TomGoodheart

Was it free listing day on ebay?

Oh, well, I'm pleased to hear I wasn't a million miles out! Using ebay as a guide I often think my grading skills for milled coins are non-existent!

As Rob says elsewhere, before grading a coin, you need to know what a pristine example looks like. If all the coins that came straight out the mint were already weakly struck, it makes it difficult. Particularly for ebayers who may never have seen a really good example. This for example : CHARLES II FARTHING HIGH GRADE On the face of it and not knowing anything about the issue, so relying on my copy of Spink, I think it's had decent wear. The rim is worn and the details of the hair and shoulder armour are going. This is an issue with a fairly high rim which I'd expect to protect the lettering anyway so I'd say it's had more than "limited circulation" and grade as Fine. Now that's deliberately conservative (I'd stretch to "approaching VF") and doesn't detract from it being a nice coin. And copper experts here will know the issue better and grade differently and I'll defer to their knowledge. But 'high grade'? Not how I'd describe it. But if all you've ever seen are washers you'd likely think this is an exceptional specimen and it would then be easy to grade with your heart rather than your head! So yeah, grading should be consistent and there shouldn't be a difference based on age .. but ..

Er .. if I understand you correctly Garry, it's supply and demand. How many pristine 1967 pennies are there? Thousands if not millions. How many 1867 pennies in pristine condition ... not so many. Does anyone want a vf 1967 penny when you can pick up an EF example for under £1? No. Pretty much scrap. 1965 shilling? £1.50 in BU from Chris here. Why bother with anything less than VF then? So the grading standards/ criterion are the same. Just as you go back in time then it becomes trickier to find really good examples and the price goes up. Look at the 1875 pennies in the Coin aquisition thread. While everyone might want a BU example there aren't that many and they will cost an arm and a leg. So most have to compromise and settle for less. Not so with modern (ie post 1950) coins. Most are easily found gleaming much as the day the mint sent them on their merry way so there's less appeal to a knackered specimen .. same grade, but .. unwanted.

I prefer toned silver, as I believe do most Brits. However I believe Germans rather like the shiny look for things like their 10DM coins and seem to remember that one of the firms there makes a sort of lacquer that will stop toning. Ah, yeah, it's Lindner: Coin Preserver Says it's not a lacquer but I believe it still 'preserves' by coating the coin and stopping the air getting to the surface. If you want to remove it, you'll need the equivalent remover. Chris, the owner of this forum, is a stockist for Lindner. Don't know if he can get some for you? Maybe pm him? (Chris Perkins)

What? Use coins to buy things you mean? Like in the old days? Nah, I can't see the public going for that idea at all Chris!

Now also spamming Coin People In light of the above I've blocked jaden from posting any more. Richard

It's a choice we all have to make. Do we lock up our coins and then we just have photos to look at, or do we have them around so we can look at them when we want? I guess it depends on how much you worry about them being nicked (assuming you're not saying your wife will break them up to pay the electric!) In the end, whether you have boxes of proofs or piles of circulated coins, eventually your collection will be precious to you and it's loss will be a blow. It could be argued that a collection of proof sets is easier to replace than a date run or a 1903 open 3. Certainly proofs would be easier to replace than what I collect, but I don't see the point of never seeing my coins except on visiting day! I take sensible precautions, like not telling people I collect unless I know them or they too are collectors, stuff like that. But who wants to live in Fort Knox? I live in an ordinary house, in an ordinary street, on an ordinary island, surrounded by 20ft of ordinary razor wire, patrolled by ordinary cheetah/shark/crocodile hybrids. The only known animal that can chase you down on land or water and bite your head off while smiling and crying at the same time ...

I'll keep an eye on it .. While new members are welcome, spam is not.

Yes, not counterfeits but modern fantasy creations often sold misleadingly as 'patterns' Not sure who they are supposed to appeal to. The same people who want an Edward VIII shilling perhaps. But since I'm fairly sure the ones you've listed are base metal, they are pretty much worthless. Except on ebay of course ..

I've only had Olympic ones. Not sure how many of the designs, they just got popped in the drawer with all the other commemorative coins from the last few years. I seem to remember I'm still missing Quiddich, Ice Cream Throwing and Extreme Ironing. Bog Snorkelling too, if that's now an Olympic sport ..! The Kew one looks nice though ...

Mmmm .. thank you. Unfortunately I don't see anything about British coins on the site linked, which makes me wonder if this isn't just spam. While there are some that might be interested in slabbed US coins and bullion here, most aren't. But in case you actually are a real person and representative of this company jaden, I'll say 'welcome' and feel free to join in the coin chat. Oh, and the website linked? It needs a quick search function that you can just type in a term, or name of a coin you're interested in, in my opinion. Tom

I think it's good we have a variety of collectors here. Some that like seried ranks of similar coins ("yes, it's just another shilling" my wife says!), some that like a denomination and whose collections show how the purchasing value, historical importance and design of something like a halfpenny has changed over the centuries and people who look on coins as little pieces of art and collect what has eye-appeal to them. Not that we all aren't a little bit of each of these (and more) in varying proportions. Just it's more interesting when we're not all chasing after MS65 rainbow cents or whatever. It's also nice that we have a wide range of budgets, from the detectorists finding coins for .. nothing, really, through change pickers and car boot collectors for whom £5 is a lot to spend on a coin, to those whose single purchase was more than the value of my entire collection!

My guess is it's going to be impossible to quantify however I know of three dealers who have both good websites but also sell on ebay. I suspect if you are running a proper business, rather than 'hobby' sales, the more bows to your string the better! Dealers here can tell you how useful to them it is to meet people in person at fairs and the like. But for myself, I'm an internet buyer. I once visited Spink on a whim and there was nearly nothing in stock to interest me. Whereas online I can see hundreds of coins on sealer sites and auction listings in an hour. My only recommendation is that when online, you include reasonable photos. I will not buy from a site that just lists coins. "Charles I shilling, 1638, mm tun, VF" tells me nothing - I need to see the coin. And sites where you have to click on a link or thumbnail pic to see a coin properly, or to view the reverse irritate me. I like a reasonable photo at the start with the option of enlarging those I'm interested in. I also get annoyed with sites where I can't right click to open coin details in another tab. It's annoying to me to have to backtab all the time to get back to the main list, to only have the option to have one image viewable at a time, or to have only a photo but to find the details and price are back on the original listing page. In short, I'm fussy about what I consider 'good' website design and if it doesn't work the way I want it puts me off visiting again! OK, if I collected milled it might be different, but I think I'd still like to make up my own mind about grade.

There's a Charles II shilling with the elephant too as Mark Rasmussen just sold one. http://www.rascoins.com/global22/Coinpagelarge.cfm?iname=104.jpg&coinid=12971&piclib=ED211 I think your best bet would be to contact a few dealers and put it in as a want and they will do the searching for you. It won't be cheap though! However, if it's just the elephant you're keen on, there are also the Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Stivers of George III as a cheaper option! Geo III 2 Stivers coin

I've only modern stuff I'm afraid Jeff. Just 'tat' I've picked up in travels for nothing (such as the 'Cuthbert's beads; fossil crinoids picked up on the beach of Lindisfarne and made into a bracelet) or a few quid like this mati or evil eye charm from a small shop in Athens:

Yes, congratulations and best wishes to the three of you! A nice start to the new year. Have you started to pick out which coins will be his yet?

I think Rob is just collecting in a way that, for many, has become unfashionable. In the earlier days people would collect whatever took their fancy. Only more recently did specialisation become the norm, firstly as people found types of coins they preferred and secondly (as in my case) because of budget constraints. If I had infinite (or more!) resources, I'd perhaps collect more broadly. But my collection is determined by my budget and preferences; having started with shillings I realised that milled coins after about 1700 just don't interest me. I like the quirkiness and variability of hammered coins. I'd happily return to earlier reigns (though I like the size of shillings so would primarily stick with those) and might expand to Scottish, Irish and European coins of a similar value to the shilling. But I sold what I had, plus the provincial issues, because I realised that to have a reasonably representative collection my pocket could only stretch to Tower issue shillings. With over thirty portraits, some twenty reverse types and some two dozen mint marks there's a good deal of scope. And of course, helpfully there are at least two comprehensive publications dealing with the issue and cataloguing the varieties; a very helpful point unless you are the sort that likes nothing better than trying to classify an entire issue of coins yourself. Which requires some very helpful coin collecting contacts and/or sufficient funds to buy coins to study at will! I still have many gaps in varieties to fill, a couple of types that it would be interesting to find, or see if they even exist, and I could always squeeze patterns/fine work coins and oddities such as the Tower/Briot die mules in if ever I had the funds to expand further. But as it is, I am slowly learning to bide my time. I'm hoping to upgrade a few coins which, unlike the VF+ to EF dilemma of milled collectors will result in my acquiring a coin of a different character, albeit of the same variety. And given the scarcity of some coins, that will take quite a while. In the meantime, like coinwatch, there's always scope for learning, for searching and for re-examining the coins I have for strengths and weaknesses as I get a better idea of what grades are available to collectors.

*cough cough* ↓↓↓↓

Am I the only one that would like a time machine? Not to go back personally .. but to return some of my coins to the state they were in before some blighter clipped or rode a coach and four over them!

Not so much a laugh as an interesting curiosity. A counterfeit shilling. Now I don't normally recommend these, however this is as far as I can tell, not a modern concoction, but a contemporary (ie 17th century) coin. The design is surprisingly good (I do wonder if ex-mint employees might not have turned their hands to making counterfeits in the war years) though the silver wash is thin and the base metal shows through, it's an interesting piece of numismatic history. Personally I think at £80 it's a bit over priced, but these things are actually very rare. And this is a nice example and not a design I've seen elsewhere. Counterfeit Charles I shilling

Sorry, the 'other pic' should have been this one. Rushed posting because Wifey wanted to get to the shops! And the price is negotiable(ish!) Just pm me.

I think it's the kind of King's shilling people used to find at the bottom of their glass after a few too many! All I found was a depth charge or a grave diggers note...a small pleasing turd. . I played hard and lived hard some people say I was a pussie some a c***. I'm still here as a nusmatititicmussist..HNY Celebrating New Year early Peter? Well, have a good one. (And I hope the hangover isn't too bad tomorrow!) Me? I'm going to go a bit easy as I have to be at work at 07.30 tomorrow morning!

That's disappointing. I'd somehow convinced myself he'd take a few back issues of the SNC and a bag of jelly beans for it, but now you've made me think I'll have to increase my offer ... Not often that happens!

I sometimes wish I'd spent me student grant on coins rather than lithographs. With the price of Chas I shillings in the early 1980s I could have built up a collection double the size of the current one. And had a few nice auctions to attend. I can only hope that in another 55 years time as I approach my eleventy-first birthday I can think, 'gosh, I'm glad I bought those coins when I did'!