DaveG38

Again, not a laugh, but this is an interesting item. Never seen a coin jigsaw before. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HAMMERED-SILVER-COIN-JIGSAW-/150862149324?pt=UK_Coins_BritishHammered_RL&hash=item232015b6cc

That's also the vicious circle engendered by eBay - collectors get used to the artificially inflated prices and become conditioned to pay them. The problem with that is, they then have to SELL on eBay to recoup their outlay. If they tried to sell to a dealer or at a provincial auction, they would experience a massive reality check. eBay has become its own little universe with its own rules and its own values. Yet outside the secluded world of hobbyist collectors, those rules simply don't apply; you can pick up ordinary goods at (generally) their genuine real world market value, or even well below. The same applies to common or low value coins of course. Yet high grade rarities don't necessarily obey those rules either - eBay wouldn't necessarily be the best place to sell an UNC 1905 halfcrown, as if it was in the catalogue of one of the better known auction houses, it would attract bids possibly as high - or higher - than on eBay. Having said all that, I think you're probably spot on when it comes to lower grade rarities. I entirely agree about the self-reinforcement by ebay, but since it is here to stay, I guess when people come to sell they'll do so on there themselves, in which case they may not lose too much, and might even make a bit more. The problem still is that the 'ordinary' dealers don't carry stocks of the rarities that many collectors want and so in order to get an example people will compete to fill that gap. I did so for an 1854 sixpence, the first and only one I've seen (until Azda came up with one a while ago). Had I not bought it, I'm sure I would still have the gap because I doubt that many dealers would carry examples for very long if at all. Having said this, I also agree with you that ebay would not be the best place for expensive or higher grade raraities. I can't imagine anyone putting a genuine 1933 penny on there! Ditto your UNC 1905 half crown. In fact I am sometimes surprised at the high value coins that do make it onto ebay, although they are usually BIN coins at somewhat inflated prices.

Using spink and my dubious grading the absolute max for that is £80 Technically, you are probably about right. However, with ebay and rarer dates, a different dynamic takes over. 20-30 years ago, if you were a shilling collector and wanted to obtain a 1863 example to fill that toothy gap in your collection, you had to either go round (figuratively) all the dealers or obtain all their lists and hope that you could find one. And when you did, you got in quick before another collector did, maybe one whose post arrived ten minutes after yours did. And if the 1863 shilling happened to be in a pot of old coins in Uncle Fred's sideboard well you had no chance. In other words, there wasn't very much direct and open competition between collectors and many coins weren't easily put on the market. Also, of course, dealers tended to price coins based on experience, but also on Seaby (now Spink) and so prices were not likely to rocket away into the stratosphere, even for rarer dates. Fast forward to the present, and all you have to do is put '1863 shilling' into the ebay search facility, save it as a search and sit back and wait. Once you see one, then everyone and his wife who wants one can bid for it, and since there are literally millions of potential viewers of the auction, unsurprisingly they push up the price. That's the power of both the internet and particularly ebay. Not only that but everyone who's got the contents of Uncle Fred's sideboard can also put them on ebay, so suddenly previously unaccessible coins are appearing. This makes for more coins, but also widens the appeal for collectors, again meaning that they've got a greater chance of picking up that elusive coin. For me though the key thing is the advertising of the availability of a key date coin to a huge audience. Of course, there's always the 'must have it, when will I see another one' factor, which no doubt drives buyers to dig deeper into their pockets, particularly if they've been waiting years for one, even in a low grade.

Here's a nicely engraved cartwheel penny for Debbie. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GEORGE-III-COUNTERMARKED-PENNY-2-BIRDS-/350579296191?pt=UK_Coins_BritishMilled_RL&hash=item51a02787bf

It's certainly a very nice coin - what was the value of 1/12 anna I wonder, relative to UK money? A farthing?

You're certainly not missing a bargain!

My view is that the damage was present at striking and the resulting coin either missed by inspectors or pocketed by one with an eye for a curio. Notice the weakness of the strike to the left of the split, compared to what looks like a normal strike to the right. I don't think it's a forgery. I wasn't really suggesting that it was, just that the strike looked odd to the left of the lamination. Having looked again, it's clear that the RHS looks normal and the LHS is either weakly struck or as Gary suggests struck through a missing piece. Interesting though.

Not really an ebay laugh, but an interesting item. A 1965 sixpence that appears to have delaminated. However, the 'strike' almost looks cast to me. If so why bother to forge a 1965 sixpence? At best it would have bought a cup of tea in Joe Lyons! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261052939762&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123

Strangely enough, I'd had a high grade 1937 halfcrown for yonkeys, then examining it closely one day I was struck by the slight mirroring in the fields, but even more by the razor sharp rim. I've now provisionally reclassified it as a proof. However, I do accept that it must have come from a broken set, and as for being rare Having said all that, I think George VI proofs are the most difficult to tell apart from normal issues. They're not very good, let's face it. Why is that? My proof has a frosted effigy and is very different from the ordinary strike. Mine does too. Here's a piccy of my 1937 florin proof obverse. Yep, that could be my Crown obverse.

Strangely enough, I'd had a high grade 1937 halfcrown for yonkeys, then examining it closely one day I was struck by the slight mirroring in the fields, but even more by the razor sharp rim. I've now provisionally reclassified it as a proof. However, I do accept that it must have come from a broken set, and as for being rare Having said all that, I think George VI proofs are the most difficult to tell apart from normal issues. They're not very good, let's face it. Why is that? My proof has a frosted effigy and is very different from the ordinary strike.

But not Norton? Well I didn't do anything to solve this problem, so I don't see that it could have been anything to do with the Norton settings. Personally, I've never had a problem with the Symantec software, so I'm happy to stick with it. Used McAfee software when I worked and didn't find any great advantage. Both seem to do the job for me.

Anybody know what's going on on ebay.com (as opposed to .uk or .de, .fr etc.)? As soon as I click on the page showing the list of ending auctions for UK coins, the ebay screen disappears and a message comes up saying 'Fraudulent Web Page Blocked' with a reference back to the Symantec website. Am I the only one seeing this? I'm reluctant to do anything else until I know this isn't just my PC. This seems to happen regardless of how I attempt to enter the site.

Interestingly, the problem seems to have righted itself!!!! If I had to guess, I'd say that ebay were having some problems that affected some people and not others and they have now got it right. MKaybe related to which server you gain access from or maybe which router I was using. It certainly wasn't anything I did.

How about trying a different browser? I'm currently using firefox and never seen this problem. I've done a few more checks and I've found ways to get to most of the coin list pages, but by a tedious route. What I can't get to is the full list of UK coins - I can get Greece, France etc. just not UK. As son as I try from whatever direction, I end up with this message. I'll give Google Chrome a try - downloading now. Fingers crossed.

Mmmmm. Very curious. I've never had this before, and it seems that the Norton software is blocking access with no ability to override it. I've tried to copy the web address before the page flips to the message, with the idea that I make it an exception from blocking, but i can't copy it fast enough!! Any ideas?

You are all so polite on here, so I'll put it much more bluntly. I've got a brain in my head and I'm not daft enough to fall for a scam like this one! Anybody disagree?

Anybody figure what's going on here? £430.00 for a forgery, when all the others from this seller are much more reasonable? Admitedly. I haven't seen a 1787 halfpenny before but even so... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/George-III-1787-contemporary-forgery-halfpenny-/140772977442?pt=UK_Coins_BritishMilled_RL&hash=item20c6b92b22

It seems to me that the real issue here is the likelhood of a downturn in prices across the board, of the kind seen in the past. We all know that there was a major ramp around decimalisation followed by a long period in the doldrums until around the late 1990s, when things took off and have continued ever since. The question is whether the long run of price increases will continue, level out or decline. Interestingly, the crash of 2008 and the ongoing recession doesn't seem to have dented prices one bit, even in the middle grade/value where a decline might have been expected. This is probably because there are investors out there who no longer see the stock market as the place to put their money and coins (and classic cars) represent a decent investment based on past performance. If and when the stock market stabilises and profits return to normal, these investors will cash in their coins (unless they become genuine collectors) and this may send prices lower. However, there is still the internet factor which has widened the availability of coins and it may be that this keeps prices steady, rather than declining. Overall, I don't really see a major crash in prices, which would drag all coins in any grade down, but bubbles always burst! The question is whether the current prices are in a bubble or not. Arguably though, a major Eurozone crash might well spark a depression and that might play very badly for coin prices as people are forced to realise assets in order to survive. In this situation, the biggest losers are likely to be common coins even in top grades, and the middle grades, whereas rarities are likely to suffer least. Like all investments, you pays yer money and ........

Don't worry, I'm not a mason! What I'm saying is this. Unfettered opinion and genuine freedom of speech is being slowly but surely sidelined from mainstream communication and everyday life. This results in it being forced 'underground' and nowadays appearing on the nether reaches of the internet. The government is clearly not happy with this situation and has demonstrated every intention of wanting to police all such communication (witness the recent moves forcing ISPs to make data available). That's one step closer to allowing governments to open our mail, in my opinion. Whilst I most certainly don't agree with many opinions expressed, I will fight for the right to express them (to paraphrase Voltaire). You have in effect agreed with me. Why should we all have to 'sidestep' monitoring in everyday life. The UK is already the most surveilled country in the industrialised west, by the government's own admission. Ah, I see what you're saying. You're talking about the SOPA stuff (is that right acronym?). What you forget is this : if everyone who is worried about such stuff, whether or not they have anything to hide, set up several online identities, each one centred around a hotmail address containing fictional personal details, then anyone who was serious about monitoring us citizens would soon be chasing their tails. In actuality, if enough man hours were expended, such fake identities could be traced via injunctions served on ISPs (provided that the courts were presented with the evidence to furnish an injunction). However, this expenditure on man hours would entail more staff working on it than the entire Civil Service employs. For myself, I am endlessly grateful that the more limited effort that Government agencies expend, is to track down the activities of terrorists. Mike is quite correct. It only takes a little nous to sidestep a perceived lack of anonymity, and anyway the Government is neither interested nor has the resources to spy on the likes of us. As for people 35 or under, many hurl all their personal details into Facebook, so the lack of privacy there is self-inflicted and I have no sympathy with anyone who falls foul of scammers, government spies, or anyone else, if they don't have even the basic idea of personal discretion. A more pointless waste of human existence I (thankfully) have yet to encounter. My wife is 39 and has never read a book in her life but will happily spend 5 hours a day (every day)reading total pish about her friends/acquaintances and family on Brainf**k Facebook. Whenever I casually ask her WTF the point of the drivel is she tells me to "get a life, and see what's happening in the real world" Facebook, the real world???? Shit I think I must have taken the red pill by mistake The opposite nearly occurred the other day, when some young girl stepped out into the road without so much as look for traffic, too busy twiddling her thumbs on a phone. Mind you, the look on her face was priceless when a car screeched to a halt a foot from her!

I solved this problem permanently by having an email address that isn't likely to be used by the spam producers. When I had david.j.groom@btinternet.com, I got tons of spam simply because the robots that send this crap were able to easily identify this as name and hence use it. Now I use ukc801988231@btconnect.com and never get a single piece of spam. No messing about blocking senders, which can take an inordinate amount of time - just a simple email change, job done and sorted. Of course, this was done at a PC change and also meant changing emails of websites I use but it's not that big a deal.

Good job it wasn't done to a 'no H' type!

If selling it on eBay Oops, no, then it would be near EF :lol: Sadly, there are a few dealers who would advertise this as Fine or Near Fine, as there does sometimes seem to be grade drift with age.

I wonder what vintage was used to achieve this effect. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160816991255&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123

13.5% fees if its paid by Paypal, they take 3.5% to Absolutely right - there's paypal too.

The one positive aspect is that if they are silver (need to check) then the price of silver has gone up significantly in recent years and this may help to offset some of the losses on the value compared to the original retail price. For instance, about 5 years ago, silver was around £5-6 per once. It's now £18.50, and was near £30 about a year ago. Having said this, on ebay you may get a bit over melt, but remember the 10% final fees.