Chris Perkins

I think it was me that bought the coin with the '1'! It's probably rarer than the dateless coin, but that could be due to the fact that the dateless one is easy for the layperson to see. There may well be the same amount of '1' coins out there, but no one is looking for them. And, even if they were looking for them, a die number (if that's what it is) is much less spectacular than a mule. Did I not read something somewhere to the effect that the RM also acknowledged the 'number 1' 20p at about the same time as they acknowledged the dateless mule?? I'd be relunctant to send it off though. Did you send them high re pictures of it? As for the metal mix or finishing of the blanks, instinct tells me that a bad mix etc leading to an odd tone wouldn't really stir up much extra interest. Even with a letter from the mint, it's just a slight flaw leading to a differently toned coin. Worth a couple of quid as an oddity perhaps.

If it's a real 'off metal' strike (i.e. a 5p on the wrong blank) then it's more interesting that some other types or errors. It's worth more than 5p but unlikely to be worth more than a few pounds. Can you post pictures?

Assuming it was a cock up!

I'm pretty sure Germany is doing commemorative '20th aniversary of the Berlin Wall junk'......no doubt called something like Der Berlinermauerzwanzigstejahrestagscheisse, but I suppose it can also be seen as an event of international significance too, even if it had no effect whatsoever on the Isle of Man. At least plates can be used as plates! I bet, as usual, that none of the 1000 coins that they make (if they can find 1000 mugs to buy them) will have ever been on the Isle of Man! I get rather annoyed when people mistake this crud for some form of coin collecting or numismatic persuit.

Whoopee! I hate all of the modern IOM not circulation commemorative issues with a passion! That little country, in conjunction with the Pobjoy mint, churns out more commemorative rubbish than China....and look how big China is (and they churn out a lot of rubbish too)! In 2 or 3 years that palladium coin will be worth exactly the same as all the other IOM issues = Bullion value.

A small coin featuring a number 3 with a crown above it is a threepence! Usually worth about 20p for the silver content....being relative tidlers. Halfcrowns are much larger at about 32mm dia and much thicker.

Yes, the 'Claim of Right' is scarcer, worth about £5 in perfect condition.

No they r not worth anything! Apart from face/metal value. Those are all common dates. In average normal circulated condition they are not significant and most of the country seem to have a stash of the exact same coins in the loft! :-S

Yes, I'll certainly look at the website and see if they work out cheaper than the small jiffy bags I currently use. If I were going to supply them, I'd also want to use them myself.

Coincraft have them? I didn't know they dealt in such valuable items! ;-)

I've heard it before and seen it on slabs and the like, so ner! I suppose it doesn't literally mean the coin is red, but it does basically indicate a high level of original lustre. They use the term 'brown' too for EF or even US AU coins that don't have lustre.

Yes, sorry, I ought to put something on rotographic.com. I'm delaying it slightly this year, probably until December as I have some of the 2009 edition that I'd like to at least partially sell out of first. I had too many printed after the success of the 2008 edition (with the free coins, which did very well).

And as for decimal coins, they were minted every year (apart from some that came later on and the half pence that ended!) but many of the 70/80s dates especially were just struck to go into year sets and not made for general circulation. So they exist, but can be hard to find.

Did he! He's never mentioned it to me. A very good Rotographic book customer.

The 50pf with the woman planting a seed or tending to a seedling (from memory)? That design was the same from the late 40s onwards I believe. I've got a few nice examples of the earlier ones but anything from the 80/90s I've long since exchanged at the Deutschebundesbank for Euros.

It could have been a lot worse. Imagine if you were out during the wind and not just after it ;-)

The envelopes I both sell and use for posting out are Polypropylene (PP) which is apparently inert according to studies. http://www.predecimal.com/klar-coin-envelo...1mm-p-7679.html I have them specially made. They are a bit more expensive, but I simply wouldn't entertain PVC at all, even for temporary storage.

Or....it could possibly just be a coin (or 2) that someone has cut in half, or filed down 2 seperate coins. We need to see pictures really.

And it's still in one piece? Coins were often bent to see if they were real or not. Fakes broke because lots of them were made of a brittle alloy. The real ones just bent slightly.

If it's thinner than a normal one (and a little lighter) then it's been filed down. Is there a faint negative impression of the Queens head on the blank side? If so, they may indicate that it's a genuine error.

Also, Collectors' Coins GB 2005 is in the public domain, linked to from the homepage of rotographic.com: http://www.rotographic.com/britishcoins2005public.pdf

Can you post pictures of it? The only slight problem is that it is in theory so impossible as an error, that any potential buyers may: 1. doubt its authenticity or, 2. consider it as a coin a mint employee made for a laugh! No. 2 is possible of course. It is unusual and possibly unique, but don't be too greedy as UK errors are historically pretty cheap. You may find someone for a couple of hundred quid, but I don't think we're talking thousands.

Everyone knows that! I think he must have a personal supply of them. They no doubt wear much slower than plastic plectrums, too. I once sold some sixpences to a Japanese guitar shop that intended to market them as Brian May plectrums in case any buddung Japanese Bohemian Rhapsodists desired a more authentic 'metal' tone.

Also relating to 1970s coins and their dates of issue not being the same as the dates on the coins: I've just opened 3 Royal Mint lead sealed canvass bags containing 2p coins. Each of them had a mid 1976 date stamped on the tag, from Aug to November. But all the coins in all 3 bags are actually 1978!! How can a 1978 bag get stamped with a 1976 date? They surely were not making 1978 coins in 1976?

That's strange. I've had some dealings with Andy and his wife. Met them at the London coin fair too. Domain name look up says that the name expired late July and has not yet been re-newed which means it's currently suspended! That can't be a good sign.