sound

Chris saw this in the telegraph the other day. This is really good. Regulated by the FCA so it's Kosher. Anything to crack the back of the ridiculous foreign exchange merchants. Now can they do something with my holiday money. Mark

Has anyone got a copy. If so could you please let me know the price of a GV 1918KN in UNC please? Mark

Ah Damian, that's why it's so good. As has been stated Token have it at £2000, Spink £1450. Think Token are a little high. This one deserves a premium with a reverse like that. Mark

Wrong Guys I'm a seller. Just put an outstanding coin up. Just trying to pitch it right Token was £2000 last year.. M

Yep, agree with my original thought, GEF to UNC. Nice coin, very rare in this grade. Will only become more expensive. EDWARD VII in high grade will only become more expensive. Don't sell it cheap. Mark

On that point anyone no of any other postal service that ships fully insured? Mark

Jack, Your coin is conservatively GEF or possibly UNC IMO. Good pics but the light makes it difficult in places on the obverse. I can see no wear on the paws or nose. DNW had a coin in 2011 that was graded GEF and went for £2000,00 they estimated £900-1200. Spink is probably undervaluing these, they do get a lot wrong. Bearing in mind that prices are clearly going up for top end coins, I don't think I would want less than £ 2500.00 for this possibly more. Peter's idea of a reserve is a good one. Mark

Funnily enough I said exactly the same to my financial adviser last year when discussing how to invest my pension lump sum. He asked me to rate myself on a scale from Low to High Risk strategy. I told him I was very Low Risk - all I wanted was "a return that does a little bit better than inflation". He then told me that such a strategy required a Medium Risk investment strategy as the very minimum!!!! Yep low risk means losing money against inflation. One could argue wreath crowns are low risk, they keep climbing every year.

Rob, There is a lot in your post that makes sense. The down side of globalisation is that 'things that are made' tend to get done where labour is cheapest. Increasingly GB has to become high tech or service oriented to survive. If we want to make things then we need some cheap labour to compete. Now where would that take us? LOL. Mark

I think the rising of interest rates may be some time off with deflationary forces at work. So called 'normal rate's will not return in a hurry. It could be argued we have returned to the normal non inflationary world that world was in up to the late 1960's. Interesting times. Mark

'However, let us also not forget that prices do go through peaks and troughs over periods of time. I would say that now is not the best time to buy, as we are due a slump in values, or possibly a stagnation such as we saw between the mid-80s and mid-90s' Think that is right, however the change has been significant. Prices reflect that, some levelling off is inevitable. Interesting that when stock prices plummeted in the 1997 drop, shortly 'some' real assets shot up including oil, grain commodities, coins and stamps. All things the emerging market money was chasing. What would it take to cause a 'significant' drop in coin prices? A flood of new stock coming onto the market, unlikely. A shortage of new money coming into the market, again unlikely at present with interest rates so low. Perhaps a levelling is what we will see. Are their any areas that have some catching up to do? Are some EF valuations undervalued agains uncirculated coins? Mark

Worth also considering globalisation and emerging markets. This has not just been a cyclical adjustment but a once in a generatation or an even longer adjustment. The effects are clearly structural. More money, probably more collectors as wealth increases have pushed up prices. Will this reverse? Probably not, of course there will be price adjustments, there always will be. However it's now a different playing field with money chasing quality from all over the world. The other thing to think about is that coins along with stamps, pens etc will not be around that much longer. This should support the market as the smart money joins in. So back to Rob's original question is the 'man in the street' better or worse off? From a collecting point of view it's getting more expensive and will continue to do so with high grade material, including common coins. For the investor? That's a different matter, or perhaps they are one and the same thing and many collectors just don't think of themselves in those terms. Mark

Johnshan, Peter's advice is good about not being in a hurry. I don't agree but some are placing a great deal of store on slabbed coins. If you want to resell in the future it could be important. Despite what some think grading wise sometimes CGS get it wrong. If they were to undergrade a coin that I was convinced deserved a higher grade I would remove it. On the other hand they sometimes over grade. What would I do then. LOL Mark

Oh go on lets have another slab debate. It must be all of a week since the last one. Mark

Really nice m8

I have tried to collate the sources of information for Victorian mintage numbers, ie annual reports, trial of the pyx records, parliamentary returns and other documentary mentions to see if it might be possible to derive any plausible estimates. After many hours of crunching the numbers, I concluded that it would not be possible without having access to the Royal Mint day books.Which you should be able to get under the freedom of information act? Mark

Don't think RM produce them. Token publishing do in their yearbooks as does ESC, soon to be replaced by Spink. Mark

LOL, I was going to ask you your camera settings.

Mynki, Could I suggest there is another way of doing this that will cost you less. If the first instance buy the the 'Standard Guide to Grading British Coins' by D. Francis. You can obtain a copy from this site. It dos'nt claim to be the last word but it is very good. Look at various dealer sites and check how they grade. There will be a disparity because after all grading is an opinion. If you determine which are the most conservative and consistent that will be a start. Why not ring one or two up and ask why they grade as they do. Most will be helpful, if not don't dont bother with them. I wouldn't be in a hurry to buy my first coin the longer you can put it off the better. I know that's hard. Also you can't really compare one with another. If you buy four George VI 2/6 as an example, as you have suggested. It won't help you with grading say George V. Probably best to determine what your budget is or likely to be, concentrate on a type or reign, learn to grade that before moving on. The slower you can take it, the less mistakes you will make, the more satisfying it wil become. My thoughts in no particular order. Kind regards Mark

Thanks. That would seem right grading wise to my eye. I have noticed a real discrepancy in grading these in the market. I know that can be said about a lot of coins but it seems particularly so. Paulus did you take the pic, it's a good one? Mark

Does anyone have a picture or know of one of a Spade Guinea in UNC or near so. Regards Mark

And depending on which one of their graders you get determines the grade your coin gets. I often agree with their grading and of course sometimes don't. That would probably be true of most of us. So why pay for the privilege. mark

Mynki, I suspect some but not many. It's the sort of coin that many will have one of but that's it. Others may disagree. Mark

RM should provide the CM figure if you phone them. If not just email them under the " freedom of information" act. If you use that as a header, that should do it. Mark

Can I have a copy of the obverse image to cut out and add to my collection/future-website of e1 busts?Yes of course. I will get it off to you. Mark