TomGoodheart

As he is our society secretary I can confirm that Geoff's alive and well. He is just tied up with work most of the time.Ah. I thought he was taking a long time to get that milk ....

I delete any spam if I spot it Peck. I doubt it does any harm apart from be irritating, but I get few enough pleasures from life .. Oh, and if anyone sees anything that might be an actual threat (such as dodgy links) let me know, as Chris is generally occupied elsewhere. I can flag and burn but Chris is the only one that can delete a member account AFAIK.

Well, that's brilliant! Since they aren't even making an attempt to write English anymore, it suggests they've found software too expensive to use and sub-contracted it to Nottinghamshire school children. All good for the ecomomi, brave new wold and all that.

A few bags stored in a bank somewhere makes sense, but I don't know for sure. I also seem to remember a study that showed that regular people (ie not coin collectors who, of course, do it differently!) tend to hold on to nicer coins they find in their change and spend the knackered ones first. So maybe people took the opportunity of the new issue to get rid of older circulated coin which, though the same face value, was underweight?

We tried to track my Uncle, mostly for my Dad. Dad was at university in Lvov and a few weeks short of his 21st birthday when Germany marched into Poland. His brother was 5 years older and doing post-graduate work away from home. Dad was sent to Siberia with all the other military age men when Russia annexed Eastern Poland. None of them were keen on their families being linked to them so any correspondence was destroyed. All we've surmised is that his parents' apartment was taken for military accommodation, but in all the turmoil of the war years few records seem to remain. Dad ended up in Anders army and eventually rebuilt his life here in England, but a lot of what happened is very patchy and we never did find any information about what happened to his family.

Oops. In all that I forgot to say welcome to predecimal Angela! Please let us know how you get on. I'm sure everyone would love to hear if you've found 'the real deal'. And if not, well, it's still a fascinating piece, so thanks for sharing!

In view of all this PC techy jargon, I've finally decided I'm sticking with paper too! I'm waiting for CCGB 2036. The one where you look at a coin through your Google glasses and a hologram of Chris appears and tells you what it is. Of course, an upgraded version would be even better. .. you look at a coin through your Googles and a hologram of Bill Gates appears and buys it for you!

Looks even more like a modern copy now it's been polished I'm afraid. However, I'm not sure we will resolve its authenticity here. I suggest you take it to a reputable dealer such as Spink, Baldwins or London Coins and have it looked at in person. But I wouldn't get too excited if I were you.

See here: http://www.londoncoins.co.uk/?page=Pastresults&auc=133&searchlot=198&searchtype=2 This example is from the same dies as yours and London Coins did not consider it genuine. I'm not sure about your comment about the 'RD' since it looks fairly clear on your photo. And had it been genuine cleaning it with a horse brush really wouldn't have been a good idea. Cleaned coins generally sell for a fraction of uncleaned. Please don't mess with it any more.

Thanks Chris!

LOL I wish! I'd hope that many, if not the majority now, have 'eye appeal'. But there are still quit a few pieces of junk I picked up in the earlier days I need to shed at some point! My current aim is simple. To buy nicer than usual examples when I find them without breaking the bank! Some of the groups (D and the later Gp F coins (Sharp F5/1, F5/2)) I'd really like to upgrade. But if I see something nice that doesn't quite fit ... I shan't rule them out.

I've pretty much only ever collected shillings. I started with first date of issue and any major obv or reverse design change. But as I filled all the easier slots (Victoria on) I started to realise the earlier coins like James II in the grades I wanted were going to be out of my comfort zone price wise and eventually it was going to be a rather patchy collection. I got interested in the Tower issue of Charles I partly because it offered a decent number of types and varieties, but as much because I felt it would be a cheaper way to get what feels like a complete collection in the long run. Of course it's by no means complete, even ten years on! But then I'm less worried about filling all the possible gaps than I used to be now. I think I have 66 coins now, including a 6d I bought because I liked it! All funded from a one off 'investment' 10 years ago with occasional additions of cash from sales, birthday and Christmas gifts.

I'd feel sorry for you Peter, if I wasn't sure that with your new car you'll all be sitting down to a nice pheasant, if not a bit of muntjac venison! And of course, you could always try selling on coin community. I get the impression some of them there think pms only ever go up in value ...

That's great value! Yes. But I'm trying to Only Buy Shillings. Fortunately looking is free! As for gilding, I'm sure any potential buyer could ask him to check. It's not in the listing and Lloyd usually mentions issues like cleaning etc.

Yeah, but if we didn't have coins to aspire to, or dream about, it wouldn't be much fun now would it?

Staggering C1 that! Is the Liz coin a former guilded coin I wonder? When looking at the bottom right quarter of the shield? dNot sure. I had a shilling with similar silvery areas though, like this, generally darkly toned. I assumed it was down to how it had been stored/ found. This one is £300 on Lloyd's site. Just up today. http://www.coinsofbritain.co.uk/pages/coins/coins-details.asp?ID=4249

I hope you'll be wearing that to work? But of course!

I was reading a thread on a US forum, started by someone asking about investing in coins and which to choose. Apart from the risks of such a strategy, it got me thinking a bit about why I collect what I collect. And the answer is .. um, well, actually it's quite difficult to pin down why I like one coin over another! But someone on the thread above mentioned the 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter. Now I know it's a key date and a pleasant enough coin but ... it's not one I would have any pleasure owning I'm afraid. Whereas this, which I just saw on a UK dealer's site, now ... I think that sitting in my tray would give me a pleasant glow for many months to come. Yum!! So what's your fancy? Or ... whatever the opposite might be, that just leaves you cold?

Well, much joy and merriment to all, irrespective of what you're all doing and whether it involves coins or not. I wish you all a Most Excellent Christmas! Certainly that's what I plan to have anyway!

LOL Perhaps you've just always been surrounded by trustworthy people Declan?

Wow Sounds like I should give up the day job and follow the champagne and caviar lifestyle of a coin dealer!! Tweaked.

Unfortunately only the member who wrote it can edit their own post. I'm happy to delete any if wanted, but don't want to go around removing things without peoples' say so?

Spink publishes prices of pre-decimal proof sets in Coins of England. 1937 is PS16 (15 coin set inc Maundy). My copy is out of date as it's from 2006, but hopefully someone can check a more recent copy for you.

Does anyone else find the idea that 1995 might be considered 'the good old days' really very unsettling??