coin watch

Yes agree with this, times certainly have/are still changing, just look at the profit margin of an auction these days, no wonder the major players are concentrating on this market area rather than direct dealing. But then where does that leave the dealers? the like of which you have just mentioned here! I have noticed a considerable slow down in the amount of decent coins offered by not only these dealers but a number of others too....So where is it going? and more importantly what will be for the future for the dealer!

This all sounds very sad for the everyday collector, but then I think this could be all the more sad for these mentioned well established companies. To focus on the top end only is all well and good in the short term but as Rob previously said it only takes a downturn to start to occur in that field for it to all come tumbling down very quickly, and with some fingers getting burnt in the process for both buyers and these 'top knob' companies! By that time the collector will have turned away and not returning! For me it's the collecting interest that counts, and while I take an overall liking to the history behind it too then the money (or investment) will take a back seat. In other words I'm in that 'middle of the road' area of collecting that is supposedly suffering a bit of late, but thats all good for me as i'll in the meantime (hopefully) 'fill my boots' with some upgrades with the many smaller and becoming reputable coin dealers who have time for the likes of me. BTW is the Spink yearly book any good these days? and has it improved? I heard they were to seperate it into two (pre and decimal) this coming edition? or maybe they are not bothered about this either! To be honest I think a lot of the entries in it are so off the mark it's obvious it's just an annual, I think I'll buy myself the Beano instead this year!!

I have four RCB coins, three of which have his tickets. I'll PM you the details of them, but they don't look like this one!...so maybe a stock ticket?

Well did anyone attend this one? I've attended the last ten but thought I would give this year a miss. So just wondering if it was any good?....

Weeeeell ... I'm not sure I'd go that far .. in that I'm sure there are collectors by date and so on for whom a Freeman, Sharp or Peck number not only wouldn't mean anything, but might just not be of interest. Because we all collect in different ways. And poor beginners can't be expected to know everything from the get go. It's a learning process that never really stops as far as I can tell. And yet, we repeatedly tell noobs 'buy the best you can afford'! But yes, I'd expect someone who adds detail to a coin's description to have the knowledge to back up their claims. And as for authentification, well, that's what dealers and auction houses used to do. And as far as I know, still do. Look at Chris Rudd's 'double your money' guarantee for example. In theory, if you buy from a reputable source, you should be able to expect to get what you are buying, at least in terms of authenticity. Grading, well, that's another matter as I'm sure we've all observed how a coin graded nVF 10 years ago can be found to have crept up to gVF in the intervening years. But is that so different from slabbed coins being 'set free' and resubmitted in the hope of an upgrade? I regard the likes of Sharp and Peck (also Freeman, but I have not much knowledge of this one) as guides, along with the likes of other illustrated guides like Spink, but they still don't authenticate a single coin. Like you say authentication was done by dealers and auction houses, and hopefully they still do, though they have also been known to be fooled by the fakes, as have these slabbing companies. What I'm trying to get at is no type of 'authentication' can be 100% guaranteed with a previously unknown coin/new coin to the market. So putting aside the coins with proven provenance (illustrated from old collections etc) I personally would not trust to pay a premium for a slabbed coin just for what it says with it. There is no other way for a beginner/investor to buy with confidence without a decent knowledge of what they are buying, without this it is down to chance and trust and therefore a gamble. Everyone has to start somewhere and still the best way (I think) is to research and to contact other like minded collectors/experts (dealers etc) who may specialise in the beginners likes. Then over time the beginner can make their own judgement and grow. This cannot be bought in a slab!

Sadly that is not the case at all. Forgeries already exist in forged slabs, it will not be too long before the forgeries become better and then your online protection is not worth the stamp it will cost to post it. The rest of your post I have no argument with at all. If we all liked the same things, in the same presentation, the world would be a dull and very expensive place. Unfortunately, you get forgeries in every collecting market whether it be antiques or art. There will be forgeries whether they are in slabs or not. But that, in itself, does not invalidate the practice of authentication. A true collector will know his stuff enough to not need the practice of authentication. For me a person who puts some detail to an item should only do so if they know the item in question inside and out, these slabbing companies cannot know every thing about every coin, like the old adage says "jack of all trades-master of none" To put a large amount of money behind something that person has got to have good knowledge otherwise leave well alone, but if entering for investment then that's a chance you take, like buying shares!

I can see the point here regarding the protection for the novice with their investment but what happens when these 'investors' or novices after say a decade of study start to realise that the 'guarantee' given on the slab maybe wrong for whatever reason? What I'm saying is that in my opinion the judgement given by these slab graders are not always correct, and a very small 'mistake' could make a huge difference to an investment. Buy nice coins, not this plastic crap!! and most important buy things with knowledge without relying on other 'experts'

The entry has gone up an extra £ to £5 plus an extra date to 4 a year, not to sure where it's going this fair? With the extra cost of travel for the day I've decided to go for the lazy option in future and stick to internet hunting! I'm not too sure what a foreign buying is anymore!! All I know is there was a lot of pushing out the way at most tables, maybe these are the people you mean!! and probably the main market aim for the likes of Baldwin, poor old collector, might as well stay at home looking at this screen!

To be honest I wouldn't get too hung up with the mm's in Spink, It's only a very rough guide to show the differing mint marks used. The Tower mint mint mark crown varies a lot, on the shilling alone it has a number of subtle differences in size and shape, plus there is also the possibility that the size change maybe due to the use of say a sixpence sized mint mark used on shillings and in some cases Half Crown dies and in turn larger marks on smaller coins! Why would you want to collect milled!!!!!

The mint mark on this coin is crown over bell on both the obverse and reverse marks, but really does not make it any rarer than say a standard crown on it's own. But even so a scarce coin and quite a nice VF even with the corrosion.

Yeah they haven't made it an easy search, much better before. Also look at other auction houses, some do have an easier archive, try noble.co.au A very easy search with a good number of coins sold going back a decade or so! Correction www.noble.com.au

Yeah they haven't made it an easy search, much better before. Also look at other auction houses, some do have an easier archive, try noble.co.au A very easy search with a good number of coins sold going back a decade or so!

Spink 2793. (2005 to now!!)

No North 2226. Mint Mark Bell, crown, Crown over bell all Scarce. Mint mark Tun and fine works Very Rare!!

This coin is a Tower mint issue type 3b or Sharp E2/3. The reverse has the plume above to state the silver used was from the Welsh mines!

The only way I have managed to get into the Spink archive is to log in using my old client number, but other than having a this number I really don't know how you could gain access to the old images? Agreed it's been made more difficult and to find something specific takes time. mcsearch is ok or coin archives, but sometimes a google images search works well if you put in the info!

Coinex is around the corner (28th & 29th Sept) Anyone going? What are your thoughts on this once a year coin fair? I have attended the last nine years which kind of suggests I do like this fair but in all honesty I can't help but feel the past few years have been a bit of a disappointment, this maybe due to the serious lack of the coins I want to find being on show but what I have found more disappointing is what I feel this fair is aiming for now, and it seems it's not the collector that comes first anymore!? Maybe it's just me but I don't like the £50 "Earlybird" entry idea, why do this? I suppose I can see some advantages to this for a certain few but does this kind of ploy really promote our hobby to the every day collector. Anyway I shouldn't moan cos I'm aiming for the free Saturday entry, not that there will anything to buy after the person who buys a 50k coin on the previous day to also buy the only one coin I might be interested in with his loose change of £500!!!!!.....If you get what I mean!!

I see him at fairs on a couple of occasions but sadly never did speak to him face to face. When I seriously got into the Charles Tower issues as my main hobby collection I had many email exchanges with him and once also received a hand written letter from him, I had many questions which he always had time for........RIP.

Just the first line above!.......God I might get used to this reply system one day!

I'm thinking probably not! Any ideas on the 'irregularity' running from the harp and through the central crossbar? Well, any raised areas on the coin will be down to marks on the die, so maybe a dint or damage there? Eventually dies were hammered so much that they would crack, you can occasionlly see at least the start of that on coins. I'm thinking in this case, something was dropped on the die causing a cut. Interestingly your coin is from a different die from other coins I've seen with contraction marks used instead of stops on the reverse. I had assumed there would be only one, but apparently not .. curious. The Bull tomes cover Charles Half crowns only, though it covers Tower as well as all provincials. I really haven't read enough C1 literature to competently comment. I have to confess though I'm really surprised to hear the thoughts were just for a single reverse die for contraction marks! Now I'm curious, too! Does Bull cover shillings too, or am I just looking at Morrieson for the next level read?

I have often thought about these codes but never really come up with any sort of solution, it's probably staring me in the face

I find if the dealer has had a coin for a while then generally speaking a 10% discount could be aimed for, but again it really depends on a lot of factors. Always worth a go though!

Hello again Patrick. Looking forward to your school holidays? My 14 year old breaks up next week and will probably spend 5 days a week playing on his infernal xbox Have you decided what you want to collect yet or are you still just buying what you like the look of? The offer still stands from me for some freebies if you want them? I have some good fractional farthings I can send you together with some Victorian sixpences, shilings etc. John. Fractional coins seem to be cheap. i have a aUNC 1844 half farthing. WOW, worth about £10-20. I have coins that i feel sorry for, like my aUNC 1807 (half?)penny, but its got an engraved X shape (nowhere imprtant). and an aUNC 1806 farthing with some stuff in the letters? . You keep your coins, i have gone us.(i tthink) Hi Patrick, I hope they turn up but I would also like to offer you some free coins to get you kick started again. Send me a message with your address and I'll post some coins out to you. Regards, Hus True, but its hiding god Witchcraft ! Easy Young Enthusiast!

Don't worry it's easily done, there probably with your keys and mobile phone .........No seriously hope you find them soon.....

It was the person I suspected. That narrows it down to two or three. B****r, I had a choice (still have) of the Briot Crown or F7 for the T in C slot. No prizes for guessing the easier of the two. Rob I'm Just being nosey (but please tell ) which Briot crown would that be? S2760 assuming one appears out of the woodwork. Blimey, I only know of the 3....the Brooker, the BM and the nice looking Ryan coin. Do you know of others? Nope. But you can never exclude another example appearing out of the blue. If another did appear how would you expect it to affect that 'book' price? cos it does seem a little OTT to me when comparing other rarities of equal interest!