SEnumis

Happy new year to all

Used a bullion shop for sovereigns - nice ones (BU) when collecting in person, grotty ones (nEF) by post. But they are just bullion.

On the sausages and burgers check out the Meat Products Regulations and the Food Labelling regulations. The Food Labelling Regulations define meat when used as an ingredient in other foods as permitting only a certain proportion of fat and connective tissue depending on the species. Also pork is so cheap anyway that it is unlikely that ears and snouts are used (they usually become dog chews - watch out kosher dogs). The Meat Products Regulations require minimum meat contents for sausages (30%) with excess fat and connective tissue declared separately, Pork sausages (42% pork) and excess fat and connective tissue declared separately, and burgers (60%). Meat products are regulated in this way because people with low incomes eat them and the Government sets a minimum standard, which applies to UK produced food and food not produced in the EU. EU produced food must declare the percentage of meat but it is not limited (it's usually more than the minimum anyway).

If you wanted to do something like getting £300 of 100 people to buy the voin for Britain, it might be best to donate the £300 to the British Museum with the stipulation that it be used to buy the coin. As a private enterprise it gives everyone who is in it about 3.5 days with the coin a year. With postal delays make that one day a year. The British Museum can show it to people every day.

£2 to celebrate the Rugby World Cup I think it was held in one of the UK countries in 2008 and therefore commemorated. The precious metal versions have a hologram rugby ball. I love the Mary Rose coin too. Would like Santa to bring me it in silver...

Welcome to the forum - some very nice crowns there.

Perhaps a trade token? Or even a gaming counter?

There are no crocodiles in Dundee because the jam and jute industries are repellent to them.

I would consider anything before the current coinage to be old, such as the 5p that was the same size as a shilling and the 10p the same size as a two shilling piece. Maybe even the bronze penny and 2p and the cupro nickel 5p, or those with the Christopher Ironside designs. Of course if 'old' means 'meritorious' then the selection of items might be rather different. But for a classic definition of old I think my definition would hold up.

I think one of the Guernsey coins has tomatoes. Not sure if it's a 50p or 10p

From Wikipedia (with the usual caveats although the article seems fairly sensible. Hope this helps. "In 1920, the silver content of all British coins was reduced from 92.5% to 50%, with a portion of the remainder consisting of manganese, which caused the coins to tarnish to a very dark colour after they had been in circulation for a significant period. Silver was eliminated altogether in 1947, except for Maundy coinage, which returned to the pre-1920 92.5% silver composition."

17.3g seems quite light for a coin that should be 1oz of silver manganese. Also it does not look like silver, although that is hard to tell on a picture. Have you tested for silver content? Might be worth a try. The legend does not make sense - why put fid def and ind imp twice?

I have some coins 50p and £2 removed from change but these are only specimens in order to look at the designs until I can obtain the proof sets. I always try to buy the best coins I can afford and that means proof sets for decimal coins as these are the best although the BU sets are also very good, although there can be errors in these as the QC is not always good. Coins from circulation can be very bashed about. I agree with you about Darwin and the Chimp though. I picked that one up in change from the Wellcome Institute which I thought was quite appropriate.

To answer your question about darkening a coin there are a number of different treatments, although some are metal specific. I know that farthings were darkened to prevent confusion with sovereigns when sovs were still (almost) circulating currency. I do not have access to one of my dad's books (a schoolbook called 'metalworking) but this has details of how to colour metal using different treatments. I hope this is helpful.

2012 will attract a small premium but they are nice coins. Although as they are investments you will need to take into account if the small premium for 2012 will last over the life of the investment. But a sov from 1912 carries the same weight of gold as a sov from 2012. You pays your money and takes your choice - but you'll pay more for the 2012 one. I take it you are buying from a bullion dealer.

Happy Birthday Mrs P - enjoy Norfolk

It was actually a 1968 set - it contained the 1968 10p and 5p, and the three 1971 bronze coins 3 years before they became legal tender. It was having examples of the bronze that made having that set attractive to me as a schoolboy. But yes, there were a lot of them! Variety collectors might want to track down the two or three different 10p types in those sets. No, the 1970 is a proof set, there was no UNC set and it wasn't produced until after decimalisation. It was the only proof set of the second Gillick obverse type. And there's been a proof decimal set for every year since 1971. There's also been an UNC set every year since 1982 (produced to such a great finish that it makes the desirability of the proof sets less, somewhat, at least to me). There were absolutely loads of year sets produced for dealers on sale in the late 60s. These went back to 1960 or 1961 usually, before which it was harder to pick up UNC coins. Having said that, quite often the early 60s sets weren't strictly UNC. They were sold in custom made Sandhill cases, and look quite similar to the earlier decimal proof sets but without the Royal Mint badge. They weren't official. There was also an unofficial special 'First and Last' set which included 1967 coins, 1966 shillings, and the first decimals, taken from the blue wallets (I can't remember if the 1965 crown or 1969 50p were included). No, the 1965 set was simply a Sandhill year set produced for dealers. It was unofficial. Ah thanks for this. I wasn't sure if it was official or not

The official annual Royal Mint UNC sets began in the 80s although there was on in 1953 (and I think 1965). Other than that UNC sets are a decimal phenomenon. Still decimal coins have now been around longer than some people have been alive so I don't rule them out myself. And where else but the blue plastic wallet will I get an UNC 1968 10p and 5p now they cannot be potentially picked up every day in change?

Looking at my collection (firsts lasts and onlys and United Kingdom) I have a very soft spot for the 1935 Jubilee crown, with the little self portrait of Percy Metcalfe as St George. I like the avant garde (well for coinage anyway) deco design. The 2011 Mary Rose £2 is very beautiful and the Entente Cordiale commemorative £5 of 2004 is very clever. If you hold it with Marianne at the top and flip it over as you would a Frnch coin (medal orientation?) the queen's head is the right way up. If you have Britannia at the top and flip it over like a UK coin (coin orientation?) the queen's head is also the right way up. Entente Cordiale indeed! Some of the commemorative £5 are also beautiful so as to appeal to collectors but that's a whole different discussion.

On photography a tripod is your friend too. You only need to concentrate on holding one thing. I'll post a picture of a 1937 2/- piece taken using only a tripod and available light with a very cheap digicam.

There was that brief interregnum betwixt the reigns of GV and GVI, aka Walli's husband. Canna say they really reigned. Wasn't even coronated, in fact GVI was coronated when EVIII was supposed to have been. Hmm, if you only count a reign from the coronation, then Her Maj's Diamond Jubbly is not until NEXT year! And Edward VIII reigned - just look at the stamps

Nice coins Patrick. Victorian Shilling is a lovely coin in my view.

One thing there won't be is an interegnum. The Queen is dead.Long live the King.