Madness

It's a waste of time, isn't it?

Read the post above your first post re die-marriages and proof/circulation dies. I obviously don't know what I'm talking about 😄

I must have been dreaming. I can't find the reference. Looking at a few examples today I've noticed a difference in the shape of GIII's forehead, some curving slightly inwards at the top and others being relatively straight at the same place.

I remember having read recently that Taylor got hold of dies for both proof and circulation examples and that his marriages of the dies were all over the place. Then again, I only have a few weeks experience and you have a lifetime! I can't even remember where I read this! Will try and track it down. Could have been the words of some rando in a non-descript forum.

I've started this project by opening my own virtual "library". It doesn't have any content, serving only to catalogue freely-available online resources that are related to numismatics. I'm beginning by entering all articles includes in the British Numismatic Journal, but intended on cataloguing other material down the track. Here's the Link: Madness' Online Numismatic References Please feel free to go in and have a look around. Try clicking some items in the scrolling "New Arrivals" bar. I've added URL's for each entry, but for some reason they're not visible to anyone but me. I've circumvented this issue by putting the URL in the Call Number field. Just copy this link into a browser to get to the on-line copy of the BNJ full article. Please let me know of any problems you encounter. So far there are only a few items, but more will be added soon.

Think I've found a good source that might be able to answer my questions in the form of Peck: English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum, 1558-1963. Could someone please confirm that this work will be useful and that the 1970 edition is acceptable? Have found a copy in Australia on eBay.

My next acquisition target is a 1797 penny of EF grade or higher. I want a genuine 1797 coin, not a late Soho striking or a Taylor restrike. How do I tell the difference between the original and a later strike/restrike? Finally, I came across this image of an example graded as FDC. Is this precisely the same design as used in the genuine 1797 strikings? Thanks! Source

That would be helpful, thanks @Peckris 2. I'd like to make articles easy to find and to search by subject rather than browsing through are list. I've found a few examples of free Library Management Systems that are cloud based that I'll mess around with. Overkill, no doubt, but superior to an Excel spreadsheet. Might need permission, though, from BNJ publishers.

My guestimate: Extremely Fine This has been graded by an auction house as "Very Fine". Am I missing something? There is very little wear, and that restricted to high points. It doesn't appear to have been cleaned. Are the small marks on the coin the items that bring the grade down? I've seen TPG services list the same coin with a similar amount of wear as "UNC". It even seems to be a nice strike with no obvious die defects of any significance. What am I doing wrong?

Ha! This variant is obviously far rarer than I thought and worth more to collectors. I found the same specimen in a previous auction here, evidenced by the same wear, die defects and haymarking. It sold for 2200 GBP in September 2017. I wonder what it will go for twelve months later. I'll be kind and leave this one for someone else! 🤣

As someone newly interested in Numismatics I would find it helpful to have an index of all articles included in the British Numismatic Journal over the years. The intention would be to make it easier to find topics that I have an interest in. I intend to include the following information: Author Title Issue/Volume Hyperlink directing user to the relevant (freely available) online article Up to three subject fields Searchable I couldn't find one, so decided to start building it myself. Could you please help me in the following ways? Please let me know if such an index already exists. I don't want to reinvent the wheel! Do you have any suggestions for content or arrangement? Would it be useful to your personally if I made this index available online? Would I need to get permission from the British Numismatic Society? I've started creating it using Excel as I'm very familiar with it. I'm sure there are other applications out there that will make it more user-friendly if others were interested in using it. As there are many people here more tech-savvy than me, perhaps you could suggest some software. A cloud based catalogue or database perhaps. Thanks for your assistance!

Sorry @DrLarry. Could you please provide images before I commit to buy? I should have learnt my lesson from recent experience. That said, I trust you much more than I would some eBay rando.

That's awesome! Thank you @DrLarry. Please let me know how much you would like for each of them, including the half guinea. Thinking of collecting George III as well as Proclamation Coins. I will need some time to save, but if you could hold them aside it would be much appreciated. I really admire what I have read about your charity work. It is only by accident of birth that we are not living in third world countries. The privileged have the privilege of sharing with those in need. We are desensitised to much horror because of the hourly influx of world news. And yet, much of it is entirely overlooked by most outlets. God bless you. Edit - When my partial refund arrives for the guinea fiasco it won't be long before I'm in the position to buy the first of these coins.

Opeth are a prog metal group with death metal influences. This is kind of a detour album for them. Whole album is great, but I don't enjoy most of their other material. Death growls just don't do it for me.

@Peckris 2 What about something like this? I've not posted yet beyond some of the "safer" genres I enjoy.

I'd like to buy the following: A 1787 shilling, GEF or better A 1787 sixpence, GEF or better A 1797 penny, GEF or better A 1797 twopenny coin, GEF or better Please let me know if you have any of the above that you want to sell.

The source of my avatar

Those two songs were brought to us by courtesy of Black-and-White-Heads-in-a-Jar Inc. Re. eclectic taste, there is beauty to be found in many places. I'm not a cow to munch a single patch of nettles when there are countless acres of beautiful grass to be grazed county-wide. What are your musical tastes @Peckris @Peckris 2 and @Peckris 3.1415927 ?

Thanks. Have been reading their journal over the past couple of weeks and edited my first post to show two relevant articles I enjoyed. Hoped that someone could suggest other sources.

I'd like to learn more about the way in which coins were manufactured in eighteenth century Great Britain prior to Boulton's Soho Mint. My area of interest extends from design to distribution and every step in between. The following would be particularly useful: Suggestions of resources from credible sources, either printed or online Images of equipment used in their production, such as dies/punches/matrices/collars etc Your personal knowledge (with attribution if possible) Thank you! Edit: My interest was piqued by these two articles: The 1787 Shilling - A Transition in Minting Technique The Striking of Proof and Pattern Coins in the Eighteenth Century

Please share stuff that makes you literally laugh out loud. Makes life more enjoyable. Extra points if it involves Monty Python.

Saturday playlist: Final song comes from a project organised by Peter Gabriel.

In my reading I've started tracking the ant trail back to the nest. What were the causes of the currency crisis that required King's 1800 proclamation? It's all too easy to say that, as a dumping ground for criminals at the faeces-feeding end of the earth, the coinage deficiency came about by the neglect of British officials and politicians. Yes, there's truth in this, but it's necessary to consider the turmoil both within and outside of the empire. This article by GP Dyer from the British Numismatic Journal of 2002 is helpful: The Currency Crisis of 1797. Here's my TLDR summary, but the article is worth reading in full. 1. In February 1797 a gold shortage led to the Bank of England suspending cash payments. Prior to this there was the assurance that whenever you handed your paper money into the bank you would be able to get the equivalent value in coinage. 2. The prime minister, William Pitt, responded with on-the-fly decisions intended to perpetuate normal commerce and trade, maintain faith in paper currency and ensure the operating of the banking system. 3. In the absence of gold, it was necessary that some form of currency take the place of guineas and half guineas. Within a week legislation had been passed allowing banks to issue notes under five pounds in value and within a few days one and two pound notes were circulating. 4. A greater supply of silver specie would support the lack of gold. In order to overcome the shortage of trusted silver coinage, a high volume of Spanish 8-reale dollars were counter-marked with a stamp of the king's bust. The un-marked coins had been circulating previously in lower volumes due to a long-standing shortage of shillings and other silver coins, but the mark gave them a fixed value of 4s9d. This response was similarly swift, implemented by early March 1797. 5. In the same way as a greater volume of silver coinage would support the gold shortage, so a greater volume of copper coins would support the silver. Late March saw the recommendation minting of pence and twopence pieces with a face value equal to the sum of the copper-value and cost of production. The implementation of this was planned more carefully with Boulton's Soho mint contracted to the task later that year. 6. The crisis had been on the horizon for a considerable time and forced the government to confront issues that had long been swept under the carpet. This provides us with the context for the inclusion of two of the Proclamation Coins: The "copper coin of 1 oz" ("cartwheel" penny) and the spanish dollar. It also reminds us that, while the colony of New South Wales may have been of little importance, Britain was facing her own problems and prioritising economic health at home.