TomGoodheart

Sorry Sylvester - are you saying these are moral things or that you are also for morals?

'Fraid like Plan I can't see the boat from the pic posted. Don't clean the coin. Any chance of a better picture? (Do you have a scanner? They can be used to get pictures of (relatively) flat items like coins). Beyond that you'll just have to wait for someone more knowledgable about modern coins than me (that's just about anyone!) to get back to you.

Can you post a picture please?

61 Charles I shillings - £15 grand (do I laugh or cry?) Thing about safety boxes - you can't play with your coins (doncha just love to let them drip through your fingers, listen to them clink together NOT!)

Rather late in the day I decided to insure my coin collection. I decided that before I went to a broker to get a specialist quote I'd find out how much my household insurers would charge me. During the discussion I happened to mention the idea of specialist cover and was told that my company (Direct Line) has an all-or-nothing policy. This means that they insist on insuring ALL the contents of the home. In other words, if my collection was insured by another company Direct Line would consider me to be underinsured by the value of the coins and would adjust any claim accordingly! I don't know if anyone else is aware or affected by this but I suggest that those with collections that may be worth over the 'unspecified' valuables limit on their policies check it out. Similarly anyone with specialist cover. Having had to make a claim a number of years ago I can't recommend it to anyone - the last thing you need after a loss is for the insurers to start quibbling! (Actually no - the last thing you need is for the insurers to accidentally post the loss-adjuster's bill to you and to find that the amount by which your payout has been reduced has been given to someone else!) As a post-script - the price I was quoted was not far off what I also pay a bank for a box in their vault. Those with really valuble collections may wish to consider this although the number of branches that offer this service (or have space available) has reduced considerably in the last few years.

As to insurance, most home contents policies cover valuables up to a couple of grand. On the face of it your coins should be covered within this. Unless anything particularly rare turns up separate cover isn't likely to be necessary. I'm afraid most coins passed down the generations will be of generally poor condition (Fine to Very Fine) since most were assembled from loose change. Purchased (?) coins like the Lizzie 6d might be nicer.. Have you any ideas what you want to do with them? - It occurs to me that they could help you take the first steps as a collector. A bit of research with a book like Chris' "Collectors' Coins GB" (see Predecimal link at very top right of this page) and you might find you're hooked! Just a suggestion!

Why - thank you all (and especially for the compliment Chris!!)

Er... I think I've lost the thread here.. (or someone has !)

Me too! Partly because they are all so individual, partly because what with all the various recoinages it's a small miracle any have survived this long and partly because the Americans don't yet seem to have got into them in a big way!!

Yes. We split the difference between what I wanted and what she wanted to let me spend (ie I got half what Iasked for!!)

I have always liked collecting stuff, whether seashells, nice pebbles, stamps or coins. Dad was also a great magpie - anything nice in his change he'd pick out and keep. When he died I had to sort through all the stuff and kept the pieces I liked most. I went to the library and looked at the coin books to work out if anything was worth much (it wasn't!) and there was James Mays " The Splendid Shilling" and I was hooked! There was a bag of £105 worth of out-of-date 50p pieces (!) in amongst the stuff which I took back to the bank and spent the money at a dealers on some shillings. I subbed myself a bit to buy more from savings. After collecting for a while I realised I wasn't bothered about the later milled at all. And once I got a book on Charles I coins I decided to sell up the later coins (Chris was kind enough to help out there!) and concentrate on Chas I shillings. Then my wife found out what I'd spent and we had a row! Eventually she named a figure I could have to play with and I was sensible enough to realise that it was non-negotiable and graciously accepted! I have been very lucky. The internet (including ebay) has meant that anyone can see more coins in a day than some dealers get in a year. It could have taken decades to assemble a collection like mine if I'd only attended auctions and visited dealers in person. I was also lucky enough to be contacted by two collectors I bid against on ebay and they have pretty much taught me all I know (and helped track down a few scarcities too!) I am on a couple of dealer's lists, receive a few auction catalogues but mostly rely on online dealers (and ebay) where I can view pics and ask questions from the comfort of my living room. I think that if you asked me the best possible present for a new collector it would have to be a choice between a good specialist coin book on their chosen interest or the opportunity to view a really good collection. Probably the latter - there really isn't anything to beat seeing a good range of examples and being able to examine them up close, especially if you can also talk to someone with more experience at the same time. Knowledge is power!

Yes the condition is very nice (although you do sometimes get currency coins that are very clear. There is always a temptation to keep nicer coins and get rid of lesser examples!). The fact that Charles does not wear a crown was the clue that made me check my records for patterns. I believe all currency coins for this ruler show him crowned.

Yes, an those wots' good conditon for theyre age. Sum are so rare Spinkses has no price at all for the m at all (usully the 'F' ones)

Not til the booze runs out! I guess agree with both Peter and Rob. Since value, for the most part, depends on grade and since there's a lot of lousy grading out there (a bit of wear on a Chas II coin is ok for VF but not for 'modern' coins (Vicky on to me...). There are too many 'VF' coins out there which to my eye are no better than Fine) purchase price is I guess the sensible yardstick for most purposes. But then there is the question of what to do with coins bought for a 'bargain' price... I keep a list on a spreadsheet and scans for reference and a printout of the pics to show people. I'm not sure there are enough sales of what I collect (or at least the less common examples) to make it possible for the software itself to update prices. More modern pieces may be a different matter....

Well, I dunno. That's probably only for used ones with a bit of history to them. Sadly mine are all shiny as new so presumably will be worth a lot less... When is the next 5p listing day on ebay by the way?

Looks like a pattern Charles I coin normally held to be by a chap called Abraham Vanderdort, found in both gold and silver (Unite or Shilling). At least that's how it is described in the Brooker Collection book. A Broad is a coin of 20 shillings and since this pattern is occasionally found with that mark of value it could be termed thus, though more correctly it would be a Unite since Broads were, as far as I am aware, exclusively issued for Cromwell.

It's a modern reproduction. Although I do keep records of repro coins I don't seem to have a scan of this one so I'm afraid I can't tell you who made it. Sorry. Value will depend on 1) material (if it's silver you'll get at least bullion) 2) if anyone's interested - since it is clearly a modern copy it will probably be less attractive to potential buyers than one that looks more 'realistic'. My advice? - keep it as a souvenier.

COOL!!! Hey Chris - any chance of Predecimal stocking some lasers!?

Chris is Chris Perkins, our 'host' (click on predecimal.com link at top right of the page) who is based in Germany.

Ooops!! Didn't mean to nest all the quotes -sorry!

Well done then! Seems pretty good to me! Have you tried Chris to see if he has any ideas? From my point of view, the page of Tony Clayton is always worth a try if one is looking for more information about English coins. Though I don't know how recent his stuff is.

Nice website Simon.. (Yours?) Shame about the Google. It is amusing, but not terribly useful! (I also tried Altavista's Babelfish but without any improvement on the Google results, so short of learning German......)

And I've added a book on the coins of Charles I (of course!) By the way - is there a way to edit an entry? I also tried to add a photo but it doesn't seem to have uploaded. Good luck with the site!

For a chocolate coin! But then someone obviously thinks it's worth a few bob - not my area so I have no idea if it's ok or not. ebay is a real 'curate's egg' - you get some stinkers and some gems. I'm smiling cos I just bought two of the gems but tomorrow I might get my fingers burnt... who knows? caveat ebayor!

Happy Birthday Chris!! Hope the BBQ went well and you had a great day!