ozjohn

Perhaps we could keep this thread on track. The matters raised in the previous but one post could be better explored in the Free For All area.

Just to add to this post without contradicting my earlier comments. One part of a coin that is useful for grading high grade coins is a careful examination of the condition of the milled edge to check if it is sharp througout and right at the edge of the coin. As many coins are poorly minted flat areas on the design exist on the highest parts of the design due to poor mint quality. A nice crisp edge and reeding to the milled rim may help in estimating a coin's true grade. Unfortuneatly for many encapsulated coins the edge is not visable and this cannot be used for grading perhaps an argument against many 3rd party graders although NGC show some of the edge for their encapsulated coins.

Just returned from Europe after spending a month in the UK and had a good time driving around the country. London - Harrowgate - Seahouses - Penrith - Chester - Fairford - London. I didn't find many coins my best buy was a 1935 UNC penny at GBP 4.50 from secondhand shop in Rye. One thing I noticed was most of the ale was about 4% way down from what I saw in the past where it was close to 5%. For example Speckled hen was about 4% where as in the past it was 5.2% and the OG of about 1045 was declared. This may be fine for AA but it does nothing for the taste. No wonder the pubs are going broke if they serve up tasteless beer. The only exception I saw was a Green King ale at 5% on tap in a pub. You still seem to be able to still get the full strength product in the 500ml bottles for example Adman's Broardside at 6.3% and Hook Norton 12 Days at 5.5%. London pride was 4.8% in the bottle and can up from 4%.

Sorry remember.

Thanks for reminding me Abbot ale was a notable exception in a bleak world. I can rember a couple of trips ago drinking this brew in a tiny pub in Bury St. Edmunds called the Nutshell.

Spent some time in Germany during trip to Europe. No complaints about the beer there.

I've seen Fuller's ESB in bottles don't know about on tap.

With reference to my earlier post should read shallow relief not narrow relief. Sorry if there is any confusion.

I thought I had a reverse B and sent a picture to Micheal who confirmed it was. It was a narrow relief on the reverse which was different from the example that Micheal had. I brought it from NGS in Florida as a MS 62 which was a rare case where the grading was correct as I don't think NGS understood the poor strikes of that period.

Try Micheal Coins site where different reverses of 1920 halfcrowns are presented in his lists of UK coins.

Perhaps but it is no use whinging unless you are prepared to do something. As a matter of course I report these items if I see them.

If you follow Ebay's report item procedure starting with Report Category and select Copyright and trademark from the pull down menu. Then go to the Reason for report and select Counterfeit item or authenticity disclaimer from the pull down menu. Finally select Detailed reason and select Counterfeit fake or replica item from the pull down menu and complete the report. I do not know if Ebay takes much notice of this but it is their procedure for dealing with issues such as this. If all members of this forum complained every time they saw these items it may help to have these items removed by Ebay. Most of these items are not museum copies as these are usually stamped with copy, replica etc.

A very interesting question but very hard to answer. The only true UNC coin is one that was taken from the mint production directly after minting with provenance to support this. Anything else may have been uncirculated maybe not. Also this question applies to the quality of the mint production. It is possible that an EF coin may be in a much better condition than a badly minted UNC coin. This is true of George V silver coins. Proof coins which show no sign of wear probably come closest to UNC. Just try to get the best example you can.

A better definition may be to ask the question. Is the person describing the coin a buyer or seller.

When does a rim nick become an edge knock?

I just noticed this .500 silver 1939 halfcrown in the back of a draw of a cabinet where I keep my duplicate coins. Nothing rare but the toning is well developed for a .500 silver coin.

Thanks Paulus.

Just as a matter of interest how much do you get / oz. for .500 scrap silver.

Exactly.

History is in the eye of the beholder. A lot of Americans do not care about civil war siege pieces. Check out the price paid for an Australian holey dollar which is worn a Spanish eight reales with the center stamped out and counter stamped around the space where the metal was punched out with New South Wales 1815 on one side and five shillings the other at about $500000. It's all down to supply and demand. Another anomaly is the GB 1927 proof florin with only 15000 minted with a price of about GBP 150.

It seems that I was wrongly informed about the WW1 medal only being inscribed with the name rank etc. in Australia. Just goes to show you should always check things your self rather than accept what someone told you in passing.

I can't say I have ever seen any sign of poorly struck WW1 medals although they use the same effigy of the King which is sometimes blamed for the poor quality of the coins because of its size, It has to be said the WW1 silver medal is thicker than the florins and halfcrowns of the time more the crown size which may have allowed the metal to flow during the striking process. Just as an aside all WW1 silver medals in Australia were inscribed around the edge with the recipients name rank etc. whereas in the UK they were not unless requested for at a charge.

The article gives a credible explanation for the war years but the mint's quality suffered long after the war. Alloy changes may explain the problem but it still exposes design flaws in the original design as the same problems still occurred on coins minted after WW1 with the only response was to introduce the low profile effigy from 1920 to 1926. It still represents an inordinate amount of time to correct the strike quality during this period and as stated before the Royal Mint managed to produce some high quality coins for Australia from 1910 to 1916 using exactly the same presses and blanks. Of course the dies were different. I guess all of this points towards the original designs for these coins.

I think you are probably right. I just wonder why it took so long to fix the problem.

The series that are being compared ie 1910 to 1916 were both struck in .925 silver probably from the same blanks as they were struck at the same mint and for all intents and purpose the same coin with the exception of the design. The Australian coins are well struck while the UK coins were for the most part poor. The only difference is the design. Again the Edward coins before these were for the most part well struck and free from ghosting. If it was the design why did it take so long to correct it with the modified effigy and redesigned reverses. The copper coins also suffered similar problems.