Greetings from a newbie

[Old Copper Nose 0]

Just wanted to say hello to you all and introduce myself.

My interest in coins began 23 years ago, collecting change and making date runs from different denominations. I was soon spending many a Saturday afternoon pouring over trays and trays of coins at the Manchester Coin & Medal Centre in the basement of the Royal Exchange. In my later teens / early twenties I was distracted by many things so my coin collection took a back seat and laid undisturbed for about 6 years. The year I finished Uni I jumped straight back into it and started collecting with a lot more focus, the emphasis being on pennies.

I had built up quite a nice collection of copper and bronze pennies but in 2005 I was in the unfortunate position that I had to sell the vast majority of my collection due to financial circumstances. I have spent the last 5 years trying to get back to where I was, but current prices and fiercer competition at auction means it is a slow road to follow.

My aim is to form a collection that charts the history of the penny from its inception right through to the modern decimal ... The hammered series will just be representative of each monarch, the main emphasis will be in the copper and bronze from 1797 - 1970; concentrating on high grades and provenance where possible.

Anyway that's my story,

I look forward to speaking with you soon,

Kind regards,

Jay

P.S I have recently photographed some of my collection and would like to get it online. I have noticed some members of the forum use Omnicoin ... Is this the best site or are there other alternatives? Cheers

[azda 979]

Welcome Copper nose and thanks for the info on the width of the penny. Omnicoin or photobucket are 2 good places to upload your pix and feel free to share, thats if you want to.

[RobJ 0]

Hello Old Copper Nose,

Welcome to the Forum.

[Red Riley 2]

Welcome to the forum Jay. Sounds like a fascinating plan and not dissimilar to one I attempted myself, which as per usual never got completed...

[1949threepence 3,367]

Welcome to the forum, Jay. Sorry to hear you had to sell your original collection.

From what you say, it sounds as though you are looking to collect coins from each reign, rather than a date run ?

[Colin G. 147]

Jay,

Welcome aboard, another penny collector, you will be right at home here, we have plenty already you lot will all be fighting over a few coins...mind you it leaves the field open for me and Peter on the farthings

[Peckris 579]

My aim is to form a collection that charts the history of the penny from its inception right through to the modern decimal ... The hammered series will just be representative of each monarch, the main emphasis will be in the copper and bronze from 1797 - 1970; concentrating on high grades and provenance where possible.

Don't forget the Roman denarius (the "d" in Lsd!) - the advantage of including those (the first true British 'penny') is that they are comparatively cheap considering their age and state of preservation.

P.S I have recently photographed some of my collection and would like to get it online. I have noticed some members of the forum use Omnicoin ... Is this the best site or are there other alternatives? Cheers

Whichever you go for, do remember that those sites are VERY PUBLIC - you will effectively be saying to the world, "Here are my coins". Whereas here, even though still nominally public, it's unlike to attract casual villains. And there is a facility here for uploading to your own personal profile, which fellow-mwmbers can browse through. I'm surprised more members don't take advantage of this.

[Kronos 0]

Just wanted to say hello to you all and introduce myself.

P.S I have recently photographed some of my collection and would like to get it online. I have noticed some members of the forum use Omnicoin ... Is this the best site or are there other alternatives? Cheers

I have just started to upload my coins on Omnicoin and have a long way to go, but it's simple enough. I've up loaded 50 coins so far with another 350+ to go.

Welcome to the board Jay

[Peter 615]

Jay,

Welcome aboard, another penny collector, you will be right at home here, we have plenty already you lot will all be fighting over a few coins...mind you it leaves the field open for me and Peter on the farthings

Colin we must be in contact regarding bidding on 1/4d's...I remember snatching a few off you in the states

[Old Copper Nose 0]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I will take on board the info re: the photos and hopefully I will be able to share some pictures with any interested parties in the near future!

Kind regards,

Jay.

[Old Copper Nose 0]

Welcome Copper nose and thanks for the info on the width of the penny. Omnicoin or photobucket are 2 good places to upload your pix and feel free to share, thats if you want to.

No worries, would love to share some pics with everyone, will have a look at the various options and just try to decide the best route!

[Old Copper Nose 0]

Welcome to the forum Jay. Sounds like a fascinating plan and not dissimilar to one I attempted myself, which as per usual never got completed...

A rather large task to complete though, I sometimes wonder if I will ever be able to finish what I have started out on ... A lifetimes work with what I want to obtain methinks

[Old Copper Nose 0]

Welcome to the forum, Jay. Sorry to hear you had to sell your original collection.

From what you say, it sounds as though you are looking to collect coins from each reign, rather than a date run ?

It was a sad day when I sold the collection, but I don't know what makes me more upset: the fact I had to sell them or the prices that I would now have to pay to obtain coins I already had!

The hammered series will be a case of one from each reign whereas I am looking to complete more of a date run with the milled series. I am interested in varieties but am not necessarily hunting them out for my collection. If a coin has good eye appeal, it interests me and I can afford it then I will buy it. With something like an 1860 1d I would much rather have a high grade beaded border, toothed border and proof to represent that year than have 15 different varieties of said date in varying states of condition. I admire people who can painstakingly hunt out miniscule varieites but to be honest I just don't have the patience! But that's what's great about collecting, you can make your own rules and bend or break them further down the line if you choose

[Old Copper Nose 0]

Jay,

Welcome aboard, another penny collector, you will be right at home here, we have plenty already you lot will all be fighting over a few coins...mind you it leaves the field open for me and Peter on the farthings

Cheers Colin, yes I've noticed there are a few other penny aficionados on here ... Maybe they're the ones who've been outbidding me at recent sales

[Old Copper Nose 0]

My aim is to form a collection that charts the history of the penny from its inception right through to the modern decimal ... The hammered series will just be representative of each monarch, the main emphasis will be in the copper and bronze from 1797 - 1970; concentrating on high grades and provenance where possible.

Don't forget the Roman denarius (the "d" in Lsd!) - the advantage of including those (the first true British 'penny') is that they are comparatively cheap considering their age and state of preservation.

Very true, it is something I have considered and will hopefully get round to collecting at some point. Maybe once I have got Victoria's reign a little more complete and a few more hammereds under my belt I will venture further back in time ... I daren't look at any new areas of collecting at present because I am, like my shcool reports used to say, easily distracted!

P.S I have recently photographed some of my collection and would like to get it online. I have noticed some members of the forum use Omnicoin ... Is this the best site or are there other alternatives? Cheers

Whichever you go for, do remember that those sites are VERY PUBLIC - you will effectively be saying to the world, "Here are my coins". Whereas here, even though still nominally public, it's unlike to attract casual villains. And there is a facility here for uploading to your own personal profile, which fellow-mwmbers can browse through. I'm surprised more members don't take advantage of this.

Yes it's certainly something to bear in mind, I didn't know about the facility to upload to your personal profile here so I'll have to look into that. Thanks for the info

[Red Riley 2]

... The hammered series will just be representative of each monarch,

This of course is where it gets tricky... Not actually my area of expertise but from my recollection, there is no absolute concensus as to which coins were produced in the reign of Henry II/Richard I or Edward I/II/III. Also gets mighty difficult when yoy have to track down a penny of Edwy or Edward the Martyr, or even somebody as well known as Alfred the Great. But we wouldn't do it if it was easy, would we?

I did manage to put together a complete penny date run from 1797 to 1970 plus all major varieties in average grade above EF, but it took years and years and...

[Rob 3,152]

... The hammered series will just be representative of each monarch,

This of course is where it gets tricky... Not actually my area of expertise but from my recollection, there is no absolute concensus as to which coins were produced in the reign of Henry II/Richard I or Edward I/II/III. Also gets mighty difficult when yoy have to track down a penny of Edwy or Edward the Martyr, or even somebody as well known as Alfred the Great. But we wouldn't do it if it was easy, would we?

You might struggle with Hywel Dda given it lives in the BM. You also have to consider how far back you go - Roman times or even earlier?

[moneyer12 0]

whatever happened to the manchester coin and medal shop from the exchange?

[Hussulo 6]

Welcome to the forum Jay.