StGeorge

Hi all, I've not posted for a while but I've purchased a couple of coins recently and am trying to sort my catalogue out so I need some help I have a couple of George II sixpences which I'm finding hard to grade as the Rotographic book doesn't go back that far! Here is the OBV: and the REV: Can anyone give me a rough grade for them? TIA

Thanks for that, Peckris. I was thinking that it was all a bit shy of VF myself but I wasn't at all sure. At least it shows I wasn't way off the mark

Thanks Rob.

I have acquired this 1834 farthing which has some graffiti on both sides which looks like it was done within the life of the coin's circulation. I would probably grade it around VF without the graffiti but how much difference to the grade/value will this make? All comments appreciated. Here is the OBV:

...and the REV:

I don't understand why the French is on it. What is the medal for?

I have acquired this coin but am not sure if it is a farthing or halfpenny. It is 24mm in diameter and weighs 4.4g, can anyone help? Here is the reverse.

Thanks Rob

...and the obverse.

I have a couple of 1920 silver threepences, is there an easy way to tell they're .925 or .500 silver?

OK, thanks for replying. The ones I have aren't that good anyway, I just thought there would be a trick identifying them

I have had the same problem recently. There is so much gold being flogged on e-bay, all I did was log the prices the items went for and calculate an average. Probably more accurate than Spinks! I have often thought that the way gold prices are listed in all price guides is rather less than helpful, as the bullion price varies so much. Would it not be more useful if all prices were shown as bullion plus a numismatic preium, listed as say, 'BV+15' or 'BV+50'. That would be a great idea, it would solve the problem of the moving baseline value of gold. Probably won't happen though Spink prices will be formulated around this time of year as the book is out in October. Ah, I'll check what the spot value of gold was last October and see if it makes sense. Thanks for that. I see what you mean but Spink does list different values for sovereigns, it's just that the prices are out of date because of the hike in gold prices. Most of the common sovereigns on eBay are going for just over £200 so that makes sense... Quick, give me the reference number, I'll have it!! Thanks for all the replies

I am trying to work out the values of gold sovereigns from Spink 2010 but as gold has increased in value this year it is a bit out of date. In order for me to calculate the current value, I need to know what the bullion value of a sovereign was when the book was published (or when the data was collected for the book). Does anyone have this information? Alternatively, if I knew when the book was published I could find out what gold was worth at the time and work it out myself. Any information appreciated...

My first cartwheel twopence arrived today (I didn't realise they were that heavy!) and it has some bad verdigris on it. Would you attempt to remove it or leave well alone? I'm just worried that it may be active and maybe get worse. Thanks for any advice.

There's a quicker way than olive oil for verdigris, but it will make the coin paler (not polished-looking, just paler) : immerse overnight in a good quality vinegar (yes yes, I know it's a weak acid, but believe me I wouldn't suggest it if I hadn't tried it myself) then remove and wash off thoroughly. What is most likely to happen is that the coin has gone a paler brown, with the verdigris as darker patches but no longer green. You may not want to risk it, but that's your call. If it was a higher grade cartwheel I'd say "don't", but that one's rather 'edgy'. Thanks for that, I'll give it a go. It's not as if I paid a fortune for it. @400, I'm starting to get the whole condition thing. With swords, you expect a few edge knocks, bent guards, patina and pitting etc. Coins seem to be a totally different kettle of fish with only the very highest quality commanding the best prices. Oh well, I've got my foot on the learning curve ladder There's a great aid for you, if you're serious : Predecimal (whose forum this is) publish the Grading Guide to British Coins, fully ilustrated with each major obverse and reverse type since 1797, in 4 grades. It really would be a boon for you, as you would have a picture reference to all the main grades of condition. (There's an advert to click at the top of each forum - the row of books** - and apparently I'm not on commission ) **having said that, I don't see that advert anymore ... if you click on the website address or the logo (above) you'll get to the home page and you should find it from there ok Thanks, I've got that book as well as Spink and the download version of Collectors' Coins GB. I've also found the Tony Clayton website, is the coin valuation section kept up-to-date or is it best to use Spink for assessing values? The vinegar trick worked a treat - it lifted all of the green in a few hours and has just left a darker staining as you said. Thanks for the tip!

There's a quicker way than olive oil for verdigris, but it will make the coin paler (not polished-looking, just paler) : immerse overnight in a good quality vinegar (yes yes, I know it's a weak acid, but believe me I wouldn't suggest it if I hadn't tried it myself) then remove and wash off thoroughly. What is most likely to happen is that the coin has gone a paler brown, with the verdigris as darker patches but no longer green. You may not want to risk it, but that's your call. If it was a higher grade cartwheel I'd say "don't", but that one's rather 'edgy'. Thanks for that, I'll give it a go. It's not as if I paid a fortune for it. @400, I'm starting to get the whole condition thing. With swords, you expect a few edge knocks, bent guards, patina and pitting etc. Coins seem to be a totally different kettle of fish with only the very highest quality commanding the best prices. Oh well, I've got my foot on the learning curve ladder

I did see a picture but I'm new to coin collecting and didn't realise verdigris was that nasty. I also collect antique swords and if you get a bit of red rust it is a relatively simple process to render it inactive, I thought verdigris would be similar. Never mind, I'll live and (hopefully!) learn I guess I'll consign it to the olive oil for a while and see if I can find one without the extra bits... Thanks for the advice.

Hello, I am new to this forum and thought I would introduce myself. I have a coin collection, most of which has been in my possession for a long time. I am sure that it is all common stuff but would appreciate some expert opinions if I manage to get any decent photographs of them. Is there a standard book of reference for Britsh or world coins that would be a must-have for coin collectors? I have decided to start collecting British gold sovereigns and have purchased Michael A. Marsh's book on the subject which seems very thorough. How would one go about starting a sovereign collection, are the online traders worth dealing with or do collectors tend to use auction houses more? I currently collect antique swords and I am sure there are analogies between the two hobbies (obsessions?!) but I understand that there must be a lot more differences than similarities. On the subject of cleaning (a subject which seems to be as contentious here as it is in the sword-collecting world) is it acceptable to remove things like ground-in dirt using soap-based products like Vulpex liquid soap from Picreator? This is generally acceptable for use on swords but I understand coins are usually more delicate. Anyway, apologies for the long post, and if I have made any glaring faux pas please be gentle with me

What is the world coming to when we can't even welcome a newcomer to our Forum without suspecting he's up to no good. Thanks for hijacking my thread Brian but I don't think you'll get many hits on your websites from this forum And thanks for all of the replies - I've got myself copies of Spink and Grading British Coins and, no surprise, I don't seem to have any lurking fortunes in my collection. I did manage to take some pictures and have been practising grading my coins. I'll put up a couple with my uneducated guesses and would be grateful if someone could correct me. I know it's difficult grading from pictures but I'm sure you'll all do a lot better than I can at the moment First up is a 1918 farthing. I think it's around VF for the obverse and a bit less for the reverse. I'll wait to see how close I was before I post any more