DaveG38

Apparently this is a 'nice grade.' http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1914-KING-GEORGE-V-BRITISH-GB-FARTHING-COIN-NICE-GRADE-/161073593496?pt=UK_Coins_BritishMilled_RL&hash=item2580bbfc98

I don't know, but that's a very, very nice coin. Personally, I'd be inclined to send it to the American guy for a professional restoration. The damage would then become almost invisible and the result would be a fabulous coin, and I could easily live with it.

When it comes to grading, I guess he should have gone to Specsavers.

That's just over £21 each. And you've got to find 2794 collectors of farthings, who haven't already got one, or who are prepared to trade up in grade. That's a very long term investment.

Which branch of Poundlands would that be and when?

This one is claimed to be a proof halfcrown, and although cleaned, according to the seller, does seem to show the very sharp edges characteristic of proofs. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RARE-1887-SILVER-PROOF-HALF-CROWN-NICE-COIN-L-K-/261246731602?pt=Coins_BritishProofs_RL&hash=item3cd384c552

I'm not an expert, but I'd say not, simply because the edges look too rough all round on both coins. In my experience the proof strikes have a very sharp edge, which is unmistakeable when you see the genuine proofs.

Going rate on ebay at the moment for a decent garde 1890 (not UNC) varies up to about £15.00. After that there are plenty of BINs for much higher prices, but obviously no takers or they'd already have been bought. Ditto Colin Cooke's website. I'd say that its going to be a very long slog to sell that many for any kind of reasonable premium. To shift them, you'd probably have to try for around £10-15 and hope you can move enough to cover your costs, then drop the price a bit to gain a profit. But 2794 of them - that'll take some doing. Even if you sold one per day (unlikely) it's still going to take just over 7 years to do so, and over that time you've tied up a good deal of money. Not only that but if they go for top end of estimate with buyers premium of 22% plus VAT, you're looking at a cost of around £8.10 each. That means you've little room to move on price if you want any kind of profit for all the 7 years work you have to put in. Not worth it in my opinion, unless the price was much lower than the estimate.

Here's a new and very accurate grade. Not sure where it sits - between poor and fair maybe, or perhaps its a poor-poor! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CEYLON-1801-ELEPHANT-1-24-RIXDOLLAR-DUMP-TYPE-UGLY-GRADE-BUT-SCARCE-L-K-/261238994558?pt=UK_Coins_World_RL&hash=item3cd30eb67e

The photo isn't that definitive for me, but it certainly does look like a 2a obverse. If you do buy it and it is a 2a I'd appreciate confirmation so I can include in edition 2 of my book.

I'm only seeing half of the forum headings on the forum page - the bottom group is still missing.

I'd love an invisible phone - except its difficult to see how to press the buttons to make a call!

I considered one of the bigger engined S classes when I bought mine, but the drawbacks outweighed the advantages. Downsides were: 1. Lousy fuel economy 2. Need to use premium grade fuel. 3. Double the Road Tax. 4. Double the insurance. 5. Loads more gadgets to go wrong, but mostly ones I wouldn't use anyway. 6. Double the price. Upside was about 1 second or so off the 0-60 time. On balance it didn't seem worth it to me.

I'm a Merc man myself. But I wouldn't buy a new one - let somebody else take the depreciation. Currently running an S350 that had only 30k on the clock and cost less than a quarter of the Gothic crown. Goes like a dream, not a single fault so far as was the case with my previous E class.

I have to recant and hold my head in shame. Just got an invoice for two of the three items I wanted - I shall soon be the proud owner of the Nicholson 1689 halfpenny and a nice 1717 sixpence. Failed to get a 1839 halfcrown but it was a crap one anyway, so not tto worried.

Am I the only one who failed to get a single item, even though my max bid appears to be thw winning one - in other words, I was in the wrong half of the bidding cycle when my max was reached.

Interesting. The DNW example has 8 pearls, whereas the one on ebay has only 6 so clearly two dies. Interesting too that there are only 5 to 10 examples known (if you believe ESC) and yet two are on ebay at the same time. What are the odds on that I wonder - any mathematicians on here? Both the ebay examples look to be the same die - there seems to be a jewel missing from the crown to the right of centre, giving 6 jewels only on both examples, and both have the same kind of sloping '5' whereas the DNW example seems to have a '5' that could be mistaken for a '3' if not checked carefully. Curiously, there was a simlar one to the DNW one on ebay some 12 months or so ago, which was advertised as a 1763, yet seemed to be a 1765 as it was very similar to the DNW one. This went for reasonable money - way more than a 1763 would fetch, but nowhere near a 1765. I'm wondering if I missed a bargain here! Back to the two on ebay. When I look at the 1763s on ebay, it's clear that there are two types one with 7 jewels and one with 8. I can't find one with 6 and the broken piece to the right of the centre, which suggests the 1765 maybe isn't an altered '3'. However, when I look at the 1762 examples there are again two types, one with 7 jewels and one with 6. The one with 6 seems to have a wider gap between the centre of the crown and the first jewel, so my conclusion is that it is most likley that these two 1765s are both altered 1762s. This would also account for the metal disturbance at the base of and to the right of the '5'. Of course, as you say there may be two different dies, but that seems unlikely given the small mintage. I'm plumping for fake myself.

Do we think this one's genuine? Looks good, but there's something about the '5' I don't like. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1765-threepence-3d-/221236508280?pt=UK_Coins_BritishMilled_RL&hash=item3382b93678

There's very few 1970s cars that DOESN'T apply to! Datsuns and Italian cars arguably worse than even British. My 2nd car, in 1981, was a 70s Alfasud. The Alfa's and Lancia's of the time were total rust buckets. My 3rd car was an old 1968 Porsche 911, very solid and well rust-proofed. No room in the back, but I didn't have kids then! I currently have an Italian car, but that's mainly aluminium bodied Not just in the 1970s either. I had a 1988 Alfa Sprint Veloce with a full body styling kit in red. Very nice and the 1600cc flat four was a fabulous engine. Kicked me in the back at 70 when asked to power up on a motorway. Trouble was all the terminal rust in places I never knew a car could rust! Otherwise a great little car, although the interior design led me to believe that all Italians have long arms and short little legs, otherwise they'd have been unable to drive it.

I know that standards are slipping at the Royal Mint, but I don't think they would produce one quite so shoddy. Given that somewhere up to 5% of all one pound coins are fake, it's fair to assume that you have yourself a fake. 5 percent wow!! thanks The fact the planchet has different thickness or is tapered could that change the weight or explain it being over weight? Also the planchet if it wasnt rolled out correctly surely the result would be something like this? For example the extra weight comes from the thickness, The lack of detail and weak strike on the reverse could be becuase the round didnt sit square when it was struck etc etc Or its part of that 5 % So its effectively illegal to spend counterfeit money?? Planchets are normally stamped out from a sheet of rolled alloy, which is wide enough for several blanks across that width. Given the variation of planchet thickness you have within a single blank, the rolled sheet would have to be mm thin at one side and a few cm thick at the other. I'm pretty sure that the Royal Mint machinery is not even capable of producing such a sheet. It is illegal to spend counterfeit money, as it is fraud, although proving intent in the case of a single £1 coin would be difficult. Ah good point! Is it illegal to sell circulating coinage as counterfeit money.... not that I have any intention of doing so. Yes! It's the property of Customs and Excise I believe - and if known to be fake, should be handed in to a bank or police station. On the other hand, if you sold a non-counterfeit currency coin as a counterfeit, you could be done under Trades Description.. (Heads they win, tails you lose ) No joke! I once flicked a coin for heads or tails like you shouldnt do on a pool table it was a 20 pence peice and it landed on edge!!!!!! Il do my bit for England and hand it in! Il sleep easier that way I always hand them in - to the Dartford Crossing auto toll machines.

Of course it is - the old eyesights failing fast!!

Looks like 1872 to me.

Have you a reference to the catalogue - there's nothing on the web site?

Don't know, from the photos if this one is genuine or not, but there is a 1846 pattern crown which is similar to the 1847 gothic. The key difference, which this one seems to have from the poor photos, is a lack of any pattern in the bodice below Victoria's border. Plus also, of course, that the date is 1846. Reference is ESC by Seaby and Rainer, number 341, page 68 of the 4th revised edition (1974), rarity R4. As a 1847 gothic is only rated as Scarce, R4 is rather less easy to obtain, so if genuine then the price paid looks pretty good when set against a 'normal' 1847 in similar condition.

When I decided to produce my two books, there were two basic criteria that had interested and to some extent confused me for some time. Firstly different books, including CCGB, Davies, Freeman, Salzman etc. all seemed to recognise and mention a number of varieties, but there was no consistency about exactly what they each included, although Davies comes closest to covering all the known varieties of silver. Secondly I wanted to bring together all the descriptors for each variety. This was necessary as the different sources tended to describe the varieties by reference to different characteristics. It also wasn't clear whether the varieties being referred to were the same or actually many different ones. So, I brought together all the different descriptions and checked them against actual specimens so that it would be possible for collectors to identify their coins, even if in very worn condition. That was the motivation, but I did come up against the problem of deciding exactly what a variety is, and when a type outside of the defined limits became one by virtue of the sheer number of specimens known, or where the type is well established e.g. the 1946 dot penny. So it wasn't an exact science, but I believe I have captured most of the known types. Having said this, I have a number of minor additions to both books, based on more recent discoveries after the books were published. When I have enough material and I can find the enthusiasm for it, I'll probably produce a second edition. If I do this, I also wondered if it would be helpful to have a table of all the types with descriptors at the back for easy reference. Another possible option would be to put the data on line on a private website and then design an App (I can't, but I know a man who can) to allow instant download of the descriptions. In this way, if someone is at a coin fair, auction, boot fair etc. and doesn't want to take books with them, they can simply use the app to get the data instantly through their smart phone.