jelida

Thanks for this Richard. Jerry

That’s the way I use to distinguish them, you can tell in an instant, even on some fairly blurry Ebay photos. Jerry

There is always the issue of different camera lenses and angles in these photos, so I have scanned my 3 best 1898 8 bisects on one image and edited it below to make the digits directly comparable. not great image quality, but might help. I think there might be subtle differences in font. Jerry

I was hoping someone would ask that. Both of mine are straight, I think. Jerry

You guys are all so bright! I got as far as 1, 2.....then got stuck as my shoes have laces! Jerry

I seem to have a sense of ‘deja vu’ again........ http://www.predecimal.com/forum/topic/12193-penny-acquisition-of-the-week/?page=54 see May 14th. Jerry

Must be double insulated....certainly I’ve never had a shock from mine. 🙄 Jerry

It’s washable, that will probably get rid of the bits. I hope so, I’ve been waiting for ages for my £1.30 offer, which came today. I will be very upset if my subsequent expenditure of £3.05 doesn’t match my massively raised expectations. I also see there is an offer on Brasso....... Jerry

True, indeed experimentally from the mid nineteenth century though specialised equipment such as triple colour projectors and special screen viewers was needed to view it. It seems that the first commercially successful method of colour photography was the product Lumiere Autochrome in 1907, which could be printed but was still very expensive compared to Black and White. As I said, the 1904 catalogue will have been tinted; but it does seem to be high quality photography of real coins, rather than of plaster-casts or line drawings more usually seen in publications at that time (when illustrated at all) and is exactly the sort of material needed to confirm provenance. Would I pay more for a well provenanced coin? I would still buy the coin rather than the name, but might go 10% higher than without. Jerry

Don’t be too influenced by the colours! In 1904 this would have been a black and white (or sepia) photo hand tinted for the catalogue. Does look nice, though! Jerry

I can’t get over the situation in the USA, a wealthy, advanced country that should have been able to lead the world in managing this crisis, but because of a few idiots in government they have thrown it all away in the cause of the self-aggrandisement of the chief idiot, and at the expense of tens, potentially hundreds of thousands of additional deaths. I do hope the nation sees sense in November. Jerry

I see that Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, is now questioning whether Jesus, the son of God, should no longer be viewed as White. From the figures above, one can only conclude that if there was a God, he is both White and vindictive. And hypocritical, in begetting a son of colour, if Justin were right. Surely we should be told the truth? Like many species, humans are territorial and aggressively defend their Tribe and their patch. There is no God. But Covid 19 is made in his image.

I would go for blocked die, the lower limb of the ‘E‘ looks too attenuated to be the serif of an ‘F’, and why would he have an ‘F’ punch in his hand anyway? Jerry

Beautiful coins and wonderful pictures, Pete! Jerry

Yes, modern Chinese fakes cheaply purchased from Aliexpress. and similar, available in all dates. You have to look out for examples of the bronze series too, indeed most denominations. They are close, but not exact copies. Here is another seller, his British copper are clearly fake, and I suspect his foreign coins may be too. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1839-British-Large-Penny-Queen-Victoria/174324549566?hash=item28968d87be:g:pegAAOSwmGde75AZ Jerry

This vendor has had a box of coins given to him by his mum, mostly genuine but low grade but it seems his mum also collected modern Chinese replicas, and even battered and toned some for her collection. Inspirational! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1843-Victoria-Copper-Penny/164249753649?hash=item263e0c5831:g:xCYAAOSwBDle6pMz Jerry

112 is the number of ‘feedbacks’ he had received, not percentage positive, which is a different matter. If you look at an individual, it is his feedback total you see beside his id, not percentage but you can look into greater detail on his feedback page including percentages. My Ebay feedback is nearing 2000, for example. And 100% positive. Jerry

Of the 18 coins on his completed listings, of which one attracted no bids, 14 have been won by a bidder of 0 feedback, all at silly money, and 3 might have gone to a genuine bidder (or a shiller with feedback). I hope he has to pay Ebay fees- but I suspect the ‘winners’ will mostly fail to pay and he will reclaim any fee. Look out for re-listing in a few weeks. He should be banned. Jerry

Oh, and the second suspicious bidder on many of these coins now has feedback of 112. If you look, you’ll see what I mean. Jerry

There is a category for reporting this activity though, under ‘fraudulent listing practices’, ‘Seller is using other accounts to inflate the price‘ would fit the bill. But as we have discussed so many times before, Ebay are not seriously interested in potential victims of fraud, and seem rarely to take action on reports. The sooner internet giants are liable for the fraud they enable, the better. You or I would certainly be certainly liable in other spheres of life if we didn’t take action, once aware of an issue. Jerry

Looking at athenacoins_7’s offerings(now relisted, having been pulled en masse a week ago) and the silly sums that some have reached, particularly the this penny https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1860-Penny-Error-PCGS-MS65RB-Victoria-Great-Britain-S3954/174301977930?hash=item2895351d4a:g:MjsAAOSwjDJexYYQ I had a look at the bidding patterns and note that bidders with feedback ‘0’ and ‘110’ feature very strongly throughout his items. I strongly suspect that this dealer does indeed have the full shilling. Shill bidding being illegal , perhaps reporting might be appropriate if you agree. Jerry

Pm, Pete. Jerry

Either way you get wind.....

Pm sent. Jerry

I can’t comment on the VAT, but the wire transfer fee stands out to me. I use Transferwise, part owned by Virgin, for all of my overseas bank transfers, for much bigger sums, and have a fee of a couple of quid. Basically the service links (en masse) people in say Germany who want to transfer money to the UK for example, with those who wish to transfer money in the opposite direction so the payment is made to Transferwise In UK pounds and paid into the recipients bank by Euro held in Germany thus negating currency exchange fees and making the transfer very rapid. Looking at the equivalent bank transfer rates and fees, or Paypal etc, I save £10-20 on all my auction payments. And this is a worldwide service. Sorry about the ad, and hope I haven’t misinterpreted how it works, but I highly recommend the service. Jerry