Accumulator

I've managed to talk to a gentleman who is numismatic advisor to the Eric P Newman Education Society and obtained some further interesting information. Also background which may help other purchasers of these coins. "mux" (as several have suggested) is indeed a cost code used by a St. Louis coin dealer Burdette G Johnson to represent his buy-in price of $1. Eric P Newman paid the stated $4 for the coin, from him. A large number of EPN's coins apparently came, via Mr Johnson, from the Estate of "Colonel" E H R Green. My coin is not one of these, but the story of these coins, and the records kept, make an interesting read: B G Johnson's Ledger "Colonel" E H R Green It is believed that my coin came from Armin Brand, son of a another noted collector Virgil Brand, but apparently they don't have absolute proof. Proof may lie in these papers held by the American Numismatic Society which are open to consultation. Maybe a task for another day!

Thanks guys! Over the next couple of weeks I'll have another 30 or so to list.

I've been having a sort out so am listing a few of my spare pennies over the next few weeks. I've put them on eBay here The first random selection includes a very nice 1895 2mm and a 1903 'open 3' amongst others.

I've received the following reply from an "International Cataloguer" at Heritage: The coins were actually stored in those envelopes for the better part of the last several decades. I do not know what MUX stands for. Eric used a variety of different codes for dealers or auction firms from which he purchased the coins, but not all of them are readily apparent nor did he provide us with a breakdown. $4.00 was indeed his original purchase price. I hadn't realised that what I thought of as an index card is in fact an envelope in which the coin was stored (it hasn't arrived here yet). So we know that "mux" probably represents the seller. I might ask on a US forum as there are bound to be other buyers there, some of whom may have looked into these 'codes'.

I'm using Safari and can't see where it shows the number of times a post has been 'liked'? As long as it's not Facebook-linked I'm happy. I don't feel the need to enter that particular world.

I saw it too and wrote to the seller when the auction ended early. Apparently the seller was only an agent for the owner and, once they realised what the coin was, have decided to de-list it and take 'expert' advice.

Interesting. Let us know if it is different type?

Yes, I watched all those drift by, David! I decided I couldn't live with the grade on any of them apart from the F17, which I got for £50 or so. Happy with that... Who is that mystery seller? Penny Dealer.co.uk doesn't work any more...I'll find out when it arrives I suppose... There was a fantastic 1863 Open 3 on eBay about 2 weeks ago, which went for £800+. I did leave a proxy bid but went out for the evening. When I looked later, I'd missed out by a fair margin! The seller of the 1863 and other coins you mention is a well-known collector. Well done on the F-17 Declan. I did buy the F-28 as a reasonably priced gap filler. London Coins have sold a couple in the past few years at £500+

And the coin I bought is in the gallery I think all his coins are

Interesting sideline David!

Almost the numismatic equivalent of a business card. Very nice!

Woolley & Wallis sold a 1919KN cupro-nickel penny at auction last year, together with full provenance. It went for something like £7K as I recall. There's a thread somewhere here with all the details.

That's probably it, Nick! I'm glad you found an article in the DT, not the DM…. Peckris would never forgive me!

Yes, but we know different now, than all the population that was fed blatant propaganda at the outset of the war. NOW we know that millions died in vain in a futile titanic struggle between Empires, and it honours absolutely no-one, not even Kitchener, that every death in WW1 is now "commemorated" by that now ridiculed and risible poster. As you say, 100 years have passed, and we should be taking a respectful stand as the Queen does every November 11th at the Cenotaph. Suppose instead of a red poppy she and all the people there, wore T Shirts carrying that poster? The nation would be in uproar and rightfully so. I agree with your sentiment Peckris though I've read recently that the famous Kitchener 'poster' was never actually a poster and wasn't used for recruiting before or during WW1. The RM seem to be have jumped aboard that popular myth rather than celebrate the real lives that were lost.

But do we know who it was who was fined $2.50 for trespassing on the King's private roads?? Boe, presumably. At least he got away with just a Fine for the misdemeanour, It could have been a far more costly Extremely Fine! Or no longer able to circulate Didn't he die in the end? Yes, legend has it (though I've seen no proof) that the tender karats in his field were hammered by the reign, his mule died and, despite some relief, he later suffered a business strike and his fortunes went into reverse. He's buried in a tomb somewhere, marked only by slab with a small inscription.

But do we know who it was who was fined $2.50 for trespassing on the King's private roads?? Boe, presumably. At least he got away with just a Fine for the misdemeanour, It could have been a far more costly Extremely Fine!

Interesting! A very similar index card to mine. I've written to Heritage, so let's see what they come up with.

As Jonathan Ross might say, it's "werry werry ware"!

I think you are right Rob...it probably is a cost code. The letter "x" in most codes means "0", the balance would depend on the code itself. If the first word of the code is "MUSIC", then the cost of the coin would be $1.20 (pounds). You've completely lost me there Bob, on several counts! Sounds extremely cryptic! I guess the seller doesn't want the buyer to be able to work out what he paid for it? Sorry Paulus, Ha,Ha! Generally the seller does code the buying price of a coin, and note it somewhere on the coin holder. In this way he can know what he has in a coin when he prepares it for sale (or has an opportunity to sell it). The codIng might go something like this in a typical code....The code might be..."Music Taker", with each letter becoming a code for specific number. Thus M would be 1...U would be 2...S would be 3, right up to R which would be 0. (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0 = M-U-S-I-C-T-A-K-E-R). You are correct in that most people will not advise the client what they have invested in a coin. Is it any clearer? In this example "MUX" would be $1.20 (pounds)...M=1...U=2...X=0 (X can be a zero, the same as the R in the above code). Interesting thought Bob, I've wondered about dealers using such a system when I see apparently meaningless letters or numbers on a coin ticket at a fair. They can't expect to recall what they paid on every coin, so I suppose this provides an ease of reference. Very Bletchley Park! No doubt the dealers here could comment? That said, I'm not convinced in this case. I feel sure its's an index card for a collection, long before the age of spreadsheets and databases. I've spent many hours in family history libraries searching through thousands of almost identical cards in wooden cabinets. If it's a private index card then there would be no sale price (the coin isn't for sale), only the buy price ($4.00). I'll drop Heritage an email and see what they have to say!

Hard to tell much from the photos. If it was an off-metal strike then I'd expect it to be noticed and removed from circulation as a curiosity early in its life. It would therefore be in EF+ condition. The pictured coin is in circulated condition and therefore most likely plated for fun.

Given that mux seems to be related to the cost, it might mean multiplexed ie that it was originally bought as part of a multiple lot and the costs of the individual items were estimated from the total. That's certainly a possibility Nick, though 'multiplex' sounds a like a modern word to me. I can't recall hearing it until uni in the late 70s (in respect of multiple-channel telecoms).

My 1797 pattern penny has an accompanying ticket, shown below. The size and typeface suggests it's from a card index of the collection. Have other coins been supplied with similar cards and does anyone have an idea what "mux" might mean? I could ask Heritage I suppose,

A penny cabinet without a thermostat? No way. I'm not scraping ice off my 1933 on a winter morning... Sadly, having often search on the keyword "penny" and seen these and similar kitchen appliances appear, I know the seller can't spell! The brand is actually "Henny Penny". Anyone remember "Chicken Licken" and the sky falling in?

Happy birthday to you both!

According to the catalogue it says that you can bid on Goldberg Live, but that just gives page not found. Anyway, I was only interested in one lot, so it's not the end of the world. I'm sure I can find somewhere else to spend my money. Someone at Goldberg told me that bidding was possible through the-saleroom.com when I spoke with them last week, but this turns out not to be true. I phoned them earlier today and am logged in now though, as you say, the site was actually down for around an hour at lunchtime (their time). Edit: I agree about the KN's… terrible. In fact most of their pennies are. I'm not at all convinced by the 1877 proof (especially given the bad die clash, which is completely missing from other proof examples)