Nick

First set of pictures are much more realistic. Coin looks good and better than EF, but someone has had a go at it with something abrasive - hence the hairlines. Having said that, it's very difficult to find crowns without any hairlines.

They are 22 carat, so that is 0.9167 (91.67%).

Thanks. I'm not sure there are any currency florins out there with perfectly formed lions' faces, even some of the proofs do not.

This is the best I have, taking both sides into account.

...and I also forgot to mention 1876, which is really tricky to find.

I left varieties out of my list, but agree with those you mentioned.

For sixpences: 1826 (2nd reverse), 1827, 1848, 1854, 1862, 1863, 1869, 1870, 1879 (with die number), 1882, 1893 (Jubilee head).

And with the disappearance of CGS, goes with it any notion of any guarantee they offered.

Spink, Davies and ESC all refer to two types of 1887 double florin proofs: one having an arabic 1 and the other a roman I in the date. The relative rarities/values given by these references (Spink £450:£575, Davies £160:£180, ESC S:R) would imply that there were not that many more of the arabic 1 variety than the roman I. However, ESC states that it was the arabic 1 variety that was issued in the proof sets. Q1) Has anybody ever seen a roman I proof double florin? I can't find any in the auction archives that I've looked in. Q2) Anybody know roughly how many of each type were issued?

I suspect that they all used the same background. The appearance of the background is dependent on the colour and reflectivity of the subject, so the duller the coin - the lighter the background will appear.

So sorry to hear of your loss, Peter. My sincere condolences.

More details here. I have to say that I quite like it. Well done that 15 year old schoolboy.

This arsehole should be shot at dawn along with IDS. Claiming to have lowered unemployment while dishing out severe cuts to the already impoverished unemployed while giving their Champagne quaffing friends heads up and first dibs on various contracts stinks to high heaven. Hiding the Phedos that languish within Westminster is also another point.The whole establishment stinks and needs a radical clear out because the Tories are in it for themselves and their buddies, Cameron and his cronies don't have a clue about the common man on the street and certainly don't give a shit about them either. One day the shit will hit the fan that Westminster and those who sit there are bottom feeders who should be brought to justice for their cover ups and tipping the wink to their chums on up coming sales of the NHS and the PO for example. The place is rotten to the core, then there's the House of Lords whose members don't pay tax and are unelected, WHY should they be exempt? An absolute joke If this sort of post is deemed to be acceptable, then this forum is no longer the place for me.

It's a lovely thing. I'd say quite a bit rarer than a 1905 halfcrown in similar condition, but probably won't fetch as much. I expect it might go for £12k or maybe a little more.

Love the under bidder 97% bids with the seller out of 576 bids in the last month Looks like protection bidding to ensure a minimum sale price is achieved. But don't worry, eBay have "sophisticated" systems in place to catch this sort of thing.

I'd be very surprised if eBay do anything about it.

I like the line stating you should avoid 1866 and 1871 halfcrowns, as these are forgeries. OK, thanks for the info..Quoting his eBay blurb here "Victoria's Half Crowns were struck from 1839 to 1901, none were struck between 1851 and 1873 because of the striking of the new decimal coin the Florin which was struck in its place. " Since when did decimalisation come into effect between 1851 and 1873? The florin was so-called a decimal coin, because it was a tenth of a pound.

Presuming that you are interested in the silver One Rupee coins after the East India Company issues then the first date will be 1862. The last year issued was 1947 and that was struck in Nickel. I don't know which dates are key, but 1915 Bombay, 1921 and 1922 are fairly low mintages.

More details here.

More details here.

In Victoria's reign there were only crowns minted for circulation in 1844, 1845, 1847 and 1887-1900. There were also proof crowns struck in 1839, 1853, 1887 and 1893.

Not sure I agree. The three marks look just the right width and distance apart to have been caused by a direct edge to face collision between two halfcrowns. Either way though, it's definitely not worth £1,350.

Is he not? I keep seeing him in the list of online users and according to the forum he was last active 17 minutes ago.

Link added. Full time job you have as "link inserter" It is fast becoming a habit.