Peter

What narks me is I'm encouraging my daughters to earn afew bob and then we get hit with £70 of losses.My wife earns £6.40 an hour as a dinner lady/occasional TA...so she works the week for nothing.

I'm confident they are not chancers...who is going to rip off £20 or £30?I'm a trust worthy guy trying to shift and bring in a few coins it just leaves a bitter taste.It makes me upset that they might think I never posted it. There was some nice postman in Harrogate a few years back who decided to open birthday cards and take the contents...he was moved out of a position of trust...I would of decked him and made his teeth bite his hand when he wiped his AR5E.

Peter's 1901 was probably bought a long time before your 1908 scott Also, bear in mind that an UNC 1908 is a LOT scarcer than an UNC 1901. 25p is a real bargain. When did you get it? Edwards are rare in top condition but can be picked up.CC list is probably the best guide to what is out there. I reckon Scott puts the hours in sorting the wheat and deserves a few results.I must confess to like a bit of a rummage in a nice cheap box

I'm not that old Peck Although after a roast chicken and 2 glasses of wine I was Sparko yesterday afternoon and I do occasionally hanker for a murray mint.

I'm a bit miffed as I've just had a second coin "go missing" this week in the post.OK not vast sums involved £37 & £27 but takes the gloss off Ebay...scumbags. Maybe I've been lucky before but the only previous problems have been with recorded delivery. What do you guys do...certificate of posting with the buyer choosing the delivery (their risk).I've also got a non paying buyer...how long do you wait? Rant over

My thoughts exactly although its not local.I've been to Wakefield,Harrogate and a few smaller local fairs but I always tend to find something at the Midland. Oi get aaarf my land He were worrying moi sheep.

My thoughts exactly although its not local.I've been to Wakefield,Harrogate and a few smaller local fairs but I always tend to find something at the Midland.

I was remembering with a tear in my eye how my father would call into work on a Saturday and leave me to go through the till and extract anything of interest. (which was Ddt from my pocket money)During the week anything unusual was put to one side for me.The bun pennies were always worn discs (like the open 3's )My grandfather then produced a big jar of farthings and to my eyes these were in so much better condition that the 1d's & 1/2d's...I was smitten plus the bonus that every family friend seemed to have a pot of these stashed away and they couldn't wait to let me have them....there was only one way my collecting could go.Then came the farthing specialist and the rest is history. I can still remember buying my 1st UNC Victorian 1/4d (1901)for the pricely sum of 10p in the same transaction I shelled out 50p for a VF 1841 1/2d. I think farthings are still affordable to the young collector (even some of the harder dates) and haven't gone silly like the bun penny series.

Ooh now we are talking!!! rubbing my knees as we talk

I can't say its a must have..I wouldn't know if I had one Hope you liked your 1959 scottish 1/- scarcer type 1 as well, Jake... Oh FFS , please don't tell me there's more than one variety of 1959S too! I'm quietly going thru my remaining 44...and nr I pointing to a space isn't easy or even exiting..detached shamrock on pre 1860 farthings is...I now realise why my wife,kids and dog have left me downstairs surrounded by my coins. I've just survived my 14 year olds sleep over (3 weeks after my 16 year olds)....I'm looking forward to their 21st

I can't say its a must have..I wouldn't know if I had one Hope you liked your 1959 scottish 1/- scarcer type 1 as well, Jake... Only another 44 to go...I bought these as an investment parcel 20 years ago...well up there in the top 10...NOT. I can only sell these to 52 year old Scotsmen so you can understand how weee the market is. Bake1978 is my Daaawg.

I can't say its a must have..I wouldn't know if I had one Hope you liked your 1959 scottish 1/-

Oh, I accept what you say. But my feeling is that specially minted coins were meant to be admired as presentation pieces or kept as examples for archiving and study. While they can be spent as regular coinage, I don't believe that was what they were created for. Hence the distinction. Connecting them with modern tat was I guess just Cabernet Sauvignon driven hyperbole! Tom Get an accountant. Anyone paying large sums into the 40% needs one....or at least a years advice.Does anyone think the swathes of higher tax payers are going to roll over and have their tummies tickled...unbelievable. Yeah, laik. Dem youff wot haz no jobs an is on benefits, Dey don pay no tax does em? (Sadly I haz no street cred an carn't keep up wit de chavese, elsin I'd be payin no taxis eeVah, no wot Ah mean?) I even heard the accent in my head...that was so bizarre!!

It will be nice to see it on Ebay starting at 0.99p

Coins maybe. Land certainly. They aren't making it any more and if the right quality allows you to grow your own fruit and veg. The amount of money that is being printed has to result in inflation for the future. That's going to affect your food prices dramatically and food is something you can't do without. If you double the money in circulation, then prices must necessarily follow when there is no increase in physical assets held. There's a section of The Liberal Party who believe the only fair tax is a land tax. When you look at what the Duke of Westminster gets away with, I can see their point. What's fairer, a tax on employment (income tax and National Insurance), or a tax on land? Obviously if the land was being used for productive purposes, e.g. farming, then that would be taken into account. Apparently it's all been costed out and would bring in far more than income tax. Tax IS avoidable...need I say more.

In the case of the 1693 you already had a guide for VF-gVF, so the only questions that needed answering were 'how many are available and what grades are they?' If all are similar in grade then a reasonable assumption would be the date of the last sale, the price achieved and a multiplier to account for across the board price changes since that date together with a mark down for the lower grade of this piece. If something is sought after (and it's probably fair to say a 1693 is sought after), then maybe half the VF price would be a reasonable target. There are more than a handful of serious farthing collectors out there, plus the esoteric always appeals to someone who wants a quality collection in numismatic terms. Not everything has to be in high grade to appeal if rare enough, though it does help if it looks ok. I would have thought £3-4K incl. premium would not be excessive. At £2K I would have been over the moon if bidding and won it. I know where you are coming from on the question of certain key dates, but the problem with these is that the price is likely to be determined by the number of serious collectors present on the day and hence volatile. On the plus side, if Spink quote say £300 for a coin in their annual tome and you know full well that they always exceed that at auction, then it's clearly time to monitor their website and the Circular closely as you may well pick up one cheaply. They may list higher prices on their site than those quoted in the book, but are unlikely to exceed them by a vast amount. Do the spadework and it will pay off. I would have a problem paying 4k for a coin in F when a GVF would cost 9k. 4k for a farthing and it would have to be unique (and have eye appeal)

The Newark coins stand out to be different and have a definite story.I'm sure your 1/- is only readily identifiable by an expert. So not being a Charles 1 1/- expert I would go for the Newark everytime.

Where is all the big money/demand coming from? Is is USA? It will be interesting to read what coin news have to say next month.

There was a great Coin Monthly advert, late 60s - INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY, THE RARE 1951 PENNY, Buy ONE, or Discounts for Purchases of 10 or 100. Wonder if any of the buyers of 100 ever saw their money back? They created their own markets by hyping coins...Top 10 investments etc which with hindsight were all damp squibs. Hang on - are we talking about Coin Monthly or a fairly well-known issue from opposite the BM?! Does anyone know anyone who actually buys from this and has anyone had any experience of selling to them?

There was a great Coin Monthly advert, late 60s - INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY, THE RARE 1951 PENNY, Buy ONE, or Discounts for Purchases of 10 or 100. Wonder if any of the buyers of 100 ever saw their money back? They created their own markets by hyping coins...Top 10 investments etc which with hindsight were all damp squibs.

This one from Tony Clayton's site , the only others I could find were Coinsgb and here Google dried up after that: I wonder how many are out there? Court didn't find any in his big penny survey David PS Azda is warned not to follow the Tony Clayton link, it may prove too much for him MMmmm Doppleganger is a German word....Azda / MP never post at the same time....

It's nice to see Peck and Bob showing their colours Looking back at old coin mags there were coin fairs every week seemingly all over the country. We can't be far away from 3D viewing of coins so you can get in close to that rare av circ 1899 1D.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WESTMINSTER-20TH-CENTURY-MONARCHS-PENNIES-COLLECTION-/260862662841?pt=UK_Coins_OtherBritish_RL&hash=item3cbca058b9 A warning to new collectors....avoid gimmicky dealers.The coins in this set really have no value

Another spectacular coin Rob,the pick of the litter. Love the Bun penny.It would of helped if they had focussed the obverse...well maybe not.

Like Peck I would let it go now. Always take a profit (and a handsome one).I have messed about with my (now frozen)pension fund and took profit in various sectors,bought low,sold high etc etc OK you might not hit the actual peaks but you avoid troughs. . Melt is currently about 53p per gram and any coin F+ will always reap more than this.