Rob

Gold went up - the traditional safe asset in times of trouble. Other collectables went up. If the money wasn't safe potentially in a bank, then it got re-allocated to diverse assets in order to spread the risk. Money is not in short supply and never really has been, just that it has concentrated in fewer hands. You can have as much or as little of it as you like. Print a load and prices rise to accommodate the extra, withdraw money from circulation and prices will fall, or more likely people will return to bartering the assets they already have. A difficult problem in modern economies is that they are perceived to be buoyant when a lot of people are buying things that they quite patently don't need, and in many instances can't afford. When these buyers stay away, the economy is said to be down in the dumps, but as one who buys things as required assuming I can afford it and is not particularly materialistic, I don't view it as a problem.

Depends on where the inflation lies though. Could be smoke and mirrors. The price of a burger hasn't gone up, if anything it's the opposite. The price of electronic gadgets is constantly reducing even though you are getting more for your money. Thirty years ago, a 286 computer system would cost over £1K. Think what you can get today for £1K. Your phone is more powerful than a 30 year old PC. Adjust for inflation and you really get a lot more for your money. The thing is that there will always be someone ready to undercut another in order to take the business. It's a double edged sword. Too much competition with reduced prices and the wheels come off the bus, leaving you with a couple of major players who had sufficient financial reserves to see them through, plus an awful lot of collateral damage along the way. That isn't good for any economy because in the west, the resulting unemployed are maintained in that position at large and unsustainable expense to the remainder of the workforce. If this was only temporary it would be bearable, but as a permanent fixture it makes the future untenable. There is no exit strategy to this problem from any western politician. So, it all depends on where the inflation is to compensate and more for the many consumer items which are seeing a drop in prices. Witness the huge number of pound shops in this country. They supply items that used to be a couple of pounds to buy. Houses are increasing ever more beyond the reach of many people - boooooooooooo I hear you say. Energy prices until recently were increasing way ahead of inflation - booo. Prices in general increased for anything that was energy intensive such as transport - booo. The exchange rate worked to cause both inflation and deflation depending on which way it was moving. As ever it will be a case of lies, damned lies and statistics. People want things to become more and more affordable, but that's called deflation. People today want instant gratification, so they buy things using finance plans rather than saving up (which is an option in the current benign inflationary environment). That increases GDP but does nothing for their financial security as they are paying more than inflation for the pleasure. We have to be very careful when saying inflation/deflation is dangerous, and as always, a degree of qualification is required.

Not so much that what you own is devalued, rather that the going rate for it should increase in price - only if it doesn't increase has it been devalued. If the physical assets remain constant and the money equating to those assets becomes a bigger number, then it follows that the prices of those items should increase to take account of the additional money in circulation. If the money supply has been expanded and some prices don't increase, then prices of other assets must rise proprtionally more to compensate. Cue an above average increase in the price of 'safe' assets. People involved in areas of the economy which see no upward movement in prices are effectively being devalued. The idea of increasing the money supply to kick-start the economy is a red herring. Even if banks aren't willing to lend to smaller businesses, there are sufficient numbers of individuals with large amounts of capital sitting there doing little and looking for a greater return. Those assets are held by business savvy people who would provide some capital if the idea was a good one. The lack of dynamism in the economies of the world is not due to a shortage of capital, more the reduced returns available due to the internet and global economy. It is very difficult to set up a business providing a premium product generating above average returns because business models can be easily copied, and there is sufficient manufacturing capacity installed for a competitor to rapidly nullify any first mover advantage. The modern world is too efficient to provide the large returns necessary for wholesale private investment, despite interest rates being at or around all time lows. So in answer to the OP, I think that money injected into the economies of Europe is likely to result in an increase in the price of assets that provide diversification, just as it has in the US over the past few years. Coins amongst other things would come into this category.

Probably, but for all the wrong reasons.

PM sent

Has it been mounted in a ring or some other holder? The rim looks to be too smooth and even for what I would expect. It may have been turned down to fit. Does the diagonal graining still remain on the edge? Uncirculated is clearly nonsense, with glasses and appropriate educational material badly required by someone. It's somewhere near the gVF mark, with the obverse maybe slightly below that. Scratches(?) on the laurel don't help.

And for good measure, an EF or slightly better example to demonstrate where the wear hits first.

This is a reasonable example of a shilling with minimal wear. As you can see, the finer detail is better on the larger coin, so lions' faces etc are often less well struck on the smaller denominations.

Difficult to say what the grade is because the top one is out of focus and the bottom has too much glare. Not the most attrtactive toning, but this has virtually no wear. http://www.rpcoins.co.uk/c8%20pics/00330.jpg

Is it not the same font? Looks it.

The left one now looks like a blocked R, or more specifically a broken R as it must be raised on the collar.

Have to confess it doesn't look at first hand like a blocked R as the milling goes right up to the bottom of the P loop.

link Just trying to think who is a regular seller of such items. Expert advice to vendor was probably "list it without mentioning a copy because you should find some gullible person to buy it".

Castle Cary and Ilminster aren't mints, the other three are correct.

Can't make it out.

Dear me, the labour and material costs must have been greater than £20

You need to find multiple examples with the same profile to have any hope of convincing him. They might all be lozenge shaped, but that still provides a myriad of identifiably different pieces. Arguably, you get so many rusted/corroded/pitted things on ebay that it almost looks normal when you see a cast, even if if you know better.

You have 4 discrete die pairs with the oval reverse shield (3B-3E). The obverses are also different in each case, but still given a single number based on the design with the tail behind the rear legs. Obverse 2 has the tail between the legs and is known for 12 discrete die pairs. Again, the obverses and reverses are slightly different in each case. The flaws appear to be where a previous die was engraved as you can discern details which agree with other dies. It is this that leads me to believe that the cylinder press theory proposed by Besly in the 1984 BNJ doesn't hold, or at least only for the obverse 2 shillings and possibly the threepences. The above and the other halfcrowns are individual die pairs used on a rocker press, and are struck from diestock that is of a greater diameter than that of a halfcrown.

It is the laxity of the TPG that should be the concern. To make not too fine a point, it's bleedin' obvious.

Do you mean where the page loads and then a second later drops down a cm or so? If so, I get that too sometimes.

Warminster? Wrong thread old bean. Anyway, it is in Wiltshire.

Correct chaps. Given these are always struck from discrete die pairs which are never muled and I have never seen one without perfectly formed letters in the legend, plugging looks to be the right option. A lower grade piece but with the reverse flaw at a later stage says it all. I don't think the grader put much effort into his assessment.

This sold for $1400 hammer in the Heritage sale tonight. http://coins.ha.com/itm/great-britain/great-britain-charles-i-1-2-crown-nd-1643-44-au55-ngc-/a/3038-34717.s?x=21&y=12 Plugged or not? It looks fairly clear cut to me, but other opinions are invited.

I don't think the quality material is available full stop. We are all scrapping in the same bull pit.

The gold piece is the one I mentioned. The bust is of the same general shape, but not comical unlike yours. The reverse is completely different as you can see, with no MR divided by the shield. The legend is also different to the dated gold piece. The portrait on the 1st widowhood testoon is superb and superior to the efforts of the English engravers of the time. Copies or replica coins are often made by casting, with the raised line being the point where the two faces came together. You will probably find the remains of the casting sprue if you look carefully.