Sword

I was about to say it might be just an honest mistake. Then I spotted this coin he is selling described as "Beautiful Toned Proof" Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder ...

I have brought a CGS slabbed 1937 proof crown from Lockdales using the CGS photos years ago. When I have got it, there's a carbon spot by the King's nose which is not visible in the CGS photo. The thought crossed my mind alright.

I think the term "carbon spot" probably refers to the appearance of the black spots and not to the chemical composition. i.e. carbon is black and so the spots looks like bits of carbon. Verdigris has never been called carbon spots as far as I am aware simply because it is green. "CGS should rigorously check the surfaces are speck free before sealing the slab. I think they should give a refund for this." Unfortunately, their quality control was rather poor from experience. I have used them to slab a few coins some years ago. One came back with a tiny bit of plastic on the top of the legend. Very irritating. Several slabs were scratched or had minor cracks. With regard to the1935 crown in question, it has been looked after properly for ca 70 years. Then a horrible verd spot suddenly started to develop after the CGS slabbing. I am sure the thought that CGS might have something to do with it has crossed VickySilver's mind.

I imagine the surface of a verd spot is more flaky in nature. The deposit of a tiny speck of the green stuff, can I suppose, provides a new site for another verd spot to form?

I don't know the details but agree with Diaconis that the term "carbon spots" is a misnomer. Both "carbon spots" and verdigris are substances formed in the corrosion processes of copper. Copper compounds such as basic copper chloride, copper carbonate, copper acetate etc are green and hydrated mixtures of such can be called verdigris. Other copper compounds such as sulfides are black. Silver sulfide is also black. Water is important in the corrosion of metals. One reason is that the formation of a copper compound from copper is an oxidation process and involves the loss of electrons. Water allows the movement of electrons. But I am just speaking from a general viewpoint and have never looked into this in detail.

Agreed. But the truth is that even a bronze or copper coin would not develop verd if it has been properly handled and stored. Your 1935 crown has been problem free for ca 70 year. Then presumably a bit of carelessness such as a tiny saliva spot could have started the process off.

Verdigris is damage which occurred after the minting process and so not can't be part of the minting process in my view.

I am sure the verd has developed after slabbing. CGS initially didn't grade coins even with a trace of verd. Then I think they have relaxed that rule for rare coins with very low grades like CGS4

One way of removing scratches from coin slabs is breaking the slab. (Yes, I anticipated that response already) But anyway, I have brought a retro watch (1950s design) recently and it has acrylic glass instead of the usual sapphire crystal glass. I brought some polywatch for two or three pounds so that I can polish out any scratches. (Very easy to use: you put a little of the paste on the watch glass and polish with a cotton wool pad. Repeat if necessary). I tried it on a CGS slab and it worked quite well. A fairly deep scratch mark has almost disappeared in the process. But I understand that NGC use a harder plastic and might not work as well on their slabs. I have heard that some people have even tried toothpaste to remove scratches.

The verd must have developed after the coin has been slabbed.

It's up to £1410 now. Six bidders so far. Five have 100% activity with her and made bids on 14 of her items. Three have feedbacks of 0, 0 and 1 and so all look like doggy bids. The Sixth bidder has a feedback of 201 but he has bidded on 195 items in the last 30 days. Doesn't look very promising either. So I don't think any one legit has fallen for it yet.

It is the same person that was trying to sell a replica 1888 crown. http://www.predecimal.com/forum/topic/2829-ebays-worst-offerings/?page=291&tab=comments#comment-159514 The locations of his items used to be China and Hong Kong. Now it is "multiple locations" in the UK. I don't believe the address he gave (for the very expensive jewelers Moussaieff) could possibly be his real address.

Looks like this could be the "interesting" item: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/V5-1847-MDCCCXLVIl-RARE-SOLID-SILVER-VICTORIA-GOTHIC-CROWN-UNDECIMO/123754724836?hash=item1cd05b3de4:g:2HIAAOSwzL1czC8J Will she be selling genuine 1933 pennies next I wonder?

Yes, "his" address "Moussaieff Hilton , 22 Park lane" rings a bell.

1 to 1000 would work too, as would 1 to 998, 997, 996, ..., 202 however.

The quadrum foam can stretch quite a bit and so can be used with older 50 pence and 20 pence coins with no problems. 20p has 21.40 mm diameter. Therefore use 21mm quadrum will ensure no movement. Older 50p has 30.0mm and so can use 30mm quadrum. Generally round down to the nearest mm to ensure no movement. For example I use 38mm quadrums for 38.6mm crowns. But 0.6mm stretch is more or less the limit. And yes, you should be able to use quadrums for virtually all British coins. Some sort of box is a good idea to store the quadrums. Intercept Q100 is an option. If you prefer to store your quadrums flat, then aluminium or wooden cases are available. https://www.coingallery.co.uk/s6-cargo-coin-case-with-6-quadrum-trays-3527-p.asp

Looks like all the bids so far are likely from shill bidders. The four bidders have made a total of 28 bids on her items. Each have 100% activity with her. But I think she will try and try again if she doesn't manage to sell the item this time.

She has ended the sale by saying there is "an error" in the listing :) But she has now put it on auction: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123750447136?_trksid=p2471758.m4704 The 3 bids so far could be shill bids are the bidders have 100% activity with the seller. If you google marlybob1, the predecimal site comes up as the fourth result on the first page and so people can see this discussion. This should help anyone thinking about bidding.

You might be interested in these: https://www.coingallery.co.uk/lighthouse-self-adhesive-coin-holders-2x2-flips-quantity-10-25-50-100-all-sizes-9151-p.asp Works out about 10p each. They come in boxes of 10, 25, 50 or 100. I used to use them before switching to quadrums. You can store them in boxes like these: https://www.coingallery.co.uk/box-for-100-coin-holders-blue-8505-p.asp You can find alternative boxes. Will1976 is right. Flexible plastic coin envelopes are designed for short term storage only (e.g. posting a coin) and can cause damage if stored for a long period of time.

2x2 self adhesive coin holders are airtight and cheap. Quadrums are good but bit more expensive. Both are good in reducing the chances of toning I think.

It's often not easy to tell if the loss of details is due to weak strike or wear. I would hold it against the light and see if there is loss of lustre or discolouration on the high points. If so, there is probably wear.

She has also recently brought an unknown item from this specialist of replica coins: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dirkin49/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from= I guess she will be offering another "interesting" item soon unfortunately.

I wonder if she would like to try out one of these when making the above statements.

I think it is almost certain that she never got any money for the February attempt as she has not received any feedback afterwards. Yes, it looks very likely that this is a second (and more convincing) attempt to tone the same coin.

Found the listing from the original seller. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1847-VICTORIA-GOTHIC-CROWN-CONTEMPORARY-SILVER-FORGERY-See-Description-/264080811375?nma=true&si=hX46vC%2BxoiDdDtNubzED6M7TcHs%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 It's the same coin I think. Looks like she has done some artificial toning. Before: After: the black spots below r and t of gratia and the spot on the right field are present.