Sylvester

£25 for both of them? That's a bargin. Shilling is about £20, sixpence about £10-£15. Although the sixpence looks a little worn.

Coin fairs in the North of England. There's one on in York at the end of January it's held at the Race course. It's on on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st Jan 2006. For experience i'd recommend going on a friday, as by saturday alot of stuff has gone. There'll still be plenty of coins there on the saturday that will catch your attention but to get the full appreciation.

It doesn't look real to me either, doesn't look silver and secondly the details look very... well flat. I would hazard a guess that it's one of the repro copies that museums have been selling over the years.

I like the date on the obverse or reverse... it's when it's on the edge only, that's when you worry.

The rule i use (and rarely break), "at the time of issue would you have recieved one in circulation?" YES - Then it's in. NO - Then forget it. I bend the rules a little; e.g sovereigns were not in circulation much after the outbreak of WWI, but few would argue aginst them being a proper issue. Stuff like 1980s BU coins, most came only in sets and never went into circulation, but should a 1982 2p coin happen to go into circulation then there'd not be much trouble involved in the coin passing through the tills. Proofs i generally avoid but i accept that if they are of circulating coinage then it's perfectly alright.

And they wonder why people are put off collecting new stuff? Like the stamp hobby it boils down to three things; 1. There's so much stuff you can't keep up 2. They charge high prices for them in the first place 3. They are a poor 'investment' (dare i use the word), because they never do well on the secondhand market... due generally because there's that much different stuff out there the competition is spread out. Also alot of modern collectors give up because they can't keep up anyhow. If you were saying trying to collect all cupronickel coins minted in the 1950s then you'd have all the circulation stuff and two commem crowns to get. Anyone else trying the same goal is after the same stuff. Make it all cupronickel stuff from the 2000-9 decade and well, where do you start? Proofs, UNC, specimens, Piedfort proofs, proofs in silver, commems, commems in differet packaging, commems in silver... You'd be there for years. Pointless.

Ah.... ebay were quaking in their boots for a moment there. I'll tell them to call the defensive battle plan off then shall i.

Correct.

Well as much as i don't like them i'd have to say the small five pences. I was interested in money beforehand but it might have been a passing phase, the government's decision to shrink the 5p though made me value the old ones and the spark was there. George VI coins in circulation were the other reason.

As soon as anyone says Edward VIII threepence, that's the first one i think of!

They are quite common. I'd suggest you look on onlinecoins first and foremost.

I treat all ancients as cleaned.

Yorkshire is clean out of 1988 £1 coins. You never see them round these parts... except for two a year on average. And one of those is usually one i'm spending from what's left of my hoard. At one point i had seven of them and that had taken me about 4 years to save up. Currently i have one and it's the only one i've seen since 2003. I'm still looking though. I'm getting a 2004 pound coin nearly every week now.

See how long it is till you see another.

Crack that coin out! Give it the freedom it deserves. Do you know how to crack the coin out? G-Clamp the corners.

I don't care for mistrikes, but i do for 1988 £1 coins. Mintage of 1988 £1 coins is alot lower than any other date (except 1998/9 which were not minted for circulation but only in sets). The 1988 is the third 'rarest' £1 coin and the rarest in active circulation. It also in my eyes has the nicest design most designs are used twice, the 1988's was used just the once, why i don't know but it gives the 1988 a unique quality. Alot of the circulation issues are hoarded because they look 'different' and because collectors like me like having them around. I did once spend five of them together in one go. Now that's something that never happens. You never see more than one in change at any one time. I haven't seen any of them this year. I haven't recieved one in change since 2003.

Yep! The very same. 105E Delux i think! I dunno how bad, 'poor' condition they meant, but if they really did bash it around with that tree then it'd be about fit for scrap and not much else. It was under a sheet apparently and had been there a while in the car park, so i suspect rust would have set in under the wheel arches and along the bottom edges of the door. Angleboxes, more like rustboxes. Like all 60s cars.

Harry Potter might be able to defeat Lord Voldemort amongst others. But seemingly his powers are no good at saving flying cars. As someone's pinched the car used in the film! Apparently it wasn't even in drivable condition and thus must have been towed away or a recovery vehicle used, i can't see why anyone would want to pinch it? Firstly it's condition is reportedly very poor and secondly i wouldn't think selling it would be all that easy. I mean since the film came out everyone now refers to them as Harry Potter cars!

I never thought you were! Mind you should you feel like it though, i wouldn't be that bothered. Nothing much bothers me. Honestly though cleaned coins don't bother me all that much. Less of the ginger remarks though! (i know i started it...) I'm not gingerist though, far from it... too far from it if truth be known.

I haven't asked! I doubt they tell me anyhow... Of course what they don't know is i actually know the publisher! (Actually i think Mr Smith knows because we were talking about the catalogue, and i was explaining how much better it was!) ... you can pay me later

To be honest Peter i'm not bothered if they have been cleaned. Cleaned coins of this era aren't really a problem, it's a fact of life. Like freckles and gingers, the two go hand in hand. Sorry couldn't resist.

John Smith who runs the coin shop on the Shambles at York. I have also seen a few of them around elsewhere though. A stall in the York Antiques centre had a few, but they were the base metal coins.

On saturday i went one better. Domitian (AD 91-96) silver denarius minted in about 91/2. Depicting Minverva on the reverse. Domitian was also incidentally the last of Suetonious' Twelve Caesars and he was part of the Flavian dynasty that managed to successfully install themselves as Emperors after the catastrophic events of the AD 69 succession disputes following the downfall of Nero in 68. And today i went and bought this; Severus Alexander (222-235) denarius minted around 232 depicting Annona on the reverse. Severus Alexander was involved in the downfall of the raving nutcase Emperor Elagabalus in 222.

For over a year i've been edging closer to the abyss that is Ancient coins. And each time i edged dowards the sheer drop i never had the corage to take the plunge. Knowing that once i did so things might never quite be the same again. Then i finally jumped headlong into oblivion about a month ago. First came Septimus Severus (AD 193-211) and his rather bizarre beard. A silver denarius minted around 200/1, depicting Jupiter upon the reverse. Then last week i got this, Antoninus Pius (138-161) silver denarius minted around 152/3 depicting Pax on the reverse.

Noyce! Dunno if i need a 2006 edition though as i don't follow the modern stuff as a rule. But you will be pleased to note Chirs that i purchased the CC Roman Silver Coins book the other day. And i've now officially taken the plunge into Roman coinage, to supplement my medieval.