TomGoodheart

Bloody Royal Mint. Any excuse to churn out some new coins. I don't know why we even needed a new year. I'd barely got into the last one. I'm sure it had months of life left in it ... .. but, yeah, OK. A Humbug New Year from me too. May it bring lots of amazing but cheap coins to one and all.

Ah, he's Tower Mint. This is London Mint. Perhaps they aren't talking? Or perhaps they didn't want a bit of numismatic history get in the way of a nice package?

Woah! London Mint! Amazing! I must buy 10! ]

Brilliant! Wifey and I enjoy going around antique shops. It often seems daft to us that for less than in the shops you can get something for the home with character and history. Similarly charity shops. Though there's less 19th century china in those!

Mmm .. I'm not quite sure I'm convinced that Elizabethans were inclined to scratch marks on shillings to distinguish them from other denominations .. if that's what you were suggesting! I'd think those that handled cash would recognise a shilling if they saw it. And those that weren't sure ... well, surely some enterprising knave would have marked a few XIIs on some groats too, no? I still favour a cultural explanation. Sort of cross my silver with your palm [sic], or mark a coin as yours in the hope it returns to you many times over ...

It'd sort of serve the RM right if what he's actually saying is that from next year they will drop all the decimal crap and just have a volume for coins! Could be worse though. I've been following threads on coincommunity about how just as soon as the Royal Canadian Mint (who have a similar policy for issuing coins to commemorate everything from Thurday to Stepping in Dogshit on The Way to Work). It appears that, as soon as the RCM issues a new offering, the Chinese make cheap copies of it! Ooh, you should hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth over those Murano glass enhanced Maple Leafs.

Interesting. And quite a decent attempt. This is the sort of thing you might find with Chas counterfeits, so some artistry went into your groat!

Interesting. Any idea what it does to silver? And where to you get Ammonium polysulphide anyway? As an aside, I always wondered about B&W photo developing chemicals. After all, photographic paper was coated with a light-sensitive silver halide I seem to remember ... silver salts, well you get the idea. My chemistry is very rusty I'm afraid!

How daft. And odd, as I've just sold something to someone in the US. Ebay appear to think he lives in Scotland, but how he got to view the listing in the first place I'm not sure as I certainly didn't pay anything over the basic listing fee. You'd have thought they'd want to make it easier to buy and sell widely, not more complicated!

Mmm .. not sure. When you view the listing does it have international postage options? It may be as simple as that, assuming she wants to sell to this guy? She should be able to adjust the listing to include post to the USA if it's not already there. But without it ebay may take it she doesn't want to sell abroad?

Interesting. I've not seen the like before. What was their status? Were they officially released to gauge reaction .. and do we need to now start pre-decimal at 1856 rather than 1971? That'd give Spink a bit more to put into Vol 2 of Coins of Britain, wouldn't it?

Makes sense. If a bagful of 1836 halfcrowns turned up in BU you'd expect it to have some effect on prices. It would be daft for any TPGS or dealer to never revise prices, downwards as well as up. Thanks for that Mike.

I guess that's the main issue. British collectors are still very much geared to thinking along the 'traditional' grading scale. Whereas the Americans probably have a handle on the difference between a 55 and 60 without all the VF AU business. Whether CGS 100 point scale catches on with the general collector remains to be seen. Right now I'm not sure if there's enough demand for change. Maybe GGS should see if they can per£uade Derek to add numeric equivalents next time he updates the Standard Guide to Grading British Coins!

Hi Geoff and welcome! I see it was 2003 that Spink last updated Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands. About time for a new edition I reckon!

I cant see the postage as it doesn't ship to Australia but is it more than 325 pounds ?? That would be extraordinary ! Nice Shilling though. Looks to be in a slab but the label not shown.... cheers Garrett. LOL Obviously an error. The postage was £350, but is now a more reasonable £3.50! It was funny to me at the time. As for the slab, I think it's just in a coin capsule. Doesn't seen too bad a price now postage is back to normal ..

I have to say I'd not really thought about this before in those terms. So would the later introduction of additional denominations like farthings and groats suggest an increasingly monetary based economy Clive? And despite that, I'm guessing that barter still played a major part in most people's lives through to the end of the mediaeval period (or possibly later), yes?

LOL Yeah, I tend to mention the Rotographic range on coincommunity too. I'd recommend joining here too if more people on there bothered to allow emails. Yup. For 6d and BCW just substitute 1/- and Sharp for me! I think the point is that Chris' book is essentially a price guide. As such it would be very difficult to fix accurate prices for the more .. let's say esoteric varieties for which, though only recognised by a handful of people, demand can be quite high. It comes down to individual collectors to decide to what extent one coin needs to differ from another to make it a worthy addition to a collection. Really a price guide needs to cover the main varieties without becoming so cumbersome it's a trial to find what you want when you want. For those that are interested in every jot and tittle more specialist books have to be the place for detail and ID. And price, well, that largely depends on individual collectors doing their own homework as it's nigh-on impossible for a book to keep track of all sales across a year.

You must have had at least a few goodies from the 'Bay, surely? I know I have! Indeed. I think ebay is like anywhere else. You need to know your subject and sometimes do a bit of research. But it is probably the largest marketplace in the world so I wouldn't rule it out, even though I don't rely on it to the extent I used to. As for selling .. well I've a coin up right now. Where else can you list an item in seconds, sit back and see if anyone is interested from the comfort of home. And the cost? Less than the price of a 2nd class stamp.

Tsk! Do you not check ebay Stuart? 2012 coins are RARE!!!! (Um, actually I have no idea why that should be. Maybe a typo?)

On a related note, I was wondering how CGS treat hammered. There are very few coins in my collection that haven't some surface scratches or dints. One or two which must have been dipped at some point in their lives, several have flan cracks .. all of which would get them 'authenticated but not graded' were they milled coins. If CGS adhere to the same standards across the board it occurred to me that the number of hammered coins that would meet the requirements for grading and encapsulation will surely be very small? I did wonder about a little experiment with one of my nicer coins, but no point throwing away £30 if it's just going to get sent back with a note saying 'Yes, it is a coin...' Has anyone seen a CGS slabbed hammered coin?

I suspect it's the same as Stanley Gibbons setting a minimum price for stamps. £3 will barely cover the cost of Spink sending a lad to the corner shop to buy some gum and pick up a 5p piece in change. Should someone be foolish enough to order one from them, that is!

Hmmm ... Bit much when the price of postage is more than the coin itself, no? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Charles-II-1663-Shilling-/271356690281?pt=UK_Coins_BritishMilled_RL&hash=item3f2e1e7f69#shpCntId

No coins (apart from chocolate ones!), but some money, an auction catalogue and past copy of the British Numismatic Journal I wanted. And beer, so all good!

Well, I'm currently tucked up in bed with a cappuccino and a mince pie. When daughter decides to join us Wifey and I are set to exchange our presents. Yes, I know it's Boxing Day, but I was at work yesterday morning so we postponed the usual traditions to today, so Merry Christmas all!

Yeah, have a great one everybody. I'm off to work in an hour and a bit so likely won't be back on until Boxing Day ... unless I take the laptop to MILs ... So if anyone receives any hammered Stuart coinage for Christmas, I shan't be available for consultation/ envious admiration until then!