TomGoodheart

If you can, take a picture of the three best of the oldest ones and post them here with an estimate of how many coins we're looking at. That will give us an idea of how worn they are and what sort of collection it is. I should perhaps warn you that my Dad picked up nice examples from change. Many people did. None of them were worth much. But then there are those that actually buy coins for a collection, in which case, they may be worth more. Or you can strike lucky with a scarce date. Whatever you do, don't clean them! And if they are particularly shiny, best hold them by the edges to avoid marking them.

*sigh* Having looked into it further it appears that not only does itunes resize your images for Apple devices (not a problem) but it also chooses to rearrange them into the order in which they were taken. Which is no use to me at all. I need them in alphabetic order according to title. And apparently it won't do that. Why is it that Apple make the most amazing hardware in the known Universe but tie it in to the most ornery, illogical and unfriendly piece of software? I loathe itunes with a vengance. It's like it was designed by the demons of Hell to torment us. And that's only on the basis of what it does to my wife's 1st gen Shuffle. That and how it totally screwed up all the music on two pcs to fit its own incomprehensible preferences. Another 'No Sale' for Mr Jobs then. (One of those Creative Zens looks good. Drag and drop and a reasonable screen. Though I did have this fantasy of picking up my email while sitting in Costas sipping cappuccino .. But that adds wifi capability (and maybe a 5" screen) to the 'wants' and consequently £££).

I was (naively perhaps) hoping that it would automatically resize the pics to fit the screen. And only when you zoom would it enlarge the overall pic to whatever size (definition) your original image happened to be. It would be very time consuming if I had to resize every image to optimise it!

Mmm .. OK. I'm re-thinking things! Because, seed sown, I started to think it would be pretty handy to be able to access my reference pics of coins wherever I happen to be and something like the iphone (or actually the ipod touch) could just as easily store images (.jpegs) as music. And mapping or picking up email would be icing on the cake. So I wondered, does anyone here keep loads of pics on their ipod? (I need about 100MB storage) Are they easy to access (I can scroll through pics on my laptop in seconds just by holding down the right arrow). Does the file name display (as it does in Windows Photo Gallery) because I'd like that? Can you zoom, does the image turn with tilting the ipod and most importantly, what is the quality of the displayed images (I want to view images from 600 x 300 pixels at 96 dpi to 1742 x 848 pixels at up to 600 dpi)? Anyone know? Because I'm so Luddite none of my friends has one to try out!

For most of these commemorative medals it's very difficult to fix a value. Some were struck in precious metal such as silver in which case they are worth (at a minimum) scrap price. But most are cupronickel or another base metal in which case they are not worth a great deal simply because so many were made. And unlike coins of the realm, there's nothing to stop people producing them even now, years after the event! If they were designed by a well known sculptor, made by a well known company, are particularly attractive or associated with an item of historical interest such as an actual invitation to the ceremony in Carnarvon castle, then their value will be greater. I believe there will always be someone somewhere that wants an item. But to realise a decent price you need at least two people to compete for it! I'm sure there are some who collect Investiture medals and possibly there are books that tell people which ones are scarcer, but it's a specialist area really. The majority of modern commemorative medallions are just souvenirs I'm afraid. Worth more to the person that bought them for sentimental value than actual cash. Sorry.

OK. I've checked out the extra options and do seem to have the ability to tidy up posts. I don't know if Chris has given anyone else mod powers. I'm on here at all sorts of hours most days and if not, then normally at least a couple of times a week. But I don't always read every new post or visit every area of the board, so if anyone does spot any spam feel free to pm me. I'll check it out as soon as I'm here and do what I can to tidy things up.

Oooh the power! I feel dizzy already! Chris Perkins, on 19 August 2010 - 09:55 PM, said Don't break anything. I'll do me best!

I was meeting some friends in an establishment called 'The Cock Inn' (I know, I know...). I hadn't realised my predictive messaging was on and when I re-read the message it was directing my unsuspecting acquaintances to 'The Anal Inn'. Honestly, how does 'cock' become 'anal'? LOLOLOL! While sometimes being able to refer to my (numerous) reference photos of coins would be handy I'm not so bothered that I'd currently go down the smartphone route. However, that said, it was nice to have a phone that could pick up emails when we were away on holiday recently and received an email from daughter in South America. Now that technology I approve of!

Oh and congrats on the new house! (And apologies for moaning!)

Well, I'm sad enough that I'm here fairly regularly these days so *fingerwave* if it's not technical (I'm still waiting for my membership of the Luddite Society to arrive but since it's coming by mule, who knows when that might be!) I'm happy to bugger things up I mean delete spammy stuff! The only other area I've noticed a lot of rubbish in is Coin Collecting Software which was spammed on 2 August if memory serves me correct.

OOh! It's gone. That was blooming quick Chris! Thank you. (And 'hello' nice to see you about!)

There seems to be spam in the Rotographic research thread. Which would just be annoying, but that particular area is only supposed to be visible to specified members and certainly not accessible for posting, even to the majority of members. Now I'm wondering about just deleting my posts and leaving. I know that sounds a bit overdramatic but I'm kinda pissed off to be honest. I don't particularly want my collecting interests or potentially other details available to all and sundry. I did email Chris. I'll see what happens as a result.

Free is always good! How much? Sadly the wear on the portrait does reduce value but I've seen coins like this (where the mint mark and legend are legible) sell (again on places like ebay) but you'd be looking at only a few quid really. Perhaps £15 very max unless you're lucky. As for me, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately!) I've reached a stage in collecting where there are only perhaps one or two coins out of every hundred I really want/need. Yeah, makes me impossible to buy for at Christmas, but what can you do?

thanks man i have a few coins so far but have no idea how much thier worth i put them up in the other forum but no answers yet More people are on in the evenings (UK/European time) so maybe in a few more hours?

For a second issue shilling in Fair to Fine I'd expect to pay £30 to £40. If I sold one on ebay I'd hope to get between £20 and £30. All prices are of course just an estimate, but for commoner issues like this condition is everything when it comes to price. If that helps?

Hi newcollector. You don't say what kind of coins. There are published books which describe every sort of coin from the very oldest (Bronze age) to the newest and many with prices. But there are just too many coins for one book to cover everything. Chris, the owner of this site publishes a very good range of books such as Collectors Coins GB (just click on the predecimal link up the top left of the screen and look under books). But without knowing what interests you it's difficult to be specific. I've certainly found libraries helpful. While they don't always have the latest edition they often have books about coins from around the world which might help. Or if you have an interest in a particular denomination (face value), date range/ruler or country, someone here might be able to point you in the right direction. Of if you just have a coin you want valued, post a picture and agin, we'll do what we can to advise!

Yes, each to their own I guess. I can appreciate the KNs and the MEs. But the different prong alignments of the trident or spacing of the date are of less interest to me. And the occasional dot due to die failure or damage, they just leave me cold I'm afraid. Then if we all liked the same things it'd be rather boring wouldn't it?

LOL Not enough coffee more like! Seriously, even if it were a genuine impression of a genuine 1933 penny, a '33 is just a pattern to me. They were never meant for circulation so it's more of an oddity. They (to me) have the same status as the 1937 Kitchener threepence. An curious rarity because so few exist, but for me a coin needs to have been meant for circulation to make it interesting.

So what is that then Az? A repro? Where's the pic from - did you say the seller of the foils sold it on ebay earlier - in which case it's conclusive. Even if not, Britannia's face and hand don't look right. It surely isn't an original 1933 coin? (Or am I losing my touch?)

I would never bid in a 'private listing' bidding on ebay. I think it's just asking to be shilled and I have no idea why ebay ever went down that route. With the 'old' system you could see who you were bidding against and it was easy to identify sellers that bidded up their own items with fake accounts. Now, it's impossible. Oops. I digress. Nice bit of tinfoil there. I've one exactly like it, only instead of being ruined by being wrapped around a coin, it's perfectly flat. Shall we start the bidding at £200?

Very good that! Nice voice!

Mine are covered under my household insurance. Only one coin cost more than the limit per individual item and so is specified in the schedule. The rest are just 'a collection'. I can't remember how much it added to the insurance - not much I imagine. They asked if they were kept under lock and key, but little else. I did have a valuation done a while back but I wasn't asked for one. I expect it would only be an issue if I wanted to make a claim.

Quite. Carry on Hello17. As for me, I'm afraid your choices are a bit .. mild to my taste. Nickelback and Green Day are what I'd maybe listen to when driving the car. I'm more of a metal man mesself, but I won't spoil your day with my favourite Lamb of God. Here's a bit of Gibraltarian metal you might like instead plus a spot of the more melodic side of Rammstein.

I noticed a few more spam(bot?) posts from 'guests'. Now I'm sure that "in the past" there was a moderator for each board with supervisor privileges that could delete such things. Plus Chris used to regularly weed out both posts and URLs. But now I'm not sure it's happening. Has anyone heard from Chris since the last "Where is he" post?

Hi and welcome! I'm not familiar with the product you mention. All I'd say is that collector's expectations differ. An enthusiast in 16th century silver might well expect his tea pot to be polished. Whereas I would not expect my 16th century coins to be cleaned other than as Peter mentions. Coins will pick up tiny scratches which the blade of a sword will not. And those scratches will effect value. As to online dealers the good ones will often prove much cheaper than auction houses. While it is possible to pick up a bargain at auction, gold is always in demand for its intrinsic (bullion) value. You will also have to pay around 20% buyer's premium on the hammer price. More importantly dealers will check 'wants lists' for you, alerting you to when a particular coin might be available and also on the bredth of your collection as well as market trends.