Leaderboard

I seem to spend half my life on it 😂 it’s incredible

My website also has pictures.

Today was quite busy at Huddersfield with a rush early doors, though the quid pro-quo was an early finish. It was dead by 1:30. On the plus side, at least people were spending money this month, unlike last month when I took the princely sum of £31. That was officially the worst fair I have ever done.

That looks fantastic! A lot of people on here with incredible knowledge who can advise better than me but from what I’ve seen the 67 can be tricky but the 65 seems a bit easier. Thanks for sharing 👍

I picked up a ‘67 a couple of years ago, one of my 4 Victorian pennies and, sorry to say, not for sale. Not a great picture unfortunately, but I’m curious, are they harder to come by? Why ‘65 & ‘67?

Attached picture is of a 1911 proof set as advertised by Coins and Medals, Brisbane. As you can see the coins are toned after being left somewhere possibly over a hundred years. This is the condition I would expect to find coins of this age to be in. However the amount of coins for sale of a similar age that are bright makes me wonder how they remain in that condition over a similar age as with the 1918 half crown? Anyone who has silver objects will note the only way of keeping them shiny is frequent cleaning Perhaps it may be useful what toning of silver is. It is the equivalent of rust on iron and steel. In other words corrosion where silver metal is attacked by the oxygen and sulfur in the atmosphere to form oxides and sulfides of silver. Some will argue that toning is attractive and I am sympathetic to that view but not all toning is of that nature. Again the colors produced by toning are as a result of constructive and destructive interference where the incident and reflected light interact with each other. Again I still wonder how silver coins retain their shiny status? Some coins certified by TPGs as cleaned while some it is obvious due to signs of abrasion while others I have been stumped by this verdict. Having said that I can only make that judgement from the photographs of the coin and not in hand.

Ground find/detector? Sometimes there can be moist soil contact with bits or grains of acidic components, not a solution - if that makes sense..

The Spink 'Coins of England' has colour pictures of lots of the Victorian bronze penny Obverses and Reverses, very useful. The latest one I have is 2022, but they have shown these pictures for many years.

You would be well advised to attend a coin fair, such as those advertised in the back of Coin News. I go monthly to the Midland Coin Fair and have had many bargains as well as fairly priced offerings- but it does pay to know your subject, and don’t be afraid to take a reference book or target list. I have also done well on EBay over the years but again know your subject. Bronze and copper pennies are faked , but the usual Chinese offerings are fairly easy to spot to the trained eye. Look at the vendor’s feedbacks and if there are any complaints or they are new sellers steer clear. And I wouldn’t buy purported Celtic or Saxon coins on EBay without taking advice eg on this forum, as at any one time most are fakes. Jerry

It is worth keeping an eye on local auctions. Boxes of Vicky pennies often come up in house clearance sales, and sometimes include some rarities unidentified. The lower tiers of coin auctions can also be good as again they may not have identified the good ones. Also, you won't be fighting with the big bucks buyers. My local coin auction in Exeter, which runs every 3 weeks, has had some great pennies at low prices recently.

Ebay is virtually dead these days. Nobody is willing to pay good money for good coins. On a personal level, I will only spend money on something decent if I know the coin, or is a particular seller I can trust. I put things on that are dirt cheap with a smattering of higher grade things, but the latter rarely sell. A couple of quid here or there is less of a problem, but don't expect bargains. From a sellers perspective, a few quid for something worth a few pence is a good margin, which is why I persist. If you bought the same from a dealer, you would still have postage costs, so nothing lost. TIP. Don't assume dealers are trying to rip you off and charging over the odds - that's ebay area of expertise. Do a lot of spadework and you will see that many are quite reasonably priced, and despite the apparent attraction of ebay's buyer/seller protection, like any insurance, the proof of the pudding is when you try to invoke the protection. It might work. Though to be fair, ebay's policy of buyer good, seller bad, means relatively little hassle for buyers. Any respectable dealer will offer to take returns in a reasonable time frame, allowing for people going on holiday, but to say you don't want something 6 months down the line because you just found better is likely to be viewed as tough shit. Responsibility/respectability is a two way thing. At the end of the day, most people on this planet are decent and honest, so don't lose much sleep over it..