Rob

Just found out that I came second to the Fitzwilliam. Somewhat depressing really as it is yet another coin that has been saved for from the public to be locked away in a cupboard and forgotten. If I had known that I would have carried on bidding because god knows where I will find an acceptable example now. At least collectors pass them around amongst themselves.

That happened to me a few years ago and is something I don't like. I went down for some gold lots which mostly had their estimates upped by around 1K on the day. I didn't bother bidding on them, bought one other lot and went home feeling a bit miffed. But, the person consigning is within their rights to do so just as they can withdraw the lots in advance of the sale.

Or as has happened on more than one occasion, given up as the acquisitions slow to a trickle. Most compulsive collectors will struggle if only adding 1 or 2 coins each year. The first half of the collection might come easily, but the second half can be difficult, verging on the impossible. That's why I deliberately reset my collection criteria to be as diverse as possible. I can easily look for a sovereign and buy a sestertius or whatever instead.

The guy was lucky in that he bought some sovereigns that made a profit, even coming from LMO. 3 or 4 years ago I received a call from a woman whose father had died and spent a 5 figure sum on LMO things. e.g over £1K on a 1791 guinea in a pretty little box with a cert of authenticity and product description showing a picture of a PAS 1791 guinea. Sadly, the contents of the capsule graded fine. Two other boxes held a selection of low grade Roman and middle eastern coins with a retail value of 150 to 200 on a very good day. Cost was over 1200. Lots of other overpriced LMO goodies(?) were also purchased together with maybe a dozen sovereigns. Luckily for me she had done some homework before calling, and indicated she was prepared to get back only a fraction of what he had spent without me appearing to be the one doing the rip-off when my face dropped on opening the boxes. I wish all were like that. The day before yesterday I had to give similar bad news to someone that had spent a few hundred on gilt modern coins - pennies, 20p's, 50p's etc. Again, the resale value is a few pounds at most per item - if you can find a buyer. He will get back approximately 10-15% of his outlay. It goes back to the point I put to the BBC researcher. Nobody would spend £10K or more on a car without looking at it, taking it for a drive, and generally satisfying themselves it was reasonable for the money, yet people hand over similar sums to the LMO and Westminster etc without blinking, i.e. the consumer has to take at least some of the blame for their predicament. Possibly more than half the blame considering the amount of money these companies have to spend on marketing and advertising in the national press. Whether you like the LMO or not, they have to charge over bullion to cover their costs. The problem is the self produced tat they market, less so the overpriced collectable items. Let's face it, every one of us routinely pays a massive premium to intrinsic value, but we are generally saved by doing due diligence. Caveat emptor every time.

It certainly seems a little 'un-British'

He is saying if you want to see the money in your bank account grow, then get some coins. Presumably he is going to pay you to take his crap off his list, as buying them would deplete funds. I was going to say that's a win-win situation, but on reflection, maybe only a win- as you would still end up with the coins.

I only bid on one lot and came second - 206. Ed.III class XVd penny of Durham ex RCB and the BNJ plate coin in Purvey's article assigning the issue to Bp. de Bury. The best(?) of few known examples, though still doesn't make VF, and went for 1400 hammer. By and large the prices seem to be reasonable at this season's sales. There are always a few things that will fly whatever, such as the lightweight B1/1 shilling with negro's head mark at Baldwins yesterday. That made 1350 hammer against an estimate of 250-300

Thanks Nick It didn't tell us anything we don't already know. However, it might be useful to send 'Henry' a link so he has an appreciation of what his employer does to allow himself such opulent surroundings. Interesting as well that LMO offered to refund him in full. Hopefully a lot of other people will make the same request. The person in the library was our own GeoffT

Was this the one on coins and if so how do you find it?

The die axis on these is fairly consistently inverted as far as I can establish, but the lines do not always follow each other on both sides, which you would expect if it was a mechanical process associated with the strike, suggesting the two sides were scraped separately. It is unlikely to be just a feature of Briot's machinery as you get lines across the bust right through to G2's coinage, though during W3 there is a greater tendency to have the adjustments made at the crowns on the reverse. The prevalence of marks on Briot's coins also appears to be greater on full or overweight coins (based on a sample size of about 40). Very few marks were seen on coins weighing 5.80g or less suggesting they were done to reduce the weight. I read somewhere recently that Briot's coinage was frequently rejected as out of spec weight-wise leading to a large amount of scissel, but can't remember where I saw it, The only question therefore is at what point in the process were the marks made? Logic dictates that to be more efficient, you would reduce the weight before striking to negate the wasted time.

I had a really tasty seal dish in Newfoundland in 1982. Thankfully the seal wasn't medieval.

Just like LMO and other nefarious businesses, it relies on people who are too lazy to do due diligence. As I said when I refused to go on the rip-off Britain programme, the people who get ripped off wouldn't buy a car without driving it first, yet happily hand over similar sums to someone who tells them they have a good way to make lots of money. 1. If it is that good, I wouldn't tell anyone else about it. 2. It probably is a good way for someone to make money, just not the person funding it.

One and the same? http://www.complaintslist.com/coins-gold/rosland-capital/ Age old problem I'm afraid. People confuse collecting and investing. We have dubious companies over here of our own who sell 'investments', but continually get away with it because people are essentially greedy. However, the UK isn't like the US where people have a greater tendency to buy the little plastic/paper insert rather than the obtrusive lump of metal below. Anyway, this is a collector's forum, not an investment board.

Yes it does. 6 or 8 years ago I received my won lots next day and then I paid. Doesn't usually happen, I might add.

I use a 2 point grading system - acceptable or not