TomGoodheart

Hmm ... I think scans plus photos are useful. Those photos when someone holds a coin pick up the detail, but a scan can show surface problems. As for listing times, well, when I buy obviously I want the listing to end when everyone else is at work and I'm not!! When I sell I tend to aim for the weekend from 7pm on because I'm generally expecting to sell to UK buyers and assume most people are around weekend evenings. As for buying and selling I've ticked 'Other' too as I've bought and sold to other collectors I know and px'd my coins for one I want from a dealer.

LOL And all in a good cause too!

Welcome!

thank you, nice coin is it an expensive coin? The one I use as a profile pic? I paid £70 for it which I suppose is about average for a Charles I shilling. It's a good strike but bits have been snipped off the edges as often happens ...

Hi Geritt. Interesting site of yours. And welcome to Predecimal.

I think the problem with US grading companies was highlighted by an ebay listing (which I have since lost!) for a salbbed coin that said the company had only graded five coins at this grade and seven higher. Which means exactly what it says. Not that there are only seven coins of a higher grade, simply that's all they have seen. Slabbed coins just don't (currently) have the appeal in Europe that they do in the US and so far fewer are graded. Now far be it from me to advocate slabbing but if I had to choose I'd pick a company with some experience of the coins I'm interested in. As for a 700 point scale, that seems daft to me! Unless people are seriously going to quibble over an odd point or two, why bother? The + and *s suggest that the whole thing is no more precise than our N(early) or A(bout/ almost) system that works quite well IMHO. Oh, and that 50c with 'eye appeal' that Huss posted? A particularly ugly piece of kitsch to my eyes I'm afraid. Which perhaps highlights the subjectivity of the 'appeal' of such things as coins and the foolishness of taking it all too seriously and trying to talk in absolutes. Grading isn't that precise unless you use a machine to assess exactly how much wear a coin has sustained (and that assumes you have a 100% perfect example to benchmark and we know how difficult it is to find those!) And even if you could say 'this coin has sustained 10.76% wear compared to a perfect specimen' it means very little since the wear could be from the rim, across the whole coin or from the centre of the bust making it either unnoticable or irrelevant or disasterous in terms of eye appeal. So returning to the original question, I'd say slabbing is only worth it for coins that might tarnish or that you want authenticated and that will sell for a decent multiple of the cost of slabbing. Because I doubt (m)any Europeans will pay more just because a coin is slabbed.

If it's bronze then it's a perfectly normal patination that happens with age as the surface of the coin oxidises. You commonly find it on ancient coins such as Roman where it's considered attractive. It's just convention that more modern coins aren't expected to have any green on them. Here's a very nice coin with a slight greenish tone from Mike Vosper's site: and another: I guess olive oil or whatever will remove it. But post a pic first. People might consider it attractive, if unconventional.

Here you go - I finally found mine. The obverse an early period Hibero-Norse 'St Peter' penny dating from 919-925 muled with an obverse from one of Aethelstan 'King of all Britain' (924-939).

Your coin is most likely a modern souvenir struck at the Jorvik centre in York. During the excavations two coin dies were found which were then used to strike pewter blanks into coins. The dies were from different series and so the coin is muled from two obverses See here: Jorvik shop I think originally kids could do the striking but health and safety meant that when I visited someone did the hammering for you. I've mislaid mine or I'd post a pic, but I'm 90% sue that's what it is. Sorry.

Unique? The coin .. perhaps. The foil? No. Not comparing it with the images Badger kindly posted previously anyway. The folds in the edge of the foil are different. Who knows how many foil imprints there might be out there .. could be dozens. A novelty item at best IMHO.

That's how I read it too. Hence my 'LOL' - I thought Peckris was being funny .. maybe not? And as Rob says, while I guess the 'first ever' might have been whisked off for some VIP any with a COA will just be in the order that some RM blokey (or lass) stuck them in the box. Lot of fuss over a small lump of bullion worth, what, .. less than an ounce of silver .. £18?? MELT THE LOT DOWN!!!!!

Wow, you have a signed VIP certificate from the Royal Mint that this particular coin was the first one off the presses? Got to be worth more than £125. LOL

Interesting thread. I find the rarity of coins and the reason for their rarity interesting. I can't help but think of the 1988 (shield reverse) £1 coin. Not produce in huge numbers, no. But I seriously doubt I've ever seen even ten of the little blighters. And very few of those in decent nick - in fact one - and that's the one I picked out of change and kept with my year run from circulation. Have they been taken out of circulation because, like me, people saw a new design and decided to keep one? Did they circulate somewhere else like the North East and just not often travel down to the midlands (unlikely)? Are there bags of the things sat in a bank somewhere? Who knows. I just know that, were I to judge by the number I've seen, they would appear rarer than I know they actually are. But as for the penny, when I looked at Dad's little collection (again from change) there were plenty of (admittedly low quality) H and KN pennies. Why? They are fairly easy to spot I reckon. And people had heard of them. For all I know in the handful of coins of his I have left there might be a rarity. But I haven't the experience, skill (or interest) to check! And so I just wonder if the MEs are scarce because they were tricky to spot unless you have the two coins side by side (plus the late issuing thing) and so just wore down in circulation and have now either been scrapped or the few, when noticed, were popped into collections?

Nice pics btw. I'd take a trip to IKEA for a light but presumably I'd need a decent camera too?

SHHHHHHH!!! Don't let them hear you say that! The Mint seems so desparate to make money issuing tat they might just go for that one. With of course 365 different obverse designs for the 1€ coins each year. As for coin mags .. I don't actually ever remember buying one. I used to subscribe to Spink's Circular but essentially for the coins for sale and nice pics of coins (for sale!). The articles by and large were not of interest to me. However, I am aware that compared to most here I have a very narrow collecting interest indeed. Despite that, I was interested to realise that I got just as much of a thrill in finding a counterfeit 50p piece the other day as I do in tracking down a particularly nice hammered shilling, so I guess a general interest in coins is still there. I too read old books occasionally and find them fun. But somehow a 20 or 30 year old mag of any description is interesting because of the snapshot on prices, life and interests of a different era. I've been wondering how to translate that all into a magazine of today and .. most importantly whether I'd buy such a thing. And I'm not sure I would. Now, as I say, I'm likely not typical. But looking around here at the range of coin collecting interests, I find it difficult to think of a magazine that could keep up the diversity, academic depth and entertainment value to keep us all interested month after month.

I foudn one too off the coast of Bulszytza in the Baltic Sea. ROFLMAO! I think that must be quite a popular destination! I'm regularly see coins from there on ebay!

As I say, if he's said 'terribly sorry but I made a huge c*ockup as you'll no doubt have realised so I've refunded your money straight away and while I'd rather you didn't I'll quite understand if you leave neg feedback for me but I'm afraid I can't afford to take a £500 loss' I'd be inclined to feel sympathetic and take it no further. And maybe he feels that's what he's said. But it comes across a little short of a fullsome apology and I think I'd feel a wee bit miffed even so. And expect my money back without having to ask for it.

I would definitely contact ebay. They offer phone support now. I'd politely explain that you bought the item and paid for it and just leave it for them to say something in response. If he'd been more effusive with the apology then I'd be more generous. But if someone just relists then that's rude. I'd pursue him just for the hell of it! (Aren't I nasty!?!) And of course, let us know how you get on!!

And a 'Hi Conor and welcome' from me too. Modern coins aren't particularly my thing but I'll be interested to see the pics too. (Well, they're coins aren't they!)

Mmm ... looks like a listing mistake to me too. Any correspondence from the seller yet? As for the sick squid, it's fine if a coin is sent by Special Delivery since that just covers postage and a 'jiffy' envelope. For coins not worth insuring I'd always offer a Recorded alternative. And if I buy something I really don't want lost and SD isn't offered I've never had anyone refuse to use it if I covered the additional cost. This is a coin I suspect you'll want insured!

Well, I'm just about to post off a little lot of silver oddments to Chris, who will presumably do just that with anything uninteresting (which is most of it). The coins are generally fine or a bit better and yes, I could list on ebay but to be honest I just want some cash I can spend on coins I want. I doubt I bought many of them; they were leftovers from Dad's 'collection' of coins picked out of change. I don't think the disappearance of any of mine (I listed a few in the 'For Sale' section) will affect our numismatic heritage. And a reasonable proportion are around .90 silver so I imagine (hope!) the melt value will generally exceed the retail. But I'll let Chris decide that and just wait for my cheque!

It was certainly about before then. I remember it back to the 1960s but it's never really had any official standing which makes me think it's a comparatively recent phenomenon. I wonder if an (even) older coiny than me has any recollection? Seaby's 10th Ed (1960) jumps straight from Unc to FDC. Whereas Elizabeth Gilzean's 'Coins - A Collector's Guide' (1968) mentions 75% EF, UNC (bag marks but nowt else), BU and then 100% FDC (perfect mint state) so I'm wondering if it slipped into common usage somewhere in between the two dates? By 1970 when Finn & Dowle's Coins For Pleasure and Investment was published they state that Unc is a modern term and means a coin that is perfect to the naked eye and that BU is only really useful when referring to copper or bronze. Interestingly they refer to FDC as an alternative to Unc. All a bit imprecise it seem to me!

Gilded sh*t anyone? I ask you, why on earth gild a CuNi coin nobody wants in the first place? My mind is well and truly boggled. 1981 24K gold plated Charles & Diana wedding crown

Well, to be honest it doesn't surprise me that London Coins have done that. It's when other auction houses bother I shall start to worry! And I have to say that modern Cu/Bronze is something that I can see some justification for protecting in a slab because it can tarnish or stain to its detriment. Whereas I imagine many would agree with me that silver can improve considerably with some toning. As to the prices, well, I'm sure we've all seen examples of prices going well beyond what might be considered sensible when a couple of bidders are really keen. And I'm not talking about slabbed coins either. I suppose my only concern is if we start to see signs that people are buying the slab (and slabbed grade) rather than relying on their own judgement/knowledge/experience to rate a coin. Now of course, we all rely to a certain extent on others. Books, articles, auction catalogues and the exchange of ideas and facts with others are invaluble tools to learning the hobby. But I can't be the only one here that has seen a coin described as 'finest known' or similar. Or 'EF' for issue, or similar guff for that matter. And if I'd paid out good money every time .. well, I'd have none left I imagine and so tend to take such claims with a pinch of salt unless there is history, provenance and fact to back up such a claim. And what am I getting at here? That slab grading is not an exact science. It's done by blokes (and presumably lasses) like us. And consequently a grade is likely to be subject to the same experiential benchmarks that we all have to use: ie we compare with what we've seen before. And just as possibly none of us here will agree a grade to the point on a /100 scale, so I imagine with slabbers. Stick a coin under the noses of a CGS, NGC, PGCS and see what you get. Uniformity? I doubt it.

Unattractive, but there are people who collect 'error' coins. I second the ebay idea. You never know ... (But sharper pics with less background will help! If you have a regular computer with microsoft software, open your photo in Paint and crop it or copy and paste the part with the coin into a second Paint window. Save it as a jpeg. Then people can see what they're getting rather than a spot on a table top or whatever!)