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Nonmortuus

Nons "What crap has he bought this time?" Thread.....

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Hi Jerry, yes it is. I paid substantially less then he originally wanted but still probably over paid however I wanted a 1913 and I like to deal with Ian. Ian, along with Rob and Mark, have been really good when I have looked at their stuff and have taken the time to have a chat and give me a few pointers.

 

P.S. Always good to see you at the fair, I'm honestly not stalking you its just a very small room so every time you turn around I'm there ?

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1 hour ago, Nonmortuus said:

P.S. Always good to see you at the fair, I'm honestly not stalking you its just a very small room so every time you turn around I'm there ?

The coins you're buying, it'll be me stalking you!  

That coin is a stunner, if you paid less than Ian was asking, I dont think you overpaid.

Jerry

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Nice once again Non, I do like the ex Rob 1758 shilling, a lot better than mine from Colin Cooke about a year ago.

Who is Ian and does he have a website?  I'll probably get to the fair again in March.

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Ian Pratt, unfortunatly no web site or ebay sales but he is a pleasant guy to talk to and has a good selection on offer. He is there each month.

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Cheers - I must have looked at his stock when I was up there in December but there were so many dealers here, I didn't really remember many of the names!

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On 16/08/2015 at 0:05 PM, DaveG38 said:

I wouldn't disagree in principle with anything people have posted on here about buying the best you can afford, and trying to get a minimum of EF grade. It's a perfectly sensible and practical way to go. However, there are a couple of caveats. Firstly, that's only really a workable policy for readily available coins and dates, unless that is, you have infinitely deep pockets, something most of us don't have.

To give an example, if you are a collector of all coins Edward VII, you may well be able to obtain most coins in EF or better for reasonable money. However, if you are a completist, you will want a 1905 halfcrown (and florin and shilling) and you are not going to get these for reasonable money in EF. A halfcrown in Fine alone will likely set you back £500, whilst in UNC you could have to pay around £10k for the best. In this situation you have a choice. Either ignore the hole in your collection or accept that you have to lower your grading goals, at least for this one date and type. Most of us who are completists have this dilemma from time to time and we usually compromise our grading ideals. Only today, there's an example on another thread where davidrj has managed to complete a date run, but the final coin is in pretty low grade, but I bet he's happy to see the gap filled.

http://www.predecimal.com/forum/topic/9947-still-a-completionist-at-heart/

The other point is that those who say that buying lower grade means an upgrade later with more cost are quite right for common coins. However, for less common ones, filling a gap and waiting for an upgrade may be the only way to have the satisfaction of achieving a collecting goal, but it may not cost you money either. For instance, I have a complete date run of halfpennies back to 1672. Of these just about the most difficult to find is the 1689. I bought a River Thames find in near fine condition for £400, some years ago and filled the gap. Eventually, I bought Nicholson's example which is in GF maybe NVF, as an upgrade. I have no expectation that I can find an EF example, and even if I could, that I could afford it, so I have to remain satisfied with the one I have. However, the Thames find subsequently sold for £450, so there was even an up side to the upgrade. I guess the point I'm making is that when it comes to rarities, the idea that upgrades will cost more than buying the best you can doesn't always apply.

A final thought and that is that although you can see the ideals for collecting on here, don't run away with the idea that every coin collector only collects in absolutely top grade. It may seem so based on people's comments, but in reality most collectors compromise on some coins some of the time. If they didn't, you wouldn't see the volume of sales on ebay that you do, and dealers wouldn't even bother offering lower grade material, but they do, all the time. It doesn't make you a less serious collector, just because you don't always collect high grade.

And finally, finally, for what it's worth, your half farthing seems a perfectly reasonable buy for £4 to me. No, it's not top grade, but it's not the worst either. Based on your pictures, wear is very even all round and the colour looks nice, and I reckon you'd easily get your money back on ebay if you wished.

As a new forum member (less than an hour), it is very comforting to see such detailed advice from others considering the time obviously spent in typing and editing.

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4 minutes ago, BigJohnny said:

As a new forum member (less than an hour), it is very comforting to see such detailed advice from others considering the time obviously spent in typing and editing.

Welcome to the Forum BJ (ooo-err!), there is an amazing resource of superb advice on here :)

 

 

Edited by Paulus

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Bought some old coins on ebay cheap in October 2015 as they were mis-listed, so got them cheap and now have about 2000-3000 coins, i think i'm mad.  How does one attempt to stop collecting coins? lol or is it one of those things you don't stop till you've taken your final breathe?

Edited by BigJohnny
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This is probably not the best site to ask how to stop collecting coins! For many it'a a life-long obsession, I'm 8 years in and now am only interested in higher grade, mainly English, pre-decimals

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Welcome BigJohnny.

I think there are perhaps two ways in which you can stop without having to shuffle off your mortal coil:

 

1.  Needing to spend your discretionary (coin) cash on something else - e.g. moving house, changing your car, family changes, or by being out of work (like me at the moment)

2. Setting yourself a simple-ish collecting goal, completing it, and then resisting the temptation to set another.  Possible, but good luck with that one ;)


In reality I think most people either have the collecting gene or they don't.  The more time you spend on here, not only the more you learn, but you also see pictures of some lovely coins that sparks a desire to save up for something similar yourself!  :)

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Hi, BigJohnny - welcome to the nut house!

I'd echo what's already been said by everyone else - we all clearly have some form of compulsive disorder! That said, at least the 'shiny ting' we blow our wad on has history and intrinsic value unlike the technology/shoes/gimmicks every bugger else seems to be addicted to. At least what we buy doesn't end up in the bin twelve months hence...

I'm pretty new to the hobby, too & have gone from 'stacker', through moderns to pre - decimal in short order. I freely admit that I struggle not to buy on impulse, too - what ya gonna do, huh? It's just 'how I roll' :) 

By way of justification for my profligacy, I've just 'flipped' my first coin for double what I paid, so, like you, I'm now trawling the 'bay for hidden bargains. Bring on dem coins!

Frank

 

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So I have been playing around with my technique when it comes to take photos of my coins.

This is a the 1915 Halfcrown I own, again a new pic with the new lighting setup. Below that is my 1787 with hearts sixpence I picked up recently again with the picture taken with my new lighting set up, excuse the line under the Rev, thats a hole in the foam of the case, I misaligned the coin.

1915-hc1.jpg1787-sixpence1.jpg

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Non You are getting your coin eye in nicely.:)

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I think Nons is coming on in leaps and bounds, he is less than a year in, and far more advanced than I was after 2+ years :)

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Thanks both. Still huge amounts to learn but I'm happy that experienced collectors think I am making progress.

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Couple of new additions. I was after a 1927 and already had a 1912 but the toning in the awful sellers picture caught my eye. Not the greatest grade but my wife likes it!1927-hc.jpg1912-hc-2.jpg

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So I have started to add some low cost Bronze coins to my collection, by low cost I mean sub £5. Here are two of my newbies, both of these were sub £2. I am sure they would not qualify as acquisition of the week so forgive me for posting them here and not there. :)

1929-farthing.jpg

1935-penny.jpg

Edited by Nonmortuus

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Nice coins at a nice price Nons. Crazy toning on that half crown above too! B)

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Penny spot on for that price and you wont lose anything should you wish to get a better one :D

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50 minutes ago, Nordle11 said:

Nice coins at a nice price Nons. Crazy toning on that half crown above too! B)

Yes it is a bit OTT. The sellers photos were awful (out of focus, far away etc) when I bought it so it was a punt based on the date and the toning the seemed to be there. If I decide to flip it I have already had a few people who are normally decimal collectors/silver stackers take an interest on Facebook and offer me more than I paid. For now it will just stay in my collection :)

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14 minutes ago, PWA 1967 said:

Penny spot on for that price and you wont lose anything should you wish to get a better one :D

Glad to know I have not over paid on the penny with £1.99! The farthing was 99p plus postage. Again, more about starting to get a few in hand to compare grades etc until my funds allow some higher grade purchases :)

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Good spot then :)

It's always nice to have an example of the crazy toning even if the grade isn't all that.

Definitely didn't overpay for the 2 bronze coins, great buys.

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I always tried to obtain my coins in EF or better. In the end, perfect quality coins/banknotes are a VERY GOOD investment, second and most important they look stunning! Example a Henry VIII AV Sovereign sold for 345,000 UK Pounds recently, in 1970 same coin fetched 700 Pounds! I recently got a 1804 George III Half Guinea in mint state from DNW, it cost twice as much as the EF one....but it was worth it. I know, I am envious of all the "Big shots" out there that can buy mint state Charles I Triple Units/ perfect 5 Guineas/ Basel 20 Dukats....I once saw a collection of Roman Aureii....195 coins all FDC. Makes one cry! Here is an example of a mint state hammered AV Goldgulden Lajos I of Anjou or as we know him Louis the Great of Hungary from Buda Mint. 

john photos 1 015 (Medium).jpg

john photos 1 017 (Medium).jpg

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Two good buys there I reckon. I've just paid £2.60 (including postage) for a 1929 farthing and now I feel a bit robbed. :(

I think yours is a better strike than mine too.

DSCF7563.JPG

DSCF7564.JPG

Edited by mrbadexample
Adding photos

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