TomGoodheart

Sadly ther'e a dint on the rev.. Sold to me as good EF.

I was going to post my 1834 but it doesn't seem to like BMPs, lets try this...

Mint Mark has the right idea. We can all agree what makes a good EF George IV shilling because we know the degree of detail that they were minted with. (Some chap called Wyon put his initials into the border and those of William Pole, Master of the Mint into the shamrock leaves - that's pretty good for a coin the size of a shilling! (you'll need a decent lens to see it!)) And if you can't lay your hands on one at that grade, Spink's yearly catalogue normally features the best examples they can find. It is however virtually impossible to find a perfect example of every hammered coin to compare. I have to refer to old sale catalogues (useful because they tend to state grades) and books cataloguing major collections (If someone like Brooker who amassed 1,356 Charles I coins could only find a weak example of something and you find a better one there's a good chance you're on to a winner!) If I lived near a major museum then I could make friends with the curators but that isn't too practical out in the cultural void I inhabit! (OK - we do have a gallery and a few other nice things but no museum with coins..)

And on hammered coins, you just gotta go by the detail!

I used to be paranoid and only carefully handle coins by the edges. I never used tweezers, I'd worry I'd drop the coin! Now most of my stuff is 360 years old and I think it seems a shame not to handle a piece of history like that. I obviously would'nt stick my fingers all over the thing or pick it up while eating jam sandwiches. I'm getting one of those Nichols cabinets soon so I'll probably play with my coins more once they are out of the coinholders they currently reside in. Course, my Ed VII matt proof will stay protected!

I heard that Richard Lobel (the Coincraft guy) bought a whole set some time back. I have never heard that they came onto the market but I did ask him once how much he wanted for the shilling and he just quoted the Coincraft Catalogue price. You could always phone and ask him!

Mine would have to be 1) a Charles II merk. Sold to me by a dealer who said 'here, this is the same as a shilling' I paid £40 but two years later saw some in Spink's Numismatic Circular with unusual obverse/reverse die axes. A quick check and it's upped in my records to more like £250. 2) A Charles I shilling I didn't buy! I was outbid on eBay but was later contacted by the buyer. A few chats later I was offered several coins, one of which had passed through the hands of three well(ish) known 20th century collectors.

OK - this may or may not work. I have found sometimes that slightlywetting a coin (just use tapwater, though on a coin that worn it probably doesn't matter) allows you to read the details a bit better.

Thank you all for that. I actually did fork out good money for a coin that I reckon is a fake. I have yet to establish if it is a contemporary coin however or a later 'issue'. I am quite happy to do so as I feel it's part of coin history. After all, people collect tokens, most of which were never legal tender. There was allowance for later ones in that the Sheffield and Birmingham workhouse tokens were declared legal. I don't know about the 1700s. I think they were just considered a convenience. What I have is a bit of metal that looks much like a Charles I shilling. If it was made by someone in the 1630's I'd be happy. If not, I guess I have to chalk it up to experience!

Has anyone (I'm looking at Chris and Geoff here ) any ideas about pricing of counterfeit coins? I'm talking contemporary counterfeits here, that form a part of numismatic (or should that be paranumismatic) history, not modern repros that someone has filed the identifying marks off. Would YOU fork out good money for a counterfeit for your collection? If so, did you pay a lot less than for the 'real' thing?

I collect because I'm an obsessive nerd and I find it fun to tick off the varieties I have accumulated. Mostly it's fun but when I get beaten for something on eBay it aint! If I win and I think I have got a bargain however..... (not that money has anything to do with it!!!!)

I must stop doing that. I think I'm replying to a topic and miss the fact that there's another page.......... sorry.

Gerard. If you got a scanner when you bought your computer, that can be used to get a picture. Scanned pictures can be cropped in something like Paint (ie edited to show mainly the coin itself) If your coin is 25 mm across, its a sixpence (1/40th of £1), if 20mm, a threepence. You can obviously read the date, but that gives us little idea of the grade of coin (ie how clear or battered/worn it is). Is the portrait clear? On the side that has no date you should see a head and shoulders and a blob. If the head has clearly got a crown and the blob looks like a Tudor rose it may be worth a few quid (to £30). If you can see the pattern on the dress (for it is Queen Elizabeth I) and details of her hair, could be up to £100. If neither, it's a nice souvenir!

OK - enough! Enough! I have decided to come to the support of the Churchill Crown! .........Sorry 'bout the pause, I thought I could hear the coin police on the stairs... It may not be a wonderful coin but it IS interesting. Unusually, it has a head on each side but no value shown. And (at the time) it was an attempt to put some more modern are onto our coinage. Perhaps not succesful, but what about the 1977 crown? The Queen looks like she's wearing a tea towel not a hat and the horse is a disgrace compared to those of Charles I that presumably provided the idea. If you want a portrait to complain about, what about the Victorian Jubilee - she looks like a penguin with a currant bun on her head. I think we should take all the Churchill crowns, countermark them with the bust of Margaret Thatcher and sell them to the Americans....

Nice research guys, I'm impressed. Two bits of useless info I didn't spot- A "Journey" of silver was the amount (I think in hammered days, but possibly early milled) of silver made into coin in a day which was 60lb Troy and made 3960 shillings. The article I read this in also gave numbers of some other coins but (sorry ) I was only interested in the shilling bit! Haymarking is just that. Handfulls of hay were thrown into the molten silver. I believe it helped to burn off or deposit impurities. Some bubbles or burnt bits presumably remained, leaving the marks. I don't think it had anything to do with the dies so you could get an 'as struck' coin still with marks.

Very nice Will - hadn't noticed the ciggy at first! If cows have black sheep in their families, your avatar is it! Do you think your cow is smoking grass?

There you go Will. I am now Bodhidharma, who as everyone knows ( ), brought zen buddhism from India to China. That's why I'm not moving any more.

Hi Will! It's a pic of Moby - he's that dance etc DJ. I look a bit like him (cept I have marginally more hair...) Tom (I'm not sure about the switching colours myself - anyone else find it a tad irritating? If so I'll change it!)

Thanks Chris! I'll get the hang of this eventually!

Doh! I'm so slow thinking, there are half a dozen posts buy the time I get in! Oh, no... I just didn't read page 2. I'm going to slink off in shame.....

£ 370 apparently. So I beat that with a Geo III 1763 ('Northumberland') shilling and /or Charles II 1663 shilling, both sold as GEF (yeah, right!) Anyone raise me? (Eliza - you want to compare 1663s?)

Damn! I forgot this area is not supposed to be about coins! Sorry. My daughter thinks coins are boring. Whenever I talk about them she says "Mummy! Daddy used the 'C' word again." Sometimes I get funny looks, I wonder why? (I'm not sure if the looks would get worse or not if I mentioned how much I paid Keith Bayford for my GEF Northumberland and 1663 shillings (his gradings)) Oh yeah - nerdadvice please! How do I get an avatar (please?)

Sorry Geoff! I not only got passed a couple of Gibraltar Will, but a Swaziland One Lilangeni! Exactly the same as a £1 coin (NiBronze) but with a lady with three pompoms around her neck on one side and a chap with what look like the arms of a cross coming out of his head on t'other! Worse still - I kept it to add to my collection!

Oh damn! Anyone want a box of 1967 pennies? JOKE! (It's a plastic bag an I got them going all the way back to 1961...) Plus halfpennies? Thruppences? OK I give up. I've a few farthings though - I cant remember who collects - any dates around 1946 wanted? Oh yeah - I got a bag of BU 1971 pennies too - surely they must be even more ubiquitous!(??)

Thank you Will! I've added my tuppeny worth (I decided to go for 50 plus - that's the shillings). Here's another question for any/everyone - anyone know a 'specialist' insurer familiar with coin collections - my home insurer wants a listing and valuation which is a nuisance (and is liable to change as I collect of course!)?