Paddy

Welcome Jamie - I hope your collecting proves successful and rewarding. I am also ex-services and have been collecting for about 16 years (not counting a few years as a child). I could give you advice and ideas for hours so I will try to focus in on a few key points. Firstly I suggest yo put the "investment" side of collecting on the back burner for now. Rarely does this work out well unless you are really expert. I would also be wary of spending too much on the commemorative coins from the Royal Mint. Very few go up in value in the short term, unless they are precious metal and then they move with the metal. In most cases it is a bit like buying a new car - the value drops by a half just driving it home. And avoid the non-Royal Mint "coins" all together - in most cases they are a complete rip-off and the resale value is almost zero. Then I would say you need to set yourself some objectives in good military style. Mainly this is deciding what you want to collect - which countries, which metals, which denominations and which eras. All are possible but will depend on budget. You can specialise in a very small area, or spread out looking for anything and everything. You can take any grade that fills a gap, or only buy the very best and take your time. It all comes down to what floats your boat. Personally I have gone for British - mainly pre-decimal - and aimed at getting one of everything I can in any grade to start with before gradually upgrading as the opportunity arises. This fills my "completer" mind set and keeps the cost reasonably low, whilst giving me plenty of opportunity for little victories. Others go for a very small area of collecting and focus on being expert in their speciality - you will see them discussing the minutest details on individual coins, and that fills their needs. Do get a few books before you spend too much on coins. If you are going for British coins, the Rotographic books advertised here are a great affordable start point. Get a copy of Coin News or search on the web for coin fairs and get along to one to see what is available. It will help you to identify what you enjoy most. Ebay can be good, but bear in mind there are a lot of fakers and charlatans out there, so don't invest a lot until you know how to spot them. ... and keep asking questions.

I have been struggling to see the variety in this since the pictures were originally posted, and using the excellent: https://headsntails14.wordpress.com/edward-vii-obverses/ site for reference. I think I now know why I have had a problem: On the site in the Obverse types it gives three - given Freeman numbers 1, 2 and 3, but on the varieties page it uses Obverse types 1, 1* and 2. Hence I was seeing a type 2 and couldn't see the rarity. I think there is a misprint, or at least a mismatch in the website...

I think £1750 is a bit hopeful. This one finished on Ebay recently for £1119 - still seems a lot for such a modern thing but well under Guest Mike's expectations. (His Ebay listing also appears in the page...) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ULTRA-RARE-1983-COIN-SET-WITH-NEW-PENCE-2P-ERROR-COIN-/222898036265?hash=item33e5c21e29%3Ag%3AV8cAAOSwJstat86e&nma=true&si=eUj7fy05BKcsN%252B5hCt1igtsauSU%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I have to say - I can't say I see an "H" there, but equally there is sufficient marks that might be the remains of an H that I certainly wouldn't buy it as being 1882 no H.

Which one would you like? Postage only...

Then I can see no reason why they should put "cleaned" on that coin.

I am no expert, but as I suggested before - I would not accuse that one of being cleaned from the pictures. I suspect the grader saw the other two as cleaned and carried his mindset over to the third in the group. Graders are human too - another problem with the whole principle of putting one's faith in grading companies!

My 1915 RE has the chipped tooth, though it is only just noticeable if you know what to look for.

Are people crazy? This is not Ebay but a local auction house. They have been careful to describe it with let out clauses and it is clearly 100% fake, but still people have bid it up to £200 already. (That is a bid - I guess the reserve is 200 as that is the low estimate and 2 days ago the bid showing was £150.) https://www.easyliveauction.com/catalogue/lot/75f0afbd2a2aa18c21f0093057d4e5f6/0af8d24542e81eb9357e7ef448a6646f/march-auction-of-militaria-collectibles-watches-lot-19/

On the "Home" panel just to the left of the Rotate 90 degree arrows is a rectangle with an angled line through it. If you click on this it allows you to rotate by any specified number of degrees. (In the pop up window I think you need to ensure you are in simple "Rotate" and not "Level Off" at the top left corner, otherwise it seems to crop at the same time.)

On Microsoft better than Paint is Photoscape, which is also free if you stick to the basic package. Cropping is much better - even allows circular cropping, and has many Photoshop features for adjusting brightness, balance etc. It's resize function - essential for getting into the 500Kb limit here - is also easy.

Another bunch finishing this Sunday evening: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/pbowen24/m.html?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEFSXS%3AMESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

I am trying to clear out some of my spares on Ebay. There are a few items there already, finishing tonight Sunday 18th March, and another batch scheduled to start at the same time. If I can maintain the enthusiasm I will list some more, so please keep watching. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/pbowen24/m.html?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEFSXS%3AMESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654 P

I think you have posted the wrong link - it takes me to MY summary page, not your selling list! Also I think the mods will point out that notifications of things for sale on Ebay should go in the For sale section. I will certainly have a look when I get the right link - I have some upgrades to make at the moment.

...and this is another one that concerns me - by the picture the same coin listed twice? Does not mention stock photographs, so you could end up with anything! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GEORGE-IV-COPPER-PENNY-COIN-DATED-1827-SCRUFFY-BUT-SCARCE/372260330937?hash=item56ac71ddb9:g:uhAAAOSwe1xauirl https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GEORGE-IV-COPPER-PENNY-COIN-DATED-1827-SCRUFFY-BUT-SCARCE/372260334601?hash=item56ac71ec09:g:uhAAAOSwe1xauirl I know it is easy to do, but I see a lot more of these than just the occasional accident would explain. I have seen one seller who always seems to list his stuff twice - usually at very different start prices. I suspect he cancels one auction towards the end when he works out which one is going better.

...and this is another one that concerns me - by the picture the same coin listed twice? Does not mention stock photographs, so you could end up with anything! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GEORGE-IV-COPPER-PENNY-COIN-DATED-1827-SCRUFFY-BUT-SCARCE/372260330937?hash=item56ac71ddb9:g:uhAAAOSwe1xauirl https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GEORGE-IV-COPPER-PENNY-COIN-DATED-1827-SCRUFFY-BUT-SCARCE/372260334601?hash=item56ac71ec09:g:uhAAAOSwe1xauirl

Am I going crazy or does this look all wrong to anyone else? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/George-II-Silver-HalfCrown-1739-Young-Head-DVODECIMO-S3693-EF/173203459164?hash=item2853bb0c5c:g:D3cAAOSwJoNZ23Wf

I picked this up amongst a lot of other stuff on Saturday. My head is already spinning with trying to ID everything - can someone tell me exactly which one this is? I know it is pretty worn and it will be moving on, but I like to be able to tell the new owner exactly what they have. Thanks for your help!

Thanks! That is brilliant - I will label it up as such.

Welcome Chris! I am sure someone more knowledgeable will chip in with chapter and verse, but the early Royal Mint proof sets in hard plastic were not frosted. I'm not sure if it was a fixed change over but a quick check back through my sets shows 1979 as un-frosted but 1980 as frosted (though I am not sure all the coins are to the same extent!) Your 1970 is correct at non-frosted and I don't believe there is a frosted version. There are frosted proofs of some earlier pre-decimal coins, but these are generally very pricey. I hope that helps.

Darn it! I hand one or two a few years back and sold them at 50p each! Can't remember which adverts though.

Apologies for the delay - I have been sorting new purchases most of the day. This is the best of the ones I have left. I also have quite a few other dates, 1937 to 1945 if you need any? PM me if you want this one.

Sorry - too late! Mick had it. I have more - nearly as good...

Would this one suit you better? It is in my spares box - PM an offer if you would like it - does not need to be a big one!

What I don't get is why, if they are supposed to be a professional coin dealership, they put up such a lousy photograph - particularly on a coin they want so much money for! They didn't even bother to crop it so they could put up a higher resolution. I have only been photographing (as opposed to scanning) coins for a few months and I can turn out better images than that. ... and if MEs in average condition are really worth that much, I had better go through my box of discarded 1926s. If the grade is low I tip them in there and don't even bother checking for ME...