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Oxford_Collector

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About Oxford_Collector

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    Oxford, England
  • Interests
    British silver 1816-1936, US silver (20th century, post-Barber to around 1947)

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  1. There's nothing wrong with MT coins as long as you realise they're simply a way of acquiring silver bullion, not a numismatic rarity, though I would argue that if you want to acquire physical silver primarily as bullion you'd do better off buying tubes of 1oz American Silver Eagles, Austrian Philharmonicas or Canadian Maples (though with VAT on silver at 20% in the UK and silver prices having probably peaked for a while at least, am not sure this is a good idea either at the moment).
  2. Thanks everyone, great input, I'm really interested in this stuff! BTW is it correct to assume that the with/without hearts coins are as common as each other, so all things being equal, for a similar condition coin, the value would be the same either way? Or is one of variety considered more desirable than the other? Pre-1816 silver is really outside of my main area of knowledge (not that I'm an expert on even the post-1816 coinage...), but I've started to take an interest in the earlier Georgian silver recently, I guess I should really get hold of a copy of "English Silver Coinage"....
  3. I just came across this latest rip-off from the Royal Mint - The Double-Florin Anniversary Set "This beautiful limited edition of just 125 presents a ‘very fine’ condition original double-florin coin sourced by Royal Mint experts together with a 2012 silver 20p coin" and all for "only" £145! According to my Spink 2012 guide, a VF double florin should cost between £40 (for an 1887) and £55 (for an 1890), except for the rarer varieties, so in effect they're charging £90 to £105 for a silver 20p... I pity the "normal" public who have no idea what they should be paying for a VF double florin...
  4. Interesting, I didn't know that the die finished had changed, its a real shame about the effect this had had on the finish of the coins, really makes modern coinage minted in this way look unappealing!
  5. This very true - for example *why* is the 1989 proof sovereign so expensive? Yes it has a one-off (and rather nice) design, but the mintage numbers are higher than some of the later proof sovereigns and the price is way more than the other one-off design years (2002, 2005 and now 2012). The reason - demand! People like the coin...
  6. Sorry if this is slightly off-topic (though a sovereign is arguably a pre-decimal coin still, whichever the year), but am I the only one to think that the ultra-shiny finish on modern (well, post-2000, if not earlier) gold sovereigns is horrible? I don't know what they do to sovereigns these days, but I have a 1970s sovereign and the finish on this still looks more like the "traditional" finish seen on much earlier sovereigns, so I'm not quite sure when (or why?!) this change-over happened, as my only other "modern" sovereign is a 1980s proof one. The ultra-glossy finish on modern bullion sovereigns I think actually makes them look "cheap", rather than proof-like. The slightly matt finish on modern US bullion gold eagles, for example, is much nicer I think and looks less susceptible to finger marks and the like.
  7. Oxford_Collector

    Ebay's Worst Offerings

    On eBay when a coin is described as being in "collectable condition" this usually seems to mean "ungradeable" in reality...
  8. Oxford_Collector

    London Olympics 50ps

    My hovercraft is full of eels!
  9. The limitation on the file size, not dimensions, I think, if you up the JPG compression a bit you can upload some reasonably large images. From what I can tell from the tiny photo and description, it sounds like a silver (or maybe nickel?) plated ordinary penny, though.
  10. Oxford_Collector

    London Coin Auction 3rd/4th March

    I went on the Saturday, spent an interesting morning mostly attending some discussions about the CGS (Coin Grading Service), introduced by a collector, Bill Pugsley, (who I also had a very nice chat with later in the day after the auctions had finished, along with Andrew Wide of AJW coins). Was interesting to see what everyone had to say and I did end up submitting a few of my nicer coins for grading/encapsulation. I spent quite a bit of the afternoon looking at the auction lots and watching the auction proceed - was interesting for me as was the first time I think I've actually been at an auction in person! Unfortunately most of the lots I would've been interested in were being auctioned on the Sunday, which I couldn't make. There were are a number of US coins I was quite interested in, however, though the bidding for most of them started off too high for me and there was a keen US phone bidder. I did end up bidding on and winning a lustrous uncirculated 1936 Buffalo Nickel, however, a common date, but the coin really is in superb condition and I'm not disappointed with it. Anyway, I found the whole day very educational and would certainly consider going again.
  11. Oxford_Collector

    London Olympics 50ps

    They're ahead of you. Philip Skingley's foreword to the 2012 Spink says, "It is our intention for the next edition to split the catalogue into two volumes, separating the decimal coining into its own stand-alone volume." He goes on to say that this will allow both sections to expand. Good news for those of us with only a passing interest in decimal currency! But not for those of us whose interests cross the divide. Just get a copy of Check your Change for the new tat I don't think you'd find gold or even silver Britannias in your change, though
  12. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17229794 "The world's most expensive coin is going on display in London at the Goldsmith's Hall, as part of a high security tour around Europe. The 1933 Double Eagle coin needs three security guards to accompany it wherever it goes. Curator Karen Lee told Breakfast that the 1933 coin was never supposed to make it into circulation, which is why it is so rare."
  13. I think the only silver pennies (and Fourpence and Twopence) issued during George VI's reign were maundy issues. Mintage for Maundy money is always pretty low, there's some mintage figures and indicative values (for the sets) here, but I don't know how up-to-date this is: http://www.maundymoney.info/26064/14115.html According to this the mintage for the 1938 set was 1,275 pieces. BTW the coin will be 50% silver, not sterling (92.5%), as maundy money was debased along with the rest of our coinage in 1921, though was restored back to sterling silver in 1947 when silver was removed completely from our circulating coinage . Hope this helps! Sorry, I've just read your post again, you've said it has Britannia on the reverse (which the maundy penny doesn't) - I don't know of any British silver penny of 1938 with Britannia on it - sounds more like a 19th century groat! Is it British or a colonial coin?
  14. I think the only silver pennies (and Fourpence and Twopence) issued during George VI's reign were maundy issues. Mintage for Maundy money is always pretty low, there's some mintage figures and indicative values (for the sets) here, but I don't know how up-to-date this is: http://www.maundymoney.info/26064/14115.html According to this the mintage for the 1938 set was 1,275 pieces. BTW the coin will be 50% silver, not sterling (92.5%), as maundy money was debased along with the rest of our coinage in 1921, though was restored back to sterling silver in 1947 when silver was removed completely from our circulating coinage . Hope this helps!
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