Unwilling Numismatist

Or have I had too much smirnoff? Edit: It's a cinquefoil crown

Ouch! thats gonna hurt eventually.

Are they really that hard to get at a decent grade for sensible money - bear in mind I aim for currency, not pristine mint full lustre UNC. I'll admit, I'm tighter than a sharks ass, but really .. 50 quid for 2 shillings? I've bought much more (technically speaking) for much less. I am picky but I didn't think these should be that hard to find realistically, it's bordering on insane when the gothics of a very collectable grade show in the same search results. Not sure this is a moan or a good thing, but I want one and am getting dejected by what I see.

For Roman coins, I find the VCRC useful - your mileage may vary, but once you get used to the search it can be fairly quick Austin College VCRC

Great stuff!

It looks a little small, but hand sizes vary. Heres one I happen to have laying about.

It's a new grade, surely? similar to some crowns I recently viewed, where I think the seller thought VF meant Very Flat!

I think he also means uncircular.

I'm going to go with normal, sorry but I don't see anything more.

It's nearly as flat (as roadkill) I figured if I didn't get anything useable from the reverse there isn't much point continuing.

Someone doesn't understand "on truncation" https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CGS-slabbed-silver-sixpence-1887-withdrawn-type-ef60-with-J-E-B-on-truncation/112791142918?hash=item1a42e04206:g:-8wAAOSwVLRaWL9k Even I have better than this unslabbed.

I've seen far nicer coins unslabbed than the "better" slabbed versions, time and again. You only have to look at the "acquisition of the week" thread here to see that slabbing is totally pointless and unnecessary ... with the exception of say the elusive Churchill satin and other mythical beasts, where a professional opinion/grading/slabbing might ensure continued recognition of said coin.

My girls get me cards to a "special" dad ... they add the quotes, does that count?

You're just taunting me now At leat I have a mental note (scar) for where the line is for "shall I bother".

Probably. But while I'm stuck indoors, the pennies are being scrutinsed (at least until something shiny drops through the letterbox).

Paddy, I might have to take you up on that one day if I need more for reference. I didn't mean to get stuck into these as much as I have but I'm certainly intrigued by them - it's akin to a Loch Ness monster hunt and I'm beginning to become obsessive about a way to easily determine a satin finish from images alone. Of course it would benefit everyone here who deals in coins if that were a possibility, however I don't expect it to come to much given the subject matter!

Lavender Hill Mob?

Ah, but I'm not that insane, there is a hint of bead or two on the border, the sea doesn't meet the linear circle, the remnant of rock or lighthouse base and shape are discernable and the exergue is quite distinct in it's upps and downs. That's how I see it. Anyway, I'm off to invent de-hydrated water next.

And slightly more to work with.

And then try and figure out which pairing it is. Please could someone provide any thoughts on my efforts! Today I thought I'd have a bash at one of my washer-like 1860's. I guess I needed some pain. I've only got a thought that this is reverse B, I haven't started on teh obverse yet, this has taken me ages to get to, so I hope I'm close - but there isn't much to work on, so 2 images:

This is very reassuring, I've noticed the teeth differences and counted slight variations wiith relation to the bust and legend - I only started looking this closely to see if there was an easy way to spot the satin ones, but I feel I may go through many more pairs of glasses looking! If only the RM would have continued using die numbers, life would be far simpler.

I've not consciously clocked any so far in my viewings, but I suspect there are at least 2 - I think the rotation of Churchills' bust is very slightly rotated on one, but need to accurately photograph them to check for sure as its only a degree or so. More to follow if I'm not bonkers, but basically where he appears to be looking is into the Left leg of the R rather than directly up the back or the R in Churchill.

it very well could be, they're extremely hard to photograph in a manner that can show the difference between a normal and a satin finish. @VickySilver was most kind in sending me some images of satin ones, but he agreed too that the images didn't do the finish any justice. I have a couple more of these coming (10million to 1 against) that they aren't satin, but I only bought them to try to get a good overview of the range of finishes these things can display, to try to create a good reference point of what isn't a satin finish. Obviously I'd love to stumble across one for a quid, but as yet I ain't that lucky I should be able to get a decent set of "not" images up next week.

is it two halves stuck together? - check for a join or show a picture of the edge. Many of these were made (rather poorly) and have little to no value it seems.

I'd like to see an image in daylight before deciding on a chem clean or not. It's certainly had contact with something, whether deliberate or accidental it's impssible to say. (I am now better at fence-sitting, +1)