Sylvester

Oh i dunno i enjoy being a man of mystery... but since you insist... I currently live in the UK, Sheffield (South Yorkshire) to be precise, i don't know why i always put Manchester or Nottingham, and on one occasion York... I don't really like Sheffield that much and one day i hope to get out of the place...hence why i put every name under the sun! I'm hoping for a day when one of those other names proves to be true. I am currently an History student at a University, Huddersfield (West Yorkshire) to be precise. One interesting thing that i have recently found out is that, the actor Patrick Stewart (Jean Luc Picard of Star Trek fame, and many many other better roles, including Scrooge i believe on one occasion) is apparently now the Archchancellor of my University (He was born in Huddersfield...so it seemed a perfectly natural choice). Needless to say us poor students don't see anything of people so high up in the institution. Upto the age of about 5 or 6 i lived in Retford (Nottinghamshire), and i spent alot of time travelling on trains backwards and forwards to Lincoln during those years and so i've got a natural fondness for Lincoln, (not so much for trains though) and i at one point even thought about basing my c*in hobby on those minted in Lincoln! (Sorry Chris but i though that was a good place to drop that in). It won't happen again... I do have other interests, noticably antiques, especially pocket watches and old books, i even managed to pick up a first edition Charles Dickens book in York, Martin Chuzzelwit, and it looks very good on the shelf! (along with a new 'unread' paperback version of War and Peace...i know this is the kind of thing Terry Pratchett would come out with, but is there any other kind of War and Peace book?) I am as you can tell a big fan of Terry Pratchett, the abstract humour is hilarious, there are some very complex philosophical ideas contained within his books, many of them seem to make more sense than they perhaps ought to! And i tend to like lots of different types of music, except rap music (including hiphop... ), rock and roll and Elvis Presley...of which i've never been that keen. Sadly i've listened to most other things...and in some cases enjoyed them... And since we mention classic cars, i've always had this weird obsession with Ford Anglias? (and occasionally Cortinas) I still don't know why. I've got the odd model lying around, along with all those Leyland Nationals, but i must admit i was never that keen on buses, and i hate travelling on them, unless it's a National of course, sadly i don't get those anymore on my route, and i have to travel on buses and trains every day to Uni...grrr (i hate driving even more), problem is when has a train ever been on time? Sylvester.

Eliza, just on the topic of Early Milled stuff, do you find the prices higher in the US than what we pay over here? (or lower?) The reason why i ask is because i'm thinking about starting with my Morgan Dollar collection (and expanding my Type III $20 Double Eagle collection, alright i have one so far...but we've all got to start somewhere). The thing is; the prices i see US citizens paying for these coin in the States is some way below the prices that they are going on Ebay for over here! (Supply and demand and all). Common date Morgans tend to go for about $40 in EF-UNC (MS60) grades, and Double Eagles are by far the worst, the prices i see quoted for VF examples go for about $450 in the US, which equates to about £274.50, although i often find them going for about £330 over here, so that's about $540. YOU END UP PAYING WELL OVER THE CATALOGUE PRICE. I think supply and demand must have something to do with it, i saw a F+ conditioned 1904 $20 go for about £275 the other day, which is what an MS60 example should go for! I kept well clear of that one, as i knew they'd paid over the odds there. Regarding Early milled sixpences i tend to prefer them in VF+, preferably EF+, the only reason is; they were struck in such high relief that below VF much detail is missing, and in coins of this period i like to see as much detail as possible so that i can appreciate the workmanship and labour that went into carving the die. A nice blue tone also makes coins of this period look fantastic. Regarding that 1723 sixpence, i personally think that coin is important for so many reasons. One it was the only year of SSC minted sixpences ever! Two it's the most common of the George I sixpences. Three it's a very nice coin and Fourthly... It's SSC! The South Sea Company, of bubble fame, there is a piece of history engraved on a coin. (Just like VIGO, for the victory at Vigo Bay...no-one's sure what LIMA's all about though!). When did the South Sea Bubble burst, was it about 1721? All i really know about it is that it was in essence the first stock market crash, very much like 1929... Sylvester.

Only warm water?...sorry i couldn't get onto your site to get the full info because my computer's playing up a bit at the mo, so perhaps i missed the full story. As long as it's just warm water then i suppose there'd be no damage at all, i though it might have been rubbed with a cloth or something...my mistake. Since it's just water...I'd sell the coin as "curated" therefore not cleaned! But it is in very good condition... Sylvester.

Actually Eliza it was me that mentioned that, but here's the bad news they did plan to film Good Omens (read the rest here)... http://www.ie.lspace.org/fandom/events/mov...good-omens.html Which is a pity because i'd definately go out and see it if they made it! Sylvester.

Depends on my work loads next year! So much stuff on of late. University and all that, and hopefully a work placement...yikes i have no idea what i'm going to do! I thought about an Auction house or a museum or something... But surely you mean Sheffield! not Manchester... (or did i just lie in my profile?...well i have been in Manchester alot of late, such a busy life...)

You hit the nail right on the head there Eliza! An uncirculated coin is indeed less interesting than one that has seen moderate circulation (alright we don't want to go raving mad with praising FAIR condition coins over EF since so much detail is missing). I have stood by this argument through thick and thin and have often been flamed for it, (And i've also defended graffitied coins as an important piece of history, detracts from the investment value of a piece [that wasn't under dispute] but it adds to the numismatic history (and value to someone studying coins and history). Anyhow one collector didn't agree with me and he stated that; *quote*- "real collectors care about grade", as if i wasn't a real collector! And the person that said tat was Scottish, not American so it's nothing to do with slab-fans... Sylvester. I like the George III stuff too...and Gothic Florins.

Chris i think £600 is about right, it is in very good condition to say it's been buried! But the cleaning obviously will knock a fair bit off. I think with £600 it's a good offer. Sylvester.

I think i like it already...

My cousins rave about them, i think i've heard one song by them but sadly i wasn't really paying attention at the time, so i'm not sure what i think. I really must sit down and listen to some! All i can say if it breaks away from this hiphop stuff or rap-rock (or whatever they call it today) then i'm all for it.... Sylvester... "I'm not a number i'm a free man!"

*So anyone out there interested in stamps or banknotes?* Sorry Chris couldn't resist it! So where's everyone from? Country/City/whatever you like to say about yourself... Sylvester...

Chris; RCC, is an internet group for discussing coins. Unfortunately heavily biased towards US coins at the moment, but myself and others have recently been making waves on there and upsetting the US applecart... World coins are becoming discussed a little more than they were. However we need more people to talk about World coins (actually US coins are World coins from my point of view...but i'll not get into that!). Here's a link to the RCC. The group has also had a small number of it's own tokens made, and sometimes swaps coins, or rather (if you want to be involved), they have a host coin (did until it disappeared!) that gets passed around the group, (that's basically posted around the world) one member keeps it for a few weeks and then posts it on to the next person on the list...very fascinating, i don't think they've done that in a while though. (Since it disappeared)...if i follow it correctly? I wasn't a member when they were doing that though. http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl=en&lr...ollecting.coins tell me if it doesn't work...you might have to copy and paste it into your address bar... Sylvester.

Sadly it is a male dominated hobby on the whole...

Ah Chris, this is a topic that has been discussed on RCC before! If i remember rightly Reid Goldsborough stated many interesting ways of liberating these coins...anything from a sledgehammer to a chisel...(knowing Reid he's probably not joking about that either). Someone also suggested heating up one of the edges to make it more flexable to ease getting the coin out. Sylvester.

I know the feeling Chris! Christmas is expensive... Sylvester.

Lemme guess you coin shop offers a whole range of Morgan Dollars, but when it comes to anything else...it's just not happening? Have you seen the coins for sale on the homepage of this website? There must be something there surely? Sylvester.

Which is of course, (in my opinion at least), a total rip off. I can understand the different grades and the eye appeal, like differences between MS63 and MS64, i can understand why that effects prices, but it's often the case that there is a ridiculous gap between the two prices. Of course slabbing creates its own supply and demand, prices for MS64s will be higher than MS63s because the grading companies actually report how many they've graded in those grades, and it's obvious that there will be fewer 64s than 63s, so it's like a whole new set of mintage figures, but perhaps i should say condition figures. The thing i think is really ridiculous though is the price difference for the same grade coin between say, PCGS and say the ACGS or the NGC. I won't go into ACG... I must admit Early Milled isn't as popular in Britain as you might expect, most people stick with the post 1816 stuff...probably cos there's more designs to choose from and they change regularly...all that lovely Victorian stuff! But in my opinion it takes one hell of a coin to beat the reverse of a George II sixpence with Roses or Plumes...the plain ones aren't as eyecatching though. Sylvester. Personally i think slabbing is a phase, maybe a long one, but eventually i think people will see sense and start buying coins again rather than plastic containers with a flash logo...that just happens to contain a coin.

To be honest Chris i really don't know, i suppose it's feesable to believe that they do change the alloys a bit each year; perhaps they don't always get exactly the same mix i suppose. It's just that most of the late 80s' stuff (especially '85) seem to wear really badly. Conversly the 1993 stuff on the other hand seems to be wearing much better. I did come across an '85 yesterday that i though was a '95 because it seemed better struck, and to have a much sharper image, like the 90s issues. Perhaps it's to do with the sharpness of strike? Sylvester.

I think new issues just try too hard to be 'sensational' and sadly (or maybe rather funnily...depending on the coin) they fail miserably. I've yet to see anyone that would buy a commemorative coin over a Gothic Crown... Sylvester.

Anyone dreading a David Beckham coin? I know i am... Sylvester.

I'll tell you for nothing...i hate that 50p already. The £2 coin and the £1 coins i'm not sure yet. I must admit though that the 'normal' (quite which one's the normal one these days is up for debate) £2 coin reverse (in my opinion) is so good that all these commemoratives don't stand a chance. The £1 coin i'm really not sure, you soon find out after they've been in circulation for a few years. Anyone notice how horrible circulated £1 coins look? especially 1985, which out of all the years wears the worst by far...1983 wears well though, anyone know why? (lower relief?) Sylvester.

Why am i thinking of the 1973 one all over again? Sylvester.

Have you got any links to any pictures? (I had no idea about the proposed new ideas to the £1 reverse, but i had realised that the current designs had ran their course. Personally i'll be glad to see the back of the Welsh Dragon and the Irish Cross, i never liked those two, well put it this way, it's not that i don't like them as such it's just i'm sick of seeing them!) I wonder why they didn't choose London Bridge? Rather than that eyesore they picked for England! I've yet to see the £2 coin or the 50p though. (personally i'm a big fan of the Britannia design so i sigh everytime i see a commemorative design). My opinion is that there are far too many commemorative issues these days, good Gods it's almost as bad as stamps! I think the mint are selling out... I crave to go back to the days when commemoratives were issued once every 10 years or less. Back to the good days when commemorative crowns were issues as regularly as 1935, 1951, 1960, 1965, 1972, 1977, 1980 and 1981. And even that's a bit more than i'd like. (1937 and 1953 fall into the first coins of the reign category rather than as commemoratives in my opinion, like those crowns dated 1887, 1893 and 1902.) Too many commemoratives reduce the 'special' issue. Now if they only issued them every 25 years then a commemorative would indeed be a sought after, eagerly anticipated (probably!), 'special' issue coin. Now we are getting to the stage where the commemoratives are going to be more widespread in circulation than the 'normal' design...ludicrous in my opinion. Sylvester.

I'll give it a shot but it might take a few weeks, probably next weekend if i get the time i'll dash off to my local library and sift through some books and see what i can find out! That is; see if i can clarify the issue further by quoting other sources to see if it states any where; e.g. how many halfcrowns were minted in weight during any of these years. Without doing that though it's pure speculation until we can break those weights up into denominations. Sylvester.

Those 'rare' rolls of 1971 2p coins are a bit of a give away to the over pricing me thinks. I've seen a fair few on ebay go for about face value. Sylvester.

Chris, Have you any idea whether Coincraft are going to be releasing another catalogue anytime soon, i've got the last one, the 2000 edition, but nothing's been heard since? In my opinion this is disappointing as the Coincraft catalogue is one of the best i've ever come across. Sylvester.