Paulus

I cannot afford to strive for perfection in all my coins, for me the overall eye appeal of this coin combined with the price I paid ticks all the boxes, there is always a trade off. As someone recently commented on this Forum (Coinery perhaps?), if one's budget was unlimited how much enjoyment would there be in hunting down examples that 'do it for you', within your budget? (rhetorical!)

As a case in point, here is my 1904: It's not the best example or photo out there by a long chalk, and has a faint scratch on the King's neck which detracts a little. But as a type collector I only want one E7 Florin and this ticks the boxes for me in terms of eye appeal, in hand it has delicious faint red and lilac hues, I doubt that I will be upgrading in the foreseeable!

Overall eye appeal is king for me, if attractive toning (which I am a massive fan of) adds to it then that is a bonus, there can also be unattractive toning (let's not go there for now!), lustre, a decent strike, an unclipped round flat flan, and all sorts of other things which contribute to overall eye appeal, which, ultimately, is in the eye of the beholder. As far as cleaning/polishing/dipping is concerned, if it is obvious then that would normally be a negative for me, and would certainly lower the value of the coin, but wouldn't necessarily put me off hanging on to it or showing it off, a lot would depend on overall eye appeal, and the scarcity and age of the coin. Hammered coins (which are not my focus but I have some nice examples) are a rule unto themselves, each one being unique. The biggest negatives for me are normally edge knocks, fingerprints, scratches and graffiti. Welcome to the Forum Wheelbarrow! (interesting name and avatar, what is it?)

I suspect VS meant EF45

Come on Dave we are all waiting!

Just flash reflection, I think. Quite possibly, but really hard to tell for me. Wheelbarrow will know better from the in-hand viewing. Bright/lustred milled silver is much, MUCH, harder to photograph, as I'm sure everyone has discovered.Err .... YES!

Quite like the idea of a '1913 waffle'!

I think you are right Rob...it probably is a cost code. The letter "x" in most codes means "0", the balance would depend on the code itself. If the first word of the code is "MUSIC", then the cost of the coin would be $1.20 (pounds). You've completely lost me there Bob, on several counts! Sounds extremely cryptic! I guess the seller doesn't want the buyer to be able to work out what he paid for it?

I will have to contradict you and say that this is an excellent first effort (without seeing what the coin looks like in hand of course!) ... I still struggle, but this is my favourite web site on how to do it right (courtesy of brg): http://www.coinimaging.com/

Welcome back Debbie, and happy birthday to you and Scott!

Hi Rich Based on the pics provided, and only seeing one side of the coins, I would take a stab at 1 - Fine 2 - GVF 3 - Fair Spink's prices are a guide only and what you end up paying can vary significantly from the 'book' price for various reasons. Many people think that a lot of the Spink prices are 'optimistic' and you will find you can pick up many for considerably less than book. The penny you mention is £400 and £550 (for the 10 & 11 leaves respectively) in EF in Spink 2013 (anyone have the 2014 Spink values to hand?). Grading is a biggie here, many dealers grade too generously, many deliberately, and Ingrams are not immune from this (in my opinion, and, I believe, that of others) ... their pics aren't very good either! Buyer beware! Their EF 1797 Penny pic appears to be unavailable on their website (as you say), I would ask them for a pic and post it on here for comments if you are still interested. Pics of the rim would also be useful, as there are very often bruises and knocks to the rims of the cartwheels, which affect their value significantly. There has been some 'stagnation' in lower grade coins over recent years, some rapid inflation in top grade coins, but little or no depreciation in the Spink prices, or in those actually paid.

LOL, yes it's got great appeal brg, is there an edge legend with it?

Quick question, haven't found the answer on Google yet ... In the case of Conder tokens, and other numismatic items without a bust, which side is the obverse and which is the reverse? Or are such terms inapplicable to such things, in which case how do we refer to each side?

Funnily enough, that's one of my gaps!

Yes. In this case the left hand image is the shield of arms for Bury St Edmunds, so I'd call that the obverse. I believe the reverse signifies that it is payable at P Decks Post Office (which is what it should say on the edge) As a rule of thumb I'd say the side that changes least (issuer, town etc) would be obv, then the merchant where the thing can be redeemed the reverse. If a merchant issued several different designs though probably the side that identifies the merchant should be obv. If that makes sense? Yes I think so, thanks Richard and Peck!

Hehe, yes I do like a bit of copper ... variety and history and more affordable ... truth is I can't afford any of my milled silver gaps in a decent grade at the moment! I had posted this coin in the 'Let's See Your Copper Coins, Tokens, Or Medals!' thread a few weeks ago, and didn't know much about it when I snaffled it for a paltry £12 delivered off the bay. So yes it's mine, it's a 1795 Suffolk/Bury halfpenny, Dalton&Hamer #26, with the edge lettering of "PAYABLE AT P. DECKS POST OFFICE BURY .XX" (last bit courtesy of brg). Peter went on to add that the 'head and tail' you refer to belong to the wolf guarding St Edmund's head. I find the Conder tokens quite fascinating ... still don't know how to refer to each of the sides though!

well diffused Rob

Yes, Admins, perhaps we could have a Subforum under 'Other Coin related forums' called something like 'Third Party Grading (TPG) Services'?

Welcome Rich My own preferred storage method is, like Coinery, 2x2 flips (the self adhesive kind, not the ones that require unsightly stapling), then stored in albums for easy viewing (I use 12 per page size). The main suppliers are (I believe) Lindner (available through this web site) and Leuchtturm (aka Lighthouse). A cabinet has some appeal but I have decided against it due to insufficient protection and security - my albums can more easily be secured in a fire-proof safe. It's mainly a matter of personal preference I think, there is no single 'best method' for long-term storage in my opinion. As for a theme, well while you are new I would choose a narrow theme, and a relatively inexpensive one, as lessons will be learned along the way. Get some books (perhaps a copy of Collectors' Coins 2014: Great Britain, The Standard Guide to Grading British Coins (both available through this Forum, or from Amazon etc), or Spink. Arguably the copper series have more variety and more historic interest than the silver (although milled silver is my own primary focus!) Good luck, enjoy, and don't hesitate to pop on here with any questions (photos are often required!)

Your EF example is rather conservatively graded IMO Rob, but the point is well made. Ok, so we call it good EF. AU can be broadly considered the same, just named differently. Where is the similarity in wear? Mine has slight wear to the high points on both sides. The slabbed coin has slight relief to the flan.

Agree mainly about consistency, opportunities for buying mis-attributed coins, opportunities for maximising returns when selling certain top grades, and perhaps CGS taking a big gamble with their own grading scale ... This caught my eye on eBay today as an example of the ludicrous nomenclature and grading of some TPGs: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131092440983?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648 So this is in some way almost uncirculated (AU55) is it??!! In what universe???

Blimey, TPGC's what? Yes, what's happened Stuart? Or have you, like me, just finished reading all the posts in this thread?!

Staggering quality, jaggy, I bow down! Wonderful coin!That's a great piece of eye candy Jaggy, stunning!

Happy birthdays gents!

Awesome! I'm (almost) tempted to sell my entire collection to get one of those Definitely under-graded in my view!