Red Riley

My daughter got a Masters in politics from Sheffield and she found this kind of attitude prevailing as soon as she left uni. Basically to work in the political field (as a researcher or whatever) you effectively needed an Oxbridge degree - which ever party you wanted to work for, so she had to settle for a role in a political charity - a decent job but not exactly what she wanted. So, if your daughter gets a chance of a degree at Oxford, she should take it with both hands. Plus Tom, if I remember it is a reasonably short journey for you. With both kids at university in Yorkshire one after the other, I got soooooo sick of the M1!

In the meantime they've wrecked a perfectly good 19-0 something. Anyway, welcome to the forum Debbie. We don't bite, except azda but then he's Scottish so we let him off...

There is; http://www.forgerynetwork.com/Default.aspx . I have to say I find it rather a muddle and not that user-friendly. Perhaps I'm just not doing it right!

If the Chinese tightened their ship and produced products equal to the standards required we would have more of a problem.As it is we still have choices and I will go for UK products whenever possible. I was aghast when I found out Dr Marten boots/shoes were now made in China.A bit of searching and a company from Northampton (Solovair) makes the same boot (without the DM logo).They used to make the soles for the UK D.M's. My wife has got me a pair for Xmas....as I relive my youth My eldest daughter is still after a coloured pair of DM's though...listen Solovair...with proper marketing and advertising you could take this market. Oh dear, I can see it now, DMs, Levi Sta-prest, Ben Sherman shirt, skinhead haircut - yeuk!

Well I never!

The last digit being misplaced is not that unusual with early bronze pennies, here is an 1860 beaded where the 0 seems to be headed for Australia!

Unfortunately the on I want (The Hackney Gazette) isn't on there. My GG grandfather was dragged out of the River Lea in 1868 - coroner's verdict 'suicide in unsound mind'. Just wanted to see if there was any report on it, but looks like I'll have to wait to see if it's there.

Is there a link handy? This link seems to be duplicated elsewhere, with pictures.

Tiberius apparently. Spent his entire life in an orgy of drunkenness and fornication, dying of natural causes in 37 AD. I feel so sorry for him...

F66 with verdigris and Duraglit. Probably the second most common 1874 penny. Value is probably very little.

Is there a link handy?

I would have thought so. Weight is usually a good guide to whether a coin is 'dodgy' or not but as forgers become more sophisticated the weights will approach the correct values, so not a 100% guarantee but a reasonable guide.

I have often bought from outside the EU but have yet to be charged duty on anything. One tip I have picked up on is to get the sender to obfuscate a little, i.e. don't actually tell a lie but confuse them a bit, therefore 'coin' becomes 'numismatic item' which is perfectly true but might baffle the average customs official. Admittedly the main benefit is to prevent theft but also very handy when sending to other countries (e.g. Canada) with a rather more ferocious customs regime.

Good to see you here again. Hope all goes well from hereon in.

The missing stops can often be seen under a microscope. Going a bit far in my opinion, but each to their own.

You can understand why governments do it. They are under pressure to provide better services more efficiently, but when they say (OK, they don't but they should do) 'right that'll be 2p on the basic rate of income tax', there are howls of protest. We get the governments we deserve, it is us the stupid electorate who always wilfully fail to understand that you can't have your cake and eat it.

To be honest neither of those coins seem to be worth anything although the shillings have c. £6 worth of silver between them. My advice for this sort of accumulation is always the same, find a kid who wants to start a collection (or persuade them that they do) and donate the whole lot to them. Trying to sell the stuff is a labour of love for the shirt buttons you'll make on the deal. Far better to get an enthusiastic child to take them off your hands, and they'll get hours of pleasure out of them.

We abandoned silver because the cost of the war meant that we could no longer afford it, the Germans had Marshall aid and arguably the French spent less on the war because they weren't in it long enough! And actually Winston Churchill's attempt to get us back onto the gold standard in the 1920s itself nearly bankrupted the country... I would contend that at base, the Euro is/was a good idea (did you ever go to that bit of Europe where France runs into Belgium which runs into Luxembourg, Germany and Holland - all within 20 miles, separate currencies there must have been a nightmare!) but without some kind of political and fiscal union it just isn't going to work and we're copping the fallout from this right now. To make matters worse the Greeks lied to get into the Euro and the Italians have never had the political will to sort out the corruption and abuses which go on within their borders (incidentally they are the 3rd largest economy not the 3rd strongest). This might at least force them to grasp the nettle but I wouldn't bank on it. I can't say I necessarily agree with your final point, although Pakistan is perhaps not the best example. Developing nations are humungously inefficient and massively corrupt but to withdraw development aid would not simply lead to hardship but potentially to actual starvation, so however inefficient no developed nation wants to be accused of causing a famine. Interesting times...

Hi, it was more of a discussion on the grading of hammered coins It did get to the point of seriously thinking about it but it really would be a lot of work and isn't really my area. Just as a suggestion, why don't those of us who have hammered coins in our stock/collections post images of them and get them graded by the experts (if they are willing - you know who you are!). The results can then be stored in a separate area of the forum for future reference. I have to say that grading hammered coins is an area where I, and I suspect many others, struggle.

Michael Gouby is only just down the road in Notting Hill Gate.

Great coin! I have to ask the grading company for permission to use that picture then. Hi ChKy, welcome to the forum. If that's a problem I sold an NEF one recently and still have the picture available if you need it.

Picture pretty blurred but probably fine-ish. A picture of the other side would help but pretty much anything 1887 and silver is worth shirt buttons in comparison with other dates. A glut of higher grade coins put away by the general public to commemorate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee means that there is virtually no demand for lower grade coins. Would be a shame to scrap it though. Actually £3 is less than bullion, but I wouldn't stretch it to much more than 4.

I'm sure that this is an interesting area and we'll help where we can, but it is rather like asking a Ford main dealer's opinion on your Dinky car.

I absolutely agree with you. It's definitely undergraded. This seems to be the policy of London Coins generally. It is all very well grading this harshly but it leaves huge chasms in the system and some grades become impossibly wide. On the plus side, I suppose it is better than overgrading...