothing illegal about owning a fake, and of course there's nothing illegal about sending a fake to a TPG. However, as TPGs' reputation rests on their 'authentication', you would think they have, or should have, an up to date archive of all known forgeries. And if they do have, it should be made available to everyone. Perhaps, like the BNTA, they have a misguided vested interest in keeping the information to themselves

Unfortunately, you have one of the commonest Victorian copper farthings, dated 1853 ... in shocking condition! Even if it was a scarce 1863 (which - from 1860 - is a different size, metal, and design), it would be worth little in that condition.

The major auction houses and slabbing companies should be playing a part here. Each time they reject a coin as fake, pictures should be stored in their online archives clearly labelled and searchable as such. What are the legalities about owning a fake or submitting it. Could the TPG before returning it take a metal punch and stamp a great big F in the middle of it. There's nothing illegal about owning a fake, and of course there's nothing illegal about sending a fake to a TPG. However, as TPGs' reputation rests on their 'authentication', you would think they have, or should have, an up to date archive of all known forgeries. And if they do have, it should be made available to everyone.

You need a copy of The English Silver Coinage (ESC). Here's a copy on eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THE-ENGLISH-SILVER-COINAGE-FROM-1649-H-A-SEABY-P-A-RAYNER-/291184542049?pt=UK_Coins_OtherBritish_RL&hash=item43cbf38161

It doesn't look obviously cleaned but you will only get a clear idea 'in hand'. As to the coin itself - it's a very typical late Republic denarius, with the winged helmeted Roma on the obverse, and quadrigatus (4-horse chariot) on the reverse along with the name of the moneyer. It's in a reasonable condition, and you paid a reasonable price. Good start! Roman is a fascinating area of collecting and many coins can be pciked up in high grade for a surprisingly modest outlay.

Even with the registration window floating, you can still scroll the article behind it and read it (not quite as clear, but still possible).

Goes off whistling, and puts on a Catherine Tate video...

Definitely wrong - that's as clear a case of normal wide date as you will ever see. The two types are very very distinctive.

I just spent a happy half hour (that's all I spent..) browsing their website. I have to say, among the highly expensive items they do have some coins for people more on a budget, even if they are the more common pieces in less than UNC. I've fired off an email to them with my wants list so they can offer me first refusal when they get such coins in.

Lurpak? I thought it was Castrol GTX night tonight? Castrol is too expensive now, besides, thats on Thursdays Ah yes, I'd forgotten - they've substituted Castrol with STP (Duckhams was also getting too expensive).

"So you're basically gonna electrocute us for an hour?" "Mm hmm." OED : electrocution (n.), from ELECTRICITY + EXECUTION ... This is something you can survive??? Got news for you guys - electrocution means DEATH!!

It does look like a coating that's 'crazed' - but the coin as a whole doesn't seem to be lacquered, at least from the photos. Could it be something akin to a fingerprint, i.e. something which itself is 'crazing' which has come into contact with the crown and transferred across in the form of grease or staining? I guess you could only finally tell by seeing the coin in hand.