Accumulator

Nice idea but it immediately raises a few questions for me: If it was run like a company, would taxes need to be paid and annual paperwork filled? would a solicitor need to be hired? If no one has the greatest share who makes the decisions? I suppose you could vote on which coin to buy next but there will always be some that aren't happy with the decisions. Also what happens if members want to keep buying coins and other members can't afford to? When do you sell? what happens if a member loses his/her job, retires or wants to sell up and cash out? Who is going to run the operation? if someone runs it will they be paid or do it for free? If they get paid do all the members chip in to pay them (this will be an additional ongoing cost). I would imagine there would be a fair amount of work eg. emailing, meetings, phone calls etc.. especially if there were many members to correspond with before any decision was made. Where would the coins be stored? Is there a max budget buying coins (for example if you asked around some members could maybe afford to chip in £100 others only £1000) There are probably more but those were just off the bat. There appear to be two versions of the idea on the thread. My original suggestion was for a number of people to get together to fund the acquisition of an important and prestigious British coin (there are a number of obvious candidates, this 3d just caught my eye). The other, much more complex, version of the idea that has emerged seems to be along the lines of acquiring a portfolio of coins. The absolute minimum for either of these versions to work would be to appoint solicitors and set up a website. The structure of the venture would be determined prior to it being launched (by the enthusiasts who would fund the initial outlay), therefore additional members would be opting in to something. If their circumstances or opinions later changed they could of course opt out by selling their share. A website would solve many of the organisational issues by acting as a communication hub (as well as many other functions). I personally would only sign up to something like this if it were run on the basis that the coin(s) are owned equally among all members (although some members would, out of enthusiasm for the enterprise, have a greater degree of administrative involvement). Hus is unfortunately right. Even if it was an idea which could attract the necessary number of 'investors' it would have to be run on a legal and commercial basis, probably taking all the fun out of the idea (and costing a fortune) in the process. There just might be an investment business (much like the one run by Stanley Gibbons for stamps) for a keen entrepreneur to create, but I frankly doubt it.

Port and kippers? Euwww. Peck you should go for it.Everything cancels out for an afternoon lovefest. This really is TMI, Peter!

What a great story! Does this help Rob: English Coins 1180 - 1551

It's very unlikely that you will find much of value amongst random foreign coins (often collected from holidays abroad). Charities tend to collect or be given these and sell them by the kilo for little more than scrap metal value. Most people have a tin of such coins knocking around in a drawer somewhere. I may be doing yours a gross injustice, but the balance of probability is very much against them being worth much. Similarly for the British coins, as Rob says. The half sovereign (depending upon date) will be worth around £140. Very much its bullion value. For the rest it would be worth posting a few pics of the best examples.

The coin I have as 1858/3 has been discussed in the past, and I now believe it is something else altogether. I really haven't studied the copper overdates, certainly not to the extent of someone like John (Chingford) but I'm keen to get a better knowledge. Anyway, for comparison, here's my (probably not) 8/3: That looks like a lower and higher 8. The debate over the 1858/3 has gone on for years and Michael Gouby has spent a considerable amount of time on it. However, this coin has the crossbar of the 7 showing on top of the 8 whereas this is not seen on others and there is also the remains of the downstrike crossing the base of the 8. It also has the top left angle of the small 5 superimposed on the large 5 in quite high relief. It's always a good thing when they don't fill the old digits in perfectly. . I can feel a short note in the Circular coming on and that's one less entry in Peck unless someone can come up with a suitable alternative. It's a great shame that Peck's notes have gone walkabout as it would have been useful to see what he noted against each variety and in particular this one given its ambiguity. Unfortunately I've only got his notes for the first ten years of the bronze coinage. You may be right about my coin, though it does exhibit a portion of what is potentially a '3' to the lower right of the '8' (the 3's do protrude more) and there's no evidence of the lower part of a 'higher' 8 anywhere at the bottom. Have you got a small date '57 to compare with your coin? I only have a poor photo, but comparing to this the serif on the 7 of your coin is way too short. I'm not convinced its a 58/7.

The coin I have as 1858/3 has been discussed in the past, and I now believe it is something else altogether. I really haven't studied the copper overdates, certainly not to the extent of someone like John (Chingford) but I'm keen to get a better knowledge. Anyway, for comparison, here's my (probably not) 8/3:

Now, if it was the penny.... I just can't get that excited about this particular coin.

Reading this you can have no doubt. Don't touch them with a barge-pole!

I just realised what your second paragraph meant, Rob. I thought you were having a go at someone else for using emoticons, when you had just used one yourself! Let's try: a) c) Seems to work for me? Edit: See what you mean now!

Interesting coin Dave. It's certainly not the copper 1860/59 which is well known and very sought after. That leaves 5/5 as the most likely option. One of our members, Chingford, is very knowledgeable on this series. You could send him a message.

'Worn extremely well!' It certainly has! How did you guess it wasn't me? The description is priceless. Shame the coin isn't! I especially like the 'Bought coin for discount, so can sell it for discount' part. He means he's been ripped off and now wants to rip you off

Hi John, welcome to the forum. Although it's great to look at and handle the actual coins I tend to photograph them and keep the photos on my computer. That way I can browse and examine (in enlarged detail) the coins to my hearts content without constantly needing to retrieve them from their safe storage. It means that most of the time I'm only viewing a virtual collection, but it works for me. The main thing to avoid are the older pvc coin pockets which, over years, leave a sticky blue/green residue on the coins. I spent many an hour cleaning this gunk off my boyhood collection (acetone works)! eBay does contain an inordinate amount of junk but, as another recent thread has proved, there are bargains out there waiting to be had. You just need to know what you're looking for. I can't comment on Roman coins as this isn't my area (I do have a few though). If bulk buys are cheap enough then I see no reason why buying some won't provide you with a good introduction. While virtually all your learning will come from books, nothing beats putting this into practice with your own coins.

I agree. But good spot! Yes, good spot. I agree with the others, that it appears to be a chipped/damaged die. Such coins tend to be less sought after than where the die has been re-touched or modified intentionally (for example an open 3 penny of 1903). However, and rather perversely, if examples are more numerous then they can become listed in text books and command a premium (1946', 1897 O'NE etc.)

Interesting, and really quite obvious when you look. You have a particularly nice example of it too! In my mind it would certainly command a premium (look at 1946 ONE' or 1897 O*NE etc.). If it helps put a value on it, I'd happily offer £150

Hi Penguin, welcome to the forum! With reference to your original question, I never upload pics here, rather I link to my Photobucket pics, you can do the same with all similar online photo sites, many of which are free I believe ... Do you specialise in any particular area? And sorry to be ignorant but what or who was HB?? Thankyou Paulus,no specialist area it used to be gin and tonic!HB is a grade of pencil when i started school if you had one you were classed as rich!I have afair few british coins that need a proper appraisal lots of pennys so i try and concentrate on mistakes flaws of which i have a fair few.I also have amixture of euro coins my oldest being a 1877 dos centavo peru coin no gold but plenty of silver.My oldest penny 1899 wide date haven,t checked with mr freeman on the details but its one of the widest 9,s i,ve seen!I will endevour to get some photo,s posted don,t expect wonders with my coins but you decide!Look forward to hearing your area cheers mate! Where on earth did you go to school? I remember HB as the bog standard grade they handed out! If they were B or BB etc, they smudged like crazy and were really only for artists; if they were H or HH etc, they didn't smudge at all but got progressively fainter to see though they would sharpen to a very fine point (I think they were for mathematicians). H stood for 'Hard', while B stood for 'Soft'. No, I never understood that either... B = 'black', as I recall for my O level in TD (technical drawing). We drew feint construction lines in 6H and then drew the finished lines over them in 3H (chisel point). We were told by our TD teacher that HB pencils were for writing (he would throw them out the window if anyone had the temerity to use them for drawing - the pencil not the pupil, that is!) and B pencils were for 'girls'. Very sexist back in the 70s, I know. I'm just quoting.

Has anyone experience of buying through the US site Heritage Auctions? I'm on their mailing list and ocassionally view the offerings but have never bid. I imagine that GB coins tend to be slabbed and usually go for higher prices than in UK auctions, but I may be completely wrong? They certainly have some nice coins passing through their hands.

Just an update on my purchase. The coin arrived by 'UPS Worldwide Expedited' this morning. The cost for shipping was an additional $89. Plus I had to pay import vat of £31.44 on delivery. The additional costs do add up but overall the experience of buying through Heritage was a positive one. The photographs on the site are exceptional and I have no idea how they manage to get such incredibly clear images through the perspex slabs. Another nice feature is the quality of the packaging - three layers, so very tough protection. Finally, as a first time client, they sent a free 150-page book "The Collectors Handbook" . Naturally this is focussed on the US market and, for those interested, contains information about such things as estate planning and tax. A nice touch and all very professional soI wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

I happened across this recent article about the theft of Lord Stewartby's collection. I don't think it's been linked before and it makes an interesting, though ultimately very sad, read.

Welcome to the forum Sword. It's hard to find such quality crowns. Well done!

It's a close call, but could this be overgraded by any chance? Even allowing for eBay.

1400 + premium. Estimate was 1500-2000

To kick this off as a seperate subject, here are a few thoughts from me. There seem to be a number of different issues that threaten the reputation of the coin market. My order, from the least significant to the worst offence, would be: 1. Knowingly over-grading a genuine coin. 2. Mistakenly representing a fake or replica coin as being genuine 3. Intentionally misrepresenting a genuine coin as being of a rarer type 4. Intentionally faking or replicating a coin (the Chinese copies) A lot of discussion has taken place about item 1. (dipping and re-selling coins etc.) but I personally believe it is ultimately up to any buyer to make their own judgement of a coin’s condition. Whilst bad practice, I don’t generally regard this as fraudulent and therefore not something we should directly tackle as a priority, beyond the general berating of offenders that already happens. Item 2. only arises through genuine mistakes. If the mistake is being made my a dealer or a private seller then I think that individual should be notified in writing and expected to remove the item from sale or re-list it with the appropriate notification. If the mistake is made by a TPG then they should be notified in writing, asked to remedy their error (note against the relevant UIN on their website etc.), investigate the lapse internally and ensure, as far as possible, that the same error could not occur again. Items 3. And 4. are possibly criminal offences and are unlikely to be perpetrated by any dealer or auction house operating in the UK. The main outlet for such coins is almost certainly eBay. At the very least we should seek to have eBay de-list and ban offending sellers. Easy to say, I know! Anyway, these are just a few of my thoughts to kick off the discussion.

Thank you. To be honest I expected it to go a lot higher and assumed I'd have to drop out. The below estimate price was a pleasant surprise.

Thought it was going to keep on going as well I was watching the pennies the decent ones went double top end estimate,lesser ones were just making lowere estimate or bombed intresting Did you watch the 1856?

With the volume turned up, it created quite an atmosphere in our little 'van I can tell you! "£32K with me, £32,500 with the room, selling at £32,500, it's with you at £32,500 Sir, £33K on the 'net..." Pheeeweee! £100k for the triple unite. There's some serious money chasing these Gold coins.