Peckris 2

Some beautiful examples there. And some healthy bids in already I'm glad to see.

From what I can gather, they were merely drone enthusiasts who lived nearby. "We got 'em, guv. Drone enthusiasts. Must be them." "Bring 'em in. Bang to rights."

So true. A good obverse strike almost guarantees a weak reverse. I've often wondered that. Or a limited number of dies so they got overused.

Aircraft should be fitted with anti-drone devices - a very large fan should do it.

It's the reverse picture that looks an unnatural colour so repeated pictures of the obverse probably wouldn't change anything. That's good hair detail IMO - the reverse on mine is marginally better than yours, but there's NO hair detail!!

Theoretically, paper is best, but when you're disabled having everything you need on the computer is a real boon, plus you can vary the font size, use search features, and still keep the place you were at, have bookmarks, make notes and annotations, etc. So though I have a lot of Seaby/Spinks, the relevant values for all my coins are in the database where the changes over time can be compared at a single glance without having to find and prop open 10 copies of the catalogue (probably not something anyone who only uses paper would ever do). I get CCGB annually, the Kindle edition.

What odds are you offering?

I thought he shot himself in the nethers by - as usual - sticking to his script of prepared stuff instead of scoring into the open goals left by May. I don't know whether he considers it beneath his dignity (she has none left) or whether he's just clueless at PMQs repartee. Emily Thornberry is 1000% better at it than he is.

I note it's a "VIP" crown, rather than a VIP...

"I know absolutely nothing about coins, except to focus your attention on the (replica) Gothic crown, and the (fools') gold 1902"

I think it was strategically coined to avoid the term "second referendum", which is actually what it would be. However, for those who cry "foul" or "undemocratic" you could quite realistically say the first was a simple binary choice, "Leave" or "Remain"? There was no explanation of what this would actually involve, i.e. customs union, WTO rules, Irish borders, effect on businesses, and - today - the news that security forces were being put on alert to deal with the effect of a 'No deal'. Quite early on it was decided that Parliament must have the final say on any future relationship with the EU; now that we know that Parliament will reject May's deal, leaving a choice between No Deal or No Brexit, it makes sense for the people who voted in the first, to have a say on how things should go from here. Personally I blame the 1975 referendum, as it established it as an acceptable procedure to decide on Europe (but nothing else, unless you're Scottish).

Yes, definitely Roman, and definitely one of the Constan... group of emperors - not rare but fascinating, especially for a 10-yr-old.

The triple choice is how I've always seen it presented: 1. Accept May's deal, and leave the EU 2. Reject May's deal, and leave the EU with no deal 3. Reject May's deal, and Remain in the EU That's two options to leave and one to stay.

No. not Scotch mist, but not true ghosting either. There are so many examples of BU coins where you can see a faint outline in the lustre but as Mike says, it doesn't survive once the coin wears. The Mint obviously didn't care about 'lustre ghosting' - it was only when it carried deeper into the metal that it was seen as a real problem.

True ghosting is deeper than the lustre - you will still see it on quite worn George V pennies, where on that bun penny it won't survive the loss of lustre.

Hey, anyone can change in more than 40 years! Yes, this is the major problem with Labour - they have a leader who at heart is a Brexiter, while his party largely ain't. And whatever they do, short of a People's Vote on any deal (did you see the cheers for that on Question Time, which normally has a hand-picked pro-Brexit audience?), there is very little they can do, and no time left to do it. However, as you said above, the circle really cannot be squared.

Just for a moment there - having absent mindedly registered the "MS 64" - I thought it was an 1864 penny, in which case it would be the finest known and worth a small (or not so small) fortune!

What you say is unarguable, so I come round to the point "Why leave" if it's to be rule takers not makers? Much of what's good about EU rules are things we helped to formulate, so there's a very strong UK influence in there. I cannot see anything wrong with the four freedoms, and I'd add that the areas who were most concerned about immigration in 2016 are the areas where there was least immigration. Tail wagging the dog. I agree about many of Corbyn's acolytes (I have little time for Momentum). However, to call Corbyn a quasi Communist is well wide of the mark. He's probably not as left as Tony Benn was and he was in government until the mid 70s. What disappoints me though is that he shuffles around Brexit, secretly approving of it, but not daring to upset his MPs and membership who are largely Remainers (and possibly a majority of his voters by now). Only because the hate speech laws which we - rightly - have in Great Britain, don't seem to apply in N Ireland? I had to laugh though. Rees-Mogg cannot see the irony of not accepting the leadership vote of 2016 and having another one to see if he 'gets the right result this time'! I've been bordering on almost that view of late - the bad deal is nowhere near as bad as 'no deal' would be. It really does seem like an unsquareable circle. We live in "interesting times".

We need a 'mouth open, shocked' reaction icon!

Yes, that's what Paddy said it was !!

Interesting. I thought the opposite - the proof has some lovely toning. For 1887 the difference is colossal - the proofs would rate at thousands where you'd be lucky to get a couple of hundred for the currency, they're so common. Obviously the situation would be different for other sets - e.g. 1902 where the silver proofs would be no more than double the currency.

A customs union is no bad thing. During the referendum campaign it was never mentioned, indeed most non-trading people had probably never even heard of it. However, if we have left the Single Market, then A customs union (as envisaged by Labour) would still allow us to pursue our own trade deals, albeit perhaps not quite so freely as Jacob Rees-Mogg would like (see picture below..). A prolonged and open-ended CU is exactly what Ireland should have, and it's probably only the homophobic climate change-denying religious fundamentalists of the DUP who seriously object. Yes, it threatens the integrity of the UK Union perhaps, but that's only been around a relatively short time.

How very odd. And there was me thinking we voted to Leave rather than them pushing us out. Ah well. Must have been mistaken. (Pound to a 1933 penny that there are liberal Aussies who think nothing of the sort.)

That's a distortion of the actual real-world situation. NEITHER side wants the backstop to be invoked, as both sides want a good deal out of Brexit; if that happens it will include some kind of customs union which will preclude a border in Ireland. But IF - and I do mean if - that doesn't happen, then the EU has no alternative but to protect the interests of a member state (Eire) by invoking the backstop for as long as it's necessary. It's not about having the UK over a barrel, it's about not seeing Eire disadvantaged. If it was the other way about, and Eire was leaving and we were staying, don't you think the EU would do exactly the same thing, but this time in relation to our interests? The terms of the backstop are NOT about leaving the EU, they're about how long the backstop stays in place. Article 50 has been invoked - although it can be withdrawn, only we can do that, the EU can't do it or insist we remain. What the EU can do is to insist that the backstop cannot be unilaterally removed by the UK if it means a border in Ireland. That's why the DUP is so spooked - it could mean N Ireland remaining effectively in the EU unless or until a deal is reached that precludes a border.