Sword

Not only is the design beautiful, each coin was struck multiple times and so all the details are sharp. Many examples have no contact marks or tiny rim nicks at all as they were put aside and never entered circulation; the odd hairline or slight wear due to handling and storage in the last 200 years. I can't think of another currency silver issue minted to such high standard.

I wonder if this mean that Hawking is not going to be on the back of the new £50 note?

CGS photos of my crown where the hairline is not visible.

Yes, that's a shame. And there is also the ding above eye and mark on the nose. My type example has a hairline too which is much more obvious in the photo than in real life. Interestingly, the second one in the date is missing the bottom right serif in both mine and the colin cooke coin.

Generally speaking, I think past cleaning is always a possibility if you have a bright coin with hairlines. But personally, I think it is more important to ask yourself how you feel about the defects of a coin (such as hairlines, surface marks, carbon spots, wear, non matching observe and reverse toning etc) than how they were caused. Obviously, absence of defects would mean a higher asking price.

Might be that's what we should do with high quality forgeries. Make them into watch faces!

God no! Drilling a hole in a nice Elizabeth I shilling would be a terrible crime. (And I have not yet brought a nice example)

Very nice. Although I think it is something that would appeal to a gentleman rather to a lady. This is the example I seen at the British Museum. Looks fantastic in real life.

I like it. Looks like he has gold plated the coin which is a very good idea.

Perhaps a significant percentage of the 52% have already changed their mind? If not, then Leave will win again and leave we must (with or without a deal). A Leave win will at least ensure Brexit without opposition from the Remainers. A victory for Remain in the 2nd referendum will of course result in bitterness and turbulence for years. But at least this painful process can come to an end for now.

I heard on the radio this morning that the amendment would "pave the way" for a bill if it pass. However, Labour has just announced that it is prepared to back a new Brexit referendum. I think it is looking likely now that Cooper / Letwin vote will pass and a second referendum will happen. Personally, I think this is the least bad of all the options. Labour has also missed a trick I think. If they were prepared to back a new referendum before the no confidence vote, then May might have been toppled. A Corbyn led Labour government is .... 😱 😢😭💀

I am not totally clear with the of Cooper/Letwin vote. If it is just an amendment, then isn't it true that it will not be legally binding even if it gets voted through? Or are they trying to get it through as a bill so that it will eventually become legislation?

"MPs to have final vote by 12 March, says May". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47348610 Truly frightful! And if May is defeated, there will be just 2 weeks to sort out a plan! Then I guess no deal or 2nd referendum will be the most probable outcomes. Hardly any point in an extension unless one can put forward a good reason why the extra time would make any difference.

I too lost the use of my dvd drive on my old laptop after an upgrade. My current laptop doesn't have a dvd drive.

Looks OK to me. Carbon spots are less distracting on the reverse and they are not in focal areas (except the single spot on Britannia's hand). And a coin always looks better when it didn't cost very much :)

High grade LCA's choice English coins for direct sale is almost invariably quite / very expensive.

It's working again. I think there were just updating the site.

They should do the honorable (but less profitable) thing of declaring such objects as medals rather than coins.

That's crossed my mind too. Could be due to the help of a Royal Mint employee? Might be it is worth reporting to the RM and see how they respond?

I understand why people might like to collect decimal coins. Indeed, I might buy a silver set of the current circulating coins at some point. I guess I just don't accept a piece of metal with a painted Gruffalo as a "coin". If the Royal mint were to produce some porcelain discs with the Gruffalo painted on one side would that also be accepted as a "coin" by some?

Who would actually want such a thing. A child would surely prefer a soft toy Gruffalo. (I brought one for my nephew when we went to see the Gruffalo show in a theater). A teenager would want the £65 (or even £30) than such an object. I would not comment on any grown-ups buying for themselves ...

Stay around. It's very possible to have a hobby in interesting and rare coins without physically owning them.

"I want a million for a house". Then it was "I want 180K for a chip shop". And now a starting price of £5 with no mention of house or shop. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ONE-OF-A-KIND-MAJOR-ROYAL-MINT-DIE-SHARD-STRIKE-ERROR-2017-12-SIDED-1-COIN/123657536635?hash=item1cca90447b:g:kxAAAOSw11Bb3aql:rk:32:pf:0

I am sure you are right with regard to the more scratch resistant plastic. However, this is not mentioned on the Gold Shield site. https://www.pcgs.com/goldshield From what I can see, the Gold Shield Slab looks very similar to other PCGS slabs ...

One idea is to have tamper proof edging which holds the two pieces of glass together and protect the slab from drops. The two pieces of glass separates when the edging is removed.