Coinery

The second set of photos (on blue background), that have since been added to the forum link, are a bit of an improvement...the mark below the eye doesn't seem half the nasty issue it did on the first photos (white background)! I still struggle to see how the 'wear' is right, I've never seen anything quite like it before. However, I'm certain you have seen considerably more Vic coins than I, I'd be too scared myself, I have to say!

I'm viewing on an iPhone, so not the best view, but that surely isn't normal circulation wear is it? Also, isn't that a few casting bubbles about on the obverse? Maybe mould on its back? Bubbles to top, not all of mould filled???? Apologies if this is just the 2"x2" image I'm seeing that lets this coin down.

Maybe the engraver had just got married :lol: :lol: :lol: But it's erect?

Please please tell me you're going to buy it! I think you'll finally be able to justify your coin collecting to your girlfriends! Definitely a talking 'piece' to keep in your purse! :-)

Good point, Nick, I'll have to dig out Perspex in future, and forget scanning the net for high-grade coins...I can buy VF and encapsulate them a grade up now ;-)

Do you know what, slightly off topic, and I might just be having a blonde moment, but why are letters repaired with other letters anyway? It would seem the most natural thing in the whole world to slot an O punch neatly into the damaged O, give it a little tap and...hey presto!???? Off topic again, Azda, but I read in another post that your boy's back in hospital. I hope he, you, and your family are all OK? I've got a four-year old boy and can only imagine the pain of it all. I used to be a Recovery Nurse, so have witnessed the suffering of parents many times. Take it easy out there!

Hey, Azda, I'm only looking at this picture on an i-phone, really small, but wouldn't the really strong serifs in the C be present in the O, if it really WAS the C instead of there being some other explanation? Can see where you're coming from though and, I reiterate, I haven't seen the full res images of this on the 'big screen'!

Finished? Close the drawer/cover, satisfied there is absolutely nothing more to improve upon it? I guess that is something that can only ever be said about a 'modern' collection! So, there it is, the appeal of the modern coinage; you can close a chapter, and relax back with a glass of wine to browse the collection without any hmmmm's? Same for Danz too, that 'then I'm finished' thing! So where is that collection possible? Edward VII's pretty expensive, with some rarities you would struggle to find in GEF, let alone UNC. Where can you close a chapter? George V, George VI perhaps? I think I need something going that I can one day close the drawer on, everything else is akin to living in an eternal hell of 'wishing that that one numeral wasn't so worn' and 'just for that little spot there...damn, it's stunning apart from that!' The perils of collecting, I remember it being the same with pannini football cards. I only EVER had Phil Thompson with a series of creases down the middle, because a girl (Jane Hicks, named and shamed) screwed it up the second I showed it off in the classroom.

You should see what some Americans charge UK buyers for postage. $32 isn't cheap either I've just bought a hammered coin from the states, with postage charge $16 - not bad I thought, but in his listing he writes: "USPS International Registered shipping takes 1-2 months to arrive so if this time frame does not work for you do not bid". Not that friendly a statement, so I queried it, thinking he must mean 1-2 weeks...nope, he means 1-2 months! I still bought it anyway...it hasn't arrived, yet! Wow 2 months, you're only allowed up to 49 days to open a PP case, so does sound like he's at it. Personally on that time frame i would'nt bother, it should never take up to 2 months to get a coin delivered from the USA.... I can get a coin delivered to the States in 4-5 days, and I told him so! It was a bargain I couln't resist. Not perfect in the pictures, but has that better-in-the-hand potential, should I every get it in the hand that is? It could be a dog, of course, but 5 out of 10 gambles normally pay off! Will definitely keep my eye the 49 days!

Sound like someone selling items he first have to buy elsewhere... Be sure to open your paypal case in time Yes, all very odd, I'll keep a close eye on it!

And just when you get to thinking that coin collectors are an anti-social bunch, you suddenly can't keep up with the new postings!

we talk about lots of other things too, like...............urm like....urm JUBBLIES Is that the 1887 Jubblies you refer to?

You really need to remove that S from your keyboard Debbie....The other comment i was really joking WHAT! I've just ordered an extra key for the Frontera...you've let me down, aZda! I'd order a new car if it's a Frontera you have Good on fuel, been reliable, pulls our house around like a dream ;-)

Buy Englands striking history it will introduce you gently and in a readable way to hammered.It is a Rotographic book and a bargain. I enjoyed reading that one! I wholeheartedly agree that this should be on the bookshelf of anyone starting out with hammered!

You should see what some Americans charge UK buyers for postage. $32 isn't cheap either I've just bought a hammered coin from the states, with postage charge $16 - not bad I thought, but in his listing he writes: "USPS International Registered shipping takes 1-2 months to arrive so if this time frame does not work for you do not bid". Not that friendly a statement, so I queried it, thinking he must mean 1-2 weeks...nope, he means 1-2 months! I still bought it anyway...it hasn't arrived, yet!

You really need to remove that S from your keyboard Debbie....The other comment i was really joking WHAT! I've just ordered an extra key for the Frontera...you've let me down, aZda!

Yes, one of the more educational posts, thanks for sharing the final findings, excellent thread!

What about this for a response, after asking for an emailed photo of the reverse (usual 1 picture listing)! "hi, sorry i do not have another picture but i can send a link to a picture of the same half sovereign sorry for the inconvenience hope this helps and good luck http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=edward+vii+1907+half+sovereign&start=108&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=679&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=0zpAAFnilBpfwM:&imgrefurl=http://www.coindatabase.com/coin_detail_libras.php%3Fcdb%3DL230021&docid=ToWdfhz_x98J2M&imgurl=http://www.coindatabase.com/pic/w250/img/591pix_BritishCoins/1S_E7_rev_1907.jpg&w=250&h=250&ei=iMuGT7WFLYiu0QW415CpBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=699&vpy=218&dur=1414&hovh=200&hovw=200&tx=129&ty=103&sig=117024365258692941076&page=6&tbnh=152&tbnw=152&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:108,i:88 I suspect that the obverse picture is poached too, so check that point out if you are the one bidding on this 0% feedback eBayer! Item is: 180858576416 (1907 half sov.)

Me too, if anyone knows anything! I really did think he'd pop back up again. For someone who lived and breathed this forum for a number of months, his sudden departure doesn't paint the prettiest picture. Coming from a nursing background, I have more than the occasional kind thought for his life as he openly described it!

With art, beauty, and historical context, the greater part of my facination with numismatics, I would dearly love to read any historical accounts that could shed light upon the proximity of a monarch's likeness to the punches used on their coinage. Considering the diversity of busts throughout certain reigns, Elizabeth I and Charles I to name just two, and not forgetting those busts that are disliked by the monarch (the 'bull head,' being particularly unpopular with George III for example), it makes me wonder how much vanity played its part, and how much was actually left to the discretion of the engraver and his artistic integrity (G3 Bullhead being an example of a bust going to 'print,' presumeably without the 'proof' being approved by the king!)? Who created the truest likenesses of all, Briot maybe? Which particular bust, on which denomination, particularly pleased the king or queen? Which engravers put their own heads on the block ahead of pandering to vanity? Any information pre the photographic era, so W4 or earlier, would be very much appreciated, letters, excerpt, etc, or where to begin a search even. Also, any chance of references to go with any said information?

George III was in no position to object as he was in la la land for the last decade of his reign. It was reputedly the general populace who weren't over-enamoured with the Bull Head portrait, as for some reason they didn't want to see old , fat and ugly monarchs portrayed as just that. Once those shameless flatterers, the Wyons had shuffled off this mortal coil, I suspect realism returned to the coinage and in my view most up to the present day (perhaps with the exception of the Machin and Maklouf portraits of the present queen) have represented a reasonably objective view of the sitter. But the temptation to 'go for a gong' by producing a shamelessly buttered-up portrait of the sitting monarch is still there. Hence (one of the reasons!) why I believe we should bannish the monarch's head from the coinage and replace it with great (and very dead) citizens from the past who could hardly object to an unflettering depiction. Steps back and hides behind sofa... I guess losing the monarch's bust on a modern coin is no big deal anymore. Before the advent of film and photography however it was probably the biggest celebrity status there was out there, the only image the general public ever saw, of pretty much anyone! When we think 'out loud' about Liz II, we see images of her in a funny hat, taking flowers off kids, etc. I doubt anyone, not even coin collectors, think of a bust from a currency coin? A different story if we talk about images of say Charles I...we instantly see the famous paintings and, of course, his coins! Thank goodness they didn't mill images from the local games on them; a jouster with the error double lance, or a falconry hunt with the two partridge rarity!

Thanks, Seuk, I'll try and source a copy. I know that certain paintings are believed to be in good likeness of certain monarch's, the research that accompanies those claims would also be a good starting place too, I guess?

Gosh, thank-you for taking the time to answer in such depth, I will definitely take your thoughts on board. I too think it would be an interesting subject matter, particularly if enough historical references could be sourced to make for a credible assumption about the accuracy of the finished punches. Do you happen to know where a comprehensive collection of numismatic literature might be easily accessed? I guess references to the monarch's pleasure, or displeasure, in such matters, would not be confined solely to numismatic works, but how you'd winkle out the one or two lines of interest in those huge historical tomes, God only knows! If any librarians/researchers out there know of any search methods of use, please let me know?

So you're not a Buddhist then? I love rice, the solitude of mountains, sitting under trees, and have an expanding waistline...I'm in! ;-) Me too! And don't forget the getting up at 4 AM ... oh, wait... Happy Easter or whatever you celebrate, one and all Hmmm, 4am? What about Methodists or Hindus, do any of them get a lie in? I'm very flexible! Yes, happy Easter to you and all, whether you're a fan of chocolate and cinnamon-topped buns or not!

WANTED, Muslims,Hindus, or Buddhists, for chats about coins during key dates of the Christian calendar! Couldn't let pre-decimal go a full 24hrs without a single post!