Sylvester

I WISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ha that's only one third of the collection!

Ah i always buy lace up trainers/shoes i wouldn't have them any other way... although after a few months i generally resort to slipping them on and off without undoing them... which is a typical kid thing to do.

When you get to my mental age Chris sitting down on the sofa will be the least of your problems, getting up will be another matter though.

Mad definately mad, conversely you could say by going somewhere hotter than you are now, you'll be able to feel the benefit of the coolness of 85F when you get back out! It is exceedingly warm though.

I certainly hope Portugal don't win! During the match with England they tried a few dodgy tactics to get one up on top, that's not to say England were blameless, the whole Rooney fiasco was proof that England were just as bad in that respect.* No what really turned me against Portugal was the way they played against the Netherlands, it was disgusting, they were throwing themselves all over the pitch and playing what i call 'yellow card tactics', the ref being card happy only helped to set the unsportsmanlike tone, as far as i'm concerned the Netherlands deserved to win that match. Now that might sound pretty passionate for a person who generally couldn't give a stuff about football, but i hate to see people cheater and get rewarded for it! * Honestly i don't know what all the fuss is about with Rooney, he's quick to anger and he's not as good as the media would like everyone to believe. Lampard, Hargreaves and Gerrard are the heroes of the match, notice how much better England played after Beckham and Rooney left! Of course England always go out on penalties, it's a tradition, we're lousy and we didn't deserve to go through, we're just not up to the standards of France, Italy etc. As for Italy well after watching them against Australia i wasn't too keen on them as they too were happy to throw themselves about too much and take dives, but after the game yesterday with Germany they redeemed themselves in my eyes, despite all the nasty comments in some of the German newspapers and the somewhat obvious dislike the two sides had for each other, they went out there and they played good some damn football, as did Germany. So France or Italy, i would prefer France. I have to say though it's a pity about Germany going out, i would have liked to see them win it, since they were hosting it and all.

Hope you are having a good day!

Incredible! Did it end up with a dealer or a collector? It wasn't me, my bid of £50 was rejected. Well at least you tried!

Oh don't get me started on Wimbledon or on Cricket... 'paint, dry' comes to mind for both. As for the football, come on Portugal! You can do it! Nah i have to say i would like England to win that match and get to the Semis, which i think is do-able, but they'll have to play better than they have done and watch their defending, which is sloppy at best. If they do scape through to the semis then Brazil or France will tidy up and our boys can come home. Of course it'd be nice to see England in the final, but i don't it'll get to that stage. Now if it should then they've got to lose, it'd be awful to destroy the importance of 1966 after all these years. Germany will win.

It's not Hussulo I'm complaining about, it's the peddlers of non and stale news. Press sites reporting 2 week old news tells me they are struggling to find anything to write about. The forthcoming sale of the double leopard was mentioned on Spink's website a few months ago. First i've heard of this, interesting. So there's three of them now then... interesting, one day perhaps, one day.

I can't help wondering if increased demands overseas for British coins might be pushing the market up somewhat? I know the US coin market has priced alot of collectors right out of it and thus a significant number have turned their attention to cheaper fields such as the World coin market. Britain is one of the favourites and i presume it's only a matter of time before an increased demand over there see's coins migrating over to the States and leading to a reduced supply over here.

Welcome (although you might remember me as Ætheling from Coinpeople).

Could it be a mount mark or something that's been filled in? I know it was common to mount coins in this period. Coins when cast often leave a protruding lump of metal (leading out of the mould) which is then filed off. Leaving something like that but it wouldn't be that small i wouldn't have thought. How's the edge of the coin look?

Not bad at all, but the eyes and mouth bear a close resemblence to George III!

Although i can't resist saying, there is alot of mint bloom don't you think? Design (ignoring the date) is pretty spot on.

Hmm odd. I reserve further judgement until i see the other side.

Well it'd be a very unusual mint error and i've never come across one of these dated like that before. Are you certain it says 1898 (and not say 1888?). The only way i could tell you if you've got an error or a fake would be to see a picture. Sometimes fakes are very good though. Sovereigns and half sovereigns have been some of the most faked coins in the World, alot came from the Middle East in the middle of the last century. Many are made in gold of the correct fineness and weight, the collector's premium often made it profitable to actually make them full weight using real gold. So even as a fake it might still have bullion value but no collector value. But as i say a photo would be needed.

Fake more than likely.

Not real gold eagles anyhow, only that bullion rubbish!

Letter at 3 o'clock looks like a C, i can't see any D knocking around so it might be HENRIC, (rather than RICARD). I can't narrow it any further than that though.

Sounds like a fake to me. There's alot of fake £1 coins around.

Not really my area either, this is a new one on me. I only collect Romans haphazardly.

I'll confess that i couldn't tell the different between a UNC Circ. and a Maundy.

York would be the place to go.

Ah but you don't come across much quality Anglo-Saxon or Norman stuff on Ebay. Ed Confess & Æth Unready excluded of course.

I've long said that Ebay's rubbish for hammered coins.