Red Riley

You're giving your age away Mr P.

Germany was very much frontier country for the Roman empire and as that frontier kept changing location with people hiding their dosh one minute, coming back to fetch it the next (or not as the case may be...), I would imagine that the south and west of the country would offer very rich pickings for a detectorist. On the other hand parts of it may also be awash with unexploded ordnance...

Perhaps this is a flagrant breach of auction etiquette, but I did manage to clock the name of the guy that bought the 1877 narrow date penny at the June London Coins Auction from his bidding card. I've kept my own council up to now, but what the hell... Didn't get the first name, but the surname was Davies if that means anything to anybody.

I think as you have already guessed, you will not be able to retire on whatever these will fetch. A few pointers though. 1) Check the 1919 penny for tiny letters (either 'H' or 'KN') to the left of the date. In normal circulated condition this will give it a (small) value whereas the standard Royal Mint version is worth no more than its metal content; 2) The 1937 crown is likely to be by far the most valuable of this little lot but even then is only likely to be worth a tenner or so; 3) Pre-1947 silver is actually 50% silver and can be sold for scrap on e-bay or wherever if not in collectable condition. Pre-1920 silver is 92.5% fine but you only have 3d worth of that which really won't amount to a lot... 4) The rest is probably valueless.

I'd go VF obv., GVF rev.

Incidentally, the last genuine one I noticed on e-bay (last week) went for the princely sum of £51. 'Ah but how the mighty etc...'

I love these sort of statistics and it just confirms what I thought that later gold really didn't circulate for long. When writing the 'Standard Guide...' I had real problems in tracking down any late-Victorian gold below VF. It is, I suppose, quite possible that this type of article raised a hue and cry about 'underweight gold' and the mint sharpened up its act. With the passing of the Gold Standard, I guess people didn't worry about whether the coins in their pocket were underweight or no...

This seems to have been a popular(?) theme. I remember seeing a pre-war George VI penny in which the entire union jack had been re-cut into the shape of a swastika; went for quite a few quid on e-bay. George VI had hardly been popular with a section of the populace who wanted Edward VIII back. Given his reputed Nazi sympathies, it could well have been inspired by Moseley's National Union of Fascists.

My thoughts entirely.

Something to do with outraging the puritans as I recall. In common with most men, the only feeling I get when looking at the Cerne Abbas Giant is envy.

I'm very impressed that you remember it was precisely £5/17/9d. Can you tell me what albums you sacrificed it for and how much they cost?

I would agree with you. Something to do with the postures adopted by the figures. The Victorians had a thing about Charles I. Me? Give me Oliver Cromwell any day.

Mixed thoughts about this... mainly because just before reading Dave's post, I put an identical 1914 penny on e-bay for £25 'buy it now'. I won't complain if I get it though. Could this one not be a case of two people going in with way over the top snipes and somebody coming a cropper?

For my sins, I am a supporter of Wycombe Wanderers FC and last Saturday we played away at Stevenage. I am far too tight fisted to buy a programme, but my friend did. On about page 17 was a half page advert for KB Coins. Does seem strange that Keith Bayford (if I remember his name correctly) should advertise in such an odd place where the chances of it striking a chord with anyone (apart from me) must be close to zero. Unless of course he was elsewhere in the ground and the advert was merely a contribution to the cause. Don't expect many responses but just struck me as unusual. We won 2-0 by the way.

You're right but this medal overstepped the mark and foreshadowed the Nazi regime and all its horrors. Despising all it stood for goes beyond political correctness; it represented at best unpleasant xenophobia and at worst an attempt to stir up racial hatred.

Crikey, you must have some time on your hands, it's full of junk!

I think hammered coins are a nightmare to grade at the best of times. There was talk on here, a while back of producing some kind of informal guide to help collectors grade these coins, but it never got off the ground which is a shame.

Personally I go with the dandruff hypothesis.

My penny turned up this morning without my even having paid for it. So you may have something waiting for you when you get home... Did you get an invoice with it Derek? Yes. I guess that they trust me having bought the odd thing from them in the past.

My penny turned up this morning without my even having paid for it. So you may have something waiting for you when you get home...

I don't know whether this is a breach of protocol, but I thought I would say that I have a couple of Unc 1944s for sale and one GEF that avoided the toning process. How much lustre on the 44 escapee? And how much are you asking? (You can DM me if you'd rather not discuss it in open forum). I am quite happy to discuss the coin on open forum. I'm grading it in the Michael Gouby style as GEF35. Send me your e-mail address Peck, and I'll let you have photographs which at least removes the necessity to reduce them to an unmanageable size. And I'm asking £20 for it.

I don't know whether this is a breach of protocol, but I thought I would say that I have a couple of Unc 1944s for sale and one GEF that avoided the toning process. Is the site running Derek? If you check out www.pennycrowncoins.co.uk you will see that the site is still under construction. I do want to have some kind of launch but this will not be for some weeks yet (there are over 1000 photographs to be posted) and I don't want to go off half cock so can only suggest that if there is something you desperately want, just let me know and I'll see if I've got it. As I think I've said before champagne is nasty foreign muck and I'd much rather settle for a pint of Rebellion Mild Ale.

I don't know whether this is a breach of protocol, but I thought I would say that I have a couple of Unc 1944s for sale and one GEF that avoided the toning process.

Oh okay, no. 43 (1873 1d). I actually bid on 5 items but that was the only one I won. Did you get notification that you had won, or did you have to ask ? I didn't ask but as there was only one bid (worrying...) and it was the amount I bid, I assumed it was mine. They did tell me I had been outbid on the others.

Oh okay, no. 43 (1873 1d). I actually bid on 5 items but that was the only one I won.