Rob

I thought it was a staple.

That's another vote for leaving Europe then...............

Pictures are too small to decide if it is genuine which means the first question is impossible to answer.

I got blocked for no reason nearly 10 years ago. If the same happens to anyone else, make sure you fight them as they may well give an ex-gratia payment as they did for me. I assume that you are still required to talk to Paypal in India, thus conveniently avoiding anyone capable of sorting out problems.

Bizarre and a tad cheeky. It doesn't cost £29.96 to drill 5 holes.

Nothing at the moment. I've got a box of goodies waiting to be arranged.

No, first one he has made. It took him a while, but I think he made a good job of it.

And the internal view. He wanted to put a map of England on the top with the Saxon mints, but this was impractical. http://

I needed another cabinet and had a couple dozen trays lying around, so my eldest made one from from scratch to use the trays. Brownie points were earned by him from me, and by me from the wife for clearing the pile of trays off the floor. http://

Not R3, there is no S on the breast and there are marks to left and right of bust, so Ed.IV, but the marks are a bit indistinct.

The obverse looks uncirculated, or very close to depending on what the tops of the hair strands above the ear and on the bun look like under a glass. The reverse is too bright to say, but is probably similar. You need to see things in hand to make a reasoned assessment.

Sorry to be dense, but how can a representative of a TPG, a business whose stated mission is to grade coins correctly and consistently in order to give the collector reassurance, then tell you the grade will depend on how good a day it is? I've no problem with Steve, Paul or Semra, but this contradicts their alleged business objectives.

Koin Industries logo?

FYI this ticks the 'example of a coin struck from blocked dies' box - no.508 on the list of criteria for the collection. For an example of a poorly struck coin, I can thoroughly recommend just about anything from the first 80 years of the 12th century

I was in my usual place. In the middle of the cross aisle with me facing the entrance. Can't get me wrong as the guy on my left is shorter and fatter, whilst the one on my right is shorter and thinner. I'm the large hairy object in the middle.

Wondered where you had got to. Life must have been busy not to make the Midland either for the past half a year or so. Welcome back.

Does anyone have a copy of BHM handy to reference this Preston Guild 1882 medal? I've looked high and low but can't find an example of this die pair on the web. It's late as it names the Duke of Cambridge, who replaced the Duke of Atholl. The park view is also one of the rarer reverses. Struck in tin and the weight is 26.97g (including ring). All help gratefully received.

Some are certainly going to be rejects. It works quite well for hammered in particular as they may or may not reject Saxon for peck marks. It is a world of difference between cleaned and rejected, and wear and tear from circulation. For some reason a light scratch is deemed to be worthy of rejection, yet most coins will get scratched at some point in their working life. If they wanted to be consistent, the TPGs would have to only slab uncirculated mark free coins.

Yes it is, but I'm not sure why Bull (or Davies or anyone else) considers a pair of misaligned correct digits to be worthy of it's own variety number. Surely this is just crap workmanship as opposed to a genuine error or overstruck date to extend the die's life? All it does is beg the inevitable question as to the displacement required to make it an 'official' error. I can see that 'over an inverted' is also a bad day at the office, but at least it is unambiguous.

Looks like a trace of an H upright in line with the gap between teeth immediately to the right of the 8, or at least on this screen it does.

Yes. Correct. Everyone was at Wakefield today it seems, Mynki, me, even Mr Cheshire. Surprisingly busy given York was only a fortnight ago.

Keep investments and hobbies separate. Coins and other illiquid collectibles are second or third tier investments, no more. As they are not immediately tradable, it is difficult to see why people would pay a premium to 'invest' in coins for profit. Anyone who thinks that SG or LC don't take their routine cut of about a third (in line with other auctioneers) is deluded. The market has to be out of control to recoup an immediate loss of a third on investment in the short term. Long term your coins can do very well. 7% or more compound over the past 50 years is a very good return, but you have always had the cost of purchase to consider, which eliminates them as a short term investment. It would be interesting to see what would happen if half a dozen people wanted to realise significant holdings in investment coins at the same time. As the companies marketing investment packages are to all intents individual markets in toto, realising a high price for the sellers requires half a dozen plus one willing buyers to create the competitive market. I can't see it as a viable option in investment terms because the market is a closed one with the middle man making all the turns available and only offering profits as a marketing tool. Avoid.

The die has probably blocked with grease. Stored dies are coated in grease to stop them rusting. If this grease is not removed prior to use it will get trapped and act as a solid face because it will not compress, meaning the design cannot be transferred to the blank flan. Attached is an example of what I mean showing partial and full blockage of the legend.

I got mine from Mark Ray in Nottingham soon after they were released. That would suggest they were issued direct from the mint to whoever's order they were filling at the time.

I've got a woolpack 1/2d but that has rough surfaces and a tun 1/2d which still has dirt in it but is likely to be too high grade. No spare 3/4d - sorry.