ozjohn

Neither am I but somehow it just doesn't look right.

Ok, what does impress you?

Plenty of Chinese fake halfcrowns on eBay. I always report the items but eBay do not inforce their own rules that state the coin should be clearly marked as such i.e copy or replica. Perhaps all members of these forums should report these listings. Initially they are described as copies but the coin is not marked as such. The real problem is when they are relisted by less than honest sellers as genuine. Usually they just do not look right so in your case the coin superficially looks ok.

Sorry I should have mentioned the coin in question was a 1905 1/2 crown.

I can remember posting on these forums that a replica (a very bad one) sold for over GBP 100. On a more serious note replica coins being passed as genuine destroy people's confidence Ebay lists them even though it is against their rules which say replica/copy coins should be clearly marked as such. In the case of UK coins isn't it illegal to forge coins in your country.

I saw this listing as a popup on Google https://www.sterlingcurrency.com.au/items/1910-sydney-mint-sovereign-unc-pcgs-ms62. Looking at the listing, firstly the obverse. I was not impressed with the grading which was described as PCGS MS62. There seemed to be some wear or perhaps a light strike with bag marks on the rim of the king's ear. However it was the reverse that really attracted my attention. The strike was terrible and was similar to one of the examples in the Chard rouges' gallery https://goldsovereigns.co.uk/fakes.html, In my opinion this example has a high probability of being a fake and perhaps an example of when a coin is TPGed it receives less scrutiny than normal.

PS looking at the PCGS photo it is very different to the photo taken by Sterling and Currency.

1927 florin is a case in point a mintage of 15000 is the total for this year. Price now under GBP 200. Conclusion collecting date runs UK florins is not very popular.

Trying to kill 2 birds with one stone. Firstly this is my attempt to photograph a coin rather than scan and secondly this coin seems to have developed reasonable toning. Any comments would be useful especially regarding the photography. The coin was photographed using a tripod mounted Panasonic DMX -TZ20 camera in aperture priority mode f3.5 and 1/60s and side illuminated using 2 LED light sources.

Checked mine. Strait as. Yours is a nice coin a good candiate for the toned coin thread.

Thought someone may have had an opinion on fakes flooding the market. Perhaps you are happy being ripped off?

Plenty of fakes around already especially early young head halfcrowns. Although I think I can spot them not so sure about new collectors. Sellers of these on ebay for the most part offer them as replicas. However I have seen second generation sellers offering them as genuine. All fakes have the ability to affect collectors' confidence.

I have a 1922 PCGS graded MS63 halfcrown that seems to have a very uneven tone. My question is since owning this coin the toning seems to have increased disfiguring the coin further. I am wondering if this may be due to impurities in the plastic capsule and if anyone else ha had this issue. Any comments please.

At the risk of being branded a whinger another poorly graded coin IMO . This time the other way as I think this coin has been significantly under graded. A MS 64/64 would be more appropriate I think. Perhaps a few bag marks on the truncated neck but the fields look pretty good. Attached pix shows my example of this date. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-1912-George-V-Half-Crown-NGC-MS61-rare-silver-coin-/282195581135?

Stop press it seems that it was sold and now resisted. Sale must have fallen through.

Perhaps. Their money is as good as anyone else. IMO the quality was good but the price was high however !912 halfcrowns in UNC grade are pretty thin on the ground from my experience and in this case someone was prepared to pay that price to own it.

It sold pretty quickly for $US 399.00 which is a heavy price for a MS 61 1912 halfcrown. Someone thought it was ok. The price given on Values of Coins of the UK site is GBP 178 ( $US 217) for UNC.

An AU 58 for comparison. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1912-Great-Britain-Half-Crown-PCGS-AU-58-Nice-original-coin-/262300976606?hash=item3d125b45de:g:~vYAAOSwuAVWydT0 Which leads to my main concern regarding TPGs. That is consistency.

Half fartings I like it.

Coin removed from capsule and dipped in Bicarb. of Soda plus aluminium foil. Process seemed to be very slow perhaps on account it's a 50% silver coin. I'm reasonably happy with the result. It's certainly much better than before

The coin seems to have been encapsulated some time ago and on checking the PGCS site there is a record of the coin but no photo available. I agree it is unlikely that the plastic would affect the coin however perhaps it was contaminated prior to encapsulation. I have no idea if these TPG companies degrease the coin with acetone or similar prior to encapsulation. May be it's time to find out how to remove the coin from its capsule and dip it in bicarb.of soda and aluminum foil to improve its eye appeal rather than follow PWA 1967's unhelpful comments.

Aida you are right Scotland is not an independent country and as such would not have the power to become independent. This power of course rests with the Westminster government. If the independence referendum was carried I think the Westminster government would have granted independence to Scotland. I also got the feeling at the time that independence ment independence and the Westminster government were going to drive a very hard bargain.

A lower pound makes any threat from the EU on tariffs look pretty silly as U.K. goods will be still competing perhaps more so. Remember the fall of the GBP after the ERM which lead to a decade of economic growth. Perhaps you may import some inflation which may not be such a bad thing as deflation is seen as the new evil. From my point of view at present buying coins from the UK in cheaper hence my initial comment. On a general note I personally commend the UK for voting to leave the EU monster as it is a compleatly different organisation that seeks to subvert national governments as its priority rather than a free trade zone which the UK joined originally.

Ireland is not part of the Schengen zone as they refused to join it because they did not want to lose their long standing right to enter the UK without border controls. Azda. An independent Scotland will have to accept what ever conditions the EU require of them to become a member of the EU. Scotland has not the clout to make any demands.. They would be at the mercy of the what ever the EU demands.To be quite honest with you I think England would be quite happy to see the back of Scotland and the possibility of a controlled border IMO would be a logical consequence if Scotland joined the EU and was forced to become part of the Schengen zone which is very likely given Scotland's extremely weak position as an independent nation.

I noticed called the EU FU sorry for the mistake.