Sword

Exactly. There is a lot of wear on St George's chest too. I don't think I can bid with them again as they are unlikely to mention hairline, cleaning etc and these things are often not apparent from photos.

It's really great that you are working with the Poppy shop. I just had a look at your website, HC and to my pleasant surprise I think I know you rather well (unless I am mistaken). I don't want to give personal information on an open forum but will PM you.

I have decided to get a poppy lapel pin this year instead of wearing a paper one. (The paper version never survive long with me and I tend to be wearing just the stalk after half a day). The poppy shop has apparently been selling these rather special gold poppies since the summer http://www.poppyshop.org.uk/somme-1916-poppy-lapel-pin.html It's made from brass from shell fuses recovered from the Somme battlefields. The red enamel contains earth also from Somme. Very thoughtful. All proceeds go to the Royal British Legion. Luckily for me, mine arrived right on Remembrance Day. I think I will wear it for a week or two longer as it is discrete enough on the lapel. Then I will probably use it again in future years and just make a donation each time.

Apologies for reviving an old tread. When I first started coin collecting, I brought some really nice coins from W&W. However, they had nothing of interest for me for quite a few years now. I have just checked out their auction catalogue and was shocked by the quality of grading. This 1902 matt proof crown is graded as straight FDC! The marks on the horse's neck are frightful.

I do think that the quality of LCA's written descriptions have done downhill in the last couple of years or so. E.g. the "small rim nick by ANNO" of this coin looks like a rather big rim bruise to me.

That's possible. But I think it would be easier to fake hammered coins. The dies must be much easier to fake than milled dies due to the crude designs. Get totally worn pieces and then hammer out VF or EF examples. There is no need to even melt the original coins and so you don't have to worry about introducing new trace impurities etc.

The exact chemical composition (including the percentages of all the trace metals) of the planchet is very difficult to reproduce. I was on a course in the assay office in London and they told me that they can date metal objects by a goldsmith or silversmith by the percentages of trace elements. This can be used to check if a hallmark was faked.

It's certainly a big improvement!

It is inconceivable that any TPG would use a plastic that gives off acidic fumes. Otherwise the company will close in no time. This is from the PCGS website "Proprietary polymer formula with embedded PCGS identifiers: Made from a new blend of crystal-clear, scratch-resistant plastic that's tested to be 99.99% chemically-inert. The chemical formula contains PCGS-specific additives that can be detected using a special handheld device. These sturdier, tamper-evident holders have no edge seam, are virtually airtight and will provide even more protection against potential environmental damage to coins." Simply encapsulating a coin does not stop surface reactions already in progress though. On a different note, it highlights the obvious fact that the grade of a TPG doesn't correlate to eye appeal.

He might not even know what CGS70 means. He might just have googled "20p Coin No Date" and the words "CGS70" and "mule" just came up with it.

He also said he has a lot of "respect" for the Pope... Let's hope he doesn't develop a lot of "respect" for the UK.

Trump's sentence "Nobody has more respect for women than I do" after the scandal has broken out is just about the most arrogant thing I have heard from a politician.

Having read their website http://www.lcgrading.co.uk/ a bit more, I think it was just rather carelessly put together. Under the benefits of coin grading tab, they have forgotten about the change of name and call themselves CGS UK a few times. In FAQ, they mentioned that "LCGS has graded over 40,000 coins as at 2016". Not true unless they are admitting that LCGS is the same as CGS.

Another U-turn from London Coins. Check this out: http://www.lcgrading.co.uk/ Look at the FAQs: The annual fee for joining LCGS is £99. Looks like riff-raff are now welcome. You get a £50 voucher to spend in LCA auctions and another LCA voucher to spend on their coins on the LCA website providing the purchase is over £250. The second voucher is not useful to most people though. I would be interested to know if those people already paid their £99 fee will now get vouchers. No mention of the £499 upfront fee now. They are no longer calling themselves a TPG but is now saying LCGS " offers a third party grading system based on a benchmark coin grading set, and fixed parameters which the graders follow which remain unchanged over time". Personally, my confidence in CGS / LCGS have been badly shakened and I am unsure if I really want to use them again.

I believe it was a company address belonging to CGS. Can't remember the exact form but it was something like xxx@coingradingservice.co.xx

Bill was the chairman of the CGS forum meetings. These meetings were held on the same dates as the London Coins Auctions (in the same hotel but in a different room as the auction). Bill also had an official CGS e-mail address. However, he mentioned that he did not held any shares in CGS and was otherwise just a customer wishing to promote CGS.

Adjustment lines across the centre of coins are not that uncommon. A quick Google search shows up plenty of such examples. One is shown below. I assume the adjustments were made on the blank flans before the striking.

I don't believe it is deliberate graffiti either. If someone wants to scratch a coin with a sharp point, then it is likely that the lines would all join up.

If a Henry cleaner doesn't suck, then it sucks Might be someone should change the title from "helping hand" to "hand of death."

Let's change the subject and post a few nice coins. Unfortunately, I don't have anything remotely exciting left to post. Just a few very common coins.

I think an elevated reserve price is a lot more "honest" than an unjustifiably high postage charge. I am fine with some auction houses charging 20+ % commission. However, I feel cheated if someone were to charge £15+ for posting a coin.

A Jubilee crown I have for a while. (Brought raw and was graded CGS 75 later on).

Now the CGS photo which shows the patchy gold toning.