Coppers

I'm getting a message that the "website is not respsonding".

Chris...were the coins mentioned in the above quote purchased from www.certifiedgbcoins.com?

In addition, the fact that it is of only 3/5 the weight of a normal coin argues against it being a case of two planchets struck at the same time. The only other possibility would be a complete delamination (i.e. the planchet split in two after being struck), but as the surface is completely smooth, that scenario is most unlikely and so Chris' suggestion of it having been machined or smoothed down in some way seems the logical conclusion.

By reign: Charles I (16), William & Mary (1), George III (1), George IV (1), Victoria (30), George V (1) Total coins in collection: 50 Most stored in mylar flips.

I also collect Russian banknotes and so I deal with East Europeans all of the time and have had few if any problems. I receive emails from Africa on a regular basis offering me a share of tens of millions of dollars locked away in a US account. There are the emails requesting that I verify my ebay and/or paypal accounts. And, most recently, I received an email on an item for which I was an underbidder on ebay, offering to sell it to me at my bid. All scams.

This sounds like a scam to me.

All that glitters is not gold

A beautiful set! Thanks for sharing it with us.

And probably a fake as well.

Another 1869 Penny up for sale! 1869 Penny

You'd be taking a chance bringing these to a dealer you do not know. So, if you're looking for a fair offer for all of your coins, you might want to consider contacting the fellow who maintains this website, Chris Perkins.

Geordie -- the coin sold for GBP 2.20. Postage was 14.00 with an additional 2.00 required for insurance. Would selling the coin for less than it's worth and making this up in excessive postage charges reduce ebay's take in this sale? If so, perhaps that's why the seller is charging so much on postage. In either case, it is still an unethical way of conducting business. Here's the link... Not quite postpaid

In fact, many dealers who host their own websites have a hard and fast rule against others using it for advertising since they are the ones who are footing the bill for the site. So, taking Chris' suggestion to "interact" to heart, perhaps you might tell us something about what series of coins you are collecting or have an interest in.

A rather princely sum was paid for that fake. I wonder if the buyer was hoping it would turn out to be geniuine -- a rather bad bet considering that the seller was holding all the cards.

I wouldn't put much faith in a slab being a guarantee of anything. Chris' experience merely confirms this. Here in the US (I'm a Yank too), I've seen quite a few coins in slabs, which have had outside help to create toning containing every color in the rainbow as this seems to be a fad among certain collectors here who are willing to pay huge premiums for such coins.

This seller gives the concept of ignorance a bad name... Ebay Auction

Chris... I recently received in the mails a rather glossy brochure from the same firm clearly aimed at investors with little or no knowledge about coins. To its credit, it does state that "Anyone who does not have the expertise to assess a coin's grade to a professional standard would be well advised not to invest his money in coins." Unfortunately, this sound advice is then followed by the assurance in large, bold type that "THE SITUATION HAS NOW CHANGED." Well...guess what...it really hasn't and in the end those who believe this nonsense has will end up holding the bag -- or in this case the slab.

One of the more imaginative lot descriptions from the same sale... 2s6d Charles I mm triangle, partly double struck so that the King has 2 heads (could have been useful later in his life)GF-AVF"

Spink had a sale in recent years consisting mainly of a series of privately struck modern "retro-patterns" and this undoubtedly is one of the them. These pieces were designed to look like earlier official coin issues and you'll see loads of them being offered for sale on ebay.

The "Captains of Industry" were in charge of such firms as Enron and Global Crossings. Both our president and vice president had their roots in the oil industry and in the vice president's case more recently with Halliberton. If you Brits ever tired of Tony Blair perhaps we can arrange a trade?

Another coin from the same seller.

Chris, my aplogies as I thought that by typing the website address directly into the text of my message it would make it "non-clickable". Apparently, I was wrong.

Chris...yes I did indeed misinterpret Oli's post thinking he meant that the firm had been bought off by one of my countrymen. The website can be found at www.certifiedgbcoins.com/CCI/Investment.htm

JMD...I have only one slabbed coin in my collection, a penny of George III. I bought it that way and have never bothered to remove it. Oli... It looks like a home grown British firm to me. Provided Chris has no qualms about it, I can post the website address so that you can see for yourselves.

Unfortunately, we Americans have no monopoly on bad taste. I recently came across a British coin site where every single coin offered for sale is slabbed.