Geoff T

The wide rims were actually minted in 1968 but have the date 1967 on them. There were quite a few "1967" coins minted in '68 and even '69,which is why they're common as muck. G

Over here they're almost as common as Churchills, albeit usually unboxed. I can always pick one up for you. G 2005 issues are on there way.

Yes, there are two 1960 crowns. They are identical in design but one was struck from polished dies and looks somewhat prooflike. I think I'm right in saying that these were the ones struck here and sent to New York. The intention was to strike them in situ but it wasn't allowed, hence the need to strike them here. The unsold ones were returned loose, which is why you almost always find some bag marks on them. The reverse is identical to the 1953 crown except for the date. G

Unlikely, as the official 1902 proof set didn't include bronze and had a matt finished anyway. G

This medal isn't especially rare, but it is interesting in that it's one of the earliest struck (possibly the earliest) to bear the effigy of Victoria as queen. Price will depend on condition. Can you post a picture? Geoff

Yes, it made me laugh, but I confess to thinking they were called "bum pennies" when I was a small child. Obviously from the same numismatic kennel as the dump farthing :-) G

60s farthings - now they would be worth something! Tut, tut :-) G

I know most of these prats can't spell, but can't they read either? Furthermore, you'd think that if someone tried to get away with selling a "1933" penny then they might give the date a higher profile in their listing! I despair... G

You need to register as a member to be able to post pics. Geoff

I've added three books - Jewitt/Dyer/Pridmore. Geoff

I suspect that he did. Next year we have his business partner Neil Paisley coming to talk to South Manchester Numismatic Society on grading, and he admitted that it wasn't necessarily an area where he had a comprehensive knowledge. He's hoping to lead a session where we all chip in our experience rather than do all the talking. In my opinion Colin was a very knowledgable and astute grader. He's the only person who's actually suggested that I might have undergraded a coin! G

Heaven knows there are already getting on for twenty varieties of 1689 halfcrown, but I'm intrigued by one which has come my way which doesn't conform happily to any of them. It's a second reverse, frosted caul and crown interior, no pearls. So far, so straightforward; it's the obverse which is interesting. The letter "I" on such coins is generally like a Roman I with curved lower serifs. Mine has no less than three types of "I". That in "Dei" is as described above. Both "Gulielmus" and "Gratia" have such an "I" with no upper serifs at all, while "Maria" has a plain Roman I, i.e. with straight serifs top and bottom. I suspect a die flaw as there is a clean break through the "G" of "Gulielmus" and the first "L" thereof also has no upper left serif. Can anyone shed any light on this? If I get a break in my hectic lifestyle I'll try and post a picture. G

Have fun with the noun declensions, there's a combination of about seventy suffixes to learn. Plus besides the normal nominative, accusative, genitive and dative cases, you've got the ablative, locative and vocative ones! Good luck You should try Russian! It makes Latin case endings look simple. Persevere with the Latin. Its reliance on inflection rather than word order to impart meaning is the source of its conciseness, which to me is one of its virtues. G

One of the things I'm hoping to ask Graham Dyer is whether the Mint has any breakdown of mintage figure for the three 1887 sixpences. In particular I'm intrigued to know what percentage of the total mintage was the Young Head 1887. G

"Thou" is simply the old form of the second person singular, like the French "tu" or the German "du":- I am Thou art He/she it is We are You are They are Accusative = thee Genitive = thy These days we use the plural "you" in all contexts

It's " A comedy of errors: the withdrawn 1887 sixpence". G

I don't care who wrote "Shakespeare", it's the only writing in English I know of where a line can bring a lump to the throat. It's when you see plays by his contemporaries, particular the Italianate Jacobean tragedies, with their two-dimensional archetypes, that you realise just how far ahead Shakespeare (or whoever wrote those plays) was in observing the human character. I do wish, though, that we'd stop performing to death things like Midsummer Night's Dream or Romeo and Juliet (neither of which I count as favourites) and look more at some of the less familiar plays. Measure for Measure is my favourite for its refusal to give any firm answers to its own moral dilemmas, and even Pericles (or at least the bits of it that Shakepeare wrote) has its moments. Dickens I've never really warmed to. I was probably put off it as a child, but by the age of 8 I was already sold on Shakespeare anyway. Jane Austen I don't really see the point of. Any one section is a good read, but on a narrative level her novels are completely predictable. Nicely-bred girl meets rich handsome man and marries him. Upmarket Mills and Boon, where the interest lies, not in what will happen, but how it will. I know there are people who will want to throttle me for saying that, but Jane Austen goes on my list of overrated cultural icons, like late Beethoven, French cheese and the Goon Show. [Exit, among a hail of rotten fruit...] G

...although I wasn't aware that the word "acronym" had evolved the point where it had acquired an extra "c"... G It's full moon - I'm on a pedant's roll here...

Ok - as a self-appointed guardian of the English language I'm going to get very pedantic here. "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" doesn't mean "Where are you, Romeo?", it means "Why are you called Romeo?". Hence "What's in a name...". Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest, then write it out a hundred times. Goddit? G

Halfway up Bridge Brow/Bridge Street leading up to the market, on the right as you leave Merseyway. PS - You mustn't miss South Manchester Numismatic Society on 7 November - we've got Graham Dyer coming. He's in Manchester and offered to speak to local societies for free, so I've rejigged the schedule to fit him in. Geoff

This is a fairly common non-official coronation medal of William IV. I've never heard it described as a phantom sovereign, although it is roughly the same size. Geoff

The best haggis comes from a butcher in Ballater near Balmoral. It has to be good as HM the Q and her family shop there. Since I can't always get up there (not been invited to Balmoral for a few years now), I have to be content with the very good fish and game shop in Stockport. Even their vegetarian haggis is good. Geoff (you can call me what you like but I am NOT a Scouser - wrong side of the Mersey)

You see this among disabled people too. Some of them are reclaiming "cripple" as a kind of raspberry to those PC types who want to stick labels on them without actually consulting them first. I've known a number of people who were, for example, deaf, who rejected the term "hearing impaired" because it had been imposed on them my people who weren't deaf themselves. Far too many labels are imposed on minorities by majorities in the name of political correctness. The bottom line is that minorities have a right to call themselves what they want, not what others tell them they should call themselves. Hence the reclaiming of totally un-PC terms like "cripple", "queer" or "nigger" as a badge of honour.

The best advice is don't polish them at all as you will damage the coins. Gentle treatment with warm soapy water is about as far as you should go, and the coins have to be totally dry before you store them. The coins are likely to have little intrinsic value, but the golden rule is always never polish anything. If you were looking to sell coins on, polishing is the quickest way to reduce their value. Once the lustre is gone, it's gone and you can't restore it. Hope this helps - Geoff

Presumably homosexuals will restore "gay" to its original meaning when heterosexuals do the same for queer, queen, puff, pansy, fairy, fruit, faggot... and all the other words they've appropriated from the language to abuse them with. G