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TomGoodheart

Chas I shillings

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Coin prices seem to keep going up and so I'm thinking of selling a few shillings to try to keep up with them! They are generally lower grade coins, but either scarcer varieties or interesting or difficult-to-come-by mint marks/ overmarks that I've had for some years.

Price wise starting around £40 upwards, but nothing will be over £200. I'll try and take a few photos to post in the next few days as I don't feel the scans I did a while back are all that good. But if anyone might be interested or has any specific gaps they want to fill, please feel free to pm me and I'll see what I can do.

Richard

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E4_2.jpg

£40 Spink 2792 'Rare' bust variety Sharp E4/2 Bought December 2010

E2_2Tunovercrown.jpg

£50 Spink 2791 Sharp E2/2 Scarce with this overmark (Tun over crown) Private purchase April 2004

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D4_1.jpg

£80 Spink 2789 Sharp D4/1 Scarcer with this mint mark. Bought June 2004

E2_1Bell.jpg

£95 Spink 2791 Sharp E2/1 Scarcer with this earlier reverse. Ex Prestbury hoard (DNW 68 Part Lot #116)

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Spink2791SharpE2_1Crown.jpg

£180 Spink 2791 Sharp E2/1 ex York Coins Sept 2005

D3_1.jpg

£190 Spink 2789 Sharp D3/1 Bought August 2004

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E2_2Crownoverbell.jpg

£190 Spink 2791 Sharp E2/2 Unusual overmark on the reverse (crown over bell) York Coins August 2004

Edited by TomGoodheart

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Nice coins Tom, If I start saving now I can buy myself one for Christmas! :)

I have found myself being drawn towards hammered coins, I particularly like the Charles on horseback portrait on the Half Crown! but trying to grade them myself (the cheaper coins) just scares me. I am still trying to get my head around milled coins! :(

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Nice coins Tom, If I start saving now I can buy myself one for Christmas! :)

I have found myself being drawn towards hammered coins, I particularly like the Charles on horseback portrait on the Half Crown! but trying to grade them myself (the cheaper coins) just scares me. I am still trying to get my head around milled coins! :(

Thanks! Grading is certainly a challenge. With milled you know the original flan will have been uniform and so working out how worn a coin is shouldn't be too difficult. Particularly as there are usually plenty of examples of that design in various grades. With hammered you have to get an eye to estimate how well struck a coin was originally before deciding what is wear and what's not.

In case you find it helpful, my grading is as follows (from the top coin):

E4/2 actually VF, but a very weak strike on the bust (as is often the case) When you see the coin like this:

post-129-022949200 1341044629_thumb.jpg

You can see the legend is quite decently struck.

The second and third coins (E2/2 and D4/2) are only Fine in my view "Showing quite a lot of wear but with designs and legends distinguishable"

Number four (E2/1) is nVF in my view because although the design is clear that's because it was a good strike. The coin shows wear (rounding of edges, most noticably) on the higher points. The bit of weakness on the King's face and of course the fact that it's been bent and straightened again also detracts, though doesn't strictly effect the grade. You'll perhaps notice a bit of double striking on the obverse too (mark of value, mint mark and top arch of crown).

Number five, I'd grade VF. The patchy toning is a bit of a let down, plus the flan flaw on the reverse (maybe rust on the die?) The lines behind the harp on the reverse are either where the die has been polished or 'stretch marks' affecting the flan and are generally lost on more worn coins. So sort of a good thing!

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No 6 (D3/1) is VF but fairly typical of such coins. Some good detail, but a weak bit on the King's face and a flan flaw on the reverse and spot where some corrosion has been cleaned off maybe. Plus it could do with being a little bit rounder. But not so bad 'in the hand'. One of the A's is an inverted V.

post-129-018113100 1341046239_thumb.jpg

No 7 is a decent VF, the weakness being due to a thinner central part to the flan, where the design hasn't struck up so well. Die flaw at 2 o'clock, but otherwise quite nice.

post-129-010000200 1341046372_thumb.jpg

And now I've highlighted all the drawbacks in my little offerings .. nobody's going to want them, are they? :(

I have found myself being drawn towards hammered coins, I particularly like the Charles on horseback portrait on the Half Crown!

Good choice. They are quite nice chunky coins. Just remember to try to get a reasonably round one with a clear portrait. They were produced in large numbers so a nice example shouldn't be too difficult if you go for one of the commoner mint marks (dates) and avoid rarities. From a dealer if you can stretch the budget to a bit over £200 or a bit less if you're patient and careful on ebay.

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And now I've highlighted all the drawbacks in my little offerings .. nobody's going to want them, are they? :(

Aw. If I was even remotely interested in (medieval) hammered, I would certainly be knocking on your door! Those look reasonable prices to me, though I'm not exactly an expert :D

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Nice selection :)

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Thanks Guys! :)

And another one. (If you knew how much I'm struggling to get the new camera focus on a coin, you'd buy them all out of sympathy!!

Spink 2797 Sharp F5/1 Has the usual drawbacks of a dug coin such as surface scratches, but it's oddly quite tricky to get a reasonable portrait on this type, there's normally a flat point somewhere on the King's face so it's not bad, for what it is.

F5_1sm.jpg

P6300014sm.jpg

I got it in April 2004. £160 and it's yours.

All coins come with my ticket (and any others I got with the coin). Postage at cost, so your choice from 60p (First Class), £1.50 Recorded 1st Class to £5.90 fully insured through Special Delivery. Cheques please to avoid PayPal costs!

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Aw. If I was even remotely interested in (medieval) hammered, I would certainly be knocking on your door! Those look reasonable prices to me, though I'm not exactly an expert :D

Well I'm generally just interested in getting back what I paid for them. Like most here have done I guess, they were bought in a moment of enthusiasm early in my collecting days and now a few years on I'd really like to improve on them. Or actually, with the knowledge gained in the intervening years I could spend the proceeds rather more selectively.

Plus when, like the other day, I miss out on a very rare coin for the want of a bit under what I'm asking for the last coin, it's frustrating. I need a bit in reserve for when that coin I really want turns up!

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Thanks Guys! :)

And another one. (If you knew how much I'm struggling to get the new camera focus on a coin, you'd buy them all out of sympathy!!

Spink 2797 Sharp F5/1 Has the usual drawbacks of a dug coin such as surface scratches, but it's oddly quite tricky to get a reasonable portrait on this type, there's normally a flat point somewhere on the King's face so it's not bad, for what it is.

F5_1sm.jpg

P6300014sm.jpg

I got it in April 2004. £160 and it's yours.

All coins come with my ticket (and any others I got with the coin). Postage at cost, so your choice from 60p (First Class), £1.50 Recorded 1st Class to £5.90 fully insured through Special Delivery. Cheques please to avoid PayPal costs!

Any of these wih a provenance worth having?

I sympathise with the problems of getting decent images - I've just spent a full evening trying to get images to upload to the site and managed a total of 6 sort of acceptable ones, though not all fully focussed. I don't understand how it can focus on one side of the coin and then when you turn it over, defocus the other side. The flash converts an FDC proof into a severely defaced dog of a coin too. Tempted to revert to scans, or better still not bother with the site. Particle physics and chemistry is a darned sight easier than photography. Humph. :angry:

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Just on the Point of photography. I usually take mine outside Rob in good daylight, then check them out on the laptop, if any are out of focus i simply do them again until i have the picture i want.

Its getting the camera just right thats the hard part, but me

And my camera have become one when doing photos and i Generally now just do 1 of each side and we're done. The tricky part comes when there's some underlying lustre or prooflike fields, then its 5 or 6 takes at it.

I like my camera but thinking of investing in something more complicated, its just the expense if i don't like it that holds me back.

Tom i do like 1 or 2 coins in there, if i have some spare slush next month and if they are still avaliable i'll come knocking.

Edited by azda

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Thanks for posting the grading details and advice Tom! It is very helpful. I have my next few purchases already planned, but after that I am definitley going to pick myself a nice hammered coin for my collection.

I have one hammered, the one I posted in the "British Coin Enquiries" thread, even though it is a low grade, I was amazed I could pick up a coin that is over 700 years old for under a fiver!

While dipping my toes in the water, I may stick with a reputable dealer, until I am more comfortable with grading. HistoricCoinage has some nice coins for a low budget. After I buy a few hammered coins I can see where it takes me! :)

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Any of these wih a provenance worth having?

Not afaik, Rob. The Prestbury (creased) and tun over crown coin I got from Bob Lyall. The latter has a couple of tiny spots of red wax on it, but whether that's of any significance I don't know. He didn't tell me where he got it and there was no ticket. But apart from yours I've only ever seen two others, so I think it's quite rare with this overmark (though obviously, it's not the easiest to spot). Perhaps I should ask more for it? :P

The photographs are frustrating. Our old camera which just eats up battery life is fine. This new one, despite having a supposed macro facility (and the pic looking nice and crisp on the screen) just doesn't produce such sharp images. Grrr.

As for the site, while I've bought milled coins from lists in the past, with hammered there are so many potential variations I really need to see a photo to make a decision. And while I'm limiting my choices, I don't (yet) attend fairs or auctions so online dealers are my major source for new material. Those without photos I tend to just pass by as it gets embarassing constantly asking 'so have you got a photo of .. you could send me?'

Tom i do like 1 or 2 coins in there, if i have some spare slush next month and if they are still avaliable i'll come knocking.

Please do Dave. I'm in no hurry and will just leave them up for people to see. If you want more images of any I'll do my best!

Thanks for posting the grading details and advice Tom! It is very helpful.

That's OK Chris. And if anyone disagrees with my opinions, do say! It's always interesting to hear people's views on grading and I'm always prepared to learn.

Edited by TomGoodheart

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Any of these wih a provenance worth having?

Not afaik, Rob. The Prestbury (creased) and tun over crown coin I got from Bob Lyall. The latter has a couple of tiny spots of red wax on it, but whether that's of any significance I don't know. He didn't tell me where he got it and there was no ticket. But apart from yours I've only ever seen two others, so I think it's quite rare with this overmark (though obviously, it's not the easiest to spot). Perhaps I should ask more for it? :P

The photographs are frustrating. Our old camera which just eats up battery life is fine. This new one, despite having a supposed macro facility (and the pic looking nice and crisp on the screen) just doesn't produce such sharp images. Grrr.

The obverse die is the same as my E2/3 tun with the apostrophe only obverse stops and I had an E2/2 from Mike Vosper a while back from the same obverse but different reverse die to yours. It is the only die I have seen with the point stops missing below the wedge and not recorded as a legend variety by Francis. Mind you, at that time there was only one E2/3 tun known. Now we are approaching double figures for tun with a couple of these tun over crown on the obverse. I just checked the Francis papers and the one with the wax wasn't illustrated, but is probably worth keeping and doing further research in this department. I also sold a tun over crown both sides last month from different dies.

Obv.

post-381-021728200 1341057589_thumb.jpg

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The obverse die is the same as my E2/3 tun with the apostrophe only obverse stops

I've inspected the obv mark many times to see if I could see more than the blurred tun, but have never been able to make it out any better, so presume it's just over crown, like the reverse.

Oh, and I've pm'd you!

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*bump* I've still one or two coins left if anyone is interested. :P

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Amazingly I still have one or two *coughorallsevenactuallycough* coins left if anyone might be interested? :(

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I'm mightily tempted by many of them! Unfortunately I tend to stop at Tudor but I can sometimes be tempted.

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Just on the Point of photography. I usually take mine outside Rob in good daylight, then check them out on the laptop, if any are out of focus i simply do them again until i have the picture i want.

Its getting the camera just right thats the hard part, but me

And my camera have become one when doing photos and i Generally now just do 1 of each side and we're done. The tricky part comes when there's some underlying lustre or prooflike fields, then its 5 or 6 takes at it.

I like my camera but thinking of investing in something more complicated, its just the expense if i don't like it that holds me back.

On photography a tripod is your friend too. You only need to concentrate on holding one thing. I'll post a picture of a 1937 2/- piece taken using only a tripod and available light with a very cheap digicam.

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On photography a tripod is your friend too. You only need to concentrate on holding one thing. I'll post a picture of a 1937 2/- piece taken using only a tripod and available light with a very cheap digicam.

And here it is

post-7414-002817900 1344250442_thumb.jpg

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On photography a tripod is your friend too. You only need to concentrate on holding one thing. I'll post a picture of a 1937 2/- piece taken using only a tripod and available light with a very cheap digicam.

And here it is

post-7414-002817900 1344250442_thumb.jpg

Nice result! I know absolutely nothing at all about photography, but a tripod is worth it's weight in gold, I bought mine second hand from a camera shop for £9.99! The only problem is, you then have to create your own lighting, as you are generally photographing the coin straight on, which doesn't portray it in the best light, if you'll pardon the pun! When we look at the beauty of a coin with the naked eye, we generally tip it to allow the light to refract off the surface. I used to achieve this with a hand-held camera held at an angle to the coin. Now I have to angle artificial lighting in order that it bounces up into the straight-on 'tripoded' camera, which then gives you a new headache of white balance etc, which I still haven't mastered, or have the inclination to master...I just change the background colours for different coins, and make use of two lamps, one lamp, two lamps and sunshine, two lamps and overcast, oh, AND some after shot software!

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Hey, Peck, there's another one of those sneaky extra QUOTES in senumis's reply (above my response) weird! :)

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