choolie

Greetings once again, I am considering purchasing an 1839 shilling. There is a nice example coming up at auction but I have seen lower priced examples at apparently the same grade GEF on online coins. The auction house is a BNTA member, What do you think?

Cambridge coins seem to have disappeared from online coins.

I think many of the online coins look slightly overgraded, as well as overpriced. That's when a photo is even available. Good choice available though. Yes If you can point me to a seller who does not overgrade and overprice I would be grateful, it seems a bit of a minefield out there. Where do you buy your coins? If you don't mind me asking.

and me and me and me

This is making fascinating reading. Personally I think anything after 1900 is too recent to be interesting, but still I am trying to get a date run together of shillings up to 1970. At least this satisfies the collecting impulse and these coins are cheap enough that I might actually succeed. Once I have completed the run from 1900 to 1970 I will probably sell them and use the money to buy 1 Nice georgian Coin. Thats my demented way of saving up

Thanks Chaps. I bought that coin off Rendel and it is a real nice one I am pleased. I will post it on coin acquisitions when I get a camera.

If you want bullion silver coins try coininvestdirect My link They will recommend this site on investors websites as well. You have to pay VAT on silver but not on gold. you can buy bullion bars from that website as well which sounds like it might be better for you Old coins in good condition will have value greater than their silver content. The others on this website might help you with that.

get a fish if you want, i'll just keep asking questions. I have been most happy with coins I have bought from auctions most of the time. They seem to be very accurately graded and reasonably priced. Whereas I have bought coins from dealers including BNTA members who seem to quite often neglect to mention edge knocks and nicks which are difficult to see in their photos . The estimates seem fair to me they match spink prices when you add the commission. I think the online coin for sale is a mistake since he has the GEF and an AUNC for £100 more. can't be right I think it must be a GVF I have written to him to make sure.

no its up at lockdales coin auction sunday 21st March. the estimate is £4000-£5000 if you fancy it.

how about this proof up for sale sunday 21st My link

So How can we spot a counterfeit? weigh and measure the coin? will this always tell us?

Hi All. following some suggestions elsewhere in other threads I started an making an excel spreadsheet of my coins. It was fairly simple to start with and I was even managing to do some interesting things like a drop down list for the gradings. I have noticed however it does not seem to work well with photos, although you can include them as a file link, you cannot include them as the contents of a cell. Access seems better for this sort of thing, I was trying to the spreadsheet to access but not having much luck anyone know how to do this?

Ta-dah. I would like to thanks Peckris for most of the field headings. The future for setting me on the first steps on my journey. Chris perkins for providing me with the platform to display my work. My mother and father for being such an inspiration to me. My dear wife for her loving patience and support. All other friends and supporters too numerous to mention. Who would have thought all those years ago that I would be standing here today having achieved all this. I thank you and dedicate this to you.

Thanks I will try that and see how it goes, cheers future In FileMaker Pro I have an external database that has scans of both sides of each coin; linking to my main coins database I have a unique relational identifier. Using that relationship field I can display each coin's pictures in one layout of my main database (or - which is the main point - any other database too), without ever having to import them. Hi Peckris, presumably I would be able to do the same thing in access? I don't have filemaker pro, is it an expensive programme? you think it is better? I now seem to be getting somewhere with access I have managed to make a field for attachments where I can put a photo but I am learning how to use the programme at the same time. no doubt I will have further questions, but pleased with my progress today I would think that Access is probably very similar to FileMaker (FM, being originally Mac, is easier to get started with, is all). You would need to find out how different database "files" or "tables" RELATE to each other - it will be using a unique identifier, so one thing you could do is create a unique ID Number for each coin you have, then import a table of ID Numbers to your pictures database. Then in the Pictures database, make sure you have a layout that can display a minimum of two images - obverse and reverse - and that's where you will store your coin pictures. Then, back in your coins database, you create a similar layout, but instead of having the actual pictures, you link to the other database using the ID Number (it's a lot easier than it sounds!) The good thing about this is, it means your basic coins database won't be too large, i.e. quicker to open and work with. (I just had a look at my own Pictures database, and it is 96MB so that too will easily fit onto the modern Flash drive. You can get a 1GB or 2GB for under £10 these days.) I see, I can see the benefits of such portability. I am not quite there yet but I will try that later once I have mastered the basics, my database is now coming along nicely I can see I am goint to find it indispensable. Cheers

Thanks I will try that and see how it goes, cheers future In FileMaker Pro I have an external database that has scans of both sides of each coin; linking to my main coins database I have a unique relational identifier. Using that relationship field I can display each coin's pictures in one layout of my main database (or - which is the main point - any other database too), without ever having to import them. Hi Peckris, presumably I would be able to do the same thing in access? I don't have filemaker pro, is it an expensive programme? you think it is better? I now seem to be getting somewhere with access I have managed to make a field for attachments where I can put a photo but I am learning how to use the programme at the same time. no doubt I will have further questions, but pleased with my progress today

Thanks I will try that and see how it goes, cheers future

I'm not sure electronic scales are the answer here. You need a small accurate one for coins which will weigh up to say 150g, but two decimal places is a must in my opinion. Over that the kitchen scales will suffice. The Post Office doesn't take particular care where they dump their deliveries, so the likelihood of them needing a weight to two decimal places beggars belief. lol. yes the dirt on those footprints I get all over my mail must add a gramme or so.

Can anyone recommend an electronic scale? I want it to be accurate enough for coins but I will probably use it to weigh parcels aswell so I want it to be capable of measuring heavier Items. Thanks

I have a related question, What is this Dipping I keep hearing about? some way of cleaning a coin I understand, but how can you tell the difference between an FDC coin and one that has been cleaned?

I am being passed on a high quality SLR digital camera which I shall probably use for the sole purpose of photographing coins. I would also like to know which lense to purchase for this use. I know that micro focus lenses can cost about £500 but I only want to spend about £60 or £100 at a push I'm sure it will suffice with only a single distance being used. Any suggestions for lenses? Thanks

Thank you rob and peck for those comprehensive answers. that helps with my education.

Hi there I have started collecting coins without knowing too much about it. So here are some questions that have arisen for me. 1. I understand that proof coins are particularly well struck high quality examples of the coin. But tell me is it possible to tell whether a coin is a Proof just by examining it. I have seen some dealers lists saying "possible Proof" so in order to guarantee that it is a proof would you need some provenance or documentation? 2. What is the story behind the 1804 dollar. I collect crowns and this one is always listed with the crowns. Also what is this I see about octagonal countermars and spanishe reales can someone fill me in? 3. Coin varieties what is all this LXI LXII, LXIV etc. To what is this referring. I currently just go by type of coin and date, but hey I am a beginner. I would be most grateful if you could enlighten me.

Hi there, I have recently developed an interest in collecting coins, I am a habitual bargain hunter in all areas of life. I have acquired a few coin catalogues, the coin yearbook, spink and rotographic society books. I find that a lot of dealers seem to be overpricing their coins compared to the catalogues. I have bought a few coins off e-bay and some from a reasonably priced dealer, but where do the dealers get them? Ebay seems overpriced and often inaccurately graded. Can anyone help. Thanks

Yes I have now purchased a few and am happy with them. More shillings and Crowns please.

You won't have any problems with this very website! I am also mostly abroad (in Germany) but the exchange rate has no effect on coins because the vast majority I source from the UK. I buy them in GBP and sell them in GBP. Postage is also in some cases cheaper when I send things from here compared to within the UK. It's usually very quick and higher value items can also be properly insured. Yes thats good but you need to put some more coins up for sale there seems to be a bit of a shortage? do you get new ones very often? He bought a whole stack off me in the summer - mind you, they were mostly modern high-grades, but perhaps between us we could persuade Chris to put up the pre-1937s? Or at least the better ones? Especially if you're a prospective customer ... Yes I am up for doing some shopping When are the shelves being restocked?