1949threepence

I did say they would not be granting any new licences. I know that existing ones will be honoured. It's great that renewables are now reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, but by deliberately cutting back on fossil fuels at this stage, we risk a Winter crisis at some point, especially if the wind stops, as it very well might depending on the weather conditions. Moreover, some time will be needed for any (new) nuclear power stations to come on line. I'll let you argue with the unions over new job opportunities. It's them that's raised it, and they bankroll the Labour Party to a greater or lesser extent. So Starmer really doesn't want to get on their wrong side before he's even in power. As far as 2030, the target will be missed whether or not the eco zealots get their knickers in a twist over it. ************************************************************************************************************************* By the way here's a question for you from @oldcopper whose posts I know you once said were invisible to you. If you want to reply through me, I'll make sure he sees it.

The thinking of some of these eco zealots is truly, truly odd. They go screaming raving mad over what the UK do or don't do, with our 1% emissions (which have halved anyway since 1990), and quite literally never say a word about the likes of China, India - and even the USA. I just can't take them seriously at all as I don't think they're all there. I also think that with specific regard to "just stop oil", a tragedy is imminent, whether because of a motorist just completely losing it and ploughing into them deliberately, or (more likely) a genuine accident. What does seriously annoy me personally is the deliberate shutting down of any other view than so called "settled science". It's all part of this somewhat Orwellian "disinformation" campaign. Who the hell decides what's disinformation and what is valid reasonable argument, and what precisely lends them the intellectual supremacy to do so? If they are confident in their own view, then they should be happy to argue it out in open debate. But that never happens, at least not in the MSM. As we know from history, new evidence can emerge which changes the landscape completely - such as the discovery in the 19th century that cholera was caused by infected water. If that debate had been closed down, how many more would have died?

Got to laugh. Keir Starmer has upset the unions (GMB & Unite) with his messianic zeal over not granting any more oil and gas exploration licences if Labour get in next year. They are unhappy about the effects on their member's jobs and financial security. As I've said before, yes, a transition to net zero would be a fantastic long term aspiration. 2030 is absolutely impossible to achieve, 2045 maybe. In the meantime we also need oil and gas both to ensure our own security and as a possible export to Europe. link

There was an uprising in East Germany in June 1953, which was quelled by Soviet troops. Although it wasn't an invasion as such. They were already stationed there. link ETA: the map is incorrect anyway, as it extends across all of Germany, despite the fact that West Germany was unaffected.

Spot on - sat out today in the garden, and it really couldn't have been better weather. Hot sun, nice ambient temperature of 21 degrees, and a pleasant breeze. Idyllic.

Thanks Ian. That's very interesting. I must admit I've seen and read those words in Bramah's book many times, without ever thinking too deeply about them. But they make perfect sense in terms of finding unique sets of dies for a given variety. As you suggest, probably only one reverse die for the 26a. Bramah doesn't mention the flaw after the T of GRATIA at page 4 of his book as far as the 1858 no WW pennies are concerned. Only 1859 and the recut 1860/59. But of course it's there on the majority, and definitely on the 26a.

How about Acker Bilk, which my Dad used to say sounded like some particularly unpleasant digestive complaint.

Opinions vary. Like you, I prefer it like this - at least when the sun's out. Living in the South West as you do, you will have been less affected by North Sea cloud, which can persist all day at times in the East and Midlands - no hills whatever to prevent it rolling straight across the Midlands. Was clear today after a cloudy start, though. Went out for a quick spin on the bike earlier, and I must admit, even the the Sun was still up, it did feel decidedly nippy, due to wind chill. Of course on very hot days (and nights), wind chill is a Godsend.

We haven't really had many properly warm days yet (although of course, when we're not plagued by North Sea Cloud), the Sun is very hot. We're on the cold side of a stubborn anticyclone centred to the North West and dragging in air from the North East. Clear nights are going to feel especially nippy at the moment because the humidity is very low

Bisodol is far better.

Also, without wishing to be cheeky, I would be very interested in any count you've done on the 1858 no serif on the first I of BRITANNIAR. Again, it's a coin which doesn't seem to be vanishingly rare, but equally doesn't crop up every 5 minutes. Most seem to be unattributed no ww date only examples. Not too well known maybe. Sorry to be a nuisance Ian

Indeed, the Pokemon story is incredible in terms of an investment opportunity. One of those "right place, right time" and you're in luck, phenomenon. You're spot on with slabbed coins. You can see this clearly illustrated with the 1937 Five pounds to half sovereign proof set. You could get a decent near FDC original set for somewhere around £17k. Split up and slabbed by NGC you're looking at twice that amount for the four. It's ridiculous.

Thanks Ian. You'd have thought there would have been a re-print of Bramah by now. Can't be copyright issues as they expire 70 years after the author's death. As Bramah died in 1942, that date would have been reached in 2012. The originals, being so rare, will always sell at a premium even if there was a re-print.

So about 0.4% of all 1858's you recorded were large rose. I never imagined they were quite that scarce. Indeed, many of us have had it in mind that the small date large rose variety was considerably rarer than the large date, large rose. But from your findings, it's much nearer 50/50. Out of interest do you have figures for the 1854 no colons on reverse variety? As ever thanks for such incredibly useful stats Ian.

J B de Loynes presumably being the VIP in question.

You could well be. Also, there were many asymptomatic cases. Some tested themselves and were positive, but never had any symptoms at all, right the way through until they tested negative. Felt fine. Including some who were never jabbed, or jabbed just once.

I'm wondering if we here in the UK have achieved the much vaunted "herd immunity" with regard to covid. I'm not hearing of any cases recently. Those that have occurred in the last year or so, say at work, were so mild to the individuals concerned, that they were able to work from home (if equipment installed) and they just tested themselves every day to see if they were negative. Now a recent HR missive says staff who have tested positive for covid can come into the office if they don't feel ill, and stay away from other vulnerable staff (not sure that's an entirely logical position, but still). The local rag still gives figures for new cases over the previous week, and there were just 9 this week - out of a population approaching 130k. Even the arcturus (sp) variant which the media made the alarmist most of a couple or so months back, has failed to make any impact at all. So yes, I'm tempted to say that's where we are - herd immunity status.

Called Doubles in Chelmsford. This would have been late 80's (1987 - 89). Never played it at senior school. Would have done, but nobody seemed interested, so it never happened. I'd bet every local area had their own accepted different names.

In terms of the extant known population I would say my 1863 die No 3 under date penny is the rarest.

I do now Ian, yes Incidentally, one slight error I made above regarding the F67. A superb specimen sold at the Copthorne collection May 2016, which post dates my purchase. But generally, the evidence seems to indicate that the already very scarce supply has dried up still further in recent years. I suspect quite a few must be in private collections (such as mine in all fairness), and staying there.

Also, I was looking at 1874 sales from LCA over the years, earler, and the evidence shows that single UNC examples of F67, F68 and F78 sold in 2009, and a further instance for F67 in 2006. For F67, F68, F77 and F78, of the 18 sold since 2003, 12 of them were from 2011 or before. There was no example of an F77 above VF in ANY, the last VF example being September 2010.

Or anywhere else for that matter. I've not seen another quality F67 since that one above in 2015.

GEF 1874 F67. Another example of a very difficult to obtain variety, which, at R12, shouldn't be too onerous to locate, but is, in fact, very difficult in higher grade. I actually won this at the Spink Auction of 22nd September 2015 (lot 565), but don't think I've shown it before. The dark patch on Britannia's legs is curious as it hardly shows at all in hand, but the photo brings it out. Incidentally, with regard to the 1874 varieties, I still believe that with the obvious exceptions of F69 & F76, the F77 & F78 still remain the most difficult to obtain in high grade, as evidenced by their extreme scarcity of appearance over the years.

At junior school we used to play using the drain covers in the playground and at the back of the school. They had a partially smooth top and then two circles one inside the other. Can't remember the exact rules we played to now, but it involved getting to the inner circle in as few moves as possible. We called bigger marbles (or "marleys") "doubles" and very big marbles "trebles". If anyone wanted to play using the multicoloured marbles, a value was agreed and assigned before the game. Sometimes we would play two against two (as teams).