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TomGoodheart

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Everything posted by TomGoodheart

  1. TomGoodheart

    Helping hand

    Ah. I had some of those too! But I can't see any rules were broken and it seems to have generated a good discussion, so I'm inclined to let it stay.. all agreed?
  2. TomGoodheart

    LOCKETT ENGLISH COINS PARTS I TO V COMPLETE

    I think the £100 is not really enforced as I've had things I've listed for more. You could pm Chris, but I'm not sure he'd worry too much about the difference as numismatist is a regular contributor and it's not a huge amount these days ...
  3. That's pretty much spot on Sword. A quick glance through John Brooker's collection gives a range from around 14.5 - 15.3g. Actually the legal requirement, tested at the Trials of the Pyx, was 232.25 grains (which = 15.0495 grammes). (Another snippet from the Brooker book which can sometimes be picked up cheap on eBay).
  4. I think you're on the right lines Sword. With hammered, my view is that grade is not always as important as 'eye appeal', by which I mean for example that a slightly more worn coin that is centrally struck can be more pleasing than one that is crisper but has bits missing or a weak area. Obviously full flan, nicely toned EF examples are ideal, but generally I've found some compromise is usually needed! I suspect everyone has their own criteria as to what is essential in a coin and what weaknesses are forgivable, though it takes time to develop an eye for this and views can and do change with time. In other words, collecting hammered is a much more personal and subjective thing than with later milled coins. That said, your round / well centred / no weak areas / decent enough grade, with rather good details and / full flan covers the main areas well enough. Now you just need to buy a few more! I guess the only other thing I would add is that I have found comparison useful in my own collecting. A few (more modern, as they tend to be more fully illustrated and sometimes in colour) auction catalogues for decent collections can be a useful investment, enabling you to see what discerning collectors selected as an example (or in some cases had to make do with) of a particular coin. Then you just have to look for similar or better! Obviously it's easier if you have a particular area that interests you. Any idea what you'd like to buy next?
  5. TomGoodheart

    Profile amendments

    Mmm .. I tried to remove my Title and got 403 ERROR Sorry but the page you have requested has encountered the following error: Forbidden Please feel free to browse the rest of my website You may also use the "Search" feature to find the product you are looking for I apologise for the inconvenience. Any ideas Matt?
  6. TomGoodheart

    Cataloguing Coins

    Welcome Stephen. A fair number of dealers will value a collection for insurance purposes, either with a fee or sometimes a charge for travel expenses. In such a case receipts wouldn't really be needed. Years ago I had mine valued by the local Numismatic Society. Of course, I've sold a few and bought others since. Hence I do keep receipts and provenance information. As my coins are all effectively unique (being hammered) I keep photographic records of all of them so if they ever did resurface on the market they would be easy enough to identify. You can also get stuff like SmartWater .. I don't see why it would mark coins and it's linked solely to you, so again if stolen coins turn up they could be identified as such. Mine are covered by my household insurance policy, though they do require anything over a certain value to be listed separately. How well a lump of cash would compensate for the work of 10+ years of collecting however I'm not sure. And hope never to need to find out. Insurance is good to have, but other precautions (such as not advertising you collect, keeping the collection out of sight of casual visitors etc) shouldn't be overlooked.
  7. TomGoodheart

    CGS v LCGS

    I know I'm coming into this late in the day. It's not something that really affects me. However I do find the whole thing very odd. Surely, from a marketing point, one of the selling points of a CGS (or NGC, PCGS etc..) entombment is that, should you decide to sell your coin, potential buyers can then find it on the grading service's database, confirm it's the same coin (and have the possibility of inspecting photographs of it) before committing their cash? Now that is surely impractical, unless you're a dealer. For a casual occasional buyer, paying £50 to validate a coin seems daft. To me, what LCGS seem to have done is made their service much less attractive an option. If you want a database of coins, you'd surely be better off photographing them yourself. Protection? The afore-mentioned Quadrum capsules sound ideal. Certification and grading? NGC or PCGS are better known and grade to an internationally understood scale. Even if their current customers are the loyalest of the loyal, I just don't get how CGS think this is going to be viable.
  8. TomGoodheart

    What would you do ?.

    I quite understand Pete. As my fussiness has increased, the number of my purchases has decreased. One year I bought just two coins. Then Daughter was studying the French revolution and I got interested in the symbol of the Republic, Marianne. She's obviously used widely on French (and French colonial) coins. But also other 'revolutionary' states, such as Cuba, Civil War era Spain. Plus of course, the US. They come in copper, silver, nickel brass, aluminium, zinc ... It provided me with a new theme, the coins are generally cheap (you can add in advertising tokens, jetons and American Civil War Tokens if you like ..) Not suggesting you do the same. Just that you might like to look beyond one denomination or nation for something that takes your fancy?
  9. TomGoodheart

    Can you post please.

    Ah, thanks Peter! Good idea!
  10. TomGoodheart

    Can you post please.

    My exhaust fault light went on. My garage were busy so I took it to a place that do performance retuning. They checked it and say it's the actuator which, if it was a newer model would just need replacing, but as mine is an early version might entail the whole thing. They are checking to see if they can source a repair kit, so fingers crossed ..
  11. TomGoodheart

    Can you post please.

    I like my Octavia. Cheaper than an Audi, decent build quality, VAG engines ... I've got a 1.4 TSI saloon. Good size boot (popular as taxis here). First car I've owned from new. Good luck with the car shopping! .
  12. TomGoodheart

    Can you post please.

    I only post when something interests me. Which tends to only be in my rather narrow collecting area I'm afraid ... And to keep on topic, the turbo in my Skoda might need replacing. Not as pricy as a new car, I know. But ..
  13. TomGoodheart

    Aetherlred Last Short Cross Penny

    The next questions might be where it was bought. If from a dealer that usually gives some reassurance. And provenance too. Though I didn't find this particular coin during a short web search..
  14. TomGoodheart

    Aetherlred Last Short Cross Penny

    More Clive's or Rob's area Nick, but there's nothing about it that shrieks 'fake' to me ... looks nice.
  15. TomGoodheart

    EU referendum - in or out?

    In the 60's we went on holiday to Austria. While driving through Germany we parked up at a stop on the Autobahn, this large chap wandered over and inspected the GB plates on our car. He turned to my Dad and said "You were in war?" "I was in war" Reached over to pop the boot of the car next to ours to reveal a case of beer. "Now we friends" he went on. "We drink". And they did. That was the only time I remember the war being mentioned.
  16. TomGoodheart

    EU referendum - in or out?

    Returning the thread a bit to the EU vote, my most serious misgiving is that this is indeed a divided nation. But not so much the Scots and Northern Irish and the rest. More our elected politicians and the rest of us. If any MP thinks that the public will have more respect or trust in them now they are fooling themselves. When it's clear that (probably whatever the outcome of the vote was) we need stable, reliable leadership all we have is pettiness and in-fighting. Both from the Tories with Michael "I woke up early and decided to run for PM" Gove imagining that polishing off his illustrious political career by stabbing his old friend BJ in the back would earn him Brownie points in the leadership race, and Labour with sulky MPs continuing to try to get rid of a leader who was elected with the largest (membership) mandate ever won by a party leader and whose presence appears to have more than doubled the membership of the party. Seriously. I didn't vote Leave, I don't like the result, but it is what it is. We now need to get to work sorting out the mess to the best advantage of our nation. And if our politicians can't or won't work towards that, perhaps we should look at deselecting and getting ones that will.
  17. TomGoodheart

    Books/Websites

    Welcome Damowain. As Rob say, Spink is a good generalist publication. Though you have to remember that books take time to compile and print and so prices are already dated by the time they hit the shelves, so they are only a guide really. You also have to remember that what a coin is 'worth' will vary depending on demand. A coin can sell for silly money if two people really want it, but conversely a really rare one can go for peanuts if few people collect that type and those that do already have an example. There aren't really all that many websites that offer prices as it would take a lot of time to keep them up to date and many sites are run by just once person. The most accurate price guide is perhaps to follow auction sales (coupled with some knowledge) but that's probably only something to worry about when you are looking for something very specific. And of course, while grade is key, nice or nasty toning, 'eye appeal' and other factors all come into play. Really there's no substitute for personal knowledge. And until you have that there are places like this forum. Most members will happily offer an opinion as to grade or reasonable price if you post a photo of a coin for discussion, so don't be afraid to ask. We're all learning here. Just some have been learning for a bit longer than others!
  18. TomGoodheart

    Valuation greatly appreciated

    And no eBay fees here!
  19. TomGoodheart

    Valuation greatly appreciated

    Looks pretty enough. If it were me I'd probably pop it on ebay for .. £20? Maybe even £25 with free postage thrown in. And see what happens ... Whether that's a fair price I have no idea. But if someone wants one, at least the buyer won't need to pay shipping from the US, will they?
  20. TomGoodheart

    The John Brooker CHARLES 1 BOOK

    That'll give you some bedtime reading! It's a great collection and we're lucky the book was compiled before the collection was broken up (even though the photos are in B&W). Doubt anyone could afford to compile one as extensive as that nowadays ...
  21. TomGoodheart

    EU referendum - in or out?

    Yeah, I'm not sure about 'exorcising the ghosts of an inglorious past', but I do think my vote was influenced by the ideals of community, 'greater good' and our having more than just a trading partnership with our neighbours. Perhaps unsurprising given I've always felt more European than British due to my parentage. Dad after all found a new home here, having had his life in Poland turned upside down a few days short of his 21st birthday and Mum was a Scot, though working in London when they met. Sure, I'm not unaware of its failings. But I admit to voting on the basis of (a romantic, perhaps) belief that the EU can be improved. And to improve it, better from within I reasoned. Interesting thread.
  22. TomGoodheart

    EU referendum - in or out?

    Interesting how Rob's views mirror part of Mark Mardell's piece for the BBC, which I've highlighted below: "As the BBC's first Europe editor, I spent a lot of time thinking about our tricky relationship. After all, in my previous incarnation as a political journalist based at Westminster I had seen how some politicians' profound distaste for the evolving project of the European Union had blown back into British politics with profound and startling consequences. I had watched as Margaret Thatcher's attitude towards the EU's nascent plans for a single currency, summed up by "no, no, no", had her own side bringing her down. It was the defenestration of a prime minister deeply beloved by most of her party. I had reported for Newsnight as John Major's government was harried and hamstrung by those who rebelled against the Maastricht treaty. Europe meant it could do nothing. Blair's government was much friendlier, with any tensions buried by his own project. Now Europe has claimed another scalp, that of a man who told his party to stop banging on about it. It will be the thing that David Cameron is remembered for - banging on about Europe, and losing the argument. Now I know the European Union is not Europe. But those who stress that are missing the point. No, it is not the same as European culture. No it is not a geographically exact expression. But there are only a couple of European countries who are "out", and firmly intend to stay out. All the others, or at least their leaders, want a share in this deeply political expression of a dream. By the end of my time based in Brussels I was convinced that I had understood the key difference. To many in the UK being part of the EU was a hard-headed economic relationship, about free markets, selling and buying stuff. It was a sort of second best, a consolation prize after the loss of empire, but not one that had a similar place in patriots' hearts. But for nearly all the other countries it was a refuge. It was a home they were constructing as a bulwark against history, against horror. Germany was fleeing its role in spreading death and destruction to every corner of the continent, fleeing its own political ambitions. France was running away from defeat and occupation, from humiliation and powerlessness. So were many other countries. Greece, Portugal and Spain found refuge - in an imagined future - from the real past of right-wing dictatorships. The countries of the East were replacing communist tyranny with a new attempt to create peace and democracy. The European Union, for all its bureaucracy, is a deeply romantic project, a desire to forge something new, something different. A new relationship binding nation states in a way that will exorcise forever the ghosts of the inglorious past. "
  23. TomGoodheart

    EU referendum - in or out?

    I could live with that ... in the meantime I'm going back to watching Fatboy Slim play at Glasto on the iplayer...
  24. TomGoodheart

    EU referendum - in or out?

    I think it's fine to cite democracy. However it seems pretty clear that some people voted with little understanding. You could say that happens in any political vote. But the issue of reducing immigration was one factor in some people's decision to vote to leave and Nigel Evans' claim of "some misunderstanding" about this throws into question whether those voters might have voted differently had they had more information. There's also the minor issue that the referendum has no legal standing whatsoever. The government appears to have omitted anything that would force them to act in a particular way when drafting the necessary paperwork. In fact, in retrospect, the whole thing seems badly drawn up, since setting a percentage of votes for it to be carried either way (as proposed in the new petition) would have silenced some critics. Yes, the petition (also) carries no legal power. But it might be difficult for the government to ignore it if the number of signatories reaches 4millon+ as that would represent over 10% of those voting. No small beer. So I can see some delays before anything significant happens. Yes, Cameron said he will invoke Article 50 .. but he's leaving. And as Remain supporters included MPs from all parties I believe we can expect some lively debate before anything at all happens. Particularly as there's no evidence that anyone in government made any real plans for what to do if the public voted as they did. It seems likely it was assumed 'common sense' would prevail and that would be an end to it. And then there's Scotland. And Northern Ireland. And to a lesser extent Gibraltar, London and Birmingham. All with a majority Remain vote. So it seems to me as if there is a rather large space. And for now, all we can do is watch it. Popcorn anyone?
  25. TomGoodheart

    EU referendum - in or out?

    Horrified as I am by the result I can't help but think that this is a good thing for democracy if it teaches people like this that voting is not just about protesting but has consequences; EU Referendum Man Voted For Leave And Is Now Regretting It Perhaps the 'Corbyn phenomenon' has led too many to think that all voting does is to let those in power know you aren't happy. With luck everyone will learn from the experience (including Cameron's successor) and more thought will go into the whole democratic process thing ... maybe.
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