Peckris

No, I think you're absolutely right! (Sorry not to give you a good argument...) Having said that, most of the designs aren't attractive enough in anything much less than UNC. The halfcrowns, florins and sixpences especially look rather shabby as soon as they start to wear much, same with the obverses. Oh I agree that they go 'off' very quickly. That's why I'm happy to collect in EF and upwards, but I'm not too concerned to go for the nirvana of UNC. I'm primarily a collector and so value/investment is secondary but not completely ignored, and for this reason I can see that Liz II coins in particular are very unlikely to command investment prices in my lifetime, even in the top condition. Hence, I don't see paying top prices for a common and unremarkable coin, even if it is unusual for that date to be found in UNC.For me it's always about pushing the boundaries and, if you can't keep an eye out for the TOP in E2 coins, then where else can you put together a quality collection?It totally depends on your focus and, having agreed the E2 coins go 'off' with barely a rub, I can't see why someone wouldn't want the very best? There are few monarchs where you can pursue this at such little cost! As I said before, for me at least, the E2 coinage is a happy drug, which still gives the buzz if I'm compiling it diligently, and without compromise! I mean, why would you spend one pound on something ordinary, when two pounds buys you a bit of jazz? Just my anal, pedantic, perfectionist self, coming on...it just wouldn't interest me without this detail and focus! To each their own! Happy daze! Hmm. When you compare £40 upwards for a genuinely BU 1954 florin against £10 for a BU 1945 (silver) florin, I'm not sure I'd entirely go along with that. But yeah, for type collectors, there's always 1966 and 1967

Perhaps we should recognise a new class of ancient coin - the Anglo-Saxby?

No, I think you're absolutely right! (Sorry not to give you a good argument...) Having said that, most of the designs aren't attractive enough in anything much less than UNC. The halfcrowns, florins and sixpences especially look rather shabby as soon as they start to wear much, same with the obverses.

Congratulations Rob - the only computer user in Britain still using a dot matrix printer? I last used one in 1994! Anyway, glad you got the problem sorted out.

There's one major flaw in your argument Rob - our manufacturing industry was wrecked not by Europe, but by Maggie Thatcher. Earlier, even Ted Heath recognised the value of bailing out the likes of Rolls Royce when he was in power.

Good bit of research that, though this no-legend shilling-sized specimen doesn't seem to fit with any of those listed. What's interesting though, is that there is an ME shilling pattern for 1925, the same year as the ME was actually introduced on the halfpenny. Which makes me wonder : if the Modified Effigy was ready for use in 1925, why is there an issue with the old effigy of all silver, plus pennies, in 1926? With the very limited mintages between 1924-1926 the Mint wasn't exactly overloaded with work, so you'd think they could have brought in the ME right from the start in 1926. Oh well, another of those mysteries that may never be resolved.

Well said Richard. I whole-heartedly agree with pretty much all of that (speaking as a now-disabled person who's been living in terror that I'll either lose my benefits entirely or else be forced to look for work I can't do anymore - which would be even more a reality under UKIP). One thing that this week's 70th anniversary of D-Day ought to do, is make people realise that the European Community was founded (yes, initially only as an economic market) in the spirit of all its component nations getting along together and that war between us should never again happen. Yet in that time, the French remain irrevocably French, as do the Germans, the Italians, Romanians, Irish, Spanish, etc - no nation has lost its defining identity. Just as in Britain - the oldest federal state in Europe - Yorkshiremen, Cornish, Brummies, Scousers, Cockneys, etc haven't lost their separate identities in 1,000 years, apart from there being a Starbucks and McDonalds on every High Street! As you say Richard, there's much wrong with the way Europe is administered from Brussels, but that doesn't mean we should do a Farage-style sulk and get out altogether. Far better that we stay in and help to right the ills, than cut off our noses to spite our face and become an isolated nonentity on the edge of the Atlantic. I'm also just glad that I'm not the only 'Europhile' in this forum.

If it's a simple as that, you can do it all in Word.

Can you send me a PM about the Irish pictures please, Chris?

I take it you're looking for a form which will hold multiple fields (your different sized boxes) which can then be used for multiple records (e.g. coins, or whatever purpose you had in mind)? Some kind of database manager is what you need, and there must be a cheap one out there, as your needs sound fairly basic. Unfortunately I don't have experience with databases for Windows PCs but after Googling... list of databases: http://download.cnet.com/windows/database-software/ (some may be free, others will offer a free trial) And apparently the free OpenOffice suite has a database component in it: http://www.download-4-free.com/listing/121698/Apache%20OpenOffice?did=11085&pid=1&ppd=search,48903763765,openoffice,e,,c,0,,,&gclid=CjgKEAjwzcWcBRCat43fy9e5i3ASJADXOBwuMOQjnFI4Kqv_YRoS3dZRdK6UKBipXj38VqxPN2oh-vD_BwE

I don't know, but it certainly looks Anglo-Saxby...

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, yes.

Must have rolled back from the pub, nothing on telly, "Ok, let's see what I have in this drawer I can put on eBay.."

Well ... ok! Welcome to the forums

"Quite rare and very collectible" Well, the first part's true - I've never seen such a tatty specimen before not even in my change at the pub on a Friday night..

I once had a collector of modern proof and Royal Mint sets telling me that he expected to make a profit on his purchases and sell them at auction well above bullion / scrap value. Apart from the odd set in recent years, the vast majority i've seen are below their RRP. It's a bit - and i say a bit - like 50's and 60's diecasts. If you're lucky enough to have them in good boxed condition then you could sell them to collectors for a tidy sum but it's far too late in the game to be buying them now and expecting to make a retirement fund from them. Most of these recent oddities just leave me non-plussed. That thing about the £2 coin and the Queen's earrings...although one with the portrait on the date side recently made £25 on Ebay Absolutely spot on. And it's down to Spinks that these modern commems are listed with artificially high values; their catalogue never shows them at any less than issue price 'plus something for inflation'. Yet collectors and dealers who attend auctions know full well that you can (for example) pick proof sets up for half list price or even less. The so-called secondary market dictates the true value of these modern issues, and despite supposedly 'low issue numbers' in the case of piedforts and silver proofs, there are more than enough collectors to satisfy demand. The Royal Mint once tried to set up a 'Collectors Club' for their tat - I don't know if it's still in existence. Still, I suppose if even a small fraction of those got turned on to 'proper' coins, it perhaps wasn't a complete waste of time.

"Gang member" or something. Other exciting credits include Tom The Pig Man, Turnpike Keeper and King's Man. Hey, it's a living. Plus he gets to hang out with people like Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, John Boorman and the cast of Casualty. Well, at least the first three are impressive!

Amazing comparison shots. Only the two roofs and the mini-spire show it's the same location.

Also the broken R in EDWARDVS...

That dealer sounds suspicious to me. From what I can see of it (the pictures are too small), it could well be a replica, which isn't a forgery as such but neither is it genuine. The surface looks like it is the wrong metal, and there's a suspicious triangular 'cut out' on the obverse ("heads") side between 8 and 9 o'clock where the circle of beads is. And on the reverse there is a shamrock shape to the left just above the centre line. Either of those might contain the initials WRL which stands for Westair Reproductions Limited. If sthat' what you see there, then it's definitely a replica and not worth very much. Certainly not £30.

Guilty as charged

They key to this shiller's success is that they don't seem to win the item - and so they're at risk of a negative as much as a normal seller. Yes, but 90% is really really low. They couldn't be left that by their 'owner', so who's leaving such a bad feedback score?

He'd do it more often apparently, but he tyres rather easily... Obviously a real sadd(l)o... He's a bi-sick-le freak... Have the police got anyone in the frame for it? Does he use a condom, or a puncture repair kit? What kind of bikes does he go for? Mounting bikes, apparently... BMX = Bicycle Masturbation seX He volunteers as a bicycle pump...

You've done well there. The coin now has good eye appeal. I'd rate it GEF/AUNC, not bad for a scarce date.

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with wear patterns on Oz coins, but I'd say that particular coin wouldn't make EF imo. GVF to NEF would be my personal ballpark.