Peckris2

LOL - that's obviously operating on the principle that next to "her friend" "she" could pass for Marilyn Monroe It almost works - that Fair example looks quite attractive next to the "I was found between two tram lines" example! Just that little word "uncirculated" that's giving me that nagging feeling.

Welcome! And you'll be in good company, Azda already does just that

Word up (if you're ok with this?) : 1. Regard Spinks as merely a guide. They overestimate the values of modern coins quite severely, and underestimate others. Treat it as a 'rough and ready' guide and if youre about to take the plunge, do some more research into what your target coins are selling for. 2. A few high grade 'type' coins of Victoria beats low-grade date runs hands down, and will prove a good investment in the long run. It's always good advice to buy the highest grade you can afford, and one EF item will always trounce 5 or 6 F items, unless you're talking major rarities. Good luck collecting! The very cheap coin yearbook seems consistent and reliable as far as prices are concerned. In fact there might ber a slight under estimation. CCGB? Yes, I agree. And it can be purchased easily through this very site, and no, we're not on commission!

"Composition: Metal" No, go on. Well it's certainly coin shaped!!! Yes, I agree. If you study Victoria,the bust looks out of proportion, especially the eyelid and the lower left truncation. It just looks 'all wrong', and I never saw a genuine 1860 without a flaw in the date numerals or an overdate.

Word up (if you're ok with this?) : 1. Regard Spinks as merely a guide. They overestimate the values of modern coins quite severely, and underestimate others. Treat it as a 'rough and ready' guide and if youre about to take the plunge, do some more research into what your target coins are selling for. 2. A few high grade 'type' coins of Victoria beats low-grade date runs hands down, and will prove a good investment in the long run. It's always good advice to buy the highest grade you can afford, and one EF item will always trounce 5 or 6 F items, unless you're talking major rarities. Good luck collecting!

Looks like the current eBay generation are the 'dipping' generation. I hope it doesn't become the expected 'norm'.

No it doesn't. Either cleaned to within an inch of its life, or else made of purest aluminium. The bidders seem to agree (all 2 of them) with a current bid of £10.50!! Which is what I'd pay to have it as a place filler. But on second thoughts I will hang on to my Fair specimen. At least I know it's genuine and hasn't been cleaned.

Do bear in mind that even mahogany CAN cause what is called "cabinet toning". I have two Peter Nichols cabinets, and the smaller one (with punched coin recesses) causes no toning. The larger one with flat felt-lined trays (no recesses) causes some toning on silver. Which ones are they from the range he provides, Peck ? Phew, now you're asking. The one I bought new (the smaller one) is about a ten inch? cube and has about 10 or so trays, I can't remember its name. The larger one with the flat-bottomed trays is about a fifteen inch cube, but approx the same number of trays. I got that one second-hand at an auction. I found the only things that made scrotes bend at the knees were; A) A kick in bollocks A punch to the solar plexus C) Compression of the trachea D) A red dot on the chest coupled with the word "tazer" Tony Martin had the right idea as far as thieving toerags are concerned. The thought that something I have worked, saved and scraped for over many years, could be taken by low life criminal chavs, really makes my blood boil. You and I are about to fall out for the first time, 1949! A violent man who has made previous threats, and then proceeds to kill a boy burglar by shooting him in the back as he was trying to run away, is not my idea of a hero. Don't get me wrong - I do want there to be a householder who tests the law on 'reasonable' levels of violence in protecting their own property, but to me, a low-life like Tony Martin is not that person.

Do bear in mind that even mahogany CAN cause what is called "cabinet toning". I have two Peter Nichols cabinets, and the smaller one (with punched coin recesses) causes no toning. The larger one with flat felt-lined trays (no recesses) causes some toning on silver.

How odd! They only illustrate the obverse! David Yes! I noticed that too. Bit of a deficiency when you think what they're auctioning. Also, when you look at the small photo, did you get the impression that Victoria is bearded?

This is where the iPhone - nice bit of kit though it undoubtedly is - falls down. It's a very good communication and entertainment device, but no way is it a computer. I still mourn the demise of the Psion Series 5 with its touch screen, spreadsheets, WP, etc. A true pocket computer. Good luck in your search but I suspect that developers are not falling over themselves to create apps for minority groups like hobbyists. You might need to develop it yourself.

Thanks for giving the lot number Beebman (Note to other members : when giving a link to a Spink auction or similar, PLEASE give the lot number or similar unique identifier, it helps so much when you're staring blankly at a home screen!!)

I'm not a collector of Willy 3 shillings (though I'd love a decent type example for my collection), but the general point stands : Spink value purely on what coins fetch in the market. This includes perpetuating rarity myths (1942/3/4 silver threepences) and non-rarity myths (1894 halfcrowns) etc. Also don't forget the kind of customers like me - a type collector - who distort the market from a rarity POV. To explain : people like me will want a 1902 shilling or halfcrown in BU for our type collection. They are plentiful, that's why. But because they are plentiful, type collectors will chase them and hence their prices are artificially high in relation to rarer issues. I would agree that high prices in Spink may well indicate rarity trends, but it's by no means a given.

Die CAP - hasn't he missed an R there?

I'm assuming these are all very small coins? Which would explain the lack of hair detail. In which case you could fairly confidently grade them all as EF (perhaps even slightly better in one or two cases? Hard to say without the coins in hand). Yes Peck, they are quite small, 2 of them were graded as AUNC by the dealer i bought them from. These are very difficult to photograph, i took most of the pictures with the usb microscope but i'm going to make another attempt today for some better pictures AUNC sounds fair enough