Sylvester

Oh i say... Well really... uhaha... Sorry couldn't resist it!

As part of the mediaeval course they had me counting in Marks...let alone £sd! But i came out top with the £sd mathematics, i actually find it easier than decimal, cos i go into panic mode when i see big numbers like 73+59, whereas i can cope with doing everything in 12s and 20s, it's easier to imagine, and i have enough fingers and toes to do the calculation on. Only thing i have a problem with is when farthings get involved, and you get daft things to add up or subtract like, £4. 3s. 8 1/4d - £1. 14s. 12 1/2d - 16s. 5 3/4d... Then i panic and thank my luck stars for decimalisation.

It appears we have some younger collectors on here... Who said coin collectors were middle aged? Actually that guy in the York coin shop... Then he saw me stood there... Boy did i feel out of place...

This is where i bang my head against the desk... Seeing George VI stuff was an everyday occurence so i probably didn't check it as often as i should. By the time i was checking i must have come across two/three silver florins in 1988-1992. I'm sure i saw at least one, possibly 2 G6 florins, i think one would have been 1939, not sure about the other if there was one. I think i saw these before i started so i didn't know they were silver, but i'm sure i saw one that was a good few years older than the 1947/8s i was used to seeing, hence why i have a vague feeling that i did get one. However this is where i know for a fact i definately had a silver coin. My mother sent me to the shop, as was just on the street from us, and i always made a point of looking at the 10ps she had given me. And low and behold what should i see but a George V florin, one of the latter design ones used after 1927. Well i really wanted to keep it but my mother had insisted i spent it, so being about 5 or 6 and no money of my own to swap it with, i didn't have alot of choice in the matter. And bye bye went the last silver coin i ever saw in circulation. I WASN'T BEST PLEASED ABOUT THAT! I'M STILL NOT...

I must have drifted into it a little later than you two, as i only remember recieving florins in change, that is as legal tender. I have recieved many shillings in change since the 10p reduced in size, but i don't remember getting any as 5ps whilst they were legal tender. So i guess it was those florins that did it. But what really kicked it off was my father giving me his old collection back in 1989/90 what little of it there was, mostly change finds, but five coins stood out that really caught me and brought me into the collecting fraternity. An 1887 Shilling in VF, an 1853 half penny in F, and my three favourites, 1882H penny, an 1807 penny, both well worn. And a 1932 penny. Now anyone who knows the penny series at all will know that 1882 (without H) penny is extremely rare, as is the 1933 penny. So as a child when browsing through my battered 1985 coin catalogue it was that feeling of being just off by one date, or having the extra H, i suppose that really sparked of my interest.

Erm yeah...something like that but not quite how you are inferring Chris.

Actually, erm i'm not sure how to say this but... I think i prefer that to the normal variety, nice change there. (I hate coloured coins cos they destroy all the workmanship and subtle design of most coins, but with the normal Churcher you really have to ask, what design? well now it's got one...) Erm can i borrow that image? Some people really need to see this!

That's the problem me and Eliza have been having. Anyhow where is Eliza out of interest?

I'll tell you this for nothing, i have a distinct feeling that there was more than 2000 of those minted. And why did they supposedly mint £100 worth, and not 100Gns worth?

I knew about Brian May using a sixpence for his guitar!!! I'm sure some other people have done this too? Ah well my next goal should this US collector choose to accept it is swapping a 2000 gold half sovereign, UNC variety, (not perfect as it was bought from a jewelry shop, and that annoying habit they have of putting the reference number/price tag sticker over the obverse...arrghh. Well you can tell something was there, hence i've been generous and knocked £10). But i'm hoping i can swap it for a roll of silver quarters and perhaps i can get some other silver out of him whilst i'm at it, $50 worth of Ag to be precise. I'm just hoping he'll accept it. Firstly because i don't collect modern bullion gold coins as such, i only bought it because i like the look of it, but i've gone off it now and i'm trying to consolidate my collection's focus, so all the odd bits and bats, like that half, and all the cheap junk i bought over the years can go to the US where they are all fighting for it, and prepared to pay over the odds for it, and i can get quality Morgans etc at the US price rather than the higher prices over here!) The Americans are amazed at how much Morgans go for over here. [supply and demand and all that]. I think i'll have to parcel off the G-F shillings over there next. And perhaps some of the Poor- F .500 silver rubbish i've been lucky enough to find over the years. At this rate i'll clear out my junk collection, giving more room for the sixpences/half guineas and Florins (Gothic and Edward VII). And instead of having to go through the nightmare of currency conversion when selling, (or in this country selling at a loss as the QE2 stuff can be found anywhere and everywhere), trading it abroad for some nice quality US silver, and making a tidy profit in the bargin. By doing that i can keep the Silver Jar topped up with decent quality silver that you don't have to pay over the odds for (unlike the special bullion coins Britannias/American Eagles etc, which are overpriced), and at .900 silver the silver content and price is easier to work out than the .925 stuff. And is more compact than the .500 stuff. Always nice to have a bit back for a rainy day, and of course i like the designs.

Exactly the same thing happened with the 1758 shillings... They were still being minted well into George III's reign. Not sure how far in though, but there sure is alot of them out there!

Well Chris the reason why i asked is because, the place where i got that from, is also the place where i'm thinking of buying some Charles II Sixpences, so i'm just checking his pricing. It's always seems dead on to me, and sometimes somewhat below. Just thought i'd make sure because some of these sixpences ain't cheap, and i've been ripped off before all too many times, wouldn't want it to happen again. You can't always tell from a picture exactly what the coin is like, that's why i prefer to buy with coin in view, so to speak, there is nothing like it. I think that half guinea is the first real profit i've actually made, it makes up for all the losses i've had over the years. But i'm just in the middle of a trade with some US collectors, i believe i've made myself a small profit, and they likewise believe they have made a profit. Basically i've just traded a full set of Sicpences dated 1948-1967 (including 1952), all graded between G-F, for four 1964 silver quarters graded AU55-MS60. If i'm not wrong, the 1948-1967 stuff (minus 1952) are optimistically worth about 5p a piece, (total of 90p worth), and the 1952 in G/AVG worth about £1.50 at a push (i payed about £2.50/£3.00 for it, but in conjuction with the rest it balances out nicely, since i got those free!), so a nice total of £2.40 worth of coins for about £2.50 in silver. But these quarters are AU+ so it's a touch more. And of course the chap at the other end is pleased because silver quarters are everyday occurences over there, and he thinks he's onto a right winner, talk about enthusiastic practically snatched my hand off. Now that is a deal...but i'm sure i've just come out on top here.

£200 hmm not too bad then. I can't see any mounting traces on the thing. Sorry about the trade thing Chris, that coin is currently part of my half-guinea type set... (sorry i like that emoticon). So no trade here i'm afraid. I just wanted your expert opinion on what it was worth. I actually bought it for £225, so it's not too far out i suppose.

Well it works for me this time Chris; So this one should work!

Try this Chris...please work!!!! http://www.coinpeople.com/forums/album_pag....php?pic_id=387 I am now logged off on that site so it really should work...

I think it's because i was logged in at the time, but i'll sign out and have a go at putting one up. It's worked before on here, so i'm surprised it didn't work this time. It'll be on shortly. (Alright in about 1/2 hr).

Chris how much do you think this is worth? And no i'm not selling it; i just want to know what you'd price it up as...considering how often (or not) one comes across these; it's a half guinea. (please excuse my poor scanning skills) http://www.coinpeople.com/forums/album_pic....php?pic_id=387 How do you actually post pictures on here? It won't let me use img as i'm used to...?

I only made first contact on rcc, that US internet group, but i haven't seen him on there in ages!!! I dunno where he's gone...

Erm i haven't heard anything from him in ages... Is he still out there? And yes Das i get everywhere...

Try this website... http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/dieno.html This is not an exhaustive list, there may be others unrecorded out there, but it be safe to say these are the majority. I had a figure somewhere for how long the average die lasted, (i.e how many coins it would be expected to mint), but can i find it? can i.... Syl.

Yes the 'I' and the 'P' are the things to look for when grading these coins. Often with the E7 stuff i rely on the rev for grading the coin. (not my area of expertise you might say ) E7 2/6d's also wear different to the G5 ones, + they wear much faster. Syl.

Ya alle ist klar Ich kan nicht deutche sprechen or spell either...

Enquiries about coins is a double arrow for me too Chris! So if you just work here, who runs it?

But the beauty of die numbers is that you can actually work out a rough estimate of how many coins were minted by a particular die in any year. You find the average die out put that any particular die can be expected to produce, (i had a figure somewhere but it's not at hand now) then you can find all the die numbers for that date (i can get those) and divide the total mintage figure that year by the number of dies. Hopefully the average die out put number and the number you arrive at will be within a few hundred thousand of each other at the most, give or take. And by studying how often you come across certain numbers you can figure out which dies were the least used and which were the most used. Obviously that's greatly simplified but it can be a wonderful study to do! Sylvester.

I don't know about that. I suppose they would have kept records somewhere, but whether any of these records have survived is another matter! Not sure about the copper. I guess that would be a bit like die numbers in the Victorian period if they did though!