Coinery

That's the trouble when you want/spot the best I guess! You've just got to be there on the day when your competitor is sat on the hard-shoulder of the M4 waiting for the AA, then it's party time. The 1561 sixpence I wanted would have sold at it's opening bid of £140 if the other guy was otherwise indisposed! The one I was most interested in was the Henry VIII half crown with the rose/lis over rose marks. That coin isn't the best available, but having done all the spadework I was willing to buy it up to the hammer price. The problem with the lis over rose mark is that it doesn't occur on the groats, so you are stuck with either a crown of the double rose (which I also need for the HA and HI marked coins), the corresponding halfcrown or the Worcester groat. The last named will cost 2 or 3 times that of a Henry VIII gold piece and have all the aesthetic qualities of a lump of roadkill. I don't particularly want to play 'Guess what it is'. 1.79g in gold, now that's a tiny little coin! I'm looking forward to sorting the boat out, so finances will permit me the luxury of a few gold pieces. That's quite a broad ensemble you have, I always had it in my head you had a mountain of the early-days pennies and trays upon trays of the big silver of Charles I!

I also thought it possible that the coin had been mounted or held by a clasp at some point. Look at the flattened beading above the bust and the horizontal mark on the cross end at 6 o'clock. DEFINITELY! I hope you're reading this whoever you are?

That's the trouble when you want/spot the best I guess! You've just got to be there on the day when your competitor is sat on the hard-shoulder of the M4 waiting for the AA, then it's party time. The 1561 sixpence I wanted would have sold at it's opening bid of £140 if the other guy was otherwise indisposed!

Thought it was going to keep on going as well I was watching the pennies the decent ones went double top end estimate,lesser ones were just making lowere estimate or bombed intresting It's that old adage, and one that's been talked about time and time again on the forum. Exactly the same with the Hammered Elizabeth silver, the good stuff=good prices, the rest (highly estimated to begin with IMO) never even sold!

With the volume turned up, it created quite an atmosphere in our little 'van I can tell you! "£32K with me, £32,500 with the room, selling at £32,500, it's with you at £32,500 Sir, £33K on the 'net..." Pheeeweee!

And StJames'

Just a box-standard, most common of all the Elizabeth sixpences (lot 396)! Also, I can't stop returning to look at the threepence (399), still haven't decided about that one, even now! The sixpence isn't really a better grade, it's just a little more 'balanced,' I'm just not certain about that obverse tone, so I'm trusting in poor white balance on this occasion. You will doubtless be pleased to know that although it was on my initial provisional list, it has now been discarded. Hah, yes, definitely so...not sure I want a handbag duel with you, just yet, you have to let me grow big and strong first! Thanks for the consideration, though, Rob! All went smoothly, I managed to get 3 bids away successfully on lot 396, I just didn't want to go to the next increment which, with fees & post, would've had me at £335 - the very top end for a regular sixpence, as far as my pocket (and understanding) is concerned at least! AND lot 399, are you sure you discarded it? Off the scale again for me, I never even started! Great tool, though, will be using it again! With the good images you've got half a chance! Thanks for all the tips, Viva la Saleroom! Flat quarter in the shield. It isn't impossible to get a decent eglantine anyway as the mark is hardly rare. Need to concentrate on getting the eglantine over marks first, then I can see what denominations I don't have with the mark and elsewhere and concentrate on these. Hang on a minute, what do you mean? Get orf! They do come up quite a bit! Mine, whilst not a patch on the StJames coin, and only a mere 'regular' 1575, was just £22.00. I would've happily given it away if I could've got the StJames coin at a 'regular' price. I think I might have gone mad on the StJames coin if the crown band was a little closer to the front edge of the crown, then it would've had 'balance'!

Just a box-standard, most common of all the Elizabeth sixpences (lot 396)! Also, I can't stop returning to look at the threepence (399), still haven't decided about that one, even now! The sixpence isn't really a better grade, it's just a little more 'balanced,' I'm just not certain about that obverse tone, so I'm trusting in poor white balance on this occasion. You will doubtless be pleased to know that although it was on my initial provisional list, it has now been discarded. Hah, yes, definitely so...not sure I want a handbag duel with you, just yet, you have to let me grow big and strong first! Thanks for the consideration, though, Rob! All went smoothly, I managed to get 3 bids away successfully on lot 396, I just didn't want to go to the next increment which, with fees & post, would've had me at £335 - the very top end for a regular sixpence, as far as my pocket (and understanding) is concerned at least! AND lot 399, are you sure you discarded it? Off the scale again for me, I never even started! Great tool, though, will be using it again! With the good images you've got half a chance! Thanks for all the tips, Viva la Saleroom!

Just a box-standard, most common of all the Elizabeth sixpences (lot 396)! Also, I can't stop returning to look at the threepence (399), still haven't decided about that one, even now! The sixpence isn't really a better grade, it's just a little more 'balanced,' I'm just not certain about that obverse tone, so I'm trusting in poor white balance on this occasion.

I don't know if you ever watch Bargain Hunt on BBC? Some of those auctions feature internet bidders. They are treated just like floor bidders, except as has been noted, competing floor bidders will get the main auctioneer attention (but think about it - if you were there in person and two people were slugging it out, you would wait until EITHER they passed your maximum OR one dropped out, at which point you would jump in; so with the internet). As for not getting noticed, if only one bidder is left on the floor, the auctioneer will always glance towards the phones/computers before hammering - he will want to be sure there are no more competing bids. The only problem would be if you suffered an internet dropout, or there was a server delay; but there's nothing you can do about those situations anyway. So don't worry! Thanks, Chris! I guess it was not having the picture in my mind about how things worked in the room, it's getting there! It's not as if I'm looking to set the world on fire today, I'm just looking to slightly upgrade a coin, that will be sold if I'm successful. I bought the current one less than half price, so I can bid quite strongly on the replacement, and still not be out of pocket, hopefully!

Thanks, Dave, I'm actually feeling nervous! Can't say I ever experienced major nerves on the floor before! I think on this occasion the Live Bidding is free, but StJames 20% "PLUS" VAT is a little strong! Guess I'll just have to factor it in!

Thanks for the tip! I've done something similar, several times on eBay ( before Auction Sniper), where I've excitedly keyed in my top bid and hovered my mouse over 'place bid,' ready to strike in the final seconds! How often I've been left feeling sick, when a 'confirm bid' button arrives on the screen, instead of 'you are the winner'! These are invariably the coins that finish at £50 and your top bid was £300! It was even easier to make this error on the iPhone eBay app.!

Thanks again, I think I'm just panicking about the hammer falling before I get my bid away, though I'm sure it'll all come out in the wash! Good luck with your own bids tomorrow!

The answer depends on whether I want the same lot(s) as you do. It is straightforward. You register, then as each lot opens there is a bid button at the level set by the auctioneer. Obviously the room bids are spotted quicker than the internet because once the lot is open, you have to respond and then the person manning the internet bids has to register your bid and convey it to the auctioneer. The lag is less than a second, but in that time someone in the room has probably already put their hand up. It tells you if you are the high bidder, so you can't bid against yourself. If you are outbid, you have the chance to return with a higher bid. You can't enter an oddball arbitrary number in the same way as you can with a book bid, so you have to bid on what the auctioneer is asking for. Thanks, Rob! So NO entering of numbers at all, just single clicks of a button if you are happy to continue with the bidding? Also, do you click on the opening bid straight away to let them know you're out there and interested? And then, if two others are throwing their handbags at each other on the floor, will the bid come back to me for a chance to bid? Or do I just have to keep clicking every time the screen is asking for it?

Thanks coppers! Us iPhoners, eh?

Their amazing little coins. What's truly amazing about one of the three is a small field of copper outside the outer-beads! Even under magnification the surface looks as though it was rolled yesterday, not a pit to be seen! How does a micro-thin piece of 1600's copper survive in this mint state? Not to mention the hammered coin itself!

One for Richard! 251156021658

Thanks for going through that with me!

No shadow of a doubt in my mind!

I don't suppose the disposal of a valuable coin collection in the latter years would be tax-free, would it? Legal tender British gold coins can be sold tax free. The sale of other coins has been discussed here in the past and is more complicated. If you have a number of disparate coins (i.e. not part of a set), these can be sold individually and CGT is only payable if any one of those sales produces a profit of £10,000 or more but, and this is the big BUT, if the coins form part of a 'collection' HMRC will assess the total of all the sales from that collection in any one year and only give a single allowance of £10,000 for everything. The definition of a 'collection' is subjective. It may be that if you wished to sell, lets say, 6 very valuable crowns, 6 shillings and 6 pennies it would be better to sell a mix of denominations in each tax year to avoid the 'collection' definition. Selling all the crowns in one year, for example may be viewed as the sale of a collection for which only a single £10,000 allowance applies. Selling one crown, one shilling and one penny of different dates may be viewed as a sale of three separate coins for which a total allowance of £30,000 would be applied. Please don't take this as any offer of advice! It's just my understanding of the present tax rules. Many thanks but, just to clarify, is that £10K TOTAL sales price, or £10K PROFIT? ie if you spent £10K on your collection and sold the whole thing for £20K, does this mean the whole £20K is a tax-free sum? Sorry Accumulator!!!! The calculations are all done on the PROFIT. So if you purchased a coin for £10k and sold it for £20k, the profit of £10k is subject to tax (less any allowances). I should say that the CGT allowance is actually £10,600 for the 2012/13 tax year, not the £10,000 figure I used above. Is this a magic loophole by any chance? If we say, for example, on April 6th get really excited about collecting G4 silver, and then by the end of June can't stand the monarch, can we sell the collection off and declare the profit under Capital Gains? Of, course, on April 6th the following year, we're about to have a love affair with Queen Mary (you will note I didn't say Anne)!

I don't suppose the disposal of a valuable coin collection in the latter years would be tax-free, would it? Legal tender British gold coins can be sold tax free. The sale of other coins has been discussed here in the past and is more complicated. If you have a number of disparate coins (i.e. not part of a set), these can be sold individually and CGT is only payable if any one of those sales produces a profit of £10,000 or more but, and this is the big BUT, if the coins form part of a 'collection' HMRC will assess the total of all the sales from that collection in any one year and only give a single allowance of £10,000 for everything. The definition of a 'collection' is subjective. It may be that if you wished to sell, lets say, 6 very valuable crowns, 6 shillings and 6 pennies it would be better to sell a mix of denominations in each tax year to avoid the 'collection' definition. Selling all the crowns in one year, for example may be viewed as the sale of a collection for which only a single £10,000 allowance applies. Selling one crown, one shilling and one penny of different dates may be viewed as a sale of three separate coins for which a total allowance of £30,000 would be applied. Please don't take this as any offer of advice! It's just my understanding of the present tax rules. Many thanks but, just to clarify, is that £10K TOTAL sales price, or £10K PROFIT? ie if you spent £10K on your collection and sold the whole thing for £20K, does this mean the whole £20K is a tax-free sum? Sorry Accumulator!!!!

I don't suppose the disposal of a valuable coin collection in the latter years would be tax-free, would it?

I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am with the 3 copper farthings Rob supplied. Amongst the prettiest coins I hold! The classic difference between exploded images, and in-hand viewing, can clearly be appreciated with these coins! A good day, thank-you, Rob! I will post all 3 when the camera next comes out!

Not me. I was bidding online, so when it got to 130 I didn't hit the button. Can you bid online for StJames? LIVE I mean! Yes, you can. I usually use the-saleroom.com but there are probably others (eg sixbid, etc). Thanks, Nick! I did notice you could submit bids, much like paper submissions, but I didn't notice a facility for actual REAL-time bidding against the floor, I'll take another look!

That looks great, Numidan! The only thing that sprung to mind was how strike weakness could be factored into the equation? Superb idea though, which for the main part could work! At the end of the day a grade's a grade! Bag marks, edge knocks, etc, only affect appeal, and consequently value! Would be a very good start to get the grade right!