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There's a 1921 shilling advertised on eBay - it's described as Unc (which actually it isn't, which is surprising because this seller is normally pretty good on grading).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1921-UNC-Shilling_W0...0#ht_500wt_1023

I remember the discussion recently about how difficult these are to find, and it's definitely EF minimum. The auction ends tomorrow at 18:57 BST if anyone is interested in having a go for it. But it looks like there may be a war - it's already over £50 while a stunning 1923 shilling which ends the same time, is £1.25 and a 1920 (ditto) is less than £10.

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Might be a technical grade unc. with soft/weak strike. This would have to be seen in hand though. EF would be a fair call until it shows better (if it does) in hand. Since filling this gap some years ago I really have not kept up with these early 20s dates of shillings and was wondering if demand would EVER materialise.

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I agree it's not UNC, probably GEF. I note there has already been some slight flattening of the lion's nose, which is a sure fire giveaway on all shillings of that era.

I actually did manage to obtain a true UNC 1921 shilling off e bay. But it is dirty in places, with a bit of a stain on the obverse just below the King's head. Got it for £39.71 in a late winning bid.

Anybody else ever sat there with a radio controlled clock, trying to time to the last few seconds, a late bid at a ridiculously un-outbiddable high price, to avoid being outdone by Hammersnipe ? :D

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I agree it's not UNC, probably GEF. I note there has already been some slight flattening of the lion's nose, which is a sure fire giveaway on all shillings of that era.

I actually did manage to obtain a true UNC 1921 shilling off e bay. But it is dirty in places, with a bit of a stain on the obverse just below the King's head. Got it for £39.71 in a late winning bid.

Anybody else ever sat there with a radio controlled clock, trying to time to the last few seconds, a late bid at a ridiculously un-outbiddable high price, to avoid being outdone by Hammersnipe ? :D

:D Since the average browser wouldn't know a radio controlled clock if it bit it in the Refresh button, I'm thinking that wouldn't make much difference !

But ... this shilling is already over £50. Anyone spotted something else about it? (Someone out there certainly has).

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I agree it's not UNC, probably GEF. I note there has already been some slight flattening of the lion's nose, which is a sure fire giveaway on all shillings of that era.

I actually did manage to obtain a true UNC 1921 shilling off e bay. But it is dirty in places, with a bit of a stain on the obverse just below the King's head. Got it for £39.71 in a late winning bid.

Anybody else ever sat there with a radio controlled clock, trying to time to the last few seconds, a late bid at a ridiculously un-outbiddable high price, to avoid being outdone by Hammersnipe ? :D

:D Since the average browser wouldn't know a radio controlled clock if it bit it in the Refresh button, I'm thinking that wouldn't make much difference !

But ... this shilling is already over £50. Anyone spotted something else about it? (Someone out there certainly has).

It may be an optical illusion, or I may be getting tired and past my bedtime, but there does appear to be something different about the "1" the 21 bit of 1921. Bit short, thicker & stubbier. Compare and contrast with this one which is like the one I possess.

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It may be an optical illusion, or I may be getting tired and past my bedtime, but there does appear to be something different about the "1" the 21 bit of 1921. Bit short, thicker & stubbier. Compare and contrast with this one which is like the one I possess.

Actually, yes I did note that '1' was a bit strange looking. No, what I was referring to, is it's the rare Type 1 obverse (1911-1920). I've examined as close as I can and I'm 99% sure it is. Which makes it RARE indeed, especially in that grade.

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It may be an optical illusion, or I may be getting tired and past my bedtime, but there does appear to be something different about the "1" the 21 bit of 1921. Bit short, thicker & stubbier. Compare and contrast with this one which is like the one I possess.

Actually, yes I did note that '1' was a bit strange looking. No, what I was referring to, is it's the rare Type 1 obverse (1911-1920). I've examined as close as I can and I'm 99% sure it is. Which makes it RARE indeed, especially in that grade.

You may be right. Might be worth having a punt on.

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It may be an optical illusion, or I may be getting tired and past my bedtime, but there does appear to be something different about the "1" the 21 bit of 1921. Bit short, thicker & stubbier. Compare and contrast with this one which is like the one I possess.

Actually, yes I did note that '1' was a bit strange looking. No, what I was referring to, is it's the rare Type 1 obverse (1911-1920). I've examined as close as I can and I'm 99% sure it is. Which makes it RARE indeed, especially in that grade.

You may be right. Might be worth having a punt on.

I'm 50/50 about it being the 1st type. I think I would need it in hand to be absolutely sure. The buy it now example I had already discounted it as being the 1st type as the angle on it doesn't help and the neck looks a bit shallow as with the second types.

I recently bought a couple of florins from morgan9red both advertised as UNC, one was about EF and the other a disapointing GVF

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It may be an optical illusion, or I may be getting tired and past my bedtime, but there does appear to be something different about the "1" the 21 bit of 1921. Bit short, thicker & stubbier. Compare and contrast with this one which is like the one I possess.

Actually, yes I did note that '1' was a bit strange looking. No, what I was referring to, is it's the rare Type 1 obverse (1911-1920). I've examined as close as I can and I'm 99% sure it is. Which makes it RARE indeed, especially in that grade.

You may be right. Might be worth having a punt on.

I'm 50/50 about it being the 1st type. I think I would need it in hand to be absolutely sure. The buy it now example I had already discounted it as being the 1st type as the angle on it doesn't help and the neck looks a bit shallow as with the second types.

I recently bought a couple of florins from morgan9red both advertised as UNC, one was about EF and the other a disapointing GVF

Looking at the 1 I don't think it's unusual. Looking a my examples of the other 4 types my D.1807 also has a shorter 1 than the the other 3 types

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I'm 50/50 about it being the 1st type. I think I would need it in hand to be absolutely sure. The buy it now example I had already discounted it as being the 1st type as the angle on it doesn't help and the neck looks a bit shallow as with the second types.

I recently bought a couple of florins from morgan9red both advertised as UNC, one was about EF and the other a disapointing GVF

The giveaway is the obverse legend and rim (I agree if it was 'in hand' I could tell in an instant). The rim is quite high, but the clincher is the distance from the legend to the rim. On Type 2's it is always further away - the Type 1 legend is about 1/3 to 1/2 as close.

That's worrying about morgan9red. I just bought a BU florin which the photo suggests really is - I hope I don't have to send it back as it cost me not far from book price.

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I'm 50/50 about it being the 1st type. I think I would need it in hand to be absolutely sure. The buy it now example I had already discounted it as being the 1st type as the angle on it doesn't help and the neck looks a bit shallow as with the second types.

I recently bought a couple of florins from morgan9red both advertised as UNC, one was about EF and the other a disapointing GVF

The giveaway is the obverse legend and rim (I agree if it was 'in hand' I could tell in an instant). The rim is quite high, but the clincher is the distance from the legend to the rim. On Type 2's it is always further away - the Type 1 legend is about 1/3 to 1/2 as close.

That's worrying about morgan9red. I just bought a BU florin which the photo suggests really is - I hope I don't have to send it back as it cost me not far from book price.

You're definitely right. I've just compared, side by side, my 1920 & 1921 shillings, and the legend in the 1920 is palpably closer to the rim, than my (type 2) 1921.

You can see the difference if you compare the two links above (the one you posted and the one I posted)

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I'm 50/50 about it being the 1st type. I think I would need it in hand to be absolutely sure. The buy it now example I had already discounted it as being the 1st type as the angle on it doesn't help and the neck looks a bit shallow as with the second types.

I recently bought a couple of florins from morgan9red both advertised as UNC, one was about EF and the other a disapointing GVF

The giveaway is the obverse legend and rim (I agree if it was 'in hand' I could tell in an instant). The rim is quite high, but the clincher is the distance from the legend to the rim. On Type 2's it is always further away - the Type 1 legend is about 1/3 to 1/2 as close.

That's worrying about morgan9red. I just bought a BU florin which the photo suggests really is - I hope I don't have to send it back as it cost me not far from book price.

You're definitely right. I've just compared, side by side, my 1920 & 1921 shillings, and the legend in the 1920 is palpably closer to the rim, than my (type 2) 1921.

You can see the difference if you compare the two links above (the one you posted and the one I posted)

I bow to your suporior knowledge, I wasn't aware of that tip.

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Damn, how irritating. It was sitting there at £52 for literally days. I got a new highest bid with 5 minutes to go, up until about 15 seconds. He must have been lurking, waiting. I couldn't get in with a new bid in time. The shilling went for £77 in the end.

Oh well, I'd say that was the most anyone should pay for a Type 1 EF (and that's all it is IMO). Spink lists it at £60. I know it's rare, but it's also a very limited market. I'll just have to take comfort in my VF specimen - at least it only cost me £3 !

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Damn, how irritating. It was sitting there at £52 for literally days. I got a new highest bid with 5 minutes to go, up until about 15 seconds. He must have been lurking, waiting. I couldn't get in with a new bid in time. The shilling went for £77 in the end.

Oh well, I'd say that was the most anyone should pay for a Type 1 EF (and that's all it is IMO). Spink lists it at £60. I know it's rare, but it's also a very limited market. I'll just have to take comfort in my VF specimen - at least it only cost me £3 !

That's where the radio controlled clock comes in handy. I've found that if you make your bid on the 2nd button, with 12 seconds to go, you'll usually get in with just 3 or 4 seconds left, depending on how fast your browser is.

I didn't bid on this coin in the end, though. Was going to, but getting too close to the end of the month. Payday is not until Friday :(

Sorry you weren't successful, Peckris.

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Damn, how irritating. It was sitting there at £52 for literally days. I got a new highest bid with 5 minutes to go, up until about 15 seconds. He must have been lurking, waiting. I couldn't get in with a new bid in time. The shilling went for £77 in the end.

Oh well, I'd say that was the most anyone should pay for a Type 1 EF (and that's all it is IMO). Spink lists it at £60. I know it's rare, but it's also a very limited market. I'll just have to take comfort in my VF specimen - at least it only cost me £3 !

That's where the radio controlled clock comes in handy. I've found that if you make your bid on the 2nd button, with 12 seconds to go, you'll usually get in with just 3 or 4 seconds left, depending on how fast your browser is.

I didn't bid on this coin in the end, though. Was going to, but getting too close to the end of the month. Payday is not until Friday :(

Sorry you weren't successful, Peckris.

Oh well, he obviously wanted it bad, so good luck to him. At least I made him pay what it's worth.

As for the radio controlled clock - that's not needed! eBay have introduced this cool facility for your Watched items, that counts down the clock in real time and updates bids and tells you your status, without you having to refresh your browser.

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Damn, how irritating. It was sitting there at £52 for literally days. I got a new highest bid with 5 minutes to go, up until about 15 seconds. He must have been lurking, waiting. I couldn't get in with a new bid in time. The shilling went for £77 in the end.

Oh well, I'd say that was the most anyone should pay for a Type 1 EF (and that's all it is IMO). Spink lists it at £60. I know it's rare, but it's also a very limited market. I'll just have to take comfort in my VF specimen - at least it only cost me £3 !

That's where the radio controlled clock comes in handy. I've found that if you make your bid on the 2nd button, with 12 seconds to go, you'll usually get in with just 3 or 4 seconds left, depending on how fast your browser is.

I didn't bid on this coin in the end, though. Was going to, but getting too close to the end of the month. Payday is not until Friday :(

Sorry you weren't successful, Peckris.

Oh well, he obviously wanted it bad, so good luck to him. At least I made him pay what it's worth.

As for the radio controlled clock - that's not needed! eBay have introduced this cool facility for your Watched items, that counts down the clock in real time and updates bids and tells you your status, without you having to refresh your browser.

I was at the cinima at the time with the mrs earning browney points, just used hamersnipe. There was a time when I considered Spink as the high limit but from past experience it doesn't work with ebay anymore. But then still £32 cheaper than the "buy it now" one and looks to be a similar grade.

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Oh well, he obviously wanted it bad, so good luck to him. At least I made him pay what it's worth.

As for the radio controlled clock - that's not needed! eBay have introduced this cool facility for your Watched items, that counts down the clock in real time and updates bids and tells you your status, without you having to refresh your browser.

I get the countdown clock sometimes, but other times it doesn't appear :o

Not sure how I get it to appear all the time.

I was at the cinima at the time with the mrs earning browney points, just used hamersnipe. There was a time when I considered Spink as the high limit but from past experience it doesn't work with ebay anymore. But then still £32 cheaper than the "buy it now" one and looks to be a similar grade.

and that buy it now has been around since at least May, suggesting that it's overpriced.

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I get the countdown clock sometimes, but other times it doesn't appear :o

Not sure how I get it to appear all the time.

and that buy it now has been around since at least May, suggesting that it's overpriced.

I thought it might be just Watched items, but I've just been in and looked at a coin I wasn't watching, and still got the countdown. One thing's for sure, it doesn't appear until the item only has a short time left to run - less than an hour?

That "Buy it now" at £110 is way overpriced. For one thing it's only EF (or a weak strike), but also it's not the rare variety! The seller thinks it is, and told me it was bought as such, so I kept shtum so as not to cause deep worry or offence. But I'd rate that as no more than a £50 coin.

I was at the cinima at the time with the mrs earning browney points, just used hamersnipe. There was a time when I considered Spink as the high limit but from past experience it doesn't work with ebay anymore. But then still £32 cheaper than the "buy it now" one and looks to be a similar grade.

Spink aren't the "be all and end all" I agree, but I'd trust their judgement on values any day over bid-happy eBayers. Insurers regard Spink as "the bible", and most serious dealers do too. If you buy a coin on eBay at twice Spink, the insurers won't pay more than (2/3) Spink in the event of loss.

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I appreciate that this is slightly off topic, but it really isn't worth starting a new thread for.

Has anybody seen this 1905 shilling on e bay at the mo ? It's got to be an EF, something you hardly ever see in this rarity, and will fetch quite a bit, I think (book price is £600 for an EF 1905, but I bet it goes for more). Just a bit of a dirty mark around the obverse lettering, otherwise pretty much perfecto.

I'll willingly eat humble pie if it doesn't :P

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I've put that in the ebay thread!

Looks a bit ole dodgy to me. Could be a forgery, I wouldn't want it. It was over £100 earlier and now it's gone down to £25....perhaps the bidders saw the other thread!

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I've put that in the ebay thread!

Looks a bit ole dodgy to me. Could be a forgery, I wouldn't want it. It was over £100 earlier and now it's gone down to £25....perhaps the bidders saw the other thread!

Yes, possibly. Maybe an object lesson on how easy it is to be taken in by a forgery, due to over enthusiasm. Not that I would have bid for it anyway. I must admit on closer inspection, it doesn't look right, although you couldn't definitively say it's a fake.

I hadn't seen your post in the e bay thread.

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I've put that in the ebay thread!

Looks a bit ole dodgy to me. Could be a forgery, I wouldn't want it. It was over £100 earlier and now it's gone down to £25....perhaps the bidders saw the other thread!

Yes, possibly. Maybe an object lesson on how easy it is to be taken in by a forgery, due to over enthusiasm. Not that I would have bid for it anyway. I must admit on closer inspection, it doesn't look right, although you couldn't definitively say it's a fake.

I hadn't seen your post in the e bay thread.

There's something a bit strange about the lion's mane, compared to other coins of the same ilk. It looks slightly too detailed.

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I've put that in the ebay thread!

Looks a bit ole dodgy to me. Could be a forgery, I wouldn't want it. It was over £100 earlier and now it's gone down to £25....perhaps the bidders saw the other thread!

Yes, possibly. Maybe an object lesson on how easy it is to be taken in by a forgery, due to over enthusiasm. Not that I would have bid for it anyway. I must admit on closer inspection, it doesn't look right, although you couldn't definitively say it's a fake.

I hadn't seen your post in the e bay thread.

There's something a bit strange about the lion's mane, compared to other coins of the same ilk. It looks slightly too detailed.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the underlying basic coin, it's just the vertical mark to the left of the 5 and the slight misplacement that raise suspicions. It's probably a 1903 or 1904 with the number changed, most likely the latter given the angle of the gouge. Attached is a picture of one acquired on ebay a few years ago, or at least I was going to but the page refused to load fully so that I could add one.

Edited by Rob

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I've put that in the ebay thread!

Looks a bit ole dodgy to me. Could be a forgery, I wouldn't want it. It was over £100 earlier and now it's gone down to £25....perhaps the bidders saw the other thread!

Yes, possibly. Maybe an object lesson on how easy it is to be taken in by a forgery, due to over enthusiasm. Not that I would have bid for it anyway. I must admit on closer inspection, it doesn't look right, although you couldn't definitively say it's a fake.

I hadn't seen your post in the e bay thread.

There's something a bit strange about the lion's mane, compared to other coins of the same ilk. It looks slightly too detailed.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the underlying basic coin, it's just the vertical mark to the left of the 5 and the slight misplacement that raise suspicions. It's probably a 1903 or 1904 with the number changed, most likely the latter given the angle of the gouge. Attached is a picture of one acquired on ebay a few years ago, or at least I was going to but the page refused to load fully so that I could add one.

I wonder if the seller is aware.

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I wonder if the seller is aware.

As it started as a 99p auction, my bet is "yes, they are". Otherwise we'd have seen a Buy It Now somewhere up near the £1000 mark, is my hunch.

Edited by Peckris

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