jelida

This is truly disgraceful fraud. An obvious fake, deliberately toned, with a supposed ‘certificate of provenance’ which is illiterate and means nothing. Signed by a ‘Matthew Wicks’, interestingly the same surname as the crooked antiquities dealer who is serving time as a result of the Herefordshire Saxon Hoard debacle. And also from Forest Row, Sussex. A co- incidence surely? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313619400575?mkevt=1&mkpid=2&emsid=e112358.m43.l1123&mkcid=8&bu=43208328969&osub=-1~1&segname=16TE179832_T_ENDSOON_CT1&crd=20210731090000&ch=osgood&sojTags=osub%3Dosub%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Cch%3Dch%2Cchnl%3Dmkcid Jerry

Not an exact match I would say, though similar. We need photos of the two to the same magnification. Is there a list anywhere of the RM’s overseas production during 1902/3? Anyone with a copy of Krause and time on their hands? Jerry

That is very interesting, the ‘open 3’ punch must have come from somewhere in the mint’s stock, and it looks like they were using that font on the florin at least, even if not the same size. As you say, they need measuring. And possibly a look at Krause, as the mint may well have used that font for foreign coins they struck. Jerry

Looks like it’s back on as a buy-it-now for £800. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284378492283?hash=item4236476d7b:g:nnQAAOSw~kNg9uup

Certainly patinated Roman bronze coins were traditionally coated with wax, which would need to be made into a paste beforehand with an appropriate solvent (or use a proprietary polish) but I feel that it tends to fill in the detail, letters etc and normally leave my found bronze un-coated, or give a thin coating of an archival (and removable) lacquer, such as Incralac which can be purchased in small quantities online. Jerry

It does look a nice coin, but also playing Devil’s Advocate, could there be some lines parallel to the diagonal mark on Victoria’s neck? So difficult to tell from a photo, but could the edges of a minor gouge have been smoothed? That’s a problem with TPG’s, a coin that is rejected , even if the reason is not obvious, becomes more difficult to live with unless re-assessed. I do prefer Rob’s ‘acceptable’ or ‘not acceptable’ rather than strict grade in determining whether a coin deserves a place in my collection as I can accommodate parameters such as rarity, availability, desire to acquire, gap to fill, need to upgrade, prettiness, potential profit etc in an immediate decision whether to acquire; not infallible of course, and purchases made on the net after returning from the pub tend to demonstrate this. Jerry

I picked up the F7 penny from the DNW stall at the midland coin fair today, I can’t see any obvious reason to describe it as cleaned, It looks as per the DNW photos and I will have no issue adding it to my collection. As an aside, while there I bought a reasonable F9 penny, the ex LCA and CCA Elstree specimen, number 10 on Richards site. I paid £750. This coin is now slabbed, and sold unslabbed at LCA in 2016 for £850 plus juice. Thank you TheCoinery, and another Freeman number filled. Jerry

My favourite Una.

I bought the F7, I hadn’t really planned to bid but couldn’t let it go at the price as it does look nice despite the possible ‘clean’, and should represent a good upgrade from my Copthorne example. But the lot I am most pleased with was 694, the F111 2/1 with the less obvious overstrike that Gouby describes as being found on F114. Looks lustrous in the photo, we shall see but at £200 hammer with a reasonable F114 thrown in I am happy. I don’t find F111’s easily. Jerry

Here is the Ebay reply, nice enough but essentially a denial of responsibility. " Hello Dr. Jeremy I hope you are keeping well. I'm sorry to hear your VAT has been charged incorrectly on your items. The VAT rate we charge would be based on the VAT rate provided in your listing and the country the buyer is in. You can find all the information we have on VAT in the UK on our help and contact page or by following this link. https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/listings/default/vat-obligations-uk-eu?id=4650&st=12&pos=1&query=Your%20VAT%20obligations%20in%20the%20UK%20%26%20EU&intent=VAT&context=9062_SELLER&docId=HELP1369 When we charge VAT on the site, it automatically gets sent over to HMRC. Due to this we do not have the facility to refund funds that were charged as VAT. I would be recommending to contact HMRC as you can apply for refunds directly from them, following any advice they give, we can go through your current listings to confirm that the correct VAT rate is set for the remainder of them. If you need any further assistance with this, please let me know and I would be happy to help. Thanks again and have a lovely day. Kind Regards Leighann eBay Concierge" I will contact the revenue and get their response. Jerry

Well, I’ve made my claim to EBay first using their VAT reclaim facility. I should get back about £60. Ha! We’ll see what happens, I’ve sent them all the tax paid statements in pdf form, as downloaded from the order details page for each item and an explanation for my claim. I’ll update this page in due course. Jerry

Hmmm, seems I might have to claim the refund through EBay by using the link at the bottom of this page. I’ll give it a go. https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771&st=2&pos=2&query=Paying tax on eBay purchases&intent=tax#section1 Jerry

What I am doing is to print the tax invoices off ebay, showing 20% vat, and saving them up to send to the revenue with the appropriate claim form for the refund. Apparently it does work, though I won’t be holding my breath! Can’t remember the form offhand, though it was discussed here previously. Jerry

Definitely basic 10% of final price although VAT could take it up to 12% and PayPal and listing fees may also factor, so 15 to 17% might seem reasonable. More than 40% certainly isn’t. https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/fees-private-sellers?id=4364 Jerry

That certainly doesn’t seem right, should be somewhere around 10% I think. Could they have carried some of the sales receipts over to the next month given their new invoicing system? Needs clarification I would say. Jerry

They do remain fluffy after processing ! And your little dance of joy might entertain her! Food for thought. Jerry

There’s been a population explosion of Grey Squirrels because of a sequence of mild winters and warm springs, we have problems too. Amongst other things, they love the taste of crocuses. We have had cables severed and our strawberries decimated. I am going to get one of these. https://goodnaturetraps.co.uk/shop/a18-grey-squirrel-trap/ Looks effective, from the you-tube videos, and very much an instant demise. I can tolerate rats, tree rats less so 😡. Jerry

The likelihood of winning for your maximum bid varies a great deal depending on where you pitch your bid with respect to the reserve/lower estimate, book value of the coin, whether you tend to go one bid over round figures and I am sure many other factors. A simplistic example would be some-one who makes bids at the reserve prices on multiple offerings. He may not expect to win many, but he knows that those he does win are at a sensible price, and all will be at his maximum bid. Without knowing the figures involved it is really not possible to suggest foul play. Estimates of value are not dissimilar amongst people who do their prior research, and therefore many bidders are likely to drop out at around the same figure in an auction. The generous valuer will pay more and win more, but at higher prices and closer to his maximum. Some bidders bidding patterns will dictate that when they do win, it is more likely to be at or near the most they would pay. My thoughts, anyway. Just praying that Covid regs are relaxed soon, and I can go to a Coin Fair and purchase in less frenetic environment. Jerry

Quite weak and fluey the day after my first, but no reaction to my second. Apparently this tends to be the pattern with the A-Z jab, and tends to be the opposite with the Pfizer. Reassuring to have had some reaction though, psychologically you feel the body has recognised the insult and will react against it. There are good biological reasons why the jab gives a greater reaction with those who have previously been infected. Jerry

The vendor assures me they will, he had turned down substantial offers apparently. He intends to “properly describe’ them. Jerry

The bronze French 5 & 10 centime coins are quite common metal detector finds, so obviously circulated widely. They are the same size as the bronze UK currency, and I doubt the public was greatly concerned about them. They pre-dated the UK bronze coinage, and I understand that they were a strong influence regarding size and alloy in the development of the new coinage particularly given the Heaton involvement. Jerry

He’s my mate Stu’s nephew, a good family, military dad (recently knighted) and nice but rather frightening mother. I am currently renovating his dad’s lightweight land-rover, now mine (for only £700!). Stu is my detecting buddy, it seems to be in the family. Jerry

They stopped sending me catalogues too after I had gone a few auctions without buying. I suppose the expense is prohibitive if they feel a sale is unlikely. Which it is, given their current offerings. Jerry

Anybody here spot this? Sadly pulled after only a day, a reasonable example. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224454520580?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 Jerry

Some quite sophisticated fakes from this seller I think. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203445604907?hash=item2f5e4d922b:g:xDUAAOSwUS5gli0T Jerry