TomGoodheart

Forum software update? Hold on to your hats chaps! (Or any other things you value!)

We all make purchases early on in our collecting that we probably wouldn't after a year or ten. But these experiences help us learn, both what to look out for and what we personally count as important in a coin. As Nordle says, there are many different ways to appreciate the imperfections of the coins we own. And in the end, as you say, it's a pretty coin, so no terrible loss to put up with it until you find an upgrade. A good first post I think! Oh and, welcome! .

I've sent a message to Chris David. Hopefully he can track down the glitch.

Choice uncirc? 111840279589 .

Seconded! Looks good and fresh. Though, personally, I'm not sure that the auction catalogue section needs an image of the auction house banner for each catalogue. That's fine if you eventually plan have a photo of the actual catalogue for sale (I think Paul Withers does this). If not a list seems adequate .. perhaps with brief notes on the main strengths of a sale and condition as before? .

Moltes Felicitats! Because I'm sure you're fluent in Catalan.

It just feels to me that, given the regular silver proof can be had for £25 or so, paying hundreds for this variant makes little sense. I'm not convinced that in five or ten years time there will be demand for it that will justify the difference in price. However if you really do want one then auctions might be your best bet. London coins sold one for £70 ... a far more acceptable price than the £500 I've seen from places like this: http://thelondoncoincompany.com/2001-Victoria-Centenary-5-Five-Pound-Silver-Matt-Proof-Coin-PCGS-PR69 .

Yes. It's good they are honest about it. But without that warning (perhaps from less honest seller) it looks pretty convincing in the photos to me... Good spot Stewie! .

Well, it certainly would have fooled me. .

For some reason the habit of pricing things in guineas continued long after the actual coin went out of circulation ... I remember it even in the 1960s. Whether it sounded posher (it seemed to continue longer in stores like Harrods and for more expensive items), or was a bit like the current habit of large prices being quoted in single numbers ("Only two, nine, nine!" when we all know it's basically £300..) and you had to remember to add in an extra shilling to every pound, I'm not sure ... .

Obviously, I'm not advising you to go crazy Swanny. But I learnt from my Dad that sometimes when you see something you really want, you just have to go for it. Actually, it was the few things he didn't buy and regretted ever after that taught me! Providing you've made a good purchase, in 5 or 10 years time the price will be forgotten (or at least irrelevant), but hopefully the pleasure of owning your coin will still be there. .

Personally, I don't see anything that really shouts fake at me. However, assuming they even are genuine, neither is a particularly nice example. I think you'd tire of them and want to upgrade eventually. I know I've regretted some of my lower grade purchases, even when the coin in question has been quite rare. Sadly, it's sometimes necessary to go beyond our normal budget to buy better examples. And if you can get the reassurance of buying from a reputable dealer or established provenance for such coins, all the better. .

You can get your coin slabbed. And you can put the price up 200%. But that doesn't mean you will get the asking price. Most collectors aren't mugs. They pay what the coin is worth and in the end a slabbed coin is just a coin. Sure you get a bit of plastic and a label, but the actual coin hasn't changed from how it was pre-slabbing. Not 200%! Sure there are costs involved. And maybe if your coin is the Finest Known it's worth paying a premium ... but the majority of coins slabbed are modern and there are thousands of examples and the likelihood of a better-than-CGS-have-seen is high. Rarities, or coins that are copied to a high standard, maybe there is a value to the slab and authentication. But you should still only pay the market value. Would I pay double for a better-than-average example of a coin that is normally only found in poorer condition? Of course! But I would base my decision on my own personal view that that particular coin is exceptional for the type. Not somebody else's This Is The Best I've Ever Seen guff. Buy the coin, not the slab they say. Good advice. .

They sound cool George. Some info about how to post photos in threads here: http://www.predecimal.com/forum/topic/7880-posting-pics/ Because we always like to see pics!

You're just trying to make me jealous of all those lovely hammered pennies aren't you? It worked ..

Well, we'd happily try to ID your finds for you George! Oh and welcome! .

Anthony Halse is a BNTA member and Chairman of South Wales and Monmouthshire Numismatic Society. I don't know any reason the site shouldn't be live. Hopefully you'll get a reply soon.

Gaming tokens appear to be quite often come ready pierced for suspension, so no great loss and an interesting piece of history.

In case anyone wants to refer to the images in future: .

I think if it were only this then catalogues would make most depressing reading! All those prime examples, now unobtainable and often buried, unseen in a basement somewhere! But of course, metal detecting has brought new material to light, both new hoards and individual coins. In particular smaller coins people have lost such as silver halfpennies and farthings which might have been overlooked in the past. And there are, I am sure, still unrecognised gems in small collections here and there. So for me catalogues, particularly of better collections, still provide a benchmark to aspire to. And while they may be what were then considered lesser pieces, it's always a joy to discover one of your coins has some provenance to an older collection. And of course, collecting isn't just about the premier pieces, although in some areas the trend is very strongly towards just quality. Older collections (I'm thinking of John Brooker's collection of Charles I, but the same could to an extent be said about the recent Lyall sale) quite often contain lesser coins as examples of differences in design or legend reading etc. While there doesn't seem to be much taste for the 'rare but poorer' coins at present, as the prices of the top coins soar then maybe more people will see the merit in these variants again. At which point catalogues, particularly the more recent ones that illustrate the majority of the coins, will no doubt prove useful. .

Well, I did say it wasn't my area Paul! Still at £210 I see ... .

Just thought I'd bump this list of literature wants: Sotheby & Co 20 - 24 November, 1933 Catalogue of the Valuable Collection of Coins Formed by the Late Colonel H. W. Morrieson and; Sotheby 17 June 1935 Catalogue of the Choice Collection of English Coins Formed by the Late Sir Kenyon Vaughan-Morgan. I am also looking for a copy of Mark Rasmussen (Numismatist) List #1 (Summer 2001). Thanks! .

There's a bit of gold in Elsen's latest offerings in case anyone is interested? http://www.elsen.eu/Auction127/emodule/490/egallery/177 T

Yeah. Though not my series, these have all the characteristics of hammered coins in terms of sharpness of the design etc and are clearly different from the modern replicas you see on places like eBay. Looks like two very nice finds to me. I'm jealous of the finder ... ..though not to the extent I'm tempted to get up at the crack of dawn on my days off to cart a heavy load of kit around a muddy field ! .

Done.