Geoff T

Nigel, Edward VIII coronation memorabilia - including medals - is much commoner than many people imagine. This was the first projected coronation which was really viewed as a commercial opportunity throughout the Empire, which meant that lots of stuff was produced, and when it was abandoned (or rather took place on the intended day but with a different king), many people probably carefully kept their souvenirs in the hope that one day they might acquire some rarity value. The medal you describe sounds typical of the many which exist and I'd hazard a guess that it's identical to one which I have. They're all made in non-precious medals and in good condition should fetch no more than about £10 for the highest grades but usually less. Hope this helps - Geoff

An' doncha just LURVE that bit about Edward VII's ASCENSION to the THRONE! Wot, woz it up in the SKY or SUMMAT? Has he been CANONISED? Sancte Edwarde, nominis illi septime, ora pro nobis

Happy birthday! The best people are born in July

I think this may be one of those sets which was issued to mark the start of the new millenium. I don't think we're talking Dassier or Dassier/Thomason here. Can you post a picture? Geoff

Has anyone seen this? I found it purely by surfing (actually looking for coin dealers in Oslo - anyone know any?), but it looks like slabbing taken to new levels of absurdity. http://www.collectors.com/articles/article...html?artid=4198 G

Yes you do William - stick to your cultural guns

I'm wondering if I'm missing out on something too. At risk of sounding incrediblky stupid, how to be get access to the database other than through your periodic updates which point us to it? I'm only too happy to help but how do we get access to info? PS - no desire to be a moderator. I'll just berate the historically challenged from the comfort of the forum

Edward II? BTW Sylvester, there still exists an ancient charitable foundation called Queen Matilda's something or another, but have you considered that if she'd been accepted as the legal heiress of Henry I there would have been no King Stephen pennies at all?

Oh my God - don't you kiddies know ANY history? It was George III in 1776 and I doubt whether he considered he was giving it away. Write out all your English monarchs with dates from 1066 a hundred times!

This sounds like a medallion, not a coin, commemorating the death of Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. Such medals are very common at this period and are usually of base metal, often pierced for wearing. A picture would clear the matter up. Value will depend on condition, but we're not really talking megabucks even for a top grade. Geoff

This can't be a coin but sounds more like a token than a medal. Frederick Duke of York was the second son of George III - the one immortalised as the Grand Old Duke of York. He had a military career, earning the nickname "the soldiers' friend". He was heir presumptive to his brother George IV but died in January 1827 - the second King Fred we never had. A number of medals were struck to commemorate the event. Any token experts who can help?

Much as I like Aethelred's designs, I can't help feeling that a book dealing with coins 1797 to the present should have on its cover several coins illustrative of the range being covered - yes, even modern decimal coins. My own feeling is that it's important to stress that what we're dealing with is part of an evolving tradition and not just concerned with the past. Anyone feel the same?

Lest we forget - Happy Birthday, gold sovereign. 187 today!

I read about it in the Mancheter Evening News.

Is anyone planning to go to the York Coin Fair on 30-31 July? For those of you who haven't yet seen any details it's at York Racecourse at Knavesmire, just south of the city centre. I'm hoping to be there at least one day, probably Friday 30. If anyone else plans to be there it could be a good place to meet up and say hello.

Thanks to all of you for your good wishes. I've had to spend my birthday in a management training meeting (which was actually very rewarding) so apologies for only just spotting your messages. G

I know, you just got there before me Actually kiddies, if you'd bothered to read my earlier responses, you'd have seen I asked for diameters before any of you did Let's not get bogged down in petty arguments

Hi again, That's great. It might be useful if you let us have the diameter of the coins in mm as an aid to identification in case the pictures aren't clear enough. G

Hi again Sharon, There should be a Register button to click on on the forum page. Scanning is often better than a digital camera for pictures. Better still, if you havd pictures stored in HTML (e.g. on a site like Photobucket.com) you can post the URLS for us to click on. G

Of course, it's not the most important birthday this week

All of these coins sound potentially interesting, but to put a value on them it's important to know what kind of condition they're in. To do that we really need pictures, which you can post as you're a member. The bottom line is that if your silver coins are in a very poor condtion, they'll at least have some bullion value. This is currently 8 times the face value for pre-1920 silver. So, if your 1892 crown was in a terrible state, it would at least have a bullion value of 8 x 25p = £2. It's likely to be in a better condition than that, though, in which case it's value will be related to the condition - or grade - it's in. 1892 is a slightly less common year for Jubilee head silver as well. The rest ought to be worth more, again depending on grade. It's difficult to say without knowing the denomination (face value), but your 1797 sounds like a cartwheel penny or twopence, in which case it's copper. So will the 1841 halfpenny be copper. 1746 LIMA coins of George II are relatively common compared to other years, so are 1826s for George IV. That's not to say, though, that they won't have some value, especially if they are in a high grade. I look forward to your photos, after which we'll have a better idea.

Here's my fractional farthing's worth. Page numbers regard the title page as p.1 p.2 - You don't need a comma after "reason" unless you have one before "for" i.e. so, for that reason, ... What reads even better is if you leave out "so" and start the next sentence For that reason, all... p.2 - Young head in the text, young head in the caption. Upper case Y or not? p. 2 - fn. Peck numbers or nos. looks better than Numbers p.3 - trident or the trident? p.3 - On this page the captions have a capital F for farthing, whereas on p.2 they're lower case p.5 - Two-pronged (with a hyphen) is clearer p.5 also illustrates an inconsistency between single and double quotes (and in some cases there are no quotes) e.g. large '42', "F/GF", 1 for 1 p.7 - "broken 'F' needs the double quotes closed p.13 - Caption in box - The 1897... - needs full stop at end p.15 - The wide/narrow rim caption talks about the I in DEI, but illustrates the I in eLIZabeth p.17 - Top caption lacks punctuation p.18 - Higher grade, not higher drade (1860/61 reverse types) p.19 - 1861 penny - signature on - where? p.23 - They are included here because, like the fractional farthings, they... is the correct punctuation here. "Brittaniar" is an abbreviation (?), not a name. To call it such is confusing and makes it look like a spelling mistake p.24 Cartwheel tuppence - The largest ever circulating British coin - or, The largest British coin ever circulated - is better English here p.25 - Substitute "circulating" for "circulated" here as well p.25 - Capital M for Maundy and preferably a hyphen as well - non-Maundy

I'm with you on that one HPJ. Ever since I saw the 1826 proof set and examined the £5 I've thought it one of the most beautiful coins I've yet encountered. And, assuming that the money was forthcoming, I probably stand a better chance of acquiring one than I do that 1952 half crown. Mind you, I'd want the whole 1826 set, in the original box - still cheaper than an Una as well

It means - I live alone, in my heaven, in my loving, in my song. The whole song, the title of which means "I have become estranged from the world", is about the isolation of the creative artist. (Heavy or what? )

It's a toss-up between:- "They carry back bright to the coiner the mintage of man, The lads who will die in their glory and never grow old." (Butterworth/Housman - The lads in their hundreds, from "A Shropshire lad") Always gets me, because of the irony that Butterworth was to die young in the first world war. The numismatic reference is purely coinincidental, but Housman had a great gift in finding a novel turn of phrase which goes for the emotional jugular. or "Ich leb' allein in meinem Himmel, in meinem Lieben, in meinem Lied". (Mahler/Rueckert - Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen) I'm usually reaching for the industrial strength Kleenex at this point. I'm just a big softie really