Stuntman

I'm hoping to attend this coin fair for the first time this coming Sunday (13 Dec) and am looking forward to seeing a great variety of coins at first hand. Just a couple of questions for the regular attendees: Do they allow re-admission? I was considering getting there in the morning, possibly visiting some other places nearby over lunchtime etc, and then going back to the coin fair in the afternoon. Would any dealers be interested in buying pretty ordinary coins from people attending the fair? I have some honest everyday shillings in Fair to Fine grade; similar coins are for sale from dealers for £5-£15, so the coins are worth more than bullion value but not by very much. Equally I have some run-of-the-mill silver coins that are are probably just worth bullion but otherwise nice enough for a young/novice collector. Any money that I received for these coins would get recycled into a new purchase. However, I don't want to ask if the answer would clearly be no! Thanks in advance!

Well I did make it to the coin fair today and enjoyed spending a couple of hours or so looking round, and talking to many of the dealers. I didn't try to sell my silver predecimal coins in the end, but would probably try to do so when/if I attend the fair again, now that I feel a bit more confident about it. As an experience, I was impressed by the breadth and variety of coins there - something for everyone, with prices ranging from a few pence to the tens of thousands of pounds! Every dealer that I spoke to was friendly, keen to show me the coins I wanted to see, and to offer advice. In the end I did make one predecimal purchase - a nice shilling from Rob (1739 Roses in aVF). I'm thinking about a couple of coins from the Colin Cooke dealers after chatting to Neil there today as well. I also couldn't resist buying two of the four Olympic 50ps I was missing (paid a pound for each) and a Rio Handover 2 pound coin (paid 3 pounds). They're all in decent enough grade (given they were in a tub) and I'm happy with these as additions to my decimals from circulation. So if any other beginners/lapsed collectors were thinking of going to a fair like this, I would thoroughly recommend it. Rob mentioned that he also saw jelida and Nonmortuus today, was anyone else there - and if so, how did you get on?

Rob, I agree. I would be happy with a price around melt for my common silver coins in average well-circulated grade. I don't need to keep them, and any value they have will be recycled into a coin purchase. The ones that are a bit better include shillings from 1816, 1826, 1834, 1879 and 1880. These are only Fair to NF but I'd expect these to be a bit better than melt, or is that wishful thinking? It'd be more of a shame to put those in the pot, IMO. Just hoping to find them a new home and release a bit of cash. Anyway - looking forward to attending the fair and seeing some proper coins, regardless!

Good stuff, thanks. I'll bring my old schoolboy 'washers' with me then, it would be nice if these could find a new home now I've started collecting slightly better ones. Only slightly, mind!

I agree. Or at least renaming to 'what jewels has he bought...'

Very tasty. Most envious!

Well done SWANNY. I'd have made the same decision!

Starting with coins for sale from lovely dealers ...this very site has a nice 1845 cinquefoil currently: http://www.predecimal.com/crown-1845-p-21664.html If you want the 1847, Rob's got one for sale: http://www.rpcoins.co.uk/products/00002586 And so has Derek: http://pennycrowncoins.co.uk/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=2126&=SID

Quite right, I like it as well - and very well bought

Chris has a 1924 sixpence for sale on the site at the moment... http://www.predecimal.com/sixpence-1924-p-21432.html (I'd say this was slightly better than Brian's but not night and day better)

Really enjoyed reading all four of those. Thank you to everyone involved.

He hasn't replied to me yet either.

Today I've been looking at a dealer site that I hadn't come across before, and I would welcome the forum's collective opinion as to the grade of these three, and whether the prices seem reasonable. I'm not entirely sure that they are actually currently available for sale. I've emailed the seller regarding the first one as it's a coin that's definitely on my wants list! 1693 W&M shilling - up at £180 http://www.coinsandtokens.com/excel/england-coins/silver/silver-coin-pics/ES0027.jpg 1861 Victoria shilling - up at £130 http://www.coinsandtokens.com/excel/england-coins/silver/silver-coin-pics/ES0005.jpg 1847 Gothic crown - up at £1195, seems good value if true? http://www.coinsandtokens.com/excel/england-coins/silver/silver-coin-pics/ES0019.jpg Thanks in advance!

Nice coins again Non, I do like the shilling. I'm hoping to get to the December Midland fair. What makes it a biggie?

Thanks Rob. I peruse Chris' stock regularly and would buy from him again in a heartbeat.

You guys probably have plenty of coins that you might choose to part with (having upgraded since original purchase), that would suit relative novice collectors like me very well. I thought Gary's 1902 crown was very decent indeed, but I don't have an eBay account.

Cheers Gents. Paulus, it looks like the seller still has that Gothic crown for sale, although he does appear to have sold another one that he had graded as EF for £1100 (ES0046 on his site).

Is it brass, rather than gold?

In my novice opinion - the proofs (certainly the modern ones) hold a lot more visual appeal, but they don't have either the honest charm of the bullion coin or the close connection to the gold price. And I feel happy handling the bullion sovereigns whereas you wouldn't, shouldn't or couldn't with the modern proofs. I'd rather spend modern proof money on an older bullion coin such as a nice Victoria shield reverse, or perhaps a Guinea or fractional guinea. I've only got a few modern bullion sovereigns but I'd love to add a small handful of older ones at some point.

Wow! When you say "a bit of gold"... My goodness!

Think of it as a hard cross country run combined with an army assault course and you're in the right area. Having done both of these in the past (passed the Army regular commissions board as a teenager, but chose not to join up) I would reckon on it being a lot of fun. But hard work. If you can run 10 miles and do 50 press-ups then you'll be fine.

That one and the florin are just lovely. Very special!

I certainly think it's an attractive coin, and I'd be pleased with it if it was mine.

I'd put it in the same ballpark, certainly GF+ at least.

It's interesting, we will all have different priorities for our own finite pots of money. Perhaps it's whatever gives us the most bang for the buck (to build on Damian's quote above). I'm a sucker for engine noise, steering feel and a capable chassis... Back to Non's coins - the 1817 halfcrown is my favourite. Just lovely!