Sword

Described as "1921 Maundy set, verdigris to one side of all coins, otherwise extremely fine." by auction house. This must be the worst case of verd on 0.5 silver coins I have ever seen. Somewhat made my stomach cringe just looking at the photos. Anyone care to bid?

I wonder when will the bids from n***y(162) and 1***z(1) kick in. They have 100% bid activities with her but do not appear to have brought anything.

Yes, a speck of "foreign" verd on its own might not be enough to cause problems. But verd, like other forms of corrosion does not develop evenly across the surface. Spots get bigger with time and would suggest that it is easier to form further verd on an existing spot rather than a clean surface. If a coin is stored in less than ideal conditions, it is not improbable that a verd speck could trigger off the process. These are all just speculations of course.

Told you so. Some people are so predictable.

I honestly don't know but can imagine that a speck of the green stuff can catalyse further verd development.

Yes, but you might also turn a shade green if your best coins get infected by those things. Looks like the verd is dropping off readily onto the background piece of paper.

No doubt. The estimate is £60 and there is no chance it will sell for that.

Indeed. You don't want them in your house for fear it might "infect" your other coins.

He probably came up with the £65 BIN by looking at the year of the coin. People like that are fairly harmless on a practical level. He hasn't ever sold a coin and probably never will because of his insane prices.

I was a little tempted by these cuff links which are quite tasteful but bit too pricey at £100. However, the photo of their models wearing their accessories put me right off. Come on, choose people somewhat younger than middle age to sell your wares! Let your younger customers retain some dignity!

It's blank (last photo on eBay). It's also very strange to have a hyphen between "Winston" and "Churchill". Let's just hope the thing wasn't made in the UK.

"and it remains one of the most beautiful and rarest coins in the world." Many collectors would consider that statement a misrepresentation. "Piedfort" commission 🙂

Still two more e-mail addresses above not yet removed.

She sure would :) . Queen Victoria herself was proclaimed as Empress of India only in 1876, a full decade later.

I find it almost impossible to believe he is honest. Just too many fake coins on his site at ridiculous prices. His 1866 King Edward VII Hong Kong One Dollar Silver Coin is particularly amusing. Asking price of £475.

The raised edge proof is also known as the pattern proof. I remember reading somewhere that only the incuse edge versions were considered to be legal tender.

I guess "barista" is somewhat pretentious. But then charging £3 or more for a cup of coffee is also a little pretentious and some places use the term to "justify" their prices. It's easy to see why coffee lovers willing to pay higher prices would object to under-trained people giving themselves that title.

Already sold out!

One thing this discussion highlights is that the predecimal crowns are more tasteful than the modern offerings. They at least don't need legends telling people "why" the coins were minted.

I am not certain if Ebay deserves any credit. The reason for the no sale might have something to do with all the bids looking suspiciously like shills.

What would be your interpretation then? I can't think of another meaning for "faulty striking" apart from "exceptionally weak strike for the series".

I would be very proud to own it! All six lions and the hair well struck and with really nice eye appeal.

I don’t think it matters very much as the grade alone is insufficient description of the coin. So I think GEF, no wear, weak strike means the same thing as UNC, weak strike. It might even be beneficial for a dealer to use the former as it gives an impression of a stricter standard. As has been pointed out previously, the Spink definition of “fine” is “a coin that exhibits considerable wear on the raised surfaces of the design, either through circulation, or damage perhaps due to faulty striking.” Hence, I assume that some would give a lower grade for a coin that is particularly weak strike. Another reason why I don’t think it matters is that most of the grading terms are, misnomers anyway. “Good” means the opposite of what it is reality. “Fine” isn’t fine. “Extremely” as in extremely fine is not extreme. The majority of coins described as “uncirculated” have probably been circulated for however brief periods of time. Even the term “mint state” doesn’t quite work as no one can be certain if the contact marks were in fact caused by circulation or not. TPG have no issues describing toned coins as “mint state” even though coins are of course not toned when there were just minted. In short the coin is the same regardless of the grade assigned by an individual. Personally, I think the phrases like “fully lustrous”, “particularly well struck”, “very few bagmarks”, “minor hairlines” etc are more helpful providing they are given in good faith.

That's super cool! It's easier to judge a coin when you can see it at different angles. It would be nice if they show you 360 degrees of the edge also.

I think it is a very presentable coin. If it were mine, I would ask myself the following questions when considering an upgrade: 1) How well does it sit with the rest of my collection? i.e. how does it compare to similar coins I have in term of grade and eye appeal. 2) If it sits well with other coins I have, then I would ask if I particularly like this coin type. If so, I am more likely to consider an upgrade. If not, then I probably won't, as even having a UNC example is not that satisfying in that case.