Coinery

This is an educated guess type of reply, rather than scientific but ... I have often cleared 'film' (i.e. grease, some dirt, or caked condensation, etc) off coins by immersing in surgical spirit and then wiping that off GENTLY using a microfibre cloth. I wouldn't use olive oil for what you plan to store in a plastic envelope, though a very thin film of it might do for coins in trays, but make sure you reapply every now and then - either annually or when you judge it's needed. But if olive oil is reportedly 'mildly acidic,' wouldn't a continuous film of the stuff eventually have a negatory effect?

How strange...we watched bomber boys tonight, and both my wife and myself instantly got into a discussion when Ewan McGregor gloved up to handle the type-written pages of a mere 70 year old document - we had both also watched the medieval illuminated pages being pawed over with what seemed little regard for their longevity. If I can selfishly expand and add to your query, as I'd also like to know, catagorically, rather than speculatively, what is the best thing to do with your immaculate lustred coin BEFORE placing it into a plastic slip, or taking the precautions of wearing gloves and/or holding it by the edge? You see, all the care in the world, and all the tender treatment by ourselves, is not going to make a jot of difference if some guy has stuffed our coin into an envelope whilst eating his fish and chips in front of the re-runs of Corrie on a Sunday night. Will will be the proud owners of an item with active, though presently invisible, lustre cancer, attacking the precious fields of our proudly won YH lustred Victoria penny. So, is there a professionally accepted procedure and/or products considered appropriate for decontaminating the different metalled coins? Would we be looking at PH balanced products? What precedents have already been set by museums?

Thank-you, chingford, for trying to help, I knew I'd be able to find an answer on here! Unfortunately, I can't provide any of the information you ask for now, as the lot has been sold! The sov and half sov were definitely present in the set, all high relief picked out in platinum. It was the majesty collection, no 38 of 80, went for £340 + comm. @ 22% I would have bid if I could've got some solid info in quick enough...it was quite bizarre constantly refreshing the forum posts in the run up to the lot going through about 1/2 one yesterday. Anyway, thanks for trying, much appreciated. I guess at 80 issued sets it was quite unusual. Just couldn't trust a bid without knowing what it was!

Nor, me! I can't find any info. anywhere! Is it likely to be fake, it looks pretty damn good to me. Apparently just 80 sets issued according to the slip inside. It's looks similar in presentation to the silver proof set. HELP info. needed from anyone!!!!

4. It may help my nearest and dearest if the unexpected were to occur and the collection needs to be be dispersed (although there are other ways of dealing with this). This is a fantastic point, maybe one we should all consider! It occurred to me, following the birth of my son, how I have boxes of our hard-won family assets, all tied up in nameless copper, silver, and gold 'discs', the true value of which could never be realised if I was to make a hasty departure from this existence! Think of any specialised artefacts being resold by a distraught and trusting loved one? Where would they go to, who would they communicate with? It had me thinking...what about a board of trustees, or a trusted individual, who would agree to being named and charged with the responsibility of selling a deceased's collection in the correct circles, achieving the right prices, and taking nothing other than a 5% commission on net sales. Has anyone ever set up any such safeguards?

Does anyone know anything about the liz 2 gold/platinum 80th birthday set? Sov and 1/2 sov in gold ( possibly a gold £2??) with relief in plat. Also coins down to penny which are gold and plat. plated in same style. Apparently 80 sets issued in total! Any ideas, thoughts, prices? In mint!

Being too new to this site to have taken part in the previous heated discussions, and holding back a bit, I would like to say that as a collector I hate them with a passion, for many if not all the reasons eloquently articulated by others. The first one I bought that was slabbed was immediately broken out of it (carefully I might add, with the aid of a hammer and chisel). But I can see the point for sellers, investors and dealers, if their integrity survives ... These are being slabbed as an experiment to measure sales, I truly hope to see them out of the slabs and in proper cared-for collections in the future. There are no slabs in my own private collection. I saw a liz halfpenny in a slab on eBay a while back, looked like something you could pick up in ikea, horrible!

I couldn't agree more! What you have said captures the whole spirit of it all. When I was 18 I bought an old Jaguar 420G for pennies and stripped the whole thing to pieces in my parents' back garden...lovingly dealing with every aspect of the rebuild was the thing that made that car special. I could afford one now, that is far better condition, and maybe even concours, but I wouldn't have anything like the same love and interest in owning something that has been grafted on by someone else...but many are the flashy classical car owners who go out and buy the best and don't even know what waxoyl is! They're classic car equivalents of the slab collectors, but there is no denying they are out there! Hanging around forums like this, making a few mistakes, battling out the details of a grade, is what makes it so fascinating for me!

Big smile, Gollum, you can certainly turn on the emicons :-)

I have to confess I sent off 15 coins for slabbing, just to explore the commercial viability of selling them first hand. I'm wanting to know whether they'll fetch any extra dividends that justifies the extra outlay. As Rob has said, a great deal has been said on the matter and, from a collection point of view, you either like them or you don't. However, I do believe, but have yet to corroborate it, that there is a UK market out there who are wanting to 'play safe' with their Internet purchases and, in the world of the web, feel safer when they can surf and read all about the TPG's and, in that 'researching' process, feel a level of security they can't find in a dodgy picture, or a 'home' grading by 'joes_stuff' on eBay, who then goes on to say 'see pictures (shoddy) and decide for yourself'! Maybe the slab buyers can grade, but just don't want to take responsibility for it, especially when they are shelling out hundreds, which they then have to justify to themselves. I know the TPG's grading is said to be variable, but it's slightly more consistent than Ebay's efforts and, the bottom line, you are more likely to find a buyer, should you come to sell it in the future, who will take the TPG'S efforts at grading far more seriously than Joe from Joes_stuff! Personally, I have to say, a box of clinical plastic slabs just doesn't do it for me, though I can see the entombment appealing to those who like accumulating investments...pots of sterling, gold rings, etc., and like the idea of the coin being somewhat protected. There you go Rob, that should get it going! ;-)

Just a thought re orientation of the letters but, if I was going to engrave a coin for my loved one, preserving the obverse side of the coin, which I presume to be generally what happens, then I would have the bust or obverse design ^ ^ ! So, Dr Watson, which way up are the the letters, when keeping the bust/obverse-design correctly orientated?

It's definitely a book for the birthday/valentine/Easter/summer solstice/Christmas wish list, no doubt about it! It does put your average-incomed family man/woman into serious grovelling mode, no doubt about that, either!

When you say it's not for the novice, do you mean by virtue of it's cost? Post 1860 there are Freeman/Gouby/Groom which superceed Peck. Pre 1860 a novice will probably not be collecting with a vengence. Do you know, it's really interesting to hear you say that (or write that, I should say [write]) because, when I first developed an interest in coins, it was the historical aspect that grabbed me...quickly followed by the artistry of it all. I didn't even get excited about a coin, or think it to be anything like old, unless it was at least pre-Victorian. I bought stacks of Georgian junk back then for pennies, and would've loved a book like Peck's at that time, just for the other great love of it all...nailing a coin down to an exact moment in time, and being able to catalogue it with as much detail as possible. It's taken me a long time to get over the 'old' thing, but I now get extremely excited about a nicely toned EdVII (with as much underlying lustre as possible - just as long as it doesn't interfere with the tone ;-)). I guess what I really mean to say is...I wish someone could reprint peck for kindle or something, anything, just get something out there that's readily available and reasonably priced...two-volume paperback, that'll do! I do catch your drift though, Peter.

When you say it's not for the novice, do you mean by virtue of it's cost?

Apologies - yes, I probably should have mentioned that Coinery is now the proud owner of this one! Proud, and pleased indeed! It paid for itself within days of my taking receipt of it (superbly packaged, by the way), by identifying two types that I had previously marked down as standard, when in fact they were nothing of the kind. A great book, Gollum...as I PM'd you, I sincerely hope you locate one, I cannot recommend it any more highly than i do, especially for the pre-Freeman copper.

Thanks, Azda! You really will have to forgive me here, as my knowledge of these things are ZERO, but are there any reasons why a camera is better than a scope that could do the full job? Also, was there a particular scope you were referring to? Many thanks for any further info.

No, the Traveller USB camera is just used as a digital microscope for large magnifications of small areas of a coin ie examining overdates. As far as a digital camera setup goes, you'll probably want either: a digital compact with a macro mode; or a DSLR and a prime (fixed focal length) macro lens. In general, the more megapixels the better - it's easy to crop away those you haven't used. Obviously, the DSLR route is a lot more expensive, but prime macro lenses usually contain high quality optics and also allow you to position the camera further away from the coin - which makes lighting the coin easier. If you do go for a prime macro lens, one that will do 1:1 reproduction will be the dog's doodahs. This means that at 1:1 the object will be the same size on the sensor as it is in reality ie a shilling would only just fit into the frame. Thanks, Nick, very much appreciated, a great starting place. I think DSLR will be the way forward then. As you've obviously got your head around these things, would you mind if I came back to you for a little more advice on the matter when I've narrowed down a couple of set-up's?

Can you use them to take full images of coins, like crowns for example?

Very, VERY, nice! Azda, what is your photography set-up? I'm in the middle of researching a good set-up for myself, just for coin photography. Do you know enough about the hobby to offer any suggestions? Coinery, you may want to look at the ebay link Gollum has above, thats more of a professional setup for taking coin picture, camera seems mounted. I personally do nothing special, just the natural light (outside) I have a blacony on the house with a large ledge which is where i go (sometimes freezing my nuts off if the weather is cold and i have a few coins to do. I think basically its allabout the feel of your camera and knowing when the picture is right. Larger coins you can get quite close to, smaller coins need a little more distance or else they can look blurry after cropping Well if I am honest, I have all the things needed to do it properly apart from a macro lense for my canon digital, I was thinking of buying a cheap usb camera just for fun, and I have a light box in my darkroom that I can put coins on for pics if I can be bothereed to go into the loft, so if Coinery wants to grab that then I wont be moaning at him. Can I just check with you both then...is the Traveller USB camera the type that you use for your pictures, Azda, or do you use it simply to view items on the PC? And, Gollum, thanks for the gesture re letting the camera potentially go. Do you recommend this type of camera set-up, it's only 1.3mp, seems very low to me? I could really do with some good advice on this subject. I'm looking for a fixed set-up, that's solely for taking pictures of coins. Anything?

Very, VERY, nice! Azda, what is your photography set-up? I'm in the middle of researching a good set-up for myself, just for coin photography. Do you know enough about the hobby to offer any suggestions?

Of course! I didn't want to re-state the obvious! I came from a working background where the duplication of facts were a tedious and unnecessary evil.

I'm sure this seller has checked his figures, but all those auction pieces with high start prices, and no bids, will be costing a fortune...£1500 start price on one item!

Here's a good one. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-1902-Half-Penny-coin-110th-birthday-gift-/120842599960?pt=UK_Coins_BritishMilled_RL&hash=item1c22c7be18 Targeting the micro-market I'd say! Just hope someone gets me one, one day!

OK, so what's an ultrasonic cleaner? Any links? Also, what about the acetone? Will need to get the crud off before worrying about gloves!

So, just to clarify...are we saying that acetone is not detrimental in the least to copper, silver, lustre, or toning? That a good long soak in the stuff is harmless? I am getting to the stage in my collecting life where I'm growing increasingly anal about the handling of coins, for fear of the greasy acids damaging the surfaces in years to come...also, when buying a new coin I wish I could totally decontaminate it of any greasy residues before sealing it up and coveting it away. Acetone could be the answer to this prayer from what you're saying????