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Emperor Oli

C. Cooke's Farthings to be sold

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That's an impossible date. Please start your own topics in the future instead of gatecrashing other peoples.

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In March's Coin News, there is a full-page advertisement on page five announcing the sale of the complete Farthing collection of the late Colin Cooke.  Apparently there are over 1700 different specimens, which Coin News elaborates on on page 10.

With the sale now online, if you had your choice of one and only one farthing from this collection, which would it be?

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In March's Coin News, there is a full-page advertisement on page five announcing the sale of the complete Farthing collection of the late Colin Cooke.  Apparently there are over 1700 different specimens, which Coin News elaborates on on page 10.

With the sale now online, if you had your choice of one and only one farthing from this collection, which would it be?

If you tell people that, they would likely bid it higher. Certainly would if you gave your reasoning.

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Rob...Good point! I was thinking of this more as an exercise in "what if" than an actual intention to bid on an item. Perhaps we should wait until all of the dust settles from this sale to hear from the members of this forum?

Edited by Coppers

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I'm licking my lips....but is this the entire collection?

I'm also grinning as one of the early coppers doesn't get near to mine (1698 legend).

I reckon some of the latter coins will go for silly money because of the pedigree....Mrs Peter has acknowledged that it maybe a lean June. :rolleyes:

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I'm licking my lips....but is this the entire collection?

Can't be. There aren't any 1860 copper 1/4ds for a start and I can't believe he didn't have a proof 1953 of either variety. Where are they? :ph34r:

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Nor any VIP proofs I should add.

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There is a lot of stuff missing and some of the pieces aren't the finest.

A lot is being held back. :angry:

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There may be a few pieces that didn't show up, but there is still so much that is so spectacular.

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Nor any VIP proofs I should add.

Hi,

Colin was not that interested in V.I.P. Proofs - or even most Victorian proofs.

He was also not 100% concerned to get the very finest possible coin for every gap. He would prefer a slightly worse - but well pedigreed coin (Peck, Johnson etc).

I too don't see all his coins (yet??).

No 1860 CU, or 1864 CU.

No large uncut strips of early coppers.

Only the Edward Silver farthings.

Still most of the rest is there - and very fine it is.

Teg

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Guest English Coin Fanatic

The 1860's may have been sold and the '64 held back. I was looking forward to some more exciting 20th C. bits....

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Hi,

not ex his collection - but ex his business - sold before on eBay.

Teg

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Hi,

not ex his collection - but ex his business - sold before on eBay.

Teg

I thought it might be something like that and the seller was being a bit sneaky.

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Guest Neil Paisley

Teg is quite correct in all he has said. Colin wasn't that interested in VIP proofs or even the more modern farthings. The 1860 copper proofs were actually sold while Colin was still alive and we do know the location of each piece. The 1864 and Charles I strips are not included because we wanted to retain some of the "prestige" pieces as we are still known for our speciality in farthings and will continue to do "The Farthing Lists". As for quality nobody can argue that many of the pieces are the finest known and in some instances Colin preferred the example with the established pedigree and would sell an example in better grade but did not have a good pedigree.

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Why would anyone want a lesser grade coin with a pedigree ?

Colins collection is thought to be the finest by me...OK...I might fancy a Peck...but where actually do pedigrees sit in the "pecking" ;) order ?

I believe they have no real place apart from bragging rights.

May I also ask how far off is "The Farthing Encyclopedia" ?

Over the years I have been searching for some varieties based upon John Minishall (Farthing Specialist) and Colins lists

and feel I now need to close off the open ended searching.

There is one coin I would particually like but it it has no pedigree,it was recorded on Colins list a few years ago.(& not since).

Fingers X...or will I be bidding on a white elephant...or will it have Colins Pedigree and become worth more than the date ?

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Why would anyone want a lesser grade coin with a pedigree ?

A coin with a good provenance should hold its value better than one without. Historically, the famous collections were so because they frequently held the best or nearly so known examples of both commoner pieces and also the rarities. Being the best pieces available to collectors, a sort of guarantee of a certain standard together with a "certificate of authenticity" is obtained. There can only be one best example at any time and the current best may have come to light after the famous collection has been sold, so in time it is not unreasonable to expect a slip down the quality pecking order, but generally if a coin was pictured in an old major sale catalogue it was guaranteed to be up there in terms of quality. Montagu, Murdoch, Lockett, Lingford etc tended to only buy the best available.

Due to inflated prices, the extensive quality collections of old are unlikely ever to be repeated. It is very unlikely anybody will care anything about my collection or anyone else's on this forum in the future because of the minimal number of top grade rarities within, but a check through any named sale catalogue in the first 50 or 60 years of the last century will confirm that this was not always so. Collections with literally page after page of coins that fetch thousands of pounds each today, fills you with awe. A few illustrated pages of mint state hammered Edward VI gold and base silver for example is a sobering thought, particularly the latter.

There is also the question of the interesting history. Anecdotally, just over a year ago I acquired a bound copy of the first three sales of Montagu. The various notes against some of the pieces such as “better than mineâ€, “same as mineâ€, “Good, my coinâ€, “can’t see any difference†etc not only proved the provenance of the catalogue’s original owner (Murdoch), but also gave a contemporary insight into the true quality of the coin because these two were continually trying to outdo each other in terms of quality. A useful thing given the pictures in the early catalogues were taken from casts and are less reliable than photos. Chasing provenances is a fun thing to do and it gives you a good feeling of satisfaction when you trace the sales that your coins have passed through. Bragging rights don't apply in most cases as the provenance is usually only made public at the point of sale and many named sales are deceased collectors.

If in doubt or the grades are not too dissimilar, go for the good provenance every time.

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Guest Guest_David_I'm_a_Guest
anyone know if a 1796 farting unc is worth anything because i know someone whos after it i dont want to give it away to him really

This may well be a token, probably Middlesex. No regular currency issued with this date

David M

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The Bun Head farthings are reaching some astronomical levels. The 1869 in particular, one I have no doubt a lot of folks had their eye on, has reached the price of the 1869 halfpenny, and the bidding still goes on!

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Is the sale now completely finished? A little off-topic, but in going to the website, I accidently typed in www.colincook.com (without the 'e' in cooke) -- no farthings there!

Edited by Coppers

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Hi,

Auction is still going - I got emails most of last week telling me I had been outbid - and did I want to bid more.

One coin still going up!

My bids were all on William III and earlier - so the prices for Vics are not my fault!

Teg

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On one piece my bid was the highest (and only bid) according to the web site...unless someone under bid on the same day.

I think we will all just have to sit this one out. :huh:

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I Bid on one coin... Am still high bidder on the item....

Bid amount went up though.. So I know there has been at least one other interested party..... Still waiting for finalization........

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Guest English Coin Fanatic
I Bid on one coin... Am still high bidder on the item....

Bid amount went up though.. So I know there has been at least one other interested party..... Still waiting for finalization........

I was shocked by some of the prices as were others, and as nice as the '69 farthing is, it is not the equal in rarity of the halfpenny; and so it is that at least temporarily the demand curve is taking charge with regards to prices.

I was happy that the copper Vicky bits generally did not go to astronomic levels (xpt the '44, '49 and maybe the '52 - the latter went for 325). I think some of the others such as the '42, '46, and '47 were fair prices for very nice coins. I also like to remember, as seems to be the case, that these earlier farthings used sovereign dies for the obverses.

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