Accumulator

I hate predictive texting and refuse to use it after agreeing to meet some friends at 'The Cock Tavern' (OK, bad enough in itself). When I checked what I'd sent I was meeting them at the 'Anal Tavern'! Bizarre. Highly amusing however. Doesn't sound my kind of place though... Are you sure that wasn't just the sign on the back door...?

I was already laughing at the pictures.... then I read the description! :D This has to be the original from that old Hugh Laurie/Stephen Fry, Alliance & Leicester/Sprogget & Sylvester advert where he gets his medallion stuck in the cash dispenser!

I'm not too up on my Korean, Dave. Do you have a translation? Dave... I know you sent that from your iPhone because I get exactly the same problem. I type 'been' and unless I'm careful the predictive text turns it into 'Bern'. Why on earth it should have the alternative spelling of the capital of Switzerland as a default for a common English word I have no idea! The rest of the Korean is down to you though!

I though this thread needed a picture Not a halfcrown, but a nice example of 1848/7 so not too far off-topic...

All 1876 pennies were produced by the Heaton mint so all have an 'H' below the date. If you have an 1876 without the H, you might like to post a picture. Most likely it has simply worn off or been removed. Sorry,no good at taking pictures.Just thought there may have been some other differences.Thanks. Not to labour the point, but as far as we know there is no such thing as an 1876 penny not produced by the Heaton mint. Are you suggesting that you have one, or just wondering what one might look like should such a thing exist? If you do have one we would be very interested to learn more. If you don't; then that's fine.

Spit, polish & elbow grease

Hi Azda, Can you PM me the price you're looking for, I might be interested?

Hi Mat, I recently posted about another coin (a Viccy sovereign) which Spink also have as "extremely rare". No one responded which, in a way, provided the answer: it's probably quite rare but not very sought after. I may be going out on a limb here but it does seem that, for milled coins anyway, it's easier to find variety collectors for the lower denominations. I presume this is because they are generally cheaper and it is possible to amass a larger collection without too much outlay. Once the basic date runs have been obtained, the natural progression is to varieties. I realise that pennies no longer fit this model though!

Not to spoil the fun here, but are you sure he didn't simply mean that 1983 was the first year a £1 coin was produced? That's how I read it anyway.

Glad it works for you! I find it a really neat solution. I have sized all my comments to 12cm x 12cm which gives me an image large enough for most purposes. So far I have over 100 coin images and, although it takes a little longer to load the Excel file, the pics are held in RAM and appear immediately without any problems. I will probably split my collection over several files eventually, jut so that file sizes don't get too unwieldy.

All 1876 pennies were produced by the Heaton mint so all have an 'H' below the date. If you have an 1876 without the H, you might like to post a picture. Most likely it has simply worn off or been removed.

That pretty much describes my situation. Luckily, my interest has been revived from time to time and I've been able to put aside a few more coins along the way.

It's easy to confuse the two issues: the rarity of 1926 generally and the rarity of the ME as a portion of that year. 1926 was an extremely low year for production of pennies anyway, so wading through coins generally is not going to turn up many. To put it in perspective, there were less 1926 pennies produced than those dated 1919H and there were 15 times as many pennies minted in 1927 as in 1926. My own experience turned up no more than about two 1926 pennies per thousand 1960's circulation coins searched. So if ME's represent, say, 10% of the output you would on average have to search 5,000 circulation pennies to find a single example. On that basis, it's probably correct to describe them as rare, although not actually rare in terms of just 1926.

I have several thousand pennies purchased in several bulk lots from penny arcade operators in years gone by. I know they were not generally sorted through as I found some very obvious rarities which would have been pulled out (1950s etc.). The number of 1926 pennies, though was relatively low as overall mintage was low. I have only around 10, amongst which I found one ME. Not very scientific of course as I also found some very rare coins but missed some relatively common ones altogether. My gut feel though, would be perhaps 10% for an ME.

As I said before, I'm not looking to ruin anyone's day so, on reflection, I decided I would quite like the coin and would be prepared to pay more for it. As I compromise I have suggested a figure which is more than half the £495 that he is currently listing at. The seller has accepted this. Hopefully the transaction will complete smoothly now! The comments on contractual law are very interesting but it's a hard one to call. The seller represents himself as a business and certainly trades as one, but of course may not be registered as such with HMRC . Also there are the eBay rules which clearly state that both parties have entered into a legally-binding contract. To make matters more complicated, eBay is, I believe, registered in Luxembourg (or somewhere similarly remote) so presumably local/EU law applies. Anyway, hopefully all this academic now and we have reached an amicable agreement.

I know bun heads are going crazy, but didn't realise they'd reached such dizzy heights!

:D Well, I sent him a message back suggesting we talk on the phone and come to some agreement. To be honest, I was probably just going to let it go but his response to my message was "do whatever you feel you need to", with no mention of speaking. I'm not over impressed now.

Not strictly true. This often comes up in relation to £50 notes as some shops will not to accept them, and they are entitled to do this. In fact a shop is entitled to ask for payment in any manner they please... gold beads if they so wish. Of course you can walk away! On the other hand, if a court orders you to make a payment then you are entitled to settle with your choice of legal tender currency. So 100,000 pennies for a £1,000 fine should you feel so inclined.

Ok, well things have moved on... First I have a message from the seller: i am sorry i made a stupid mistake i put it right there is no way i will let such a rare coin go for £1 you will of course have to report me to ebay (I hadn't threatened to do this!) i undestand that i am sorry. Then I received a refund of my £6 from PayPal. Then I received a message from eBay: xxxxx recently opened a case to cancel a transaction for an item you recently purchased. Reason for request to cancel the transaction: The seller did not provide a specific reason. Seller comment: I made an error when listing the item. The £1 was supposed to be the starting price with a "buy it now" at £495. I do apologise, but there is no way that I could afford to let this item go at £1. As a gesture of goodwill, I Would be prepared to sell it for £395 to yourself only as this is what I paid for it. Click the 'Respond now' button to accept or decline this cancellation. If you don't take action by 05-Mar-2011, the seller will be able to cancel the purchase without your consent. I will probably let him off the hook because, to be honest, I wouldn't choose a coin in this condition.

Azda, just noticed the signature link to your collection on Omnicoin. You have some nice pennies... and also a few gaps. What's your plan? A complete date run, or are you collecting all the Freeman varieties too?

It's re-listed for £495. I know that legally he is on a hiding to nothing. As mentioned above, regardless of eBay, it comes under the standard contract law of offer & acceptance. By re-listing the coin he is making things worse. If he sells it to another party he then places himself in the position of having to 'make good' to me which could cost an awful lot more. My expensive London law firm is standing by Seriously, I'm not going to fleece him but I think it warrants a 'discussion' at least.

Spink (2010) values this 1931 Penny in UNC at £45. With 11 hours to go it has 9 bids and has reached £103. Does slabbing really make that much difference or have I missed something?

Have received a message this morning: "hi there sorry this item was wrongly listed sorry to waste your time,i have relisted the item as it should be once again i am sorry" No mention of the fact that I have paid for it and that legally it is mine! As I say, I'm not out to ruin anyone's day but there's a right and wrong way to deal with your mistakes. Hope I'm not coming across as awkward but at least some recognition of my payment wouldn't come amiss.

Continuing to go through my coins... I have an 1896 penny which clearly has much bolder T.B. initials. In particular the full stops are almost as big as the stops between IND & IMP. It's a very noticeable difference and can easily be seen with the naked eye. Has anyone come across this? Below is a scan showing a typical Obverse 1 with the usual tiny lettering and stops. Underneath is the coin with bolder lettering.

Actually 7.98g of 22k gold, and they are very precise.