New to coin Collecting Help Needed

[Rob 3,187]

17 minutes ago, UPINSMOKE said:

Hi just spotted these on ebay and want some advice ASAP as it ends in 3 hours what price would be a good offer on these or should I leave alone.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VICTORIA-HALF-CROWNS-1887-TO-1892-FULL-SET-CASED-UNCIRCULATED-/301982708518?hash=item464f927326:g:jLIAAOSwfZhXNK7S

 

Regards Mick

The uniformity of colour suggests they have been dipped or cleaned in some way, and the absence of fine veil detail says there isn't a single uncirculated coin amongst them. Yet again, the number of genuinely uncirculated coins is a very small percentage of the total available. Yes, they should be desirable simply on rarity alone, but less than uncirculated deserve better acceptance than is currently the fashion. Historically people used to collect in all grades, but grade inflation has helped many people to assume that only high grade is good, and that low grade is the new high grade.

Edited July 11, 2016 by Rob

[UPINSMOKE 456]

2 minutes ago, Rob said:

The uniformity of colour suggests they have been dipped or cleaned in some way, and the absence of fine veil detail says there isn't a single uncirculated coin amongst them. Yet again, the number of genuinely uncirculated coins is a very small percentage of the total available. Yes, they should be desirable simply on rarity alone, but less than uncirculated deserve better acceptance than is currently the fashion. Historically people used to collect in all grades, but grade inflation has helped many people to assume that only high grade is good, and that low grade is the new high grade.

Thanks Rob for input any Idea on what price would be a good offer please. 

[Rob 3,187]

Frankly the picures aren't good enough to make a reasonable assessment. But, having said that, the attached is less than perfect, but still infinitely better than the stippled veil detail seen on what is offered. I would avoid them personally.

http://

Edited July 11, 2016 by Rob

[Paulus 1,979]

33 minutes ago, UPINSMOKE said:

Hi just spotted these on ebay and want some advice ASAP as it ends in 3 hours what price would be a good offer on these or should I leave alone.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VICTORIA-HALF-CROWNS-1887-TO-1892-FULL-SET-CASED-UNCIRCULATED-/301982708518?hash=item464f927326:g:jLIAAOSwfZhXNK7S

 

Regards Mick

A few comments / observations from me, some of which are purely a reaction to your current spending spree!

• Have you bought a book on basic grading yet? By far the best / simplest is this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Standard-Guide-Grading-British-Coins/dp/0948964561/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468273444&sr=1-1&keywords=grading+coins

• None of these are UNC, so don't go by price guides for UNC, at or around EF looks more likely from the pics (even less in some cases perhaps)
• You have 14 days to return them for a full refund, whatever the listing states. Ebay will back the buyer in any dispute over that, for distance selling BINs (it's the law)
• I would want better / bigger pics of each coin when spending the sort of money involved here
• There maybe under 3 hours left on this listing, but in all probability it will be unsold and relisted
• (Nearly) every coin / coin lot has a value worth paying, if you got them all for a tenner then that's obviously a bargain, £550 is obviously too much. What is their counter-offer?

I hope that helps a bit!

Personally - avoid and move on

Rob is a recommended dealer and his coins I always find to be accurately graded

http://www.rpcoins.co.uk/

 

Edited July 11, 2016 by Paulus

[UPINSMOKE 456]

1 minute ago, Paulus said:

A few comments / observations from me, some of which are purely a reaction to your current spending spree!

• Have you bought a book on basic grading yet? By far the best / simplest is this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Standard-Guide-Grading-British-Coins/dp/0948964561/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468273444&sr=1-1&keywords=grading+coins

• None of these are UNC, so don't go by price guides for UNC, at or around EF looks more likely from the pics (even less in some cases perhaps)
• You have 14 days to return them for a full refund, whatever the listing states. Ebay will back the buyer in any dispute over that, for distance selling BINs (it's the law)
• I would want better / bigger pics of each coin when spending the sort of money involved here
• There maybe under 3 hours left on this listing, but in all probability it will be unsold and relisted
• (Nearly) every coin / coin lot has a value worth paying, if you got them all for a tenner then that's obviously a bargain, £550 is obviously too much. What is their counter-offer?

I hope that helps a bit!

Hi yes this is a great help. Will look the book you suggest up right now. The counter offer was £400 but for me that was too much.

Oh and thanks to everyone for their help with this matter. Perhaps I should give you all a shopping list and let you do my shopping for me. I am a bit impetuous at the moment. I need to calm down a bit. 

[DaveG38 420]

31 minutes ago, UPINSMOKE said:

Just wanted an indication on price really did offer £300 for them but has come back with counter offer so not sure if I should go for it.

The grades are pretty good for all of them. As far as I can judge St George's lance seems visible along its length on all of them, meaning that these are all EF or better. This means that there is not much to worry about from a quality perspective. Are they really UNC as claimed by the seller? No, there are too many minor bumps and dings, but overall they are a very nice group, mostly GEF as far as I can judge, for the right price of course. £550 seems to be roughly the Spink price in EF grade. Spink are usually a bit too high on price, so knock the £550 down a bit, but bear in mind these are all (I think from the photos) better than EF. If you really want them then I'd try getting the seller down as far as you can, but I think, with some reduction, they could still be a decent buy. At the very least, I'd expect a dealer to offer say a 10% reduction, bringing the price down to £495, so if you counter offered £450 you might be able to do a deal. Best advice I can offer. 

[mrbadexample 1,006]

This your 1920 3d obverse?

 

[Paulus 1,979]

40 minutes ago, Rob said:

Frankly the picures aren't good enough to make a reasonable assessment. But, having said that, the attached is less than perfect, but still infinitely better than the stippled veil detail seen on what is offered. I would avoid them personally.

http://

What year is that Rob? Is it for sale?

[Paulus 1,979]

5 minutes ago, mrbadexample said:

This your 1920 3d obverse?

 

Looks like you found it Phil, in which case a fiver was fine I'd say

[Peter 615]

You are smokin...slow down and get yourself to a coinfair.You will need a loupe/glass or what ever.(I have a selection of China 99p cheapies) plus some top of the range bits of kit.The cheapies are evenly distributed over the house. You need to get a feel for what a coin pertains to be.There is no problem in buying VF's the problem is buying VF's for Unc £. Think about recording your purchases.Buy willy nilly will always come back and bite you.

[UPINSMOKE 456]

47 minutes ago, Paulus said:

A few comments / observations from me, some of which are purely a reaction to your current spending spree!

• Have you bought a book on basic grading yet? By far the best / simplest is this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Standard-Guide-Grading-British-Coins/dp/0948964561/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468273444&sr=1-1&keywords=grading+coins

• None of these are UNC, so don't go by price guides for UNC, at or around EF looks more likely from the pics (even less in some cases perhaps)
• You have 14 days to return them for a full refund, whatever the listing states. Ebay will back the buyer in any dispute over that, for distance selling BINs (it's the law)
• I would want better / bigger pics of each coin when spending the sort of money involved here
• There maybe under 3 hours left on this listing, but in all probability it will be unsold and relisted
• (Nearly) every coin / coin lot has a value worth paying, if you got them all for a tenner then that's obviously a bargain, £550 is obviously too much. What is their counter-offer?

I hope that helps a bit!

Hi yes this is a great help. Will look the book you suggest up right now. The counter offer was £400 but for me that was too much.

Oh and thanks to everyone for their help with this matter. Perhaps I should give you all a shopping list and let you do my shopping for me. I am a bit impetuous at the moment. I need to calm down a bit. 

[Peter 615]

21 minutes ago, DaveG38 said:

The grades are pretty good for all of them. As far as I can judge St George's lance seems visible along its length on all of them, meaning that these are all EF or better. This means that there is not much to worry about from a quality perspective. Are they really UNC as claimed by the seller? No, there are too many minor bumps and dings, but overall they are a very nice group, mostly GEF as far as I can judge, for the right price of course. £550 seems to be roughly the Spink price in EF grade. Spink are usually a bit too high on price, so knock the £550 down a bit, but bear in mind these are all (I think from the photos) better than EF. If you really want them then I'd try getting the seller down as far as you can, but I think, with some reduction, they could still be a decent buy. At the very least, I'd expect a dealer to offer say a 10% reduction, bringing the price down to £495, so if you counter offered £450 you might be able to do a deal. Best advice I can offer. 

Dave   The dealers counter offer was £400

[UPINSMOKE 456]

6 minutes ago, Peter said:

You are smokin...slow down and get yourself to a coinfair.You will need a loupe/glass or what ever.(I have a selection of China 99p cheapies) plus some top of the range bits of kit.The cheapies are evenly distributed over the house. You need to get a feel for what a coin pertains to be.There is no problem in buying VF's the problem is buying VF's for Unc £. Think about recording your purchases.Buy willy nilly will always come back and bite you.

Thanks for the advice I have ordered the book recommended and a Magnifying glass as well. 

[Peter 615]

Keep the magnifyer away from the window when sunny. Some of the members here are Northerners and they won't understand.

[Paulus 1,979]

2 minutes ago, Peter said:

Keep the magnifyer away from the window when sunny. Some of the members here are Northerners and they won't understand.

Love you Peter

[PWA 1967 2,213]

6 hours ago, Peter said:

Keep the magnifyer away from the window when sunny. Some of the members here are Northerners and they won't understand.

[DaveG38 420]

10 hours ago, Peter said:

Dave   The dealers counter offer was £400

I didn't know that when I posted this. £400 seems a fair deal to me for this group. Admitedly they aren't top quality because of the nicks and dints but from the point of view of wear they are pretty good, so £400 is quite generous from the dealer.

Edited July 12, 2016 by DaveG38

[UPINSMOKE 456]

Well my first few coins have started to arrive. It was like it was my Birthday as a kid Could not wait to have a look, but then realised I had nothing to handle them with so had to improvise with some toilet tissue.  Then another thought had no coin storage containers to use, as they had not arrived. So for the moment everything is having to stay in what they arrived in.

Today I had arrive 53 Farthings dating from 1735 to 1917 some quite nice ones as well, I think so anyway. Also 4 Victoria Shillings 1868,1884,1887,and 1899.

From 1887 was a Half Crown, Double Florin, Florin. Will post some pictures later, but for now just the one picture of a 1901 Farthing please could someone give me some idea of grade please. Would be interested to see if I was anywhere near with my estimate.

Edited July 12, 2016 by UPINSMOKE

[IanB 175]

I will take a shot and say near EF. The fingers of Britannania look in good condition as does the arm and hand holding the shield. The detail on the helmet looks okay as well. The picture is a little blurry so the fine detail is difficult to say. The obverse again looks okay with hair, ear and earring okay. It has some verdigris (green stuff) that you might be able to flick of very carefully but if it  will not move easily then leave it alone. 

Is that a piece of scotch brite it is sitting on? Hopefully not.

interesting to hear what others think of the grade.  Just my opinion but I think it's easier to say what grade it is not rather than what it is. So I sort of work in reverse until I am left with what it might be. Hope that makes sense?

 

[UPINSMOKE 456]

Thanks for the feedback as it does help.  I was of the same mind as you with grading but I am a novice at this at the moment. I am just buying what I like and as long as they are no worse than this I am happy.  Here is my best and most costly so far, but am pleased with it.

Victorian Half Crown 1899 what grade would you give this?

[IanB 175]

I think I will let some of the other guys give a grading on this one, I only collect bronze at the moment, mainly pennies so silver coins are a bit out of my knowledge, however from reading previous threads I believe the faces of the lions are a point to look for. The better the detail the higher the grade. Again the picture is slightly blurry but they appear to have some definition as well as the face on the harp.

I do prefer a silver coin with toning rather than a bright finish but thats just my choice. 

The grading books are the key to the problem plus following the threads on the forum. 

Edited July 12, 2016 by IanB

[UPINSMOKE 456]

18 minutes ago, IanB said:

I think I will let some of the other guys give a grading on this one, I only collect bronze at the moment, mainly pennies so silver coins are a bit out of my knowledge, however from reading previous threads I believe the faces of the lions are a point to look for. The better the detail the higher the grade. Again the picture is slightly blurry but they appear to have some definition as well as the face on the harp.

I do prefer a silver coin with toning rather than a bright finish but thats just my choice. 

The grading books are the key to the problem plus following the threads on the forum. 

Thanks again its nice to get feedback.

Here are some more for comments if you all have time please.

[Stuntman 264]

I'd give both of those halfcrowns at least EF even being harsh.  Some might say GEF or even better.  Nice coins I think.

On the farthing - again detail-wise it's about EF in my opinion, although I believe that farthings resist wear a lot better than pennies and halfpennies do, so the grading of these might be relatively harsher (I'm no expert).  Eye appeal isn't so good in my opinion with the toning spots and the verdigris.

 

While grading is to an extent subjective, the opinions of Rob and Paulus carry more weight than mine in this area, that's for sure 

[UPINSMOKE 456]

23 minutes ago, Stuntman said:

I'd give both of those halfcrowns at least EF even being harsh.  Some might say GEF or even better.  Nice coins I think.On the farthing - again detail-wise it's about EF in my opinion, although I believe that farthings resist wear a lot better than pennies and halfpennies do, so the grading of these might be relatively harsher (I'm no expert).

While grading is to an extent subjective, the opinions of Rob and Paulus carry more weight than mine in this area, that's for sure 

23 minutes ago, Stuntman said:

Eye appeal isn't so good in my opinion with the toning spots and the verdigris.

 

Thanks again this really does help. It does give me food for thought on future purchases. You mentioned about toning and verdigris is there any way you can remove the  verdigris of if its there just leave it alone.

Here is another nice coin, my opinion. 1887 Double Florin

Edited July 12, 2016 by UPINSMOKE

[Stuntman 264]

Nice double florin (he said confidently).  Arabic 1 in 1887 which I believe is the slightly more common of the two varieties, the other one having a Roman I.

Regarding verdigris etc, do a quick search using the forum's search function at the top right.  I just typed in verdigris cleaning bronze, which brought up six threads.  If you read through some of those, I'm sure you'll get some good advice.  Some members here really know their stuff and have a lot of experience of this.  

I hope you're pleased with your purchases so far.  I like the silver ones...  .  Your Jubilee Head and Veiled Head halfcrowns look nicer than mine!

 

EDIT - I've just seen you've added double florin to your previous post, which makes my first sentence slightly redundant!  I'd give it AEF at least.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Stuntman