Coinpublications.com A Rotographic Imprint. Price guide reference book publishers since 1959. Lots of books on coins, banknotes and medals. Please visit and like Coin Publications on Facebook for offers and updates. |
The current range of books. Click the image above to see them on Amazon (printed and Kindle format). More info on coinpublications.com |
Predecimal.com. One of the most popular websites on British pre-decimal coins, with hundreds of coins for sale, advice for beginners and interesting information. |
-
Content Count
3,553 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
99
Posts posted by copper123
-
-
On 2/7/2023 at 12:51 PM, Martinminerva said:More from Blakeyboy's favourite seller...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234888374858?hash=item36b0702a4a:g:wtsAAOSw~ZNj4fCP
Who would have thought that verdigris would be such a selling point?! 😉
Not worth £20 and thats with the box
-
I saw that for sale , though expensive it really was quality stuff and i am sure you could have waited at least two or three years till something similar came on the market.
I love the box it really is nice , you make me very jealous , moore was a master of lovely little items like this and its in super grade .
A fantastic pick up
- 1
-
-
On 2/8/2023 at 9:37 PM, DrLarry said:I heard this morning, on Radio 4, that they are bringing back fawlty Towers I am not sure it would be the same without Prunella Scales ( who I have to assume could not possibly be involved)
Would be more appropriate to be set in a care home with the age of many of the cast - a hell of a lot are dead as well .
I cannot feel anything as it just seems another money screwing exercise from john cleese who always defends himself by pointing a finger at all his ex wives
and calling them gold diggers..
-
many thanks and keep up the good work finding these lovely little coins as you the the lowlands or holland are strangely missing , strange that one .
The map of europe has changed quite a lot since 1918 austria is quite a recent addition isn't it? I find it strange they are in there as well .
-
5 hours ago, DrLarry said:I will list all the Lauer Coin sets for Europe in the 1880's for you I assume that is hat you mean?
yes thats it
-
Funny enough hatred of anything german lasted well into the seventies and early eighties (I remember a few old timers from the eighties that always refused to buy german made tools and cars), when it turned more to jealousy as their economy was not riped apart by the thatcher goverment and had a more progresive aproach in europe, indeed turning into the leading light .
-
10 hours ago, DrLarry said:Yes I am sure the war and anti German thinking especially the Nurmburg connection resulted in a mass dumping. I was thinking the other day why it would be that there are no Dutch lauer coins. Or Netherlands more accurately.
A list of all counties in europe would be nice
seeing as i only know about 6
-
Yes they are cheap really , few people knew what the original contents were , a lot got emptied of the coins and used to hold needles or pins things like that very few were left with the coins in esp after the first world war when anything connected with germany was viewed with hatred
-
-
14 hours ago, Bruce said:Maybe bit more harsh, gVF to me, anyway, no where near AU.
There is an massive gulf between gvf and AU I wonder if these gradeing companies employ children and threaten them with a slipper if they dont do as they say
- 1
-
I would grade it as EF , while there is little wear it is noticeable and the obverse has slight problems as well .
Was the graders name mutly (Always dreaming!)
- 1
-
Categories
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Know your onions'?
To be experienced in or knowledgeable about a subject.
What's the origin of the phrase 'Know your onions'?
The English grammarian and lexicographer C. T. (Charles Talbut) Onions was an editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1895 and continued to write reference works throughout a long and distinguished career. His last work was The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, 1966, which was published a year after his death. If I knew as much etymology as he did I could certainly claim to 'know my onions', and it is tempting to assume that this is where the phrase originated.
If the 'onions' referred to in the phrase is indeed human rather than vegetable, there is another Mr. Onions that could be our man. S. G. Onions (they were strong on initials in those days) created sets of coins which were issued to English schools from 1843 onwards. These were teaching aids intended to help children learn £.s.d. (pounds, shillings and pence). They looked similar to real coins and had inscriptions like '4 Farthings make 1 Penny' or, as in the example pictured, '12 Pence make 1 shilling'. We can imagine that 'knowing your Onions' might be coined, so to speak, in those circumstances.
The first known use of 'know your onions' in print, in the 1920s, tends to argue against either of the above men being involved. While it is true that the phrase originated at a time when C. T. Onions had established a reputation, the match between the phrase and his name is just a coincidence. Know your onions is in fact an American phrase. There are many references to it in print there from the 1920s onward, but none in the UK or elsewhere until the middle of the century; for example, this from Harper's Magazine, March 1922:
"Mr. Roberts knows his onions, all right."
Another example comes soon afterwards, in The Lima News, May 1923:
"The Columbus statement declares that the league is ready to give the Donahey boom every aid and comfort. Of course! Why not? Governor Donahey knows his onions..."
Other phrases that refer to knowing - 'know the ropes', 'doesn't know s*** from Shinola' etc. allude to specific items as the focus of the knowledge. Other 1920s variants of 'know your onions' are 'know your oil/oats/apples' etc. The only one that caught on and is still in common use is 'know your onions'. So, why onions? Well, as the citation above asks - why not? Explanations that relate the phrase to knowledgeable vegetable gardeners, or even to C. T. or S. G. Onions, are just trying too hard. 1920s America was a breeding ground for wacky phrases (see the bee's knees for some examples) and this is just another of those.
See other phrases that were coined in the USA.
-
-
Very kind - I accept your offer - I will of course send you back something of about equal value
A pic up from the York coin fair this last weekend - almost certainly a Moore counter issued for use in schools which were starting to take off at this time due to a health interest in education in the 1850's
-
55 coins? I aint even got 1
-
-
On 1/20/2023 at 11:03 AM, DrLarry said:Does anyone else have any D & Co's toy coins?
ARE THESE DEFINATELY ATTRIBUTED TO MOORE?
-
On 1/20/2023 at 11:32 AM, DrLarry said:John Cooke and Sons : these are described as advertising pieces . Rogers says the differences are mainly in the composition and the finishing. I have been fortunate last year or sometime during the lost years (covid years) to have found a small haul and this gave me a chance to sift through them carefully and I identified a number of variations in the design which I think gives us the six listed Rogers #'s 495 to 497a under section 17 of the book pages 62 and 63. These new variants I have found differ in the positioning of the legend letters and the size of the letters. There is also a variation in the die alignment as a medal strike and one as a coin strike. It would be interesting to understand the process of manufacture and pressing of these tokens in general and I will have to attempt to find out more information
The quality of these John Cooke and sons pieces is very high . If you have any please list them I will take photos over the following days.
A FEW PICS WOULD BE NICE
-
On 1/19/2023 at 10:40 PM, Peckris 2 said:Not that big - Elizabeth I was just that!
There is no latin name for elizabeth so it was not changed
- 1
-
-
I notice instead of Carolus, Charles is known as charles on the new coins another really big break from tradition.
-
WOW thats one hell of a large collection you have there larry - god knows how much its cost you over the years .
Looking forward to York tommorow I usually find my best stuff in the winter as well
-
You can see the compleatly different size letters on these two counters one quite small and the other large - really interesting
TOY COINS
in Free for all
Posted
It would be really interesting to know what dates appear on the european lauer coins .
While the golden age for Lauers minatures was 1885-1902 in the uk this might not have been the case abroad its fair to say the first world war must have stopped the trade here and brought it to a halt.
It might be interesting to know the last dates on the Lauer coins i would hazard a guess at ther mid thirties but i could be wrong .
Assuming Lauers production stopped around 1944 it would be a reasonable assumption they would have stopped at least 5 years b4 then with them helping in the war effort