Sword

I don't think that's a fantasy piece but is the official Royal Mint proposed design.

From memory, I think Paulus was shown their grading process once and said CGS didn't wear gloves either. Personally, I don't think they show enough care and some of my CGS slabs have foreign objects inside.

2 months is not a long time to wait for a decent piece of handmade furniture. LCGS can take more than 3 months to grade a coin... 🙂

I do like the thickness of the wooden frame. Quality.

"I was looking for this coin for about 3 years and i think this is the best example that I found." You just got to laugh.

Great. I will need to stock up on a sufficient quantity of wine then.

Just arrogance. The PCGS grading video also shows coins being handled without gloves etc. If you want your coin graded, then it is either PCGS or NGC and you don't have much of a third choice.

Nice find. I wonder if there are hallmarks on it.

Problem is that "good" and "bad" are just subjective. May is still insisting that she has got a "good deal" for the UK. She even insisted that there was "strength and stability" after she lost her majority. Of course the Leave Manifesto didn't mention the possibility that we might find ourselves worse off after leaving. It is the obvious risk for voting Leave. In the same way, the Remain Manifesto never mentioned that we would never find out what new opportunities are possible if we stayed. Corbyn is still behind in the polls. At least that's still something to be thankful for.

There were three possibilities from a simplistic viewpoint: 1) Remain and keep status quo 2) Leave (with no deal if necessary) for better or worse 3) Leave, in the believe that UK will be better off with new deals Parliament has voted against no deal. To be fair to to them, opinion polls indicate that the majority of population don't want no deal either. So realistically, "no deal" will probably now need to win a second referendum if it is going to happen. Category 2 Leavers (quite understandably won't like this one bit and feel cheated) but this look like the reality now. Not many believe UK will be better off with leaving with May's deal. Yes, one can say that she negotiated badly, was incompetent etc etc but this doesn't change the fact that EU is not going to give us a better deal now or in two years time. It is very possible that a percentage of Leave voters in category 3 don't want Brexit if it means May's deal. And if we were to give up Brexit, many of the Leavers will be understanding very upset and there will be political and social chaos for years to come. Hence the mess we are in. The government and parliament are in a no-win situation and this will drag on. Hence, however unpalatable a second referendum is in principle, it is a way out of this deadlock and give some "sort" of legitimacy to the final decision made.

March LCA catalogue now online if anyone is interested,

Hypocrisy? Brexit Secretary tried hard to persuade MPs all day to vote for a Brexit extension and then voted against it himself... Labour claiming that they wanted to pursue a second referendum and then failed to vote for it ... Prime minister said it is wrong to ask the population twice with regard to Brexit but is planning to put "her deal" before the Commons for the third and possibly fourth time hoping to get the result she wanted ...

Hopefully not in a three coin set with the Gruffalo and the Snowman.

The information and design have only been officially released by the Royal Mint today and incredibly, the limited editions of silver, silver piedfort, and the gold versions have already been fully reserved and no longer available! BU £10 awaiting stock Silver proof £55 limited edition of 5500 Silver piedfort £95 limited edition of 2500 Gold£795 limited edition of 400

From NGC's website: "Deterioration of Certain Coins. The NGC Guarantee does not apply to certain Coins where the appearance of the Coin changes or deteriorates over time and such change or deterioration is responsible for any discrepancy between the assigned grade and the Coin’s actual grade. NGC shall make the sole reasonable determination as to whether this deterioration has occurred. The following specific parameters apply: In certain Coins, natural environmental deterioration may cause undesired features to appear, such as (but not limited to) spotting, hazing, PVC and corrosion. Spots, for example, can occur on modern silver Coins as a result of the minting process or other natural conditions over which NGC has no control. Therefore, the NGC Guarantee does not apply to Coins exhibiting any of these issues. Coins made of copper, bronze and brass or are copper-plated can change over time. Accordingly, with regard to copper, bronze, brass or copper-plated Coins graded by NGC, the grade portion of the NGC Guarantee will no longer apply after the 10-year anniversary of their date of encapsulation by NGC. The expiration date of the grade portion of the NGC Guarantee can be found by entering the Coin’s certification number in the Verify NGC Certification section of the NGC website or by contacting NGC Customer Service." Hence NGC is saying that they are not responsible for problems such as spots, hazing etc appearing after encapsulation. And for copper, bronze or brass coins, the grades expire after 10 years anyway. 😟

I think they are saying that they do not take any responsibility for any problem which become apparent after a coin has been slabbed. They are saying that a slabbed coin might change due to the environment which it is stored without admitting the obvious that there might be potentially harmful chemicals on the surface prior to slabbing.

This is literally true as meat is sometimes packed in an atmosphere of argon (or the less effective nitrogen). Yet, TPGs are not doing that yet as far as I am aware.

I once made the mistake of buying a 1937 proof crown based on the CGS photos as the auction house photo was very poor. There was a carbon spot next to the nose of the king which was not present when the CGS photo was taken. It wasn't an expensive coin of course and so not much damage done. But to be fair to TPGs, I still think the chances of a coin deteriorating inside a slab is somewhat less than a coin outside a slab, at least for the less advanced collectors (i.e. those of us not bothering with humidity (thanks Stuart) control etc).

It is your loss if your slabbed coin has deteriorated inside its holder. With regard to the question "Does that mean the coin is still the grade assigned to it or not?" Not to someone sensible and you won't expect to get the same grade if you get it regraded. (Then again this can happen even if there is no change to the coin) One must assume that the slabs are not air tight. From PCGS website: "Coins exhibiting environmental deterioration. The PCGS Guarantee does not apply to coins exhibiting environmental deterioration subsequent to PCGS grading and encapsulation. This deterioration may include, but is not limited to, spotting, hazing, PVC contamination, changes in color, and corrosion. IMPORTANT: Because the color and surfaces of copper coins can change due to environmental factors, including weather and improper storage, PCGS does not guarantee against changes in the color of copper coins, or against copper spotting subsequent to grading and encapsulation by PCGS." If holders are airtight, then you don't need to worry about humidity of the surrounding air.

Yes!

Such wonderful sarcasm. :-)

I do rather like the Yale reverse but would just prefer if the creature has not caught measles. Seriously, does anyone know the significance of the spots? Images of the Yale don't always have spots unless it is used in heraldry and I think fur looks better than spots.

I don't think it is about luring collectors into the fold but just desperate attempts to make some quick money by sponging off any popular character / event. Putting the Gruffalo on the back of a 50p was just wrong. It is simply giving Magic Light Pictures free advertisement in the hope of making some money by using their image. The Gruffalo is not any more deserving than characters in Harry Potter or James Bond movies or a pot of Colman's mustard or a Pukka Pie.

SH would probably have found it funny. But imagine the Brexit coin designs after that. :-)

A portrait of SH in his trademark wheel chair would indeed be a more powerful image than a stylised representation of a black hole in my view