Chris Perkins

No of course not. The stupid (under trained) women in the Post Office from where I sent it assured me that it was impossible for the Russian to get the money without the transfer number. I went back and told her he had collected the money without the transfer number or knowing the sender name and she simply said she didn't how that was possible and that's as far as it ever got! (my German was very limited back then) So I contacted WU over email and they at first wanted to know the details bla bla. Then they went quiet and no longer responded to my emails. I thought the customer service from eBay was bad, but this was pretty awful too. Because of that rubbish service I stopped using WU for 4 years, but now I find I unfortunately have to, as for many people outside Europe it's the only way I can send them money for goods. Now, I make sure I get the goods first.

Is it more brassy than bronzy? If so, it sounds like an imitation 1790 Guinea (made later as a gaming token). I'll await a list. A trip to the midlands has to be justified by the potential value of the accumulation!

Two Shillings and a Florin are the same just with different names. Where are you WednesdaysChild? Thanks for your message, if you have lots of the same sort of thing perhaps I could visit to see them. Usually the best way to sort them out is to split the silver coins into 3 groups...Sterling silver, .500 and no silver. Unless they are spectacular they are nearly always worth the silver value, the dates are pretty much irrelevant for lower grade (average) silver coins.

Sergev (sorry if I spelt your name wrong), I've found the original Western Union transfer form from when I sent EUR120.00 to St. Petersburg on the 30th May 2003! This was for the uncleaned Roman coins that I never saw or heard anything about ever again! Details here: http://www.predecimal.com/ruwarning.php The name I was told to pay was Oleg Chebotarev. I'll happily give you more details but I suspect the address I have is no longer current after nearly 5 years!

The workmanship is quite crude Andy, in fact it looks to be cast from a soft metal alloy. I know the date in Roman numerals is 1480, but I would very much doubt that was the date it was made, as the style is very un-15th century. It may be rare, in that not many were made/are left, but I don't think the character is famous enough or the medal of good enough workmanship for it to be worth more than a few quid (i.e £10). Perhaps someone else will have a different opinion.

The surface looks bad but that's probably due to the conditions rather than it being a forgery. There is a clear trace of where the 8 should be, so it would appear that during the minting process the 8 has been filled with crud and has lead to almost no 8 being struck on the coin.

You can post a picture here by adding it as an attachment. The most likely cause for what you describe is a filled 8 digit on the die. Or, actually probably equally as possible for that sort of period is a fake coin that hasn't been made as well as a real one.

It's a reproduction sold as a novelty in Roman Villas and the like...it's less than 20 years old, no where near 2000! The little 'WRL' stands for Westair Reproductions Ltd. That's exactly why any picture of the actual item in question is always prefered.

Rich, A borrowed picture of a similar coin is never usually good when trying to ID another Roman coin because there can be subtle differences in type and of course no 2 ancient coins are exactly the same. There are also lots and lots of Roman forgeries about, some of which are pretty good. Can you post a picture of the actual coin?

I'm quite sure that maundy money is decimal and legal tender and that a half sovereign is, strictly speaking 50p and that the Britannias are also legal tender for their face values. Of course the metal values are all higher so no one is likely to really test that.

When you got to the very accurate bottom of it all I'd love to feature the infomation in the next Check your Change book.

That 1750 halfpenny is better than £3. I think I could sell that for £10 and therefore I'd offer £6. The 1799 coin is yukky though and has really no value. The Roman coin is worth less than £5.

There are a couple of halfpennies there (George II and George III). The Roman coins, from the bust style and remains of writing would appear to be one from Emperor conSTANS with a quite typical 2-soldier reverse type.

Yes it is isn't it. You'd have to ask Allgold of Sevenoaks (Clive) as they do the prices for the gold coins, I just paste 'em in.

I get quite a few enquiries about double headed coins and I've never ever actually confirmed the existence of one that hasn't been cleverly machined from 2 normal coins. Normally they're not joined together at the rim, one coin is hollowed out with the rim (and usually the beading) un-touched and the other is reduced drastically in size and inserted into the shallow hole. The beads and border hide the join and the edge looks as it should. Your grandfather should have taken the £10 thirty years ago! I'll eat my hat if it's a real error coin.

I'm just south of Chemnitz, not very far from you. I don't have many pennies at the moment though.

Whereabouts in Germany are you Holger?

I always check the exchange rate because of the GBP/EUR relationship and I have noticed that the CAD was about the same as the US$. Do you live near Canada Scottishmoney or are both currencies simply accepted everywhere in both countries? Even in small shops?

Oh right, an Isle of Man issue. In that case it is gold and it's the same size as a normal British sovereign as far as I can tell. Which means that the gold value is about £110. It's something I'd buy for £110 and sell for £130, but that kind of thing isn't as easy to sell as conventional sovereigns.

That coin was never issued as a gold proof, so it's either something foreign (i.e. Commonwealth not GB) or a normal 1980 Crown that has been gold plated. I would be inclined to think the latter as I'm not aware of any gold ones from other countries either. It is possible that the Royal Mint struck experiemental gold 1980 crowns. I doubt it, and a solid gold one could be verified in seconds by the wieght. You'll have to post a picture, but I would get any hopes up just yet.

Jennifer has emailed me very tiny pictures of the coin in question. It looks like it's just an average circulated one.

Ok. I'll gladly take quality US coins and create a new US section on predecimal.com. I get a fair few US visitors. Let me know when you know what you're doing.

I've cleared it a bit now....had quite a few offers of things for sale, which is great. Re your US coins SM. I assume you want me to use your pictures and advertiase them at commission so that you send to the buyer?

I have a few in my forgery collection. GIII shillings are probably the most common silver coin forgery. In that sort of condition it's just worth a couple of pounds.

Yes, if the actual colour is silver then it's probably a real one...it does look very brassy.