Prax

Market is on the up for choice pieces. Seems like a sellers' market at the mo across the board for milled coins. What's the market like for the other categories (hammered, Ancient) - anyone?

Lol, you obviously don't know Mr Platt Half tempted to send him this (http://www.atlasnumismatics.org/1015220.jpg) as ref to what prooflike should be and this (http://www.atlasnumismatics.org/1017218.jpg) for bronze proof. However considering he might be guilty of deliberate misrepresentation I fail to see the point.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1888-QUEEN-VICTORIA-BRONZE-BUN-HEAD-PENNY-UNC-PROOFLIKE-/111675093795?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1a005ab323 proof (like) UNC supposedly Beats me someone with such good feedback can call a coin with cuts on the cheek and verd at the lettering UNC and prooflike.

Do you have a pic?

https://www.spink.com/lot-description.aspx?id=15031000411

That's interesting. considering you were at the sale and are well informed it would help if you could expand further please. Infact there were two their often bidding against each other. The main one bought most of the expensive coins offered. Without wishing to name names, "bidder 61" a virtually unknown figure at the start of the sale, sat in the corner and pratically bought all of the top end coins, like the 1820 gold five pounds, the Anne five guineas, the 1699 five guineas etc etc. I would hate to guess just how much he spent in the end. Both "bidder 61" and a Japanese buyer literally chased up the prices on all of the so called star coins of the sale. As investors they seemed to have, like someone mentioned earlier, a criteria of high grade and rare material only. There bidding patterns reminded me of such as on storage wars where one would shout £5000 the the next £10,000.Ultimately these two buyer won't effect the collectors markets which most of us on here are involved in. They aren't interested in normal every day pieces. Thanks MH

That's interesting. considering you were at the sale and are well informed it would help if you could expand further please. Infact there were two their often bidding against each other. The main one bought most of the expensive coins offered.

Stu, Having worked in the City, I have been studying the City's involvement on coins for about 7 years. These are my observations i) There is big group of well to do investors that has no interest in coins but sees coins/antiques as a means to achieve financial diversification. ii) Most of these guys don't care about coins all they care about is multiplying their investment. They don't know much about coins and certainly won’t be able to tell a fake 1905 halfcrown from a real one or a polished bronze penny from an uncirculated coin. iii) These guys either use brokers to help them invest or buy shares in funds operated by specialist Numismatic Investment Firms. You won’t believe how many of these exist today and believe me there are many Investment Firms that deal purely in coins. The reason why we see dealers buying on behalf of their clients is obvious when you consider these things (1) to pick genuine coins and 2)to ensure correct grade attribution). iv) One group depends on brokers to acquire choice pieces for them. This is also why NGC/PCGS graded ocins are important for these guys because then they can dispense with dealers and make a significant saving. Then there are others who depend on firms like LCA that offer a CGS portfolio to its clients with a guaranteed return on funds based on an predefined entry level and a tie-in period (http://www.londoncoins.co.uk/?page=InvestWealthCreation). v) The 'Numismatic Investment Firms' have specialist brokers/dealers who tie-up with big auction houses and source coins for their masters. They operate a fixed-list/rota technique. vi) The technique is simple - they have a list of coins that are either unique or extremely in demand (such as your 1934 crown). Their list (GB200) contains 200 such coins. When a coin from that list becomes available they collude to either notch up the price or acquire the lot below the index valuation. Regardless of how much the numis references value these GB200 coins or how much collectors feel they are worth the punters have their own valuation. vii) Once they acquire a coin from the GB200 list the shareholders see an increase on their investment based on either how much below their index valuation the coin was acquired for or in case of a sale they calculate the profit to be the value above the index valuation that they sold the coin for. These profits are shared across the pool as return on stakeholders' investment. viii) One observation I have made is that these investors never go for circulated coins that way it is currently safe for collectors who go after variants. There are other indices such as the GB350 and GB500 that are being offered by the likes of Citicorp. Soon collectors will start noticing that certain coins are always impossible to acquire. This is why I have stopped selling coins and have started swapping them with other 'Penny Boys'. Somehow I have not come across a 'Penny Girl' so far. Back in the good old ebay days (... and before the days of the snipers) there used to be a fiona.freeserve who used to beat me on pennies consistently. However she used to buy silver and other junk too so maybe there are some genuine Bronze Gals too

In case you are still looking http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRITISH-Gr-Britain-Edward-VII-King-1901-1910-1904-AE-Penny-PCGS-MS64RB-London-/171689860786?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27f9835eb2 I am sure you can try $160-180 which should be reasonable

Not only the name, but possibly more important was the fact that the material had been off the market for over half a century. There can be very few collectors who were actively collecting at the top end in both 1945 and 2015, so all of this was a refreshing change from the material that goes round on a regular cyclical basis. An 'old' collection almost invariably does well. Look at Chesser, 18 months ago, or the William Boyd sale at Baldwins in 2005. Also the Neville-Rolfe sale went well. The gold patterns at Plymouth in 2008 got the market talking, though the venue probably restricted the final outcome. Wow that's over 70 years of collecting. He has put some serious effort into his collection and it showed yesterday how appreciative the collectors were of his efforts

Same boat as Pete wrt pennies but I reckon 80, 60, 78 If I get them wrong I blame your photography skills

Oops .............

Rob try control+f5

That's lunchtime entertainment taken care of then ..........

The buyer has offered it for sale at a bargain price of $ 4277 + postage if u r keen Jac Add to that insurance + VAT + Customs charges and the figure could beat £3k easily

Yes fairly common

Lovely find

Here is the second best no H that I know of https://www.spink.com/lot-description.aspx?id=320001053

umm same here Pete. If I am not mistaken I saw this coin in the recent London Fair (Hol Inn) It was being offered by Lloyd Roberts of Middlesex Coins and he was asking £200. It did look almost convincing but not one for me

Here we go again http://www.ebay.com/itm/1882-Victoria-Penny-no-H-Exceptionally-Rare-/291453666500?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item43dbfe04c4 I must say can't see any traces of an underlying H but then the no H is not recognised for this pairing Same old problem

I have sold him some coin references and the transactions were smooth,

Wow lovely coin

Dave, When I send my coins for grading I look at it this way - How much would I expect to get paid if the coin were lost in their possession. I have not heard of it happening but what if it were lost and they say "ok we will compensate you" On another note I would not want to come across as someone who was trying to pull a fast one

2 pennies a 1797 NGC 63 and a 1854 NGC 64.

Acquired this week - first coin from my coin swapping exercise - thanks to Mr Gary Bean, Canada