blakeyboy

Paddy's comments are on the button. On Ozjohn's comments about TPGs, surely the onus is on the buyer to see if the grade is what they want, and also learn how to do this, thus gaining experience. If you only bought slabbed coins from dealers, the fun of finding a chance bargain would never happen....

The trick to this is to _always_ use a 'pick' that's softer than the metal/alloy of the coin. Using something made of steel is quite a risk. On bronze this is easy- any old bit of soft copper wire that has the end shaped will do the trick. Re-patinating is tricky with bronze, since it's less reactive than copper- raising the temperature is the key. Sliding the coin into a fluorescent lightbulb that's base down and on a lot keeps the coin at about 45-50˚C, thus speeding up patination- six months as opposed to years.... Clean the coin with alcohol first, keep fingers off it, and rotate it regularly to get the air to the surfaces evenly. Works beautifully.

Would Colin Cooke be a better route than LCA? He sold Tony Crocker's pennies at what looked like proper prices- shame really, since I bought some of them!

I went on a canal boat holiday a few years ago, and someone actually touched me with a bargepole.....

Wow- amazing price, IMHO.

I don't do coin envy very often, but seeing an F192A 1922 penny did my head in! Does finding this gem come with a good story?

Every now and again some chump stamps "VOTE FOR WOMEN" instead. Always makes me laugh.

Bizarrely, me too- 1986, broke a watch, my father gave me his old one, and that was promptly eaten by a lift door when loading PA gear in flight cases into a Romford nightclub. Working with big loudspeakers and their huge magnets didn't fit in with my watches anyway........and I didn't miss the warty lump that I had for twenty years from where the winders would dig into the back of my hand....

Ahhhhh!!! You have learned well, Grasshopper....

Oh..I didn't know that a seller can see a bidder's maximum....

Yes...that makes sense. But how does it make your winning bid cheaper? Is it simply you being the only one willing to take the risk of paying more when you leave an unrealistically high bid, and hoping it doesn't backfire, as you say? Like a form of brinksmanship?

Can anyone explain the sniping system? I leave the price I am prepared to pay, at any time, and if I'm outbid, no matter, since to win it I would have had to spend more than I wanted to... or am I missing something?

Here's the conversation so far: Hi there. Is this a genuinely found piece? It looks cast. It's definitely not cast,it has been stamped or hammered. Oh right- but is it a genuinely found piece? Hi yes it was originally found years ago

Probably by Osbert Lancaster, or, even better, by Ronald Searle.....

That looks exactly like one I had come in this week- I really studied it and did several tests, and I'm convinced it's copper-plated.

I'm enjoying imagining what the accompanying cartoon in Private Eye would look like......

Just told him it's a fake.....

The Magna Carta is viewed in the US as absolutely astonishing - something a lot of people over here don't realise....... If were all pedantic in a serious way, normal life would stop. Are 'carbon spots' really carbon? !!!!

I didn't think we HAD a constitution, but I agree- 52:48 result was an instant problem. Oh- as far as I remember, 'referendum' isn't neuter second declension, but a gerund, 'The asking' which has no plural ending, so 'referendums' is likely ( jury is still slightly out) to be the correct plural English form. Long time ago. ( Latin and my learning of it. Another gerund there,....( I think)....)

The ONLY reason I voted for Brexit ( I work all over Europe, so leaving badly could screw me up) was so that the morons at large in 'Government' would screw up or be so blindingly self-serving that people would finally see them for what they are. . Churchill, Attlee, Thatcher -all were there when needed. Who is it this time?

This Yuletide, thou art truly an all-round family entertainer.

Just had my Microsoft Advent calendar arrive. I'm not going to open windows 8 or 10......

'abbreviation' is even longer......:)