Paulus

I really hate it when there is competition from Forum members for quality eBay items I have been watching, this one's mine!

A £2 collection is a great way to start, affordable and 30+ different commemarative coins so far, beware of the postage if buying on eBay

I've noticed this myself Nick. My normal pictures are bigger than ebay enlarged ones which to me is quite strange.......I've enlarged my own pictures on ebay only to find they are smaller than the ones i've uploaded or are on the main auction picture. I completely sympathise with eBay because their storage requirements must be gargantuan, but for me - if the button doesn't result in an enlarged image then don't call it 'enlarge'. Here, here! A huge bugbear for me too! Does anyone know how to get the eBay 'enlarge' feature to work? I imagine it's an extra cost somewhere ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230855983448;jsessionid=FABC6E713C7654FA60F907E3DE95042C?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_from%3DR40%26_nkw%3D230855983448%26_rdc%3D1

Give or take a thousand years or so!

I also like the 2x2 Lighthouse self-adhesive coin holders, I store them in Lighthouse albums. The one thing I don't like is that you can't read the edge legends ...

I also like the 2x2 Lighthouse self-adhesive coin holders, I store them in Lighthouse albums. The one thing I don't like is that you can't read the edge legends ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300785097856;jsessionid=FC9E7E191ABE14B1B1FF86357C0F40E6?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_from%3DR40%26_nkw%3D300785097856%26_rdc%3D1

Hi Penguin, welcome to the forum! With reference to your original question, I never upload pics here, rather I link to my Photobucket pics, you can do the same with all similar online photo sites, many of which are free I believe ... Do you specialise in any particular area? And sorry to be ignorant but what or who was HB?? I don't wish to confirm Dave's impression of my antiquity but I think HB refers to a pencil - in other words Penguin is admitting to being someone unused to "this 'ere modern technology" (my apologies if I've read it wrong, Penguin!) Possibly, but I also wondered if he/she meant to type 'HD' for High Definition!

Hi Penguin, welcome to the forum! With reference to your original question, I never upload pics here, rather I link to my Photobucket pics, you can do the same with all similar online photo sites, many of which are free I believe ... Do you specialise in any particular area? And sorry to be ignorant but what or who was HB??

Welcome to the forum, those are fantastic examples!

It would make sense to collect the scarcer dates/types at the moment and wait for the bullion price to recede before picking up the common ones. They are never going to be in short supply unless there is a government inspired and legally backed impounding and melting of private gold. Prices being what they are at the moment you are only paying a few times bullion for what are quite scarce coins in some instances. A mintage of a couple tens of thousands only costs 3 or 4 times that of one which has a mintage of millions. It isn't until you get to the quantities available of the 1920S and 1819 that collector demand way outstrips supply. Even the Ansell sovereigns are not rare in low grade, though go for silly prices. I am finding this thread very interesting and would like to make some points and add some questions for our undoubted experts! I am not remotely worried about the CGT on coins as I don't expect ever to make over £10,000 profit on a single coin ... if I ever did I would be delighted and I am sure would get away with not declaring it! - a nice problem to have! I have not yet regarded coins as an investment and have been careful to distinguish collecting/the hobby decisions from investment decisions, as all the best advice would recommend I would seriously consider investing in gold and silver coins if and when the price of such precious metals fell back to their pre 2009 prices, as I would confidently expect to make a good (tax-free) return on them in the medium to long term, expecting them to occasionally return to current levels sometime in the next 10 years, and if not, to certainly beat other (taxable) investment options My question is - if you invest in gold and/or silver coins that are priced at/worth say 1.5-2X bullion value (sovereigns are a prime example), how much are they affected by fluctuations in the bullion price? For example, buy a sovereign for £500/$800 now, assuming that is the going rate for that date/rarity/condition, and the bullion price of gold halves to $860, what might be the effect on the value of that coin? Is there an inherent content value built in for coins that have significant precious metal content, but are collectable beyond their metal content? I hope the question makes sense, it is the same question for pre 1947 silver!

I don't suppose the disposal of a valuable coin collection in the latter years would be tax-free, would it? It would be if you don't tell 'em! Does anyone know the CGT position? Are gold coins exempt and others not?

I am wondering if any of the brilliant members of this forum know of an English milled silver piece with elephant or elephant and castle below bust for sale - premium price paid for a VF+ item? I am sure I will be corrected if I am wrong but I believe these might have been minted in crowns and/or half crowns in Charles II, James II, William & Mary, William III, Anne, and George I? Thanks for any help! Paul

I'm sure I read somewhere that it was resolved and he was not out of pocket? Lets ask the Horses Mouth................Paul, what happened with that piece of shite you bought? Yes it was resolved eventually, and I was fully refunded ... got it ex Downies, I happened to be in Melbourne in February and took the coin to them where they (the top coin auctioneer) gave it a clean bill of health - mainly on the basis that it was a lower grade than the fakes they had seen and their seller was reputable. Then I took some advice on here (yours I think Dave, thanks), and with Rob et al repeatly casting (!) doubt on it I sent it to be graded/authenticated by CGS. It came back as dodgy and on the strength of that I got my refund, so CGS worked for me on that occasion. I did post at that time, but thanks again to everyone who advised me!

Hilariously the seller has named himself The 'Ring' Master!!

Watching that, thanks!

Go Debbie

I note that he is careful not to proffer a genuine numismatic grade for this one (which should of course read 'a very common coin in Fine'), unlike many of his other (also over-graded) offerings, only 'very high', therefore far more subjective ... I have noted in the past that he seems to combine clever photography, tilted angles, and sales patter, to achieve a top price, caveat emptor indeed

...and the fact that it has the large head obverse that didn't appear until 1889. I suspect that Dave has that clincher up his sleeve!

Ah, yes, Lucido, seems to manage to polish his turds very well and get a good price!

Its maybe a sign of the times that good coins are harder to come by.........I'm not a huge fan of CC as i bought about 4 and sent 1 back from the 4........They were obviously at one time a bigger dealer than they are now. Poor grading will always come back to haunt anyone, good grading will only enhance a reputation and repeat business Couldn't agree more Dave, my favourite dealers for accurate grading are our very own Rob and Michael Gouby, I have had issues with many well known others! Problem being Paul, that good coins will cost top end and perhaps where copper123 is not prepared to go, you have to decide eventually. Mr Gouby has an 1875H penny which i have an issue with his grading on, I had a much better one but he's grading his as EF, in my mind it's no chance in hell as being EF. His price 750 quid, i sold mine to a forum member for 400 I have been pleased so far with my first few purchases from Michael, most of which I saw 'in the flesh' at his shop ... I think you are a strict grader which is a good thing, but I have yet to buy from you! Here is my first purchase from Michael which perhaps colours my judgement!: Described as nVF and £210, which I thought was an extremely good buy ... other members' opinions may differ! I did visit him recently and he was upping his prices, stating that he could no longer buy the same coins in the same grades for what he was selling them for. And I have yet to/may not ever get into copper/bronze, which is undoubtedly a different area of expertise! Only going by personal experience of course, have been happy with John Newman lately (as I read so have others), while I feel Colin Cooke, Bucks Coins and INGRAM offerings are consistently over-graded and/or overpriced ... also noting that more and more 'bricks and mortar' / traditional dealers are listing on the Bay!

Its maybe a sign of the times that good coins are harder to come by.........I'm not a huge fan of CC as i bought about 4 and sent 1 back from the 4........They were obviously at one time a bigger dealer than they are now. Poor grading will always come back to haunt anyone, good grading will only enhance a reputation and repeat business Couldn't agree more Dave, my favourite dealers for accurate grading are our very own Rob and Michael Gouby, I have had issues with many well known others!

Next one is 14th October

near EF on the obverse and EF on the reverse in my inexpert opinion