Red Riley

It would almost certainly have been produced that way, so any marks on the original coin (and there is probably only one in the hands of Chinese forgers) would appear on all the coins. I kept this link but have never actually used it; http://www.forgerynetwork.com/Default.aspx. It may be of some use.

Which makes him sick...

I think you will also find that there is no concensus on bad/worst years! Personally, I'm not convinced that the Heaton and King's Norton pennies were much, if any, worse than those produced by the Royal Mint during the period 1915-20. Quite the worst obverse strike I have ever seen was on a 1918 Royal Mint penny which had virtually no detail whatever but was still a strong enough strike to rob some metal from the reverse. I can really only speak from the point of view of pennies, but I believe halfpennies were affected too and no doubt somebody else can tell you about farthings. The last incarnation of the bun penny obverse (1881-94) was struck in very low relief and can appear very weak towards the end of a die's life It is also my experience that silver produced during the First World War can be quite weak, especially round the beading but I freely admit that not everyone agrees with me. Interesting topic, thanks for posting it.

My family variation on that was 'enough blue to make a sailor a pair of trousers'.

Which, in itself, dates you.

I'm 12! Oh, all right I'm 56

A couple of days ago I removed the 'under construction' from the website and it's all systems go from now on. This has really taken forever and I've still got a lot of work to do to optimise the ability of search engines to pick up the site. Incidentally, for penny collectors, I did eventually decide to put my entire collection up for sale, so there's a hell of a lot of stuff on there - not quite a second James Workman, but still worth a look. A couple of questions that I hope somebody can answer; 1) How do I put a permanent link to my website on the bottom of every posting I make? 2) I had hoped to take a regular stall at the Midland Coin Fair. I understand that there might be a waiting list, but tracking down anybody in control of this operation is proving a nightmare! I did eventually find what seemed like a link, but my e-mail elicited no reply whatever. Does anybody know? In my own interest, I will post this as a separate item elsewhere in the forum. Personally, I don't like the idea of using the forum for anything other than the most subtle of free advertising, so I promise I won't make your lives a misery on that score but I think I've earned one free plug! Finally, as I mentioned when I started this link, I am quite happy to give a discount to regular forum posters, but as this will depend on how much I paid for each coin, it would be best if you contacted me first to see what is available. The criterion for 'regular poster' that I am using, is nothing more sophisticated than 'having read this particular post'! Derek/Red Riley/Penny Crown Coins The link is; http://www.pennycrowncoins.co.uk/

That would match my experience. In comfortably over a 1000 trades, both in and out, I have had an India General Service Medal basically stolen on it's way to the isle of wight, a package from Oz opened and some of the contents removed, and a coin from san fransisco that never showed. Apart from that, I've sent bayonets to Queensland that turned up in 4 days, it's pretty good really IME. One ebay win sticks in my mind, I bought a Krugerrand on ebay and the clown posted it in one of those A4 soft plastic envelopes you can get at the post office for special delivery. No packaging, nothing, just a Kruger basically in klingfilm. I got it though. This is the first time I have had a problem with coins but a few years back on one day, I ordered 5 CDs from 5 different locations in the UK and all of them failed to arrive. Suggest the postman was probably a star seller (or whatever) on e-bay... Present postman though seems quite a decent guy.

Posted on 1 November and left this country the following day. The guy I sold it to tells me that this is the third item posted from the UK about that time which has failed to arrive in Oz.

Thanks for the warning. Already hit my first snag, coin I sent to Australia has failed to arrive. Was on international signed for, so fully insured, but a right hassle that I could definitely do without.

...and some proofs can be very badly made, especially the more recent ones.

Which, in all honesty, is why I wrote it. I had had enough of seeing coins on e-bay being exaggerated by as much as two grades. Experienced collectors could make their own way through this minefield but the less experienced and particularly kids were in danger of being well and truly ripped off. Sorry if that sounds a bit sanctimonious but it did provide me with my motivation to keep going.

I think you've got hold of the major issue, that from the point of view of getting the best investment return, you should really go for quality over quantity. A few other points I should add; 1) Avoid buying coins with any significant shortcomings such as edge damage or coins that have previously been cleaned (you should find some threads on here to help you spot coins which have been subject to unnatural processes). 2) Try to avoid the first and last of any series, as these are inevitably the most common On the other hand you should be able to get these at a significant discount to the list price. 3) Any price guide is just that, a guide, and the entries should not be taken as gospel. I wish you the best of luck and remember that the bottom line is; 'coin collecting should be fun'.

No, O'Riley. Sorry couldn't resist... Welcome to our humble abode Rob and thanks for the kind words.

Plastic wallets are fine for short term storage but should be avoided for the long term. Basically, they contain a chemical which can leach out onto the coin and produce an unpleasant sludge which is a nuisance to remove. More recently manufactured wallets are better as they are not made of PVC but would you want to take the risk? Broadly speaking the stiffer the wallet, the better it is for the coin but all plastic wallets have the disadvantage that they can cause the coin to sweat and in the case of copper/bronze this provides an ideal environment for verdigris to form. A safer alternative is inert paper which Colin Cooke's sell but of course you have the disadvantage that you have to remove the coin to actually see it. I don't think there is any perfect system, although I have generally been quite happy with Lindner interlocking drawer sets. I do however worry about the bright red background colour having some effect on my coins. If you really want to go the whole hog, coin cabinets are the most elegant answer but they are very expensive - money which you could more profitably put towards er... coins. Anyway, that's my opinion, others may have different views.

I have taken thousands of coin photographs with a Cannon 400D and Sigma DG Macro lens in conjunction with a stand/tripod, mostly in natural sunlight but I still have problems in a few areas; 1) Worn copper/bronze where the combination of tone/contour 'confuses' the camera and the results can frequently be disappointing. George V heads are a nightmare! 2) Any coin with mottled toning. 3) Highly polished proof coins where the reflection dazzles the camera. I have had some moderate success by using sunlight but shielding the coin with my hand. I doubt the experts do it this way though! This isn't cheap equipment, but I made the mistake of telling my son (who considers himself an expert) what I wanted and sending him out to get it without enquiring as to the likely cost. I dare say you could get equally good results with a cheaper camera, but I'm hoping this will last me out. Does take very good images of overdates though.

There are others more knowledgeable than me, but my understanding is that blobs of weld are laid into the die and then ground down but this does leave a couple of problems in my mind; 1) When patching the bodywork of a car, a skilled automotive welder can lay blobs of weld into the interface between old and new metal in such a way that you have no idea there is a patch there. That being the case, why couldn't the mint make a better job of it? 2) When did they invent welding anyway?* * Just searched the internet. In the Bronze Age apparently...

Some overstrikes are clear, but that one isn't. You need, and quite reasonably requested, a close up pic of the date, and it seems a bit unintelligent of Cookes to simply send you the existing pic. From what I can see, it does look like all (all?) the other 1882/1s I've seen i.e. just the merest fragment remaining of the 1 appearing above the diagonal stroke of the 2. Small wonder that this, one of the last date overstrikes to be issued by the mint, was not discovered as a variety until comparatively recently.

1882/1H - but you need very good eyesight to spot it!

I can't wait!

That's certainly fascinating information but it seems just as likely that the contract had been placed with Heatons beforehand as they had produced coins in 1874 and 1875. As the production was split between Heatons and the Royal Mint in both of those years, the controversy over missing H's can't possibly arise but interesting to see that government funded organisations have been grumbling about under-funding as far back as that. No doubt, when the new machinery was finally installed, the Daily Mail or its then equivalent had a good old bleat about wasting the taxpayers money...

Yes, pretty much what I'd heard. Although the history of maundy sets seems to be a little bit clouded in mist, if you took maundy money as we know it to be an early 19th century invention you wouldn't be far wrong. Many so-called maundy coins are immensely common and far exceeded the numbers required for the ceremony; 1763 3d pieces are amongst the most common coins of George III's reign and turn up quite regularly.

They would, I would guess, have had a pilot plant on which to produce small runs for testing, proofs etc. and as this was likely to have been in another part of the building from where the main presses were being installed it is quite possible that this operation continued. From the Times extract, it seems likely that each of the new presses had its own steam engine and that of the pilot plant would have had its own, smaller engine, if it was not manually driven. Also, the production of dies is a completely separate process and I can't see why this would have been affected by the installation.

Of the three, Michael Gouby rates the 1869 as scarcer than either the 1875H or 1871, which he sees as being roughly equal. Michael Freeman sees 1869 and 1875H as equally rare and considerably rarer than 1871. Impossible to tell really from any of our limited experience, but all I would say is that 1869s seem to create a bit more of a 'stir' than the other two.

I read an interesting article about Chinese coins in the 19th century. Apparently some of the coins then in use had been in circulation for upwards of 1000 years which would be like going down the local for a pint and getting an Ethelred the Unready penny in your change. Fascinating place, China.