kuhli

Not the 8 piece set (which is the Football themed package to coincide with the £2 coin). This set was issued to celebrate 25 years of decimalization, and includes the 1996 1p-£1, along with the pre-decimal ½d- 2s. I saw the set, most of the pre-decimal was dated 1966, only had the English shilling. Nice looking set. Once I get it, I will try to get some decent pictures. About every other month, or so, my dealer comes up with something British for me to grab up. Last time (about 4-5 weeks ago), I picked up the Charles 50th birthday £5 in folder. I have also gotten the Lady Diana £5 in folder from him. he also has a 1970 proof set, but the back is cracked, and the coppers are starting to tone. Only wants US$10 for it, thought about getting it, and busting the coins out to sell individually. May still do it, as it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Peter-- PM returned!

I was busy typing a more in-depth reply to the original question over here while you were moving my reply.

Simple motto of coin collectors: Buy the book before you buy the coin! If you do not take the time to research the material, and know what you are getting, then caveat emptor. Not to sound offensive, but I don't think anyone on this message board would be misled into thinking those coins are real. Why? Because most all of us here have the basic knowledge of coins to know that such a coin is not common, and would not be available at such a price. And if they were being sold for their realistic value (£1000+), all of us here would be asking questions and checking reference books BEFORE we made a purchase. The only people I can see being misled by these copies are those who are asking to be misled, by their greed and ignorance. This is one of the basic conundrums of coin collecting. When a truly rare numismatic piece is sold, bringing 6 and 7 figure prices, it is sensationalized in the media. This brings out all of the fortune seekers who think that ALL coins are rare and worth major money. This also brings out all the less desirable types who would prey on these fortune seekers. And thus, the tarnished reputation of coin collecting gets damaged again. People are so blinded by greed that everytime someone offers to sell Chris one of those "rare, limited edition" Churchill crowns, and he offers them 50p for it, Chris suddenly becomes the villian, trying to swindle their precious fortunes away from them with a mere token pittance offering. (trust me, I know this to be true ) Education is the answer to your question. And that is why Chris has put this message board up, to serve the collector. Ask your questions! The only stupid question is the one not asked. We were all novices at one time. Knowledge is something that can and should be freely shared among all of us. And on this forum, it is.

Since you have a REDBOOK, look at the Liberty 5c from 1883-1912. Designs very similar to the gold piece you pictured, and made of a copper-nickel alloy which would appear as "silver" in color. As for the odd shape, I can only guess. If put on a train-track, they tend to spread in all directions, so I would rule that out.

I am still living in the past, using a 1999 CCGB, so forgive me. Can anyone give me updated prices for the 1996 £.S.d/decimal mint set?? The 1999 price is £25, has it gone up or down, since then? I am guessing that it probably hasn't gone down too much, so I guess I am getting a good deal. My local dealer has one set back for me, selling for US$19.95 (about £10.50). Hadn't ever seen one before, and at that price, figure it was worth it.

Yes, you may use the picture. I can also help with some of the other occupation pieces, when the time comes. I would honored to be mentioned as a source of information. (my full name is Scott Simon). The Netherlands 2½ cent piece is not mine, but I will check with the owner, she probably won't mind. The Krause book that I use "Standard Catalog of World Coins" currently sells for about US$55.00 over here. I know it is also available on amazon.co.uk, but I don't know what their price is. It is quite heavy, so the postage on it will be extremely high, especially if you must have it shipped from abroad.

Sounds like you should hang on to the third one and whatever you do don't get her slabbed!! Oh, I do intend on keeping this one. She is a GEM, and is the center piece of my collection. btw: post #200.

Happy birthday, Levi. I almost missed this. But, luckily, here in the US, it is still Thursday (albeit very late!). Is it ironic that our friend from Northern Ireland celebrates his birthday on St. Patricks' Day?? ummm, do you Brits celebrate St. Patricks' Day?? Here in the US, it is traditional to eat Irish food, such as corned beef with cabbage; and to drink Irish beer. In Chicago, where there is a large Irish population, they dye the river through town green (they used to, not sure if they still do or not, actually)

I am a collector at heart. Must be the gypsy blood in me. Besides collecting coins, I also collect currency (paper money) to accompany the coins. I am also building a collection of Irish Hospital Sweepstakes tickets (this collection is currently on hiatus, other preferences right now). I have been hoarding stamps that I recieve for several years, now. I don't really call it a collection, more of an accumulation. Always figure that sooner or later, I will stumble upon a young philatelist (stamp collector for those unfamiliar with the word), and perhaps share them. I was introduced to stamp collecting when I was 8, and for about 6 years, I developed a massive collection, but during my teen years, girls and cars took priority, and the stamps were sold. I have also collected 3 wives over the years, but somehow, they don't keep me interested, and I let go of them, and move on to other interests. I still have the third one, figure it is getting too expensive to up-grade, and this one definitely ranks MS70.

One more omission noted: Vichy France also issued 10 and 20 centime pieces in zinc: 10 centime 1941-1943 same size as pre-WWII issues, center hole, obverse has "Etat Francais", reverse has "10 centimes" and date. 1943-44 smaller size, same design as above. 20 centime 1941 center hole, obverse has "Etat Francais", reverse has "VINGT centimes" and date. 1941-44, similar to above, denomination as "20 centimes"

A few more little things I have noticed while browsing your site (and yes, I am a nitpicker, just like Oli) For your Soviet type-set, you overlooked the following: 2 kopeck 1935-1936 3 kopeck 1935-1936 5 kopeck 1935-1936 Also, all of the 1967 50th anniversary issues, which include 10, 15, 20, 50 kopeck. Another thing I noticed, sometimes, you note specific years, sometimes, you don't. For example, for the ½ kopeck, you note the years being "1925, 1927-28"; for the 10 kopeck, you note the years being "1924-25, 1927-31". These 2 examples show that there were years when they weren't minted, which is valuable information to know. But for several issues, this information is not presented. For example, you have the 1 kopeck noted as "1937-46", which is technically not correct, and should be "1937-41, 1945-46", since there were none issued in 1942-44. This is the case on several issues during WWII. Another note is that there were no coins minted in 1963, except 1 and 2 kopeck, and the only coins minted in 1964 were the 1,2, and 50 kopeck. So the 3,5,10,15 and 20 kopecks should be noted as "1961-62, 1965-91". I don't know how extensive your Soviet collection is, but if you need photos of any of the types that you don't have photos already posted, I can help with some of them. Scott

Johan, I really like the looks of your site, thus far. You have broken image links: several of the Norwegian kronor images do not show up. you need to modify your HTML code to include the sub-folder for the images. For example, you have: <IMG SRC="Bilder/no1963.JPG"> what you need to have is: <IMG SRC="Bilder/nokronor/no1963.JPG"> I don't understand Swedish, but am fluent in HTML

One other piece I forgot to mention is the 1941 2 kune coin issued by the German backed Croatian government. from my collection: And there is also a group of 4 pieces issued for Serbia under German Occupation: (all zinc, minted in Budapest) 50 para, 1 dinar, 2 dinara dated 1942 10 dinara dated 1943

Okay, I hate to change the subject here, but since we have answered the original questions, I guess I can get away with it. Somebody please explain to me what the hell train spotting is?? I have heard it mentioned several times on this board, but never understood what it is about.

Found the German state piece. Some interesting history with it. From the German state of Brunswick-Lüneburg, issud 1792-94. Issued under the authority of King George III, King of Great Britain, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1760-1807). In 1807, Napoleon ousted Geo III from the German possessions, but was returned in 1813, and shortly afterwards, Brunswick-Lüneburg became the Kingdom of Hannover.

ДBБ KOПEИKИ is Russian for 2 kopecks. From the reign of Elizabeth I. And, yes, you are correct, it is St. George slaying the dragon. There are 2 types of this coin, one with the writing above St. George, the other with it below. The below type is more common. The 4 pfenning scheide muntz is from a German state, I just am not sure which one, yet. Will try to look it up later.

Belgium 5 centime: same size as all 5 centimes prior to WWII, made of zinc, design same as the 10 centime and 50 centime pieces of the German occupation. (center hole, obverse has 3 shields, "5 c."; reverse has 2 "L" facing central "III" with crown) Netherlands 2½ cents: Note, this coin was also minted in 1942, but was never released, only about 30 known to exist, quite rare.

The Germans were fairly smart, in a military manner of speaking. They knew that to occupy a nation, they needed to control the people, and what better way to control the people than to control the money. So the majority of the European countries that were occupied by the Germans continued to mint money locally, although under the guidance of the German military. Zinc was the metal of choice, as it is cheap, abundant, and has little use in military arms. Issued under German occupation: Belgium: 5 centime (French legends)~1941, 43; (Dutch legends)~1941, 42 10 centime (French legends)~1941-43; (Dutch legends)~1941-46 25 centime (French legends)~1941-43, 46; (Dutch legends)~1942-46 1 franc (French legends)~1941-43; (Dutch legends)~1942-46 5 franc (French legends)~1941, 43-47; (Dutch legends)~1941, 45, 47 Luxembourg: no coinage issued during the occupation Netherlands: 1 cent~1941-44 2½ cent~1941 5 cent~1941-43 10 cent~1941-43 25 cent~1941-43 Poland: 1 grosz~1939 5 groszy~1939 10 groszy~1923* 20 groszy~1923* * (struck 1941-44, on zinc planchets, using old dies) 50 groszy~1938 (iron & nickel-plated iron) France was occupied, although no coinage was minted in the German occupied areas. The Vichy government (French Free State) issued coinage for the un-occupied areas. Austria was incorporated into the "Greater Germany" and used the standard issues of German coinage. Czechoslovakia was partitioned, and divided into the German protectorate of Bohemia & Moravia, and the puppet state of Slovakia. Bohemia & Moravia: 10 haleru~1940-44 20 haleru~1940-44 50 haleru~1940-44 1 koruna~1941-44 Slovakia, although allied with the Germans, stayed out of the war, and issued coinage throughout the war for their own state. US issued coinage for areas liberated by the Allied Forces: Belgium: 1944 2 francs (using planchets left over from the US 1943 zinc-coated steel cents) Netherlands: 10 cents~1943P,44P,44D,44S,45P 25 cents~1943P,44P,45P 1 gulden~1944P,1945P One other area that deserves mention is colonial issues of the occupied areas: While France was occupied by the Germans, and local coinage was issued in the name of the "French Free State" in Vichy, several colonies issued coinage under the guidance of Vichy. See the ½ piastre and 1 piastre issues of Lebanon and Syria, also 1 cent and 5 cent issues of French Indo-China. While the US was minting coinage for the liberated Netherlands, they (the US) were also minting coinage for the Dutch colonies of Curaçao, Suriname, and the Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia)

Oh yeah?? Well my daddy can beat up your daddy!!!!

Yes. It is only natural for coin collectors to gravitate towards their own local coinage as a first choice. Part of that is the nostalgia. Ask any middle aged Briton who collects coins, and I am sure they will have dozens of stories of childhood memories, receiving shiny little tanners for their chores, or the farthing from the grandparents, to spend at the sweetshop. Here in America, US coins are king, and coins from all other countries are merely childs' play. Many dealers here do not even carry any foreign, and some will only carry the high-end silver and gold pieces. Sometimes, this is beneficial, as the US dealers often do not take the time to research the foreign coins they acquire, and often just toss them into the "bargain bins". I have often found better coins, cataloging from $1-30, in bins marked for 10 cents each.

You can smoke at 16 over there??? It's 18 here in the states. 21 to drink or gamble.

You can still get anyone's MSN or Yahoo! handle from their profile. It just doesn't show on the master member list. BTW, if you click on the ICQ button next to anyone's name on the master list, it is supposed to allow you to send them an IM via predecimal, but it doesn't function properly. Probably upgrades to ICQ have made the form obsolete.

It is a comprehesive catalog of all coins minted from 1901-2000. Do you need information about certain issues? Don't hesitate to ask.

To start with, if they are covered in a green deposit, then they are already damaged. This is known as verdigris, and is a chemical reaction between copper and certain elements, which has already pitted and damaged the coins. You cannot reverse this damage, nor repair it. But you can halt any further damage. First step is to rinse them in distilled water (not tap water!). Once they are completely dried, put them into a bowl with olive oil. Put the bowl someplace safe, and out of the way, and forget about them. Take them out once a week, rinse the olive oil off with more distilled water, and repeat this process with fresh oil, until you are sure that they are as good as they will get. This may take a couple months. Once you have removed all the verdigris residue, then you can really start to determine what you have, and what value it might have had before they were ruined. You may even find some that are quite salvageable, although any damage at all will greatly reduce their collector value. If you can provide scans or photos of the individual coins, identification is usually much easier.

I consider myself more of a generalist, rather than a specialist, as I collect more for entertainment and enjoyment, and on a very limited budget. Therefore, the majority of my collection are mid-grade circulation pieces, and base-metal and silver commems. I only have 1 piece of gold in my collection, and I got that on a fluke. But, if I were to attempt to claim a specialty, I would say that if is definitely the coinage of Yugoslavia. I have about 95% of the circulation pieces that were released for issue (there are a few that were never released, but are available for $$$$$). I have a few commems, and am approaching the point to begin seriously pursuing some more. I am also slowly accumulating many of the mint sets issued during the 1980's and early 1990's, prior to the collapse of the Federation. I also have begun collections of all the republics that gained independence from Yugoslavia during the civil war of the 1990's.