Peter

I've just bought a Bury penny...can't identify it yet........suspect 10a,b....can't wait.....even Mrs Peter is exicited Night night

If it was perfect condition it wouldn't have just been dug up. Don't dispair....try and look through more than the current value....a shilling in the early 1900's would be a good night out. A farthing a bit like our current 5p. ..keep looking

I'm just sitting here slobbering...(and I've only been checking out coins....honest) I might have the cheek to nip in a early bid or two. I'm trying to pursuade my mother that a nice coin portfolio would be in her interests...at present she only stumps up on birthdays and Xmas.

Toning makes me think of that greenie tinge that PVC folders gave to 60/70/80's collections of silver....Or the yellowish colour of the first 50% silver coins of the early 20's. Rainbow toning is unreal. I like nice brown Unc copper that has lost its lustre....it shows off the fields beautifully. Edge knocks are the worst.

I too like hammered...but....I'm always suspicious....due to their nature they are easily counterfeit. Therefore tatty,cheap but clearly identifiable. OR some nice slabbed Cnuts

I think varieties will become THE vogue amongst serious (milled) collectors....especially with the advent of Digital photography,internet etc. and sharing of information....recent thread on JMd's collection !!!!!! This is where slabbing might have more of a home.....although not in mine. My 1/4ds are in Coin trays in which I leave gaps to cater for further varieties. I also put a paper disc (inert) below the coin descibing the type(and IF it has a published reference). My worst nightmare would be one of my minx's knocking and mixing up a tray of 1/4'ds.....

I wouldn't raise any hopes all the same....Take a risk and buy it off him for a £5 .... I think you are clutching at straws.

Check out the sellers feedback.....11 different member negs......he will still catch more fools no doubt.

It will be interesting to see the feedback. The coin looks like it could be a bottletop off a bottle of Trappiste beer.

Michael Gouby has done a book on Bronze Pennies but runs this off the success of his coin shop (I would imagine)...this moves on from Peck,Freeman et al. To get anything published and be commercially viable ????????.... I would suggest you would have to do it for love rather than money. There is a market out there for specialist books (look at the price of out of print Freeman and Pecks). I think Coincraft were moving in the right direction...but they are probably one of the most affluent dealers in the country....and for some strange reason its stopping at 2000. Now back to slabbing.....its here to stay..... if you don't like it avoid it. I nearly bought an EF 40 slabbed gothic florin....but I couldn't see it past a VF/GVF. It was about the right price....but the difference in grade was enough to walk away. I've noticed Lockdales have just started slabbing/grading in the UK....They already sell in $ so they were the obvious copycats. Going back to getting work published Coin monthly used to pay for good articles......EG some poor bugger did die surveys on 20,000 Victorian shillings...phew...and without a computer.

Its must be easy to take a Porsche to a Ferrari dealer !!!!!! Its also quite common to buy rarities from professional dealers who don't know their subject....it is rather vast A slabbing company might know about 1675/3 1/2d (it is listed as a variety in Coincraft and Spink)....but the likes of Peck or Montagu hadn't mentioned it. I should doubt a US slabber would really know where to start. There is not one concise book at present....every time someone does a piece of work further varieties are added. I use Dr Nicholson's collection of 1/2d's on the Colin Cookes site....it deserves publication.....Colin had mentioned this to me last year....but even Nicholsons collection excluded varieties of 1957 Calm sea....for example. I know he was also working on a farthing Encylopedia. I'm currently reading back copies of Coin/Coin monthly (it became fortnightly for a period in thr late 70,s early 80's). There is loads of info in there currently unpublished.....I,m hacking through with Post its

It looks like you can slab your own coins in the States....just buy the gear off Ebay....and I'm sure the Chinese are already doing this for our US buddies. In the US the commercialism in collecting is rife...the industry seems massive with 100's of dealers selling very similar products. I've taken a peak at a copper forum when it appears common to make an expensive purchase of a raw coin then crap themselves on whether its authentic....they need to get it slabbed. Takes all sorts I suppose.

It is not a rare date. The fact its been stamped will also reduce the value further.

Raw coins.....What are they.....its almost reassurance. Collecting in the US is beyond a hobby. How COULD ANYONE LOVE A SLABBED COIN?

My wife is a Scot/Mick/Tamworth/Suffolk Hybrid now with a larger bit of English....she was....Ballymoney/Edinboro etc...at least she hasn't a runny nose bad hips or eye problems.

Loads of info which may or maynot ignite....I've just entered the world of US....Big toe first....I hate the US ebay/$million deals...What a load of wasters.........imagine that lot over here...the product.....catorgorise everything exactly....a particular coin can be specified...Ugg. I like fishing...it s like I want 10lb carp at 8:35 am....and pay for it....no thankx. Ban slabbing in the UK. By the grace of god I was born British...(English....East Anglian) Phew

You can also legally marry a 80 year old rich widow. Cop off properly with totty (maybe the widows grandaughters). Have kids of your own. But you still can't have a pint,vote,go to prison,have a bank account. A weird age. Happy Birthday

You might get between £5 & £10 on Ebay. Its not a collectable coin until it exceeds Fine really

A lot of coins are disfigured...especially hammered. It seems with the advent of engineering and tooling (industrial age) this became a bit of a practice.....On a larger scale look at trench art.... In todays world there is far too much choice of entertainment.....30 years ago I might well of been in my garden shed playing with my tools..... today I'm messing with my keyboard.

Welcome to the Capitalist world...I earn in an hour what I pay a painter and decorator/wall paper hanger to do in a day.....I reckon I could do it better...but it takes time...and my time is allocated elsewhere. Its a rough old world out there...get you contacts/buddies and live to your means. If we all sat back and excepted to be looked after I'm afraid it ain't gonna work. Use your head. Plenty of suckers out there.

It might be worth mentioning the US mints (alledgedly) produce error/flaw coins to generate interest & feed the error mongers. Makes me glad these US punters haven't discovered Hammered....Imagine "Hey Guys this Edward 1 penny is different......

Eyed knowtissed the errers and floors

The US coin market seems to be governed by pricing books,Red,Blue, & black etc ?where each one is intended for collectors or dealers....its a bit like car dealers in this country with their little black book (glass) and Parkers guide or What Car which us punters can freely get from newsagents. Once you get beyond the mass produced BU coins which can be lined up in their identical little plastic slabs the whole area of valuing of coins becomes subjective. Our pricing books do give a reasonable guide and I do use them all to some extent.(Not brown nosing but I trust Rotographic's books in their respective fields the most). Our field/hobby is too vast to categorize exactness....and of course there is the trouble with grading !!!!!!!! Of several lists I receive...sometimes there are bargains (in my opinion)...but then I have to take the "Dealer" grading factor into consideration. (A couple I just no longer bother with). There are a few coins I've been after for years...although cheap(ish) in our pricing books they just never appear for sale....part of the fun though is hunting them down and the rush I get when I contact the dealer and its still in stock. I've also followed a few coins on Ebay which weren't quite right but I still watched in dismay as they have made 10x catalogue price. Great hobby though.

Chris My question was going to be "What is your June toy" ? I thought Quattro or M5 ....and then I remembered you have a TR7 and Triumph 2000. I bet the MGF will be like cutting edge technology & a wise investment. Lets hope MG go the way of Triumph motorbikes. I've had company cars since 1984...recently I handed back the keys and took an allowance. 1st purchase was a pug 205 1.4 for £600...great fun....I use the wifes 307 diesel for longer business journeys. I now scour the local paper for my next toy...A bike is also on the cards.

I will make an effort to see Hitch Hikers....loved the books,radio series and even BBC's TV effort. Red Dwarf also grew on me. Original Star Trek (Kirk/Spock) was also enjoyable....it was fun identifying which anonymous crew member would be killed during each episode. Obviously every crew member was vital to running the ship....they wouldn't take around passengers? So I wondered what amenities were having to close. Plus the females all had 38 24 36 figures...even the aliens