DaveG38

Not ddoherty_dog by any chance? I too am still waiting after nearly two weeks for a coin.

Thanks Chris. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I plan on making it for coins/numismatics only and I will advertise it in numismatic sites and magazines. I'm not going to give up my day job and I'm going to be realistic. I've had the logo,banners, advertising and business cards professionally designed but as you say I have seen auction sites come and go. I'm just hoping that many have reached the end of their tether and if it works it works, if not, so be it. I just want to offer collectors and dealers an alternative. I might be of interest for you, that there is a working german alternative to ebay concerning coins http://www.muenzauktion.com/ . Quite attractive for sellers, because they don`t have to pay any fees for there offers. Instead of that you can (but you don`t have to) let register yourself as a sponsor. In that case you pay at least 12 € (or 24, 36 and so on) a year. As a sponsor your offers appear minor or more often, when people are visiting the website. The side is used by amateurs and professionels as well. I thought about selling a few coins there, but I didn't, because I'm afraid, not many people are searching for British coins there (although you will find quite a lot). I have used this site a few times myself and have bought some very nice coins at reasonable prices so I quite like this site. The only pity is that I am now collecting early milled and not too much of that appears for sale.

Hi everyone, Do you think this item is one of the many very good Chinese fakes? There's something about it that doesn't look quite right - either that or its the light! If it is a fake then I guess ebay 'laughs' isn't really an appropriate place for it. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VERY-SCARCE-1763-SHI...id=p3286.c0.m14

I presume in this case, that VF means Very Flat!! http://coins.shop.ebay.co.uk/items/Early-M...tZ72366QQ_pgnZ4

If you still want to get hold of the book ' The Guidebook and Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins, 1649-1971, 3rd edition' by James Remick, then there are several copies on Abebooks.com DaveG38

Andy, In my limited experience of these auctions, I found London Coin Auctions to be excellent for high quality high price material, if that's your area. Overall, and not surprisingly, they seem to get a large influx of punters, as they use a hotel close to the Dartford Crossing on the M25. This makes them a magent for just about any collectors in the south east. Croydon Coin Auctions on the other hand often have material that I would be more interested in i.e. middle grade and price. However, I long ago gave up visiting these auctions - if I want something, I simply ask for a scan of the item(s) and bid accordingly or not. Using this approach I have rarely been disappointed and have got a few items at what I consider to be a good price. I have used a similar approach with Lockdales, again without any issues from my point of view. It all depends too on what you want. If, like me, you are a single coin buyer, looking to fill gaps in your collection, then my method works perfectly well. If on the other hand you are a high quality/price collector, and absolutely must see an item before you buy, my only suggestion would be to ask for top quality scans - this does usually show up most flaws. However, if you are buying bulk items to sell on, then a personal visit is the only way in my view. Don't know if this helps. PS: What's your opinion of Brock's etc. in the north. I have considered a few speculative bids and prices do seem a little lower than in the South, but the lack of photos has always been a problem for me. I have also bought from Sheffield Coin Auctions, but unfortunately the owner died a few years ago, so that was the end of that.

Hi All Here's a question that I think I asked on another forum several years ago but never got a satisfactory answer. Does anybody know how the 1893 proof sets were presented? Were they in boxes, leather or card cases, vellum pouches (I made this one up) or what? Was there any embossing on the lid? What does it say? What colour were they? What shape etc. I guess you get the idea. Were they different for the long set as opposed to the short one? Any advice gratefully received. DaveG38

I don't think she would be amused!!!

Thanks Red Riley, Seeing the posts in this topic, I was beginning to get rather disheartened by the apparent enormity of this task. I agree with you that I will need to draw a line somewhere - for me its looking like the main varieties identified by most of the well known authors in numismatics and not the esoteric minor types. However, I can see an argument that says all types should be put in for completeness. For now I am going to press on as I have been. Cheers DaveG38

Aardhawk, You're posts are depressing me!!! For my book I thought I had gone through a fair number of sources to extract quite a large number of varieties with descriptors so that the different types could be reconciled. Now I find that there are a large number of additional minor varieties which will take a hell of a lot of tracking down to describe, but will also be difficult to find examples of to photograph. My head hurts - help!!

Can you post pictures please? DaveG38

Hi AardHawk, Can you point me to a definitive source for these articles please? DaveG38

Dear muygrandeoso, On another thread on this forum, you may have seen that I am currently putting a book together about 20th Century varieties. The one you mention here is a new one to me and I wonder if you would be willing to allow me to use your photographs in my book - with due thanks and acknowledgments of course. DaveG38

Hi Master jmd, I certainly intend to cover farthings - already completed Liz II - but only for 20th Century. However, you might like to try this website whcih has a way to go yet, but is still an excellent resource for farthings. http://aboutfarthings.co.uk/ DaveG38

Rob, I entirely agree that Peck is hopelessly out of date and that there are many minor variants referred to by others that Peck doesn't even identify. However, Peck does mention many and I wanted to make sure that I refer to all sources for data and to the descriptions they contai, so that I give a comprehensive view of 20C varieties. To do this I need to include Peck numbers, but I also need to be sure that I have the most up to date edition - hence my question. If you are saying that the 1970 reprint is just that, with no further data added or amendments made, then I think this answers my question. Thanks. DaveG38

Hi Chris, Many thanks for the kind offer of help with the marketing. I don't really expect much of a market for my book - its more a labour of love, with possibly a few souls buying one once complete. I don't really fancy myself as any kind of expert author. Having said this, at this stage, I really don't know what I might need but I already see many issues and areas where the help of everybody on the forum might be useful. Can I start with a first quick easy question for everybody. I am basing my information on the bronze coinage largely on the 2006 issue of Freeman, which I own, and the 1964 second edition of Peck, which I have on loan from the library. However, I understand that there is a later printing of Peck dated 1970 and I wondered if anybody on the forum owns one. If so, can they tell me if it covers coins from 1963 to 1970 or is it just an update on the 1964 edition (which only goes up to 1963)? If it does go up to 1970, or at least later than 1963, would the owner be prepared to carry out some basic checks on coins in it, and provide me with some data so that I can be sure I have the most accurate information? Thanks DaveG38

I may be misunderstanding here, but are you saying that the 'L' to a bullet is the rare type? If so, then there have been several on ebay lately, the best being a pretty much UNC one for £24. Are you sure it isn't the 'L' to a space type that's the rare one? In fact, I haven't found a specimen with the 'L' to a space! DaveG38

First of all, many thanks for the support from forum members and for the kind offers of help. At this stage, I am not sure what might be needed, but I will certainly approach the forum as necessary. However, there is one area where I would appreciate some advice, perhaps from 'HistoricCoinage,' and that is in the area of the structure and layout for the book. This project is not entirely a twinkle in my eye as I have been thinking about it for some months now and have already put finger to keyboard. Progress is as follows: 1) Title - I have decided to call it 'British 20th Century Coin Varieties.' 2) I have identified from my 6 main sources all the reported varieties that I can find. 3) I have sorted out all those that I have examples of and am on the lookout for the remainder. 4) I have more or less sorted out the overall structure for the book. 5) I have designed a standard layout for the individual sections, which I hope is useable for readers. 6) Have written about 35 pages covering pre-decimal Elizabeth II and George VI bronze. The area where I would like some advice is number 5), where a fresh pair of eyes and brain might be useful in order to ensure that I have the best layout and approach. If anybody is willing to look at a section of the book, say the Elizabeth II farthings and let me have comments then that would be really helpful. It goes without saying that all such help will be acknowledged in the book as will any other inputs made by forum members e.g. photographs etc. Regards. DaveG38

Chris, Many thanks for the reply. I agree with you that its better to be safe than sorry rather than discover that I have infringed copyright when its too late. Oh well, another task or two to add to all the others!!! As to publishing, it will be done by me personally - I have published a poetry book for my other half already and the process is pretty easy. The tricky part is the marketing, but I do see options for me for the coin book. What I am impressed with is the quality of self published material these days. Its gone a long way from the days when all you could do is staple together the pages!!!! What's it about? Put simply, 20th century varieties. Lots of commentators mention them, but often describe them differently or don't include them all. What I am going to attempt is to reconcile them, with lots of photos from my personal collection - I've got most of them, but not all. Don't know how long it will take - probably a year or so. Regards. DaveG38

What about this one then - or am I missing something here? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/World-War-II-Collect...1QQcmdZViewItem DaveG38

I don't know which coins were treated with hypo and whether any other treatments were used in the past, so I am afraid I don't know whether the 1918 farthings were darkened in this way. However, hypo has been around for a long time, so I wouldn't be surprised to find it was used. It's also traditionally used for 'fixing' in black and white photography, and this goes back to the earliest photos in the 19 century. DaveG38

Hi, Hypo is correctly known as Sodium Thiosulphate. It comes in crystalline form as colourless water soluble crystals and coins will have been treated with a solution rather than in any other form. Its chemical formula is Na2S2O3. Its effect in darkening coins is to produce a layer of sulphide on the surface of bronze coins. Copper Sulphide is black - hence the darkening on the surface. Hope this helps. DaveG38

I have had this problem myself and my solution, which has always worked, is to use non-coloured methylated spirits dabbed on very gently with a fine tissue and then very carefully blotted or wiped off. It has even worked on the highly polished fields of a proof coin, with no ill effects. Even wiping fairly firmly has no effect when examined under 15X magnification, so I would recommmend this approach. DaveG38

Chris, I have never found the other one that I want (but haven't looked very hard), hence my enquiry. As I understand it, Davies reports two types equally common as numbers: 2300 and 2301. The difference is quoted as being in the thickness of the letters C and H in CHURCHILL (not sure if its the first or second or both). Michael Satzman quotes them as being small loop and large loop to the R in Churchill. I'm assuming that these are the same varieties described in different ways, and that there aren't four altogether!! DaveG38

I too want a Churchill Crown! Before you all rush to offer me yours, or send for the men in white coats, I actually want the variety which has a larger loop to the R in CHURCHILL. As far as I can judge, my one, given to me when I was a kid, is the small loop variety. Anybody got one? I appreciate it means a tedious chore of checking through stock, so am prepared to pay a reasonable price plus postage. The two types are reported to be equally common, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. The problem I have with ebay is assessing the coin shown since the photos are often not good enough or else a stock photo is put up, in which case I can't be sure of getting the right one. Many thanks. DaveG38