Rob

People seem to get quite exercised about the value of and prices paid for low grade things. Frankly, I'm not sure it matters that much whether you pay £2, £3 or even £5 for something that is worth less as melt. The buyer has filled an integral part of their collection; ok, maybe at a premium to it's worth, but given 2 or 3 quid is less than the cost of a pint............ More importantly they are happy. It's no good telling people there is no right or wrong way to collect, but then to tell them they have collected in the wrong way seems a bit muddled thinking.

It depends on how much you want to spend and what sort of things you like. Do you appreciate quality, or are you just looking to tick boxes? This might be a little unfair at present, but the question will raise its head again. All collections are a trade-off between desire/ambition and funds. You collect what you feel comfortable with. Just the simple exercise of buying a book or two will give you knowledge. A book with prices means you can add up the numbers and see what the book says it will cost you to assemble your chosen collection. Prices at the top end can get a little scary if you are used to bottom fishing, but it is always worth remembering that even if you are normally paying £10/coin, a £100 coin doesn't suddenly become a £10 coin just because you bought it. More important is the need to understand the market you are playing in, which means a lot of reading and minimal collecting to begin with. Get a few books and visit coin fairs, speak to people. Wakefield is tomorrow at the Cedar Court Hotel (off Jcn 39 of the M1) starting at 9:30 if you are within range. The Midland fair is at the Motorcycle Museum (near Birmingham Airport on the M42) on the second Sunday of each month, again doors open at 9:30. People with a genuine desire or need for knowledge are welcome to talk to dealers - we don't want to frighten people away as they are our future customers.

It was from the Amble Hoard (1988), so secreted not too long after it was minted, and sitting in a stationary pot/tray for the most part since then.

A type set is an example of each denomination for a particular coinage, so fractional farthing up to the gold £5 if you can afford it. By collecting in this manner you can see a range of coins which differ in both size and design. After a while you may decide that you like a particular denomination, but until you do it keeps all your options open. Personally, I find a date run boring as it comprises a number of similar coins which differ only in the date which may be too small to see easily, but there is no right or wrong and it is each to their own. You can start with a single type set for a monarch, but this can be expanded to include type sets of the different coinages of that reign. For example, George VI's initial coinage was in 500 silver and had the full titles on the obverse. Following India's independence the IND IMP was dropped on the 3rd coinage, so you have a different obverse design, though the portrait was unchanged. You have 3 distinct portrait types for Victoria, the Young head, Jubilee head and Veiled head. Elizabeth II has half a dozen portraits and she isn't finished yet! The beauty of a type set is that it allows you to find the cheapest year for any denomination/type of coin. Go for a date run and you will end up with a gap for the key date that you feel reluctant to fill. Edward VII silver for example is relatively cheap for some years, but 1905 is way more expensive than the rest. If you got a 1902 set then you would have all the denominations issued during the reign at the cheapest price for any grade. 1902 is quite common in all denominations. Aesthetically speaking, it is better to have coins with a similar grade and tone.

4K hammer

It is virtually as struck, but a trifle weak in the strike. However, I'm not complaining. It will do as a type example, because that is all I require for gunmoney. Just one of each denomination along with an example of the different flan sizes. I certainly can't see me needing more than a few dozen or so Irish coins, these restricted to coins struck in the name of the English monarch, or as money of necessity such as this crown.

It worked after a fashion today. I still had to wait for registration to be approved, which I still maintain should not be necessary every time as it ought to remember the previous registration, but at least their system found me today (linked to the email account). Powder was dry, but I couldn't afford the Derwent Wood unless it went for low estimate or a bit above. I've bought quite a lot of late, so liquidity is an issue for larger amounts. I did ok in CNG the other day, so can't complain, and Spink has possibilities too.

Bright old silver can cover a multitude of sins. They can be dipped or buffed or had the undivided attention of a Brillo Pad. Very, very occasionally you find silver that is genuinely untoned with original surfaces, but the vast majority of old coins have been dipped if there is no toning to them. It's a natural process, so the only way to prevent oxidation is for the coin to be stored with a protective layer or to remove the oxygen i.e. it doesn't happen very often.

As a complete beginner, I would go for a type set of as many monarchs as you can fund. You have five or six to go for with Elizabeth II, 3 coinages for George VI, 4 for George V, 1 for Edward VII, 3 types for Victoria, one for William IV, 2/3 for George IV, loads for George III etc. You can always choose the cheapest option in this case, whereas a denomination collection will inevitably result in some fairly unaffordable pieces, and in some cases, unavailable.

That will give you half the story. Your next task will be to establish what fair value would be for a particular coin. Hint - the various coin value volumes give different figures for the same coin, so you can't rely on them. You have to do your homework from past sales, and ebay is too inconsistent to give an indication.

Nah, it's obviously just a misprunt. The guy is illiterate. Should read shocking. The clue to the mistake is the item location.........CHEDDER (sic)

Useless statistic of the day. According to my phone I got through to them on the phone at the 22nd attempt after an hour trying.

Not sure. I think it may be that you have to register for each sale. I'm going to register tomorrow, just to see if it works (see how optimisitc I am? ). The point is that I had registered with them previously, so assumed that it would just be a case of registering for that sale just as you do with the Saleroom, but they kept things in suspended animation with the registration requiring approval, so I wouldn't bet on it working. I wouldn't mind, but they kept giving the message, this email address doesn't have an account, despite the fact I had logged in to the site using said address.

What I don't understand is why they don't have the bid button automatically updating. Sometimes it did, other times not. Baldwin's on their own used to manage it ok, St. James's on their own used to do ok too, so why the current mess? I had a dozen bids with bigger numbers than what the lots sold for. OK, some were lost due to registration issues, but not all. Basically, admin went awol. It shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to accept registrations promptly from people on their mailing list, and the person in charge of updating the bidding prices should be sacked forthwith.

Has anyone had any joy with them today? From my perspective the whole setup is shambolic. It took an hour of phone calls and emails to get connected because they said I hadn't registered but their site said registration pending and I can bid when it has been accepted. Consequently missed out on the first 120 odd lots, some of which I had bids for. Tried to bid on the 1859 pattern decimal halfpenny and got to £950 with the next bid set at £980, but the auctioneer was asking for £1K which I would have bid, but the 980 was rejected and the coin knocked down, only for 1000 to flash up and equally fast disappear as the next lot was put up. Tried to bid on one of the farthing lots which was at 100, next bid was 110 but the screen was only asking for £10, so couldn't bid, then it went to 20, then it said next lot. Same thing happened on a couple of others. Consequently I have wasted a whole day getting nothing I needed or had commission bids forbecause they are completely inept. Someone had better put Stanley Gibbons into administration and let St. James's go back to as they were, because at least the auctions worked. Pissed off.......you bet.