TomGoodheart

I'm now wondering if it's Pitman shorthand. Anyone know someone able to read it? I had a look, but the differences between the symbols (particularly those for whole words (known as grammalogues)) are too subtle to guess at unless you have some experience.

To do it yourself, search sites such as CoinArchives.com or mcsearch.info can be helpful. And of course, many international auction companies use hosts like sixbid or liveauctioneers.com to host and store auction information. For ebay just click on 'worldwide' under location and search for completed listings or search via ebay.com or ebay.com.au

A guinea is 21 shillings, so that's 12x21 = 252 pennies. Four farthings to a penny, four quarter farthings to a farthing so .... 4032 1/4 farthings to a guinea. I think!

Some nice coins there! I don't remember seeing the 60/- but I've just been admiring it. If ever I get into Scottish ...

I think it depends on the coins .. for, say, really nice modern (post 1700s) silver I get the impression that American buyers pay more than we do over here. I think there will always be a lesser interest in 'foreign' coins than US ones, but interest is increasing as American collectors realise the disparity between prices in the US and Europe. But if your collection is somewhat specialised, as mine is, it will need someone with a bit more than average knowledge to recognise the rarity of what would otherwise appear to be a bog standard coin in none to brilliant condition! In such a case you might do better here, since the action houses are more likely to have the contacts to make a succesful sale. Similarly there will be specialist dealers here with knowledge of British coins most won't have in the US. But that's to be expected really. EF coins will sell worldwide. Where rarity dictates that you will never find better than nVF, you need someone who recognises that to get the best price. That of course sets aside the appeal of keeping British coins with British collectors. I'm not saying someone in the US won't appreciate the history or the coins. And if there's a huge difference in what could be realised in a sale ... but somehow I like the idea of my coins passing to someone else here, rather than disappearing abroad, perhaps for ever.

Gosh. I think that just underlines either how ridiculously overblown prices are in the US or how unrealistically low ours are. I just can't decide which! I wouldn't expect to pay much more than a thousandth of that for a Charles I shilling for which less than 8 examples are known. In fact most British silver or base metal coins, irrespective of how rare, could be had for, what, under £50,000? I know that a) there are probably fewer collectors of British coins than US ones and that there are probably fewer really wealthy British coin collectors than in the US, but even so ... .. not that I'm complaining! I have no wish to be priced out of the hobby and while there are still quite a few near-unique coins lacking from my collection, long may the madness continue!

I presume you've spun it Debbie? I wondered if when put on a table and spun, the two designs would match up to make something more recognisable, but I can't see what! I'll ask around ..

Happy Birthday! Hope it was a good one! Surely he'd have get one of his friends to send it on his behalf?

No problem. And do come back and post a few pics of your sixpences for us to admire!

Shilling at (nominally) 24mm. Sixpences are 19mmm but often (particularly on ebay) you can't tell from the photo or the seller doesn't know. The weights incidentally if you have some reasonable scales are 5.7g and 2.8g so the coin should feel quite a bit heavier too. As to the 'upside down' that I seem to remember is normal. Some coins (George VI or Elizabeth II sixpences for example) are struck what's called 'en medaille' (like a medal) with both sides the same way up. Others, en coin with the reverse 180 degrees rotated to the obverse. Why? Dunno! Whim of the mint I think! Not a bad coin, though sadly cleaned at some point. And welcome to the forum!

And unless ebay want to shoot themselves in the foot I can't see how the certified grading requirements could travel outside the US. As for the fakes, well, as I said earlier, I think there needs to be a distinction between contemporary pieces that are of interest to collectors and modern reproductions intended to deceive collectors. Most replica items that are sold as souvenirs are so obviously copies I don't see them as so much of a problem, but I guess they are another area for consideration. The main problem I see is that, once again, ebay is listeining to big (commercial) concerns rather than their own members. I see no good coming from it.

As far as I can see, this only currently applies to ebay US. And in fact, I can't see how it could do otherwise since neither of these companies has a comprehensive coverage of non-US coins. The US site also says that replica coins are not allowed (but they seem to be listed on the UK site) small, dark or unclear photos are banned (yeah, right!) and that counterfeits are not allowed. The latter seem to me to be a major problem because contemporary counterfeits or evasion pieces are perfectly reasonable numismatice items with historical interest and significance. I suspect the problem is that ebay has for too long ignored the modern replica coins and has now introduced this sledgehammer to crack the nut. But then it's ebay's own fault. A few years back it was easy enough to check the IDs of bidders for shilling, or to contact a bidder to warn them off dubious items and members regularly reported fakes to ebay. Then they introduced anonymity to the listings and it became impossible to identify the rogues so the only recourse was for members to report dodgy items direct to ebay. But in the UK ebay never seemed to take any action and I for one have stopped reporting and have even stopped posting replicas on Forgery Network because .. what's the point if they keep appearing on ebay? As Generic says, it's not really good for buyers and is certainly inconvenient for sellers. I also believe it's bad for the hobby as more and more people will stop deciding their own grade and come to rely on one of these two companies. Of course, when ebay tried this a few years back (restricting the term 'certified' coins to only about 5 graders) they got sued (for implying everyone else's coins were counterfeit). It might be interesting to see if someone like ANACS decides to sue again, this time for having their reputation and professionalism called into question.

For me it would be either Banbury or Northampton. And while the journey time for either would be under an hour, both meet on evenings I'm working. That's the problem with working anti-social hours. And even if I wasn't working, on Tuesdays when the Northampton society meets, daughter does her Red Cross training .. though that will end in September. Oddly Bedford seems to have dropped off the list, though it presumably was active a few years ago as the then Secretary did a valuation of my collection for me. What's really needed is an internet based Society. Somewhere you could post at any hour convenient to yourself, show off your coins, ask questions ... hang on a minute! Anyone think we could get predecimal registered as a BANS member? We certainly have more members than say Banbury "seven with two or three floaters" That was a serious suggestion by the way, since I know it's sometimes difficult to tell if I'm joking or not ..

Not sure if he's more Harry Potter or Zorro there ... And thanks for the answer Debbie!

Now you mention it Peck .. it might be a sense of humour. In your case at least.

It's an interesting question to which I don't have an answer. It'd be useful to know the proportion of the population that spend time on internet forums and not just playing games on facebook and the like. Personally I only tend to be active on one or two sites at a time and I spend what I'd imagine, by most standards, to be quite a lot of time on the internet. I do know of a few (older) collectors who just don't 'do' forums. One doesn't have the internet I'm told but the others are certainly active in their local numismatic society and could contribute. Youngsters nowadays can use an ipad before they talk, so it might be assumed there would be some on here, however it's also apparent that fewer kids seem interested in coin collecting than when I were a lad. My daughter is in her late teens and I don't know any of her friends that have expressed any interest in coin collecting. And if you look at the member list the vast majority come here to ask one or two questions and then go. Which again, sort of makes sense as if you discover a coin or are given one by a relative, you want to know what it is it's worth. But to actually collect requires some disposable income and commitment. I guess comparison with some philatelic sites might yield some answers, or perhaps comparison with sites for US coins. But really the only people that can tell us why they don't join in when they could .. aren't here! In the meantime, maybe Debbie can answer this one. She's a newer member and .. unusual in being female (I mean here of course, I seem to remember quite a few other females around last time I ventured out of my cave to visit the 'real world' ;P) She could like many others have dropped in, asked a question and gone again. But she stayed and contributes. Any particular reason Debbie? Apart from our charm and good looks of course ...

Ew! I know some people are into watersports Dave but ... selling your wee!?!?! Sorry. Couldn't resist! And ... do you have a list? Any Charles I shillings ... if you decide to sell, that is?

Had you thought of Antony Wilson (York Coins)? He's based in New York but has links to Spink and I'm pretty sure he travels to the UK fairly regularly. Whenever I've had dealings with him he's been very helpful. Obviously he'd want to cover some of the costs but if he was visiting the UK .. perhaps he could bid and carry a lot for you at less than you'd otherwise pay? Maybe call or email him?

And you think the rest of us do??? That's what the little voices are for ...

There you go. We're all too busy getting drunk! But on a more serious note, I think there's just a big difference between cars and coins. Most people don't collect cars. They buy one and restore it, drive it, race it even. The car forum I once visited (when I was in the process of buying a new one) was full of people only too happy to swap tips about performance, remapping and buying bits. Even threads for people like me who knew nothing but just wanted to talk about how long it took from ordering to delivery or what checks to do when getting a new car. Coins however you can if you want just get a book and apart from the people you meet or come into contact with to get your coins, just use the book to arrange your collection. OK, most of us do talk to other collectors, but I don't see anyone else interested in coins on a regular basis. I keep in touch with one member here on a regular basis and Rob and I both belong to an informal group that let each other know about fakes. And I have two other collectors I email but that's about it. OK, my line is quite specialised. I know Rob has asked at least three times for info but it's been outside the denomination or area of Charles I coins I collect. I don't actually know how many others specialise in (or include in their collections) shillings, but I'm guessing it's quite small. Maybe under a dozen or so? Plus coin collectors can be ..well, a bit competitive! While I imagine car enthusiasts will be happy to discuss where a part might be found or how to make one, there are times when you don't really want to anounce to fellow coin collectors that you think something is scarce or tell everyone about a new dealer you've discovered. So I'm not sure if numismatics is necessarily less sociable than, say classic cars. Maybe it's just they are two very different hobbies?

It'll be interesting to see how much (or if) it sells for. I just can't get terribly excited about such things myself and as Rob or someone mentioned a while back, until a variety is generally recognised as such and appears in Spink et al, it's difficult to say how much it should or could be worth. I suppose that's why I prefer coins that are all individual such as hammered or early milled, or unique such as Debbie's engraved coins. I find it hard at times to distinguish between a variety in milled coinage from an oddity due to die damage or an error. For me, eye appeal is a good basis for comparing one coin with another. When there are several which are much of a muchness I start to lose interest I'm afraid!

LOL I'm not sure how antisocial I am, although I enjoy my own company and the study of coins, but I've been away for Easter so haven't had the opportunity to post. We got back from France yesterday and I'm still catching up. Maybe most of the other members have been busy too? For myself I've been eating, drinking, wandering around museums and galleries and even found time to go to an 'oompah-metal' gig. OK, not perhaps the life and soul of the party, but hardly a hermit either! As for everyone else, I'm not sure. Maybe recovering from chocolate egg overdoses?

I can't see what is meant by the Q/Q myself. The N of PENSE could be double struck. The most curious thing is the dots in the Os of HONI and SOIT. Beyond that,it othewise looks OK to me. It's one for the milled silver chaps like seuk to say different I'm afraid ..

I've been thinking along the same lines. In my case it helps that there's not much material out there that I really want at present, so gives me an opportunity to save my pennies. Plus there are still some, as far as I can tell, unrecognised scarcities I can be looking out for. The upswing in prices isn't likely to make it any easier or more difficult to find them, so hopefully there's scope to pick up what other people think of as an ordinary coin for a reasonable price. There are still coins there, but I'm starting (at long last) to hold back and consider whether I really want the coin at that price. Particularly if it doesn't have the eye appeal I want, despite other plus points such as provenance. So maybe in the long term this will be a good thing if it teaches me restraint!

Anyone that might be tempted by this Charles I shilling .. don't be. It's a modern copy worth pennies. ebay #280856765585 I don't know what's happened to the forgerynetwork site, it seems to be down. Otherwise I'd have linked to the similar items there.