Sword

Personally, I won't risk rubbing with a spectacle cloth. The matt proof surface is kind of delicate. I have never tried acetone with coins but would consider dipping in acetone being a (much) safer option than water. Acetone evaporates easily and dissolves grease well. If I were ever to clean a coin, acetone would be my first choice. If the coin is a normal proof with mirrored surfaces, then you will not get away without damage after handling it like that. As it is a matt proof, then perhaps you might be lucky and finger prints marks won't develop later on? I am certain the more experienced collectors will give their opinions.

Thanks. I am sure that I have seen one for sale on ebay last weekend but it has been removed now. If I remember correctly, the bidding got to just over £30

Not sure. My guess would be that the 1937 3d were not trial pieces but advance release of the final article. They were issued to various business probably with no strings attached. However these £1 coins are clearly marked trial pieces and might be issued with the caveat that they cannot be resold and remain the property of the mint?

Shocking way to handle a coin. I didn't even notice the fingers until Azda's post.

That's a matt proof crown for sure ...

Undoubtedly. And hence undoubtedly it was initially brought from the Royal Mint for "investment". It will turn out to be a very bad investment when it is sold in the auction I am afraid. How can anyone tell if there are still coins inside? Someone could have removed them long ago and resealed in a box of junk ...

That's a good video clip. I find it incredible that so many people are happy to buy from the mints at hugely inflated prices mainly for "investment" purposes. Here is an extreme case I have just come across: This is one of the lots in the next Lockdale Auction. It was brought 20 years ago and none of the previous owners have even open the packet to look at the coins.

I plan to get an EF+ 1746 LIMA halfcrown in the future. I think they are only very common in lower grades. And I haven't met a drunk accountant in a nylon shirt at a wedding before ...

For me the answer is simple: keep the coins you most enjoy having and get rid of the others. Collecting is primarily about enjoyment. If investment becomes more important, then coins might not be the best things to invest in. I personally feel that a 100+ years BU coin is likely to have more potential from an investment viewpoint than a modern RM coin unless the price of bullion changes significantly.

The scaffolding still covered the other side of the bridge when this was taken last October.

It's a fake alright. Here is the article: http://www.checkyourchange.co.uk/fake-britannia-2-missing-two-pounds/ Jelida is referring to. The fakers have got the wrong obverse with the Britannia reverse. It should have been a type 3 dated obverse instead of a type 2 undated obverse. Criminals can be so careless sometimes. How's this for an ebay description? "Extremely rare undated Britannia £2 mule. This extraordinary pattern has no legend on reverse and milled edge"

A photo taken when my little niece and I were at Chester Zoo.

Photo of the Blue Mosque, taken in Istanbul before the troubles started.

You need to reduce the size of photo to less than 500Mb. I normally use Paint to open photo on my PC. Then select "resize" and chose "Pixels". Reducing the pixels number to about 400 in one of the dimension should do the trick. You photo will then be less than 500Mb.

1937 proof sets turn up very often in auctions. A nFDC set can be brought for around £240 + commission. Look out for sets with brass and bronze having good lustre. Avoid coins with fingerprints or hairlines of course.

He has now added the following: " I hope gathering data from a variety of different sources and putting it down here may help shed some light on these most interesting coins. The regular 1935 Crown, struck for circulation, has mintage of 715,000 pieces and was produced in .500 silver with edge lettering that is incused (sunken into) the edge surface. Normal edge lettering reads DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI XXV but errors exist, more on this later. Some examples of the circulation Crown, presumably early strikes, can have a somewhat prooflike quality to their surfaces. The edge lettering on circulation coins was applied in a seperate operation from striking and was done without regard to whether the obverse or reverse side of the coin was facing up. Only Proof and Specimen coins, where the edge lettering was applied at the time of striking, are oriented so that when the edge lettering is rightside up the obverse side of the coin will also be facing up.Proof issues of the 1935 Crown were also struck. One of these being the Raised Edge Letter Proof with 2500 examples struck in Sterling silver and issued in red boxes. " Basically, he just quoted a paragraph from the article: http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/The-1935-George-V-Crown-types-and-varieties-/10000000009549585/g.html without acknowledging it. (It is a nicely written article by the way). He has totally misunderstood the article thinking that if the edge lettering is right way up, then it must be a proof / specimen. Obviously he didn't understand that the article is saying half of the 715,000 currency coins also have edge letters right way up. He doesn't appear to know that there is a difference between proof and specimen for this coin type and so uses the term "proof specimen".

£500 asking price. I wonder if he is related to Yestodtom. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1935-Silver-Crown-possible-circulated-proof-specimen-/272500845633?hash=item3f7250ec41:g:bsoAAOSwa~BYY6EY

It is interesting that Thomas Wyon Junior (the engraver of the bullhead halfcrown reverse according to p261 of ESC) didn't give his full initials TW and simply used W instead. Bit strange as he used WWP for the mint master. I wonder if he was collaborating with his cousin William Wyon on the engraving / designing and so "W" stood for both of them? William Wyon even used "W Wyon" or at least WW on his own work.

Orient Express no doubt. Good for you! Must have cost a pretty penny though ...

Everything is great in Venice apart from the cost of eating out in restaurants!

Welcome to the forum and happy 2017. Can't be certain with regard to grades from your photos. Looks like VF to NEF for the silvers, penny looks to be aUNC. There is no right or wrong way to start collecting and the initial purchases depend a lot on one's budget. Buying a starter set like this is perfectly fine (providing it was reasonably cheap) if just to get an idea of the denominations you might like to focus on in the future. But I would advise not buying many more such "sets" as they were put together by dealers using coins that are difficult to sell individually. E.g. GVF is not a very collectable condition for a 1937. Better off spending £20 or £30 on a real UNC coin instead in my view. And if you are changing your mind regularly about what you want, might be it is better to do more reading / research on the internet before buying more. Otherwise, you will accumulate a number of coins you won't want to keep later on.

Taken on a break to Venice in October. Enchanting city.

Merry Christmas! Just got back from a break at Rome. Photos of life size manger scene outside St Peters.

An EF or EF+ Lima halfcrown is something I want to buy at some point. I totally agree with Paulus and Stuntman that only you can decide on its eye appeal. It is nicely toned and that certainly helps. I personally have got a bad habit of always focusing on the worst parts of a coin and so I would avoid coins with defects. Consequently I can only afford to buy very infrequently...