Rob

If it comes through the post, it will enter the UK via the Mount Pleasant sorting office where they will assess the duty and VAT payable based on the value stated on the customs declaration (the little white or green label). This will then be payable when the parcel is delivered. They will take cheques. If it comes via courier such as FEDEX or DHL, they will also demand payment on delivery and may require the cheque to clear unless you have an account with them. All parcels travelling to an international destination must have a customs declaration and so in theory all imports should pay duty, but this is frequently waived for low value items.

Sorry, that was me.

People in the US must be cutting back a bit. We still use a pinch of salt here in the UK.

The deeply engraved type has the I of GEORGIVS pointing to a space, the shallow portrait has the I pointing to a bead. cf.Davies p.84. He also lists a third variety with a smaller reverse design having quote "slightly longer beads at top with 0 in date 'hand struck' & centred over space". The latter in combination with the first type of obverse.

Identifying and then acquiring high grade unrecorded varieties. Finding coins with a good provenance that has been missed by the seller or lastly picking up a piece for £5 that is worth £500. All produce the same buzz.

I haven't seen the advert. Which 1933 is it?

Is this illiteracy, a genuine misprunt or a chav fashion statement? Sorry, I'm not very clued up on this culture.

Looks polished to me.

If it sells at the reserve or even at the current price, I'm not sure I want to be around the owner tries to resell. There could be a few expletives. The basic problem is the inability of both buyer and seller to grade.

The verdigris will be from small inclusions of copper in the silver. Don't forget that the silver used was never pure and always had another metal (frequently copper) added to give the appropriate purity. .925 silver has 7.5% impurity This may or may not be evenly dispersed within the silver depending on whether the adduct was fully melted prior to being poured from the crucible. Copper is the usual material used as it is a natural impurity in silver and vice-versa. In fact, if you plate copper, silver or gold with any of the other two elements, over time you will get migration of one material into the other at the interface between the two metals due to their chemical compatibility. It is therefore quite common to see spots within silver coins which are either green or black depending on the oxidation state of the copper. i.e.Nothing to worry about unless the whole flan appears to be copper underneath the silver. If you are not happy, ask for a refund but personally I would be happy with it if there are only one or two spots.

I presume you mean 1797 penny and two pence? If so, there are that many about that it would not be worth making them. Peck notes that there were at least two contracts each of 480 tons of pennies and 20 tons of two pences with possibly more. There are well documented modern copies, but for genuine pieces the number available to collectors is such that there is no real shortage other than in the absolute top grade with full lustre. Even these are only going to sell for about a maximum of £1000-1800, - probably too low a value to interest forgers. In low grade the penny is seriously common, the two pence less so given the above ratio of 48:1 based on weight. If you actually meant 1897 pennies, there are huge numbers available in all grades. There is no copper or bronze two pence dated 1897. Unless they are obviously reproductions, they will be genuine. Their value will depend on their grade and ebay is the last place on earth to look for an accurate correlation between grade and market value. The rubbish is usually overpriced and the good stuff - nobody believes it so bids tend to be low. Post a couple of pictures and it should be possible to give a grade and approximate value.

If you bought it from a UK based supplier acting as agent for a US firm your contract is with the UK supplier and not the US one. They are the people who you would have a claim against. If they are a business, it may and certainly should be possible to get to them through trading standards. I don't know how you would get to an individual other than to file in the small claims court.

For what it's worth, 1 of the 7 1831s in Spinks Adams auction 23/7/03 had this as did the 1834. The 1837 did not.

Make the most of its good looks now, because Whitman folders aren't made of acid free paper, so being a nice tight fit gives perfect edge corrosion in time, particularly if it is a copper or bronze piece. Whitmans should be banned like slabs. I don't have a slab insert to hand, but think it is probably silicone sealant (bath sealant). If that is the case, the smelly vapour present is usually acetic acid. Not so good if the insert is freshly made prior to slabbing, but if left to cure long enough in a heated environment it should outgas sufficiently to eliminate the acetic acid.

I've only ever seen one and that was 40 years ago. As a 6 or 7 year old, I remember asking my father why it was called that. It didn't seem to be any slower than other worms, just a lot bigger.

Pass the buck and give them a fiver

I'd say it was halfpenny numerals. If you check the ratio of the two heights, on my screen 12.1 to 10.7 and those on a real penny and halfpenny 2mm and marginally over 1.7mm, the two ratios are 1.13 and 1.17. Scanning in a couple of uncirculated examples of each denomination without changing any scanner parameters gave a ratio of 1.16. That's quite a close match and reasonably within the margin of error you could expect from different punches as the ratio varies by around 3%. If it was worn digits, you would need about a 15% reduction in size. Not impossible, but it favours the 1/2d digits. The only problem is that both sets of digits in the picture are worn

Like this you mean. The brown one was PCGS MS64BN! (overgraded IMHO). The red one is NGC MS65BN (bigger !! as the colour is graded incorrectly with only the purple patches showing light toning. The obverse incidentally has nearly 90% lustre). Two allegedly close grades separated by a bigger gulf than the differences between English english and American english. Sorry I had to chop a picture, but the file size was too big. Second image to follow this posting And again. It's actually a bit redder.

Like this you mean. The brown one was PCGS MS64BN! (overgraded IMHO). The red one is NGC MS65BN (bigger !! as the colour is graded incorrectly with only the purple patches showing light toning. The obverse incidentally has nearly 90% lustre). Two allegedly close grades separated by a bigger gulf than the differences between English english and American english. Sorry I had to chop a picture, but the file size was too big. Second image to follow this posting

Get a pair of heavy duty pincers, the ones that form a complete outer curve with a broad blade and cut the corner off. Then work your way down the inside rims of the slab a bit at a time. Eventually it will come apart. You need a heavy duty pair to make a cut at one point rather than shatter the plastic and potentially damage the coin. The plastic is quite workable if you do in steps of a few mms. In case you were thinking of it, a hammer or a bigger hammer is not appropriate.

Given that the obverse is dire although the reverse looks a bit better, I wouldn't go as far as £100. I'd leave it as there are much better examples out there without rim marks. It's probably worth £100-125 as it the obv. struggles to get to fine although the rev is probably good fine IMHO. The pictures could be better.

PCGS is one of a number of companies that offer a grading service, mostly they are based in America. PCGS, NGC & ANACS are all such bodies. They inspect the coin and assign a grade to it. There are a lot of people who don't have that much confidence in the grades applied and this is discussed elsewhere on this forum. Essentially, people submit their coin for assessment regarding the amount of wear to these companies. They will then give an opinion on grade. All pieces will be given a number of 70 or less. It will have a prefix of F, VF, EF, AU, MS for currency and PF or PR for proofs and patterns. In the case of copper and bronze coins there will be a RD, RB or B®N to distinguish how much if any of the original colour is present. Roughly speaking, M(int)S(tate)63 is a British uncirculated. Coins are submitted by individuals for grading. If someone wants to know why it hasn't been certified, it suggests that they know nothing about coins and are looking to buy them as an investment rather than as a collector. Some people, particularly in America only trust certified coins and I suspect haven't got a clue how to grade accurately. Unfortunately, the grades applied to some pieces in the eyes of collectors, me included, are somewhat suspect. Anyone who takes the grading as gospel without personally assessing the grade is rather deluded. They don't even get the date right all the time! Have you applied a grade based on the American system to the coin?

They were struck at Matthew Boulton's Soho mint in 1797 to a design by Conrad Kuechler and along with the penny were the first currency pieces struck using steam power designed by James Watt to drive the machinery. The penny and twopence contained 1 and 2 ounces of copper respectively, as the coinage to that date was based on an intrinsic value of metal. It was not popular due to the weight and both issues were only struck dated that year. The initial contract to produce the coins was for 500 tons of copper into 20 tons of 2d and 480 tons of 1d, the copper provided by Boulton at £108/ton. They were legal tender up to 1 shilling. A similar contract was agreed the following year with possibly others subsequent to this. So at least 1000 tons of cartwheel currency pieces were produced. That's a lot of copper. They are not rare except in top grade as currency pieces. Also, there are between 15 and 20 pattern and proof varieties of this design, but they are all at least very scarce, tend to be found in perfect or near perfect condition and are quite expensive. Values are always dependent on condition and can range from a few pounds to upwards of £500 for a top grade coin. The proofs and patterns start at about £500 or maybe just under if you are lucky. If you post a picture, we can give an idea of grade.

Help please. Brass, 21.7mm diameter, 1.4mm thick and weighs 3.54g. It has a milled rim. There could be an A on the truncation where WW would normally be and possibly something else but it is indistinct. I don't have a copy of Hocking, so if anyone does could they please have a look. The legend screams medal or colonial, but 1861 doesn't seem to tie in with any colonial issues. Thoughts please anybody.

There are no signs of it being cast