Menger

Your 55 example (photo on the PCGS site) is certainly the best I have seen. 1838 BRITANNIAB may be an even more scarce listed 3d variety - only a couple of examples in the auction records. Unlisted 3d varieties include 1862 BRITANNIAH (photo attached) and 1866 with upside down A in lieu of V - I am aware of just two examples of each so far …

1841 3d is hard and separating out the maundy is a slog. (I think the great vendors’ fiction for all the 3d scarce dates is that it is difficult to do - so they don’t.). The link below is about the best I have found - but certainly not choice. Has anyone seen a better example? https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/archive/lot-archive/results/437569/?keywords=1841+threepence&discipline=&category=&date_on=&date_start=&date_end=&lot_no=

Indeed it does. Ideology has phantom friends and enemies, heros and villains, good and evil. Like religion, it satisfies the human need for meaning in life by providing identity and status in an eternal battle between the two. The Treaty of Westphalia put an end to the 30 Years War and with it the totalizing battles of religion - but the risk of ideological war (“liberty, equality, fraternity”) prevails. Like imperialism and like religion (but unlike the notion of the nation state that grew out of Westphalia), ideology (progressive or regressive) has little constraint in geography or reality; just phantoms and eternal battles. The opiate of the masses. Easily dispensed over the internet. Beware.

Yup. Ideology is the modern religion.

For sure in the West the war is portrayed as ideological. For many of its supporters I dare it is. I suspect at a geopolitical level it also has a more cynical imperial impetus (there was little ideological handwringing by western powers when the democratically elected Yanukovych was illegally deposed). And in the Ukraine it is a nationalist defensive war - for national sovereignty. I support that. Russia is a historical empire and quite possibly it initiated an imperial war - but again it could be nationalist. I distrust imperialism and ideology equally - neither is conducive to peace.

Hopefully peace soon. The one thing as bad as a war of imperialism is a war of ideology.

Ah. I see. I thought wipe marks on a matte proof were just the same as die polish marks on a normal proof. So less a beauty spot or freckle and more a soiled nappy.

I think freckles or the odd beauty spot can be attractive. A scar would be post-mint though surely?

I must say - I cheated and looked it up first. I did not see anything wrong with the grade though. What am I missing? Should it be a notch higher? 😊 Personally I see mint wipe marks as a positive - they add character. I don’t personally believe that manufacturing marks should reduce the grade. The green would be a problem if PVC or something but surely not …? All that said - I do not care much for technical grades. I am more of a vibe man.

I think you nailed it with “my priorities would be ….” This brings to the fore how subjective grading must be. This does not, of course, mean that there is no objectivity. But necessarily different people will give different weighting to different attributes. The Sheldon scale does have more categories (i.e., numbers, now further calibrated into + and *; and with several third party services adding stickers to add yet more nuance). But I am skeptical that increased nominal granularity corresponds to real distinctions in actual coins that can be reliably and consistently replicated across different issues, years and graders. Grading provides a useful heuristic but I think the claims of objectivity are as much marketing as science.

Our left-side brains are seduced by quantitative scales (such as Sheldon - the American system), as if they somehow represent greater certainty than qualitative grades (such as extra fine etc of the British system). This is a pure mirage, but a good one and it is what the PCGS and NGC make money from. A fine business model! In reality, all grading is qualitative - and all qualitative judgments are (to a degree) subjective and error prone. In my view, TPG provides a useful rule of thumb to purchase at a distance; no better nor worse than qualitative grading provided by a reputable auction house. Neither is a substitute for the expanded qualitative descriptions and exchange of observations as per the thread above. None of this is a substitute for the subjective feel of a coin in hand - preferably broken out of it’s slab with a hammer and victory dance.

Yes quite possible. Or perhaps you were under-thinking it?

Dunno. How about the kid who turns up quite ballsy and offers to let play with his decent ball; several on the team refuse to play (not allowed to be ballsy nor show off decent ball - certainly don’t suggest potential improvements to the game); others keep their decent balls and ideas hidden away (possibly for fear of the same treatment).

Did the other kids bring their planes to the clubhouse, or keep them locked up safely at home? If they kept them at home, when could we expect to see them next? Did they freely post generous photos of their collections? Did they dare make up their own model numbers to fill gaps or did they dutifully follow established orthodoxy and ignore the gaps? Did they vape?