davidrj

you were correct Peck - Legend in corrupted Greek script: BACIΛEYC BACIΛEWN CWTHP MEΓAC OOHMO KAΔΦICHC ("Basileus Basileon Sotir Megas Ooimo Kadphisis"): "King of Kings Vima Kadphises the Great Saviour" This forum is superb for the range of expertise we can call on - this morning all I had was the Ebay seller's description "Old Coin" - quite pleased for £9.38 plus £1 postage

Many thanks what a useful site I think mine is this one The Coin Galleries: Vima Kadphises http://coinindia.com/galleries-vima-kadphises.html Vima Kadphises was the father of the great Kanishka I. He probabaly reigned during the first quarter of the 2nd century. The empire must have begun its rapid ascent during his reign, as he introduced gold coinage to accompany the well-developed bronze coinage. Silver coinage seems to have disappeared from the Kushan money supply with Vima Takha (who also isssued very few silver coins). AE tetradrachm or unit, c. first quarter of 2nd. Century Weight: 17.01 gm., Diam: 27 mm., Die axis: 12 o'clock King standing facing, sacrificing at fire altar at left, club, tamgha and axehead-shafted trident in fields, Greek legend around: BACIΛEYC BACIΛEWN CWTHP MEΓAC OOHMO KAΔΦICHC/ Siva standing facing, holding trident and deerskin, bull Nandi right behind, Kharoshti legend: maharajasa rajadirajasa sarvaloga isvarasa mahisvarasa Vima Kathphishasa tratara Göbl 762, MAC 3008

What have the French done to upset you?

loads of fakes how long before these reappear?

Taking the p*ss Rob?

spotted this on ebay, What strikes me is the amount of circulation this major misstrike has seen. A 2 sol piece minted in 1792 at Arras - I suppose in a time when addressing a neighbour as monsieur, as opposed to the politically correct (at the time) citoyen could send you to the guillotine; nobody saved an odd looking coin - more likely it was regarded as dodgy and a priority to pass off to the next customer ASAP. The same coin, if minted today, would be on Ebay in at least EF with a hefty price tag Got me thinking - is the collection of error coins a recent phenomenon, and were mistrikes shunned by 19th C gentleman collectors?

he makes no claim to its authenticity, suggest extreme caution - the description "Georgius III DEI DRATIA" says it all

I gave my 7yr old granddaughter a holed Elizabeth I penny when her class were asked to bring in something "really old", think she beat her classmates by several hundred years Pleased to say she still has it as a treasured possession a year on, so she might look after my collection when I'm pushing up daisies She still thinks the world was in black & white when I was her age

any pre 1880 French copper/bell metal/bronze?

weight 5.00g

XF40 is approximately our VF, right? low end of VF, I find this little chart useful

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American Friends

Bun penny upgrades getting too expensive for me - why I've changed focus to French copper and bronze - still bargains to find (especially if you buy outside France) - low mintages - tons of varieties to discover and find - catalogues such as Le Franc and Droulers tons better than Spink - plus it challenges by O level French (taken way back in 1961)

Thanks! I do like a bit of World Music. Is that ethnic Greek, or is it Arabic music played by Greeks? That song comes from Crete. So it is Greek music played by Greeks Nice! But it definitely has an Arabic feel. Mind you, Greeks and Arabs still bicker about who invented "baklaVA / paklAAva" Don't think the Turks are Arabs! Remember the Ottoman Empire, lawrence of Arabia, etc No, I didn't mean the Turks! (I do know my history and how Lord Byron single-handedly rescued Greece from the heavy hand of the Ottoman Empire...). It's just a matter of cuisine - there is a very 'East Mediterranean' way of eating, that extends from Greece in the west to Iran in the east, where certain delicacies are common to all, but each nation or region claims to have invented them. from Wikipedia: <snip> Thanks for that Peck, interesting! Not been to Turkey and the only Arabic country I've been to is Egypt Well aware of the Turkish influence in the Balkans. You quickly learn in Greece that it is Greek Coffee & Greek Delight. Excellent Turkish style coffee in both Macedonia & Kosova, sadly the bits of Croatia & Albania I've been to seem to be rapidly succumbing to Starbucks & Costa

Thanks! I do like a bit of World Music. Is that ethnic Greek, or is it Arabic music played by Greeks? That song comes from Crete. So it is Greek music played by Greeks Nice! But it definitely has an Arabic feel. Mind you, Greeks and Arabs still bicker about who invented "baklaVA / paklAAva" Don't think the Turks are Arabs! Remember the Ottoman Empire, lawrence of Arabia, etc

Most of my coins are probably not worth the cost of slabbing - I am considering sending a couple of my truly rare ones to CGS

The Boer ZAR coins were produced at Pretoria Mint 1892-1902 (some 1892 also Berlin) When the British occupied Pretoria the mint ceased all operations. British currency became the new legal tender. In 1919, the Mint Act approved the establishment of the Royal Mint in Pretoria, (which was a branch of the Royal Mint in London) Union of South Africa coins struck at Pretoria start in 1923 (farthing to sovereign - only the gold has an SA mintmark) Maybe London didn't like the quality of the 1923 strikings! ???? On 1 July 1941, bonds with the Royal Mint were broken and it subsequently became known as the South African Mint.

waves to the right of the shield differ, a bit like the two types of 1896 halfpenny really need an 1897HT with similar lighting to Bernie's 1926 Cb for a better comparison probably all these designs were kicking around the mint as rejected dies since 1894,

You could be persuaded to identify that as VicOH rev C from 1897! so if we call that Cb:- Freeman and Gouby die identification now needs a complete rewriteAre you saying that 1922 is known with the M.E. and with TWO different reverses? I thought there was only one 1922 ME in existence? On the picture above, is the reverse Cb shown with a small area beyond the rim included on the left hand side? If so, and ignoring that extra bit, I'm thinking that reverse Cb looks rather like the 1897 High Tide reverse - has anyone made a comparison between the two? All I've done is to add in the info Freeman gave in the article posted above, plus Bernie's posting yesterday As I'm not likely to get the opportunity to examine any of these in hand - my listing is an Aunt Sally for anyone with more knowledge to knock down!

You could be persuaded to identify that as VicOH rev C from 1897! so if we call that Cb:- Freeman and Gouby die identification now needs a complete rewriteBernies examples added in red

You could be persuaded to identify that as VicOH rev C from 1897! so if we call that Cb:- Freeman and Gouby die identification now needs a complete rewrite

the GV E Africa 10 cents is the scarce one for 1936 1936 GV 500,000 1936 E8 2,000,000 1936H E8 2,500,000 1936KN E8 2,500,000

You could be persuaded to identify that as VicOH rev C from 1897!

not a great fan of altered/engraved coins - got to admire the skill on this one

Scan doesn't really show how black this ugly 1863 is - i only keep it 'cos I got in change as a kid which started me penny collecting probably spent many years under the floorboards, before having a brief circulation in the mid 1960s