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Paddy

Accomplished Collector
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Everything posted by Paddy

  1. Paddy

    1837 and 1845 pennies

    All of which makes this one, which I got "for free" in a job lot a few months back, even more surprising!
  2. A couple of principles that help with Mechanical problems: "If it jams, force it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway." "If all else fails, read the instructions."
  3. Paddy

    Charles Kennedy

    Unfortunately many voting decisions (in fact most decisions in life) are made on the basis of emotion rather than logic. In the political world, you can spot when emotion has got the better of logic, when people start slinging personal insults rather than discussing the actual facts and policies that are important. The other indicator is when people start quoting "facts" that are uncorroborated, inaccurate or irrelevant. Virtually everyone in the media comes with a political bias, often emotional rather than logical, so they rarely question the mud-slinging or the misinformation. Sells more papers to keep stirring the pot.
  4. Paddy

    Coin First Day Covers

    I can't abide the first day cover/coin combination. Always struck me as one of the worst marketing ploys ever - tagging successful coin collecting market onto the rapidly collapsing first day cover market. The 1996 £2 coin though is one of my favourites of the decimal era. Shows what happen when "real" people get to design rather than trendy art students.
  5. Paddy

    Charles Kennedy

    The trouble I think is we have too many "politicians" and not enough "leaders". Whatever you think of Boris's political views, at least he has leadership qualities, which are probably what we most needed during the pandemic. Leaders, almost inevitably, have more character, and that often comes with flaws. We should be more tolerant of these as most of the rest of the world are. (I am thinking particularly of the French and the Italians!) Politicians are trained in the process of politics and diplomacy, but somehow end up just following the process rather than leading their party or country. They end up as "grey" men and women. The other problem is we still have far too many lawyers in parliament, with the net result that their reaction to any situation is to pass more laws rather than address the problems underlying the issue. (There is another agenda too - make the laws as obtuse and complicated as possible to keep their colleagues in work for ever!)
  6. I have been having a battle with them today, and I suspect my days of selling there are over. I may even cancel my account in a fit of pique! I got the email telling me I needed to register a bank account. I wasn't keen, but after some thought I set about doing it. The link to the bank account failed with an error message from the Bank and I then got a series of ebay emails saying I needed to take action. I fixed what I thought was the error - Ebay was using my name as per the Ebay account as my bank account name, which failed security. I tried again and now the bank was happy but Ebay wanted to text me a confirmation ID - but showed a phone number that was nothing to do with me, and giving me a USA helpline to call! I used the online chat system, and eventually got through that - the operator telling me that the account was now linked successfully. Ten minutes later I get another email from Ebay saying that my ID check had failed and telling me to upload a copy of my "government ID card" , or my passport. Well I'm not going to do that, so that is the end of Ebay. Anyone else having similar problems, or successfully got through it all? I'm not sure I am too bothered - the VAT on foreign sales has made selling there pretty pointless for me, and it is a while since I saw anything worth buying that wasn't at risk of being a fake. Ebay RIP.
  7. Paddy

    An unlucky metal detectorist.......

    The PC police have been notified about this thread and will be calling on some of you shortly.... 😎
  8. Paddy

    BBC articles

    I have posted previous articles spotted on the BBC website, but thought a generic thread would be better so as not to keep starting new ones. Spotted this one today: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56045273 The form at the bottom allows comment and contribution - I thought of pointing out how many fakes of the Kew gardens are around. Also give room for posting pictures of you oldest coins, or info about your collection - anyone fancy it? 🙂
  9. Paddy

    BBC articles

    Another new article on metal detectors failing to do the right thing: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-56945507 P
  10. Paddy

    1825 George IV halfcrown

    Design is for the Half Crown, but with no weight or dimensions, one cannot be certain if it is an incorrect listing. As to whether it is a fake - the reverse appears very deeply struck, but whether this is natural, the result of fakery, or just excessive photoshopping is difficult to tell.
  11. Yes, it has both those. The design is very plain - no twists or engraving, so was an "every day" piece in its day, which makes it more appealing to me. Also the top rim is not completely level, which suggests it was cheaply made at the time. Not going to be worth a fortune and worth more to me as an interesting old thing to drink my wine out of - knowing that 200+ years ago people were drinking their beer from it.
  12. Paddy

    New to Roman coins

    Ah yes, the last few English monarchs can be a challenge. I still need Henry IV and William II but I baulk at spending hundreds of pounds on something barely identifiable! I expanded into the Saxon kings of Wessex and England to give me something to buy and now have 8 different monarchs there - but getting any more is pricey. Peck mentioned Julia Domna, so here is one I picked up the other day:
  13. Paddy

    New to Roman coins

    Yes, Peck's advice is good. I don't collect Roman coins, but I do deal a bit at markets in the local area. I find Roman coins in good grades much easier to obtain than most of the hammered English. A collection based on as many Roman emperors as you can get, is a good target. Don't forget the wives/daughters/mothers, who also appear on quite a few coins. You will find, a bit like English hammered, that you can get the majority of the names fairly quickly, but then it gets hard filling the last few. Some emperors were only around for a few months, or only held sway in a small part of the empire, and those can be tricky and expensive. When you get down to the likes of Galba, Otho, Vitellus in the early days, or Carausius, Allectus and Marius in the later days, you will find your budget being tested more!
  14. I picked up a wine glass a while back from a charity shop for 50p because I liked the simple design and it was a sensible size. A visitor at Christmas told me it was actually a Georgian rummer, and worth a lot more than 50p. I still use it for my constitutional home made wine every evening.
  15. That is quite a beast! The pictures of the crane used to get it out of it's old home brings home quite what a task it would be to install.
  16. Paddy

    What's the problem with Royal Mail track and trace?

    It may be that VM is disguising your location, which is triggering a concern and so taking you into Captcha. I agree though, those Captcha screens are frustrating and sometimes you cannot work out why it didn't work and you have to do it again!
  17. Ah, but even if you don't use the handles as such, the fact that your fingers are tucked through it gives you extra security against dropping it as your coordination falters later in the evening...
  18. I don't drink much beer these days, but when I do I still favour the traditional Dimpled Mug. The first of the two Mugs looks OK too. It is many years since I tried a Yard!
  19. Ah, that is one of my favourites! I would love to get hold of one. The other one I watch out for is the evasion halfpenny with Britannia bare-breasted.
  20. Just this one in - I find these engraved portrait coins interesting, though it seems a shame that a rather nice 1882H Penny got adulterated in the process!
  21. Paddy

    BBC articles

    I can see that being on private land, or indeed any land without permission to metal detect with a metal detector might be seen as "going equipped for theft". I wonder if the prosecution can prove it? Hopefully there will be more news after the case comes to court.
  22. Paddy

    BBC articles

    This one in the BBC news today - hoard of Iron Age gold staters found in Chelmsford and not declared to the coroner. Two in court... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-56555343
  23. Paddy

    Alternative coin storage

    The loft maybe good for thwarting thieves, but it is generally a lousy place to keep coins (or most other valuables). Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter. Other places to avoid include the sock drawer and the fridge - both places the thieves will go to first. I won't suggest the good places to store your valuables in case I give away any secrets!
  24. Paddy

    Ebay's Worst Offerings

    Definition of an expert: An "ex" is a has-been and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.
  25. Paddy

    New to collecting - my story so far

    The only problem I find with that style of folder is that you have to keep it upright or all the coins start sliding out. I use the Magpie brand albums, which you can get from WH Smiths - they have a double sliding action so the coins can't escape. Last time I looked they had a 2 for 1 offer for online orders.
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