ozjohn

GBP bag of silver should be a 5 pound bag of silver.

Sound, When I was a kid in England I grew up with the Betty 11 2/6, 2/- etc. I guess familiarity breeds contempt however at the time there were plenty of George V & Vi 50% silver coins in circulation with the pre 1920 ones becoming rarer. Sometimes I would get a GBP bag of "silver" coins from the bank and sort out the silver ones, some that I have to this day. Even then silver was about 15/- an oz. while 6/- of 50% was half an oz. therefore still worth hoarding.

Large mintages, indifferent designs and no proof sets save 1953 and 1970 do not stir the imagination. In addition the move from soft silver alloys to CuNi did nothing for the appearance of the coin. They do not wear gracefully either. Any careful examination of the surface of a modern "UNC" CuNi coin reveals a multitude of surface marks from the minting process let alone from any circulation. For me my interest in UK coins ended in 1946 the year I was born.

I can't answer for local dealers but an average sovereign in Australia is about $AU 420.00 or GBP 227.00 . As a previous post indicated there are Bombay Mint with an I plus Canada with an O which are a bit more expensive than the others. It has to be said that some of the post 1914 Sydney Mint sovereigns command big bucks.

Sovereigns are an interesting series of coins well worth collecting. A little expensive perhaps but maybe not so when you look at high grade Victorian copper prices. Also plenty of different mint marks, shield and George and Dragon reverses. Australian and South African branches of the Royal Mint continued to mint sovereigns long after the London Royal Mint stopped. Don't be fooled by the modern sovereigns as they are only bullion pieces. Fine if you just want gold but not much interest otherwise. Don't be tempted to buy them from the Royal Mint as you can probably obtain them cheaper elsewhere.

I was shown a pair of crown dies at a coin dealer in Fremantle West Australia. The dealer was Sterling & Currency Fremantle but I don't think they were for sale.

Its still an acid (which is less corrosive than Sulfuric acid) that removes the oxides and sulfides which means some of the coin is removed during the cleaning process whereas the method above converts the sulfides back into the original metal. Perhaps a chemist amongst us could comment as my chemistry is limited to a one semester undergraduate course.

Dunno about Godards dip as most silver dips contain sulfuric acid. Try a couple of teaspoons bicarb of soda dissolved in boiling water with aluminum foil in the bottom of the dish. Put coin in solution on to the foil for a few seconds remove then wash and examine. Repeat as necessary. I think this method of chemical cleaning is less aggressive than acid based dips as it converts the silver sulfide back into silver metal and does not remove anything from the coin. Probably a good idea to degrease the coin with metho beforehand. Caution all cleaning of coins should be done as a last resort and not embarked upon lightly. Also much cheaper than dips even if the hot water is hard on the fingers.

Why so surprised that florins turn up in New Zealand as the British issues were used in NZ and Australia in the early part of the last century. I have a publication from the Bank of NSW (now Westpac) tracing Silver coinage in Australia. It seems that the British issues were currency into the 1930s. Many probably migrated back to the UK when the Australian pound was devalued against Sterling in the early 1930s.

VF will certainly be cheaper but because of the light strike for most of this series most VF coins can look more like a coin in F condition. Also an UNC 1911 proof florin would be some where over GBP 120 and 1913 is a low mintage year and can be hard to get in a higher grades.

Thanks but it was top dollar. Sometimes you have to take the plunge.

Thanks

Just what I have been looking for. A hard date to get in UNC condition.

Someone likened this to a divorce, an acrimonious one at that with England feeling like the aggrieved partner. Expect them to play hard ball in the event of a separation. And when it's said and done I think they seem to hold most of the aces in the deck.

A few years ago I was standing in line at the duty free store at Singapore Airport where a man with a Scottish accent was tendering Scottish bank bills to pay for his dutyfree goods. The checkout chick told him that they only accepted $US, Sterling, Yen, $AU & $Singapore for cash payments. The customer protested that he was offering Sterling but the checkout chick was having none of it and the customer went away empty handed. The moral of this story is if the yes vote for Scottish independence is carried then be prepared to accept a lot more of this sort of treatment. Maybe a credit card will help but with no currency even that may not work it's a bit of a risk. Believe me this is a true story.

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When it's all said and done you have to live with it I don't. Good luck to the good ship Scotland and all who will go dawn with her.

I can see you are a Scot who has lost all sense of reality in your dislike of the English. It's the English tax payer which has kept Scotland going for years and Scotland will be in a sorry state when that source of income has gone. It's not me saying this just about every financial commentator, banker, economist seems to share the same opinion only the people leading this insane drive for independence mostly driven by a hatred for England want to ignore the realities The only people who will benefit in the end when the dust has settled will be England and Wales being relieved of the financial burden imposed by an unproductive Scotland. However the breaking of a union that has existed for over 300 years by people who only have hate as their motivation and no regard for the welfare of the Scottish people is a sad thing to see. As for my passport profile. All I am saying is a simple statement of fact if Scotland becomes independent you will no longer UK or EU citizens and claims to a UK Passport are not so clear. Sounds to me that you want your cake and eat it. As I was born in the UK I am at present entitled to a UK Passport. However unlike you I have an Australian Passport and proud to have so.

Sorry UK citizen and EU citizen.

With regard to passports the current UK passport basically says UK citizen and UK citizen. If the yes vote is carried the Scots will be neither and as a result there passports should be invalid. There are many implications for a yes vote including aged pension, currency etc. for which the England tax payers have been footing the bill for years. If it comes to a financial decision for England they should be glad for a yes vote but be prepared for Scottish "illegals" when the true implications of independence come home to roost.

From time to time I see George 111 coins on Ebay listed as reproductions but in my opinion these are fakes and could be used by third parties to deceive. They are not of a high grade nevertheless they do not help the situation and should not be on Ebay.uk . I think in the US reproductions like this are allowed if they have something stamped into the coin such as reproduction etc. but these listings had nothing on them to indicate this. I would have thought under UK law items such as this are illegal as they are counterfeit coins and should not be listed by Ebay.uk.

I'll be there.

I've been looking on ebay for a high grade 1920 florin. There is plenty of low grade stuff VG to F and one slabbed Ebay # 181515950631 which is graded at MS 64 but still has a little wear on the king's ear and weak lions on the upper shield on the reverse but still a very nice coin. I think these problems are due to the minting rather than wear due to circulation. Any other date of that period there are plenty of coins of VF + and higher. As 1920 is not a low mintage date I wonder if the people were weary of the debased coins when they first came out and spent them as quickly as possible thus causing more worn coins. However it has to be said there are a reasonable amount of higher grade 1921, 1922 etc. florins around with the lower mintage dates 1924 and 1925.

All this is true but I have to say 1821/ 22 & 23 are easy to find but 1920 is elusive despite the official Royal Mint figures for 1920.

I was reorganizing my florin collection and noticed I have an 1892 jubilee head florin. I checked the value with the Value of UK Coins of Great Britain and England site where it is listed as F 30 GBP, VF GBP 100 GBP & EF GBP 325. The first question is are these realistic values and the second is what is the grade of this coin? My grading of the coin is VF+ to EF-. Any comments please.