scottishmoney

Sure have to love Scottish denominations ie 40d. Largely a result of debasing the coinage and then revaluing it. England was fortunate that debasement only happened during the reign of Henry VIII - and the crown went back on the sterling standard early in the reign of Edward VI. In Scotland debasements started late in the 14th century and continued right up until the reign of Charles I when the currency was brought back to a fixed standard of 12:1 or briefly 13:1 during the late 17th century.

Just a note on contemporary counterfeits - they were made to circulate and not fool future collectors - as noted above the penalties were stiff if the forgers were caught. Any counterfeits found in circulation by the authorities would have been destroyed - as a result forgeries are often quite a bit scarcer than the authentic coins. During Queen Mary of Scotland's reign French troops were billeted in Edinburgh - it is believed they were the guilty parties forging low value 2d coins ie bodles with bronze instead of billon as the authentic coins. The forged coins are quite scarce but have a history and are worth more than the reasonably common authentic bodles.

They both look like the real things are supposed to - the writing on the edge is the lettered edge that was done when the coin was struck in a lettered collar. It was quite an innovation for the 17th century and was obviously used on higher denomination coins as a safeguard against clipping and counterfeiting. Unfortunately I don't have my 1676 crown imaged - but it circulated a long time - deep into the 18th century as it is also "loved"

The one on the left, likely a half-groat, circulated for a very long time to get to that state. And the earliest monarch it could be would be EIII as half groats were not minted before his reign.

Not oft are medieval mints still around that minted coins during the hammered era - here is an example of an Irish penny from King Edward I that was minted in Reginalds Tower in Waterford Ireland. Reginalds Tower Waterford

Groats were a very late 13th and mostly mid 14th century thing. They were released in small numbers during the reign of Edward I, but were minted in much larger numbers during the reign of Edward III

A whole other gripe with Spink is the lumping of lots together - I can understand that with lower priced items - but pricier items that should stand alone in a lot are getting lumped in with lower priced items. I've occasioned decent pricier lots that got lumped with dribble that I didn't want and it stopped me from bidding because I don't want to deal with detritus.

I'd be a bit more than chaffed if it was my consignment and they neglected to fulfill their obligation to sell at the best possible price with decent images.

What I have found with "Image Pending" is that the more likely is they will never put an image up at all.

True that may well be that the RM called in as much as possible, but I still hae £90 in £SD from fairlings to crowns

Trailer Trash for Trump! But then you have left fielders like Hillary secretly meeting with Wall St. Politics is very much akin to the oldest profession, prostitution.

I have seen Tesla live a couple of times, yes they are a great band.

I'd go for investigating both Trump and Clinton. They are both crooks. No matter who wins, America will lose.

Def Leppard is 1980s, but I like Sabbath, DP and the Zep - even though they are well before my time.

Having lived for awhile in Ukraine, I can tell you that this election reminds me so much of a post Soviet style election with both candidates being corrupt as one another. Yanukovych was a career thug with an actual burglary conviction in 1967( so many first floor apts in Ukraine have bars on the windows because of potential break ins) Tymoshenko was and is known as the "Gas Queen" for running the gas company and signing ruinous deals with Russia. Where does this play now? Well Trump's advisor Paul Manafort was paid significant sums by Yanukovych during the election in 2010, came back to haunt the old boy in August and Trump dumped him. Trump is very favourable to Russia and Putin, wants to recognize Russian annexation of Crimea etc. And when Yanukovych was elected(?) in 2010 he jailed his opponent, Tymoshenko, who was only released in 2014 when the government fell. And now Trump speaks of jailing Clinton. History will repeat itself.