Chris Perkins

It was 'sold' for £790 this time round, but in a flash is now re-listed as apparently the winner had no money. Odd. I've never actually had that problem as a seller, but it does seem to be very widespread that people with no money will keep bidding on things. I don't like the pics either, and if this was the only one available in the world, I still wouldn't go anywhere near it.

Yes, I tried that too just now. I expect they've pulled them as they were reported? Unless they are fake slabs, which is also not unheard of. The BNTA email suggests that they are genuine PCGS that were incorrectly labelled.

The London Coin Company are actually one of the better coin sellers with the word 'London' in their title. They had nothing to do with this scam, they were simply referenced in the email as they happened to be offering a real gold one. Peter - thanks. Hedgehog gate?

I sometimes have a bone to pick with slabbing, as do many true collectors and dealers that prefer to trust their own grading/attribution ability more than that of others. No need to dwell on that. But what I have detested for years and even more so now since the RM have started trying to cash in on it too, is gold plating! The gold plating of silver proof coins in order to fool the public into thinking that it makes them special in some way, so that they can then charge twice as much. It's utterly deplorable and I refuse to give gold plated proofs the time of day in "Collectors' Coins: Decimal Issues of the UK" and any future publications. Combine sloppy TPG (or possibly slab forgery, I haven't checked) and you end up with this: Gold plated proofs slabbed as gold proofs by PCGS. This email did the rounds on Tuesday. I got it, as did some other BNTA members (with stupid 20mb of unsolicited attachments). Michael Williams he calls himself. I berated him for sending 20mb of attachments and told him I wanted nothing to do with it (somehow it didn't seem right and there was a distinct smell of rat in the air). Richard Anderson of Weighton Coin Wonders identified them as the plated proofs and informed the BNTA. This is the full email (I've attached a single image at the end): I HAVE (3) 2012 DIAMOND JUBILEE GOLD PROOF FIVE POUND COINS FOR SALE . THEY ARE NOT A SET , THEY ARE INDIVIDUAL COINS.I HAVE ATTACHED SOME PHOTOS OF EACH INDIVIDUAL COIN FOR YOU AND OF THE 3 COINS TOGETHER . (MORE PHOTO'S AVAILABLE IF NEEDED) IN 2012 TO COMMEMORATE THE QUEENS DIAMOND JUBILEE THE ROYAL MINT STRUCK A VERY LIMITED ISSUE SOLID 22 CARAT GOLD PROOF £5 FIVE POUND CROWN COIN.THE REVERSE DESIGN DEPICTS AN EARLY PORTRAIT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II WITH FOLIAGE WHICH IS A SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO QUEEN VICTORIA THE ONLY OTHER MONARCH TO ACHIEVE HER DIAMOND JUBILEE.THE OBVERSE DESIGN DEPICTS QUEEN ELIZABETH II IN THE PRESENT WEARING GARTER ROBES.BOTH THE REVERSE AND OBVERSE DESIGNS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED BY IAN RANK BROADLEY FRBS.THESE LEGAL TENDER COINS HAVE BEEN STRUCK TO PROOF QUALITY USING SPECIALLY PREPARED DIES AND HIGHLY POLISHED BLANKS. EACH OF THE 3 COINS HAVE BEEN INDIVIDUALLY SLABBED AND GRADED BY THE WORLD FAMOUS COIN GRADING COMPANY PCGS AND ARE HIGHLY SORT AFTER BY COIN COLLECTORS AROUND THE WORLD . THEY ARE GUARANTEED AUTHENTIC AND GRADED PR69DCAM ,THEN SLABBED WITHIN A TAMPER PROOF CASE BY PCGS .THERE IS ONLY 6 COINS OF THIS TYPE IN THE WORLD THAT HAVE BEEN GRADED PR69DCAM BY PCGS WITH NO HIGHER GRADES AVAILABLE . THE LONDON COIN COMPANY HAS 1 OF THESES COINS FOR SALE FOR AROUND £2600 (including P+P) SPECIFICATION OF EACH INDIVIDUAL COIN YEAR OF ISSUE 2012DENOMINATION £5WEIGHT 39.94 gramsDIAMETER 38.61 mmMETAL GOLDCARAT SOLID 22 CARAT GOLDFINISH PROOFISSUE LIMITS 3,850PCGS COIN# 651395PCGS CERTIFICATE NO' # COIN 1 - 17235831 COIN 2 - 17235832 COIN 3 - 17235833 GRADED PCGS PR69DCAMHOLDER TYPE STANDARD TAMPER PROOFPCGS POPULATION 6

Thanks for the email. I think it all depends on the screen size and specs of the device being used to view it. I have a feeling Amazon may have reduced the image quality to reduce file size. The ebooks work fine and are useable on phones, but due to their nature they are better viewed on devices with larger screens.

Ok. It should be a lot more than 21! That's like an 8bit Sinclair Spectrum.

I don't know about iphones, but I'm pretty sure there's a screenshot function. I just want to make sure that it's a prob with your setup and that the images are ok.... The initial file that was produced by my ebook conversion people was massive (due to the images) and I got them to re-do a smaller file with slightly less image quality. They look ok on my PC, but I need to keep an eye on it.

What's up with the images? Can you post a screen shot? They should be pretty good.

If you get the Kindle version and that works better for you, I will of course refund the epub! The kindle version on Amazon shows a few of the first pages. And the Rotographic website links to this pair of pages: http://www.rotographic.com/images/CCDIp72-73.jpg

It all depends on how your ereader software works! I'm not familiar with whatever DGS is. Does your ereader read epubs (most do) and can you manually search and find the file with it?

The eBook version of "Collectors' Coins: Decimal Issues of the United Kingdom" is now available. For Kindle devices, from here (currently for £4.32): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IXXJRBE?tag=predecimalcoi-21&camp=1406&creative=6394&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B00IXXJRBE&adid=03Y8QFWCY5NY96K7PT6K& And as an ePub (for almost all other ereader software inc iPhone, Android etc etc) here, for £3.50: http://mydgs.co/M8uYpb The printed paperback version is coming next month!

Ooops, sorry, yes I'd quoted F and VF! I'll get my coat.

I don't have a Spink 2014, but my Collectors' Coins GB 2014 says: 1817 Bull head £20 VF £65 EF 1821 £30 VF £70 EF 1823 (2nd rev) £30 VF £80 EF Be interesting to see how Spink compares. (SEE POST BELOW - I managed to quote F and VF above!)

My book, my books, buy my books. Seriously though, the Standard Guide to Grading British Coins and Collectors' Coins GB 2014 (Pre-decimal) will be a very good start. Both are also available in eBook form, on Amazon Kindle etc (which is currently fairly unusual for coin books).

Friend of mine has a VIP 1949 set, inc proof 1949 Threepence.

She went to the great knackers yard (or wherever old cows go) in the sky. I changed the pic to something coin related as I'm the boss of what is now by far the biggest UK coin forum, and I thought having a comical cow hardly gave the impression of authority and coiny knowledge. The new image is "Collectors' Coins - Decimal Issues of the United Kingdom" (formerly "Check Your Change") and will go to print this month. I've also added more links in my sig, to gain more exposure for the other books.

I had trouble listing a Persian rug on German eBay! In the end I hyphenated the (Indian) town of origin and it was allowed. Have had trouble with Iranian coins in the past too. And of course in Germany anything that even looks a little bit Nazi is dis-allowed, except coins for some bonkers reason.

A couple of coins I meant, in case that wasn't clear.

Amounts? Anything from a couple to many kg.

I buy coppers for the copper content and sixpences can just about be paid in to a bank account if you're lucky, it's your own bank and you know the cashier! I'm able to get face value for post 1947 non silver 'silver'. The face value is more than the scrap value.

We ultimately sell them to contacts in the jewellery trade, or sell them as coins by weight to private investors. Pre 20 sterling is more useful as it's already sterling so can be make into jewellery as it is. I suppose some coins may end up polished to within an inch of their lives and in those fancy-birth-year sets in plastic folders or sold to tourists, but to actually get good money for bog standard pre 47 silver you have to have an awful lot of patience! I move it on quickly after a small cut and then hope that some actual collectable coins will come along! I must have handled tons and tons of pre 47 over the years.

It's brass. If it's not brass, I'll eat it.

At over £500 there were 8 different bidders. A lot of it is speculation. I'm pretty sure this one has gone to a collector, but I bet an awful lot of the Kew gdns sales were to people that jumped on them quick with the hope of selling on for a quick profit. Same as for the dateless 20p, except with the Kew coin it literally fell flat after about 48 hrs....scarcely enough time to receive the coins before selling them on, so no doubt lots of people were disappointed.

Aha, that was you was it! Then I suppose I do technically owe you one. Luckily the new decimal book took so long that I would have found out before I sold them on, but still, it could have been a disaster couldn't it! Ok, I'll send you a signed "Collector's Coins - Decimal Issues of the United Kingdom". The least I can do.

Thanks everyone. I suppose it must be a decimal record (for base metal)! There was such a huge amount of interest in it in terms of watcher numbers, bidders and questions asked. Did you bring it to my attention Danz? I can't remember how and when exactly I found out about it. I couldn't have asked for better timing with all that Kew Gdns 50p stuff kicking off mid way through. I hate lotteries, but perhaps I should buy a ticket this week. £900 is now the value that will go into the book.