Sylvester

I'll answer this question...better late than never i suppose; This is a very difficult question to answer, because everyone likes different things, some like hammered coins, in which case i'd suggest starting on Edward I pennies. Others like Roman coins, many choose to start with milled coins. Because milled coins tend to be what the majority of people are most likely to come across then it is no surprise that this is the most common area for beginners to start in. The milled series is divided into 3 different areas for the most part, early milled 1662-1815, modern milled 1816-1970, and decimal 1968-present, since the latter is technically out of the scope of this group i'll leave it out. The early milled series is rather expensive and far more complex than the modern milled post 1816 coins. Most beginners start with the post 1816 stuff therefore, which i would recommend as a good place to start. Then comes the choice of gold, silver (cupronickel too) or copper/bronze coins. Gold coins being the most expensive of the three probably puts most people off on a limited budget. Copper/Bronze coins are a good place to start, farthings, halfpennies or pennies. I would suggest that the best approach would be to collect in stages, (be ambitious but don't go beyond your means or capabilities), for example a good place to start would be Elizabeth II farthings all EF+ condition, cheap to assemble a full set dated 1953-56 inclusive, the next step would then be to progress to George VI farthings, and as you gain more confidence and experience go further back to the more expensive coins. Silver Coins...which are my favourite, in short i'd say low grade Edward VII Florins, but shillings are always popular as are halfcrowns. The important thing is to start cheap and work your way up, every coin collector makes mistakes during the first few years of the hobby (and if you're anything like me, you still make mistakes after 10 years or more), remember the more expensive the coin, the more expensive the mistake's going to be, until you get used to such things as grading, how to spot a cleaned coin etc. Hope this helps. Sylvester. (Brass threepences are also a good place to start issued from 1937-1967 and a proof issue in 1970, most of which are easy to aquire in top grades...i attempted this myself but found myself distracted by other coins, the hardest lesson of all is realising you can't buy every coin and of course deciding what to specialise in!)

Just my department as it happens... regarding 1697 6ds without obverse stops, i must admit that i have not come across one. The very fact that you mention that it is a York mint issue though doesn't surprise me. The provincial mints often employed people who couldn't even spell the king's name in some cases. The 1696 issues can be found without obverse stops so it might be possible that the wrong obverse die was used (a 1696) obverse die, with a 1697 reverse die (since 1696 and some of 1697 share obverse 1, I would imagine that if the die was fairly new during the transition period from one date to another they'd just change the reverse die to the newer date). I've never come across this before but i should imagine there would be a slight premium over an issue with stops, as the 1696 issue without stops trades at a slightly higher level than those with. (Usually about £10 more for one without stops...as for the one you have who knows since it's unrecorded?). Hope this helps... Sylvester.