Rob

That might just be trickery with the toning. Sorry, can't check, it is long gone. Not for the first time I was struggling to take a decent picture.

As the title says. I picked up a run of these on eBay recently (lists 26 - 37) Any clues as to when they were issued? They came with an SGC Ltd American mail bid sale from 1980 included, so think it might be around this time. If it helps to jog someone's memory, pointers are as follows. Phone number is 01, so predates 1990. The price of an UNC 1/6 bank token was £35. A Mary groat aVF cost £50 and the reference is S2492. When did the numbers change in the 1970s/80s? Thanks.

1666 to 2014 is 348 years, not 408, or are you saying everything will be ok in 2074? Sounds more realistic.

A full term is what they should be compelled to serve anyway, unless they have a completely unworkable position.

Quinquember? Or maybe a god got the push - maybe it was Apolly? (I just Googled, and wasn't so far off! The fifth month was Quintilis before Julius, and the sixth month was Sextilis before Augustus. In fact, the Julian calendar - in force for a very long time - came into existence around the time of Julius Caesar. Before then it was really chaotic apparently - the senate could lengthen or shorten years to either prolong or truncate popular/unpopular consuls.) Neat. The ancient equivalent of changing the constitution to solve otherwise intractable impositions on those in power.

At least they had the ability to magnify in the 19th century. Just think how difficult it must have been 2000 years ago to engrave some of the tiny Celtic pieces that are maybe half the diameter. This is 8mm top to bottom, less than that in the horizontal direction.

In my student days, a curry cost 75p in the Rusholme cafes. We never asked what was in it. Didn't need to. You knew.

Thanks. Wouldn't have guessed that. When present, the portrait does look more african.

Clues anyone please. Scott? Thanks

It's very important to (honestly) record your collection for the reasons outlined above. Price paid, catalogue values and likely market values are all useful info for inheritors who may or may not want to retain the collection. As long as you keep them informed of what you have and also the reasons for it, they will be better prepared for a situation they would rather do without. If the kids are interested- good. Educate them as much as you can as it is in their interests to be fully informed. I do my best to keep the wife and kids informed about the latest acquisition, even if I know it might result in some ear-ache. The last thing I want them to do is find a collection which means nothing, otherwise there would be a good chance they would look at the two 1923 shillings for example and decide the silver one, being bullion, is 'obviously worth more' than the nickel one. Not a good starting point. Every coin in the collection has a file with all the relevant points including notes relating to conditional or absolute rarity (e.g. second best of seven recorded examples, or unique, as appropriate). Provenances are also listed along with images of the coin and any tickets that accompany it. At the moment, if I pop my clogs, there would not be any immediate plan to dispose of the collection, which is good as it means they could sit down and approach it rationally rather than tidying up the loose ends as quickly as possible. Having said that, things could always change.

Anything exciting (to me that is!)? Maybe. I bought the E5/2That was the one! I thought the prices more realistic than of late. I'd be interested to see a photo if you take one Rob. Looked like a decent strike, but it can be hard to tell sometimes without viewing personally. Agreed. Slightly irregular but full weight and as you say, a decent strike. There's some mileage left in it.

I've never worried where things came from originally, just that they taste ok.

Anything exciting (to me that is!)? Maybe. I bought the E5/2

grade, and by extension the estimates. There were a lot of creased or otherwise impaired pieces, none of which appealed. There is also the usual number of items he puts in the sale which are from a US dealer and so import VAT applies on top of the hammer. Bids are reduced accordingly. I do see a slight softening across the board though. I bought one lot so far.

Be interested to know who the 3 knowledgable experts were, just so I can avoid any of their expertise in the future? If only you could email the buyer, as in the good ole days! They were good days. 8 or 9 years ago I gave a heads up to someone that the Pontefract they were bidding on was plugged based on a misdescribed catalogue entry of a lot that went unsold at 1300 estimate when it would otherwise have made very good money. Very well done, but still plugged. You don't want to be spending upwards of £2K on what was a 3500 coin at the time only to find out that you'd bought a pup. Needless to say, he retracted the bid and the seller claimed ignorance. Yeh, right. Might have believed him if he wasn't in the habit of selling mostly top end coins.

As I mentioned before, I'm pretty certain I stupidly handed back to w&w the original of an E1 groat we frequently see copied...with broken crown?Also, that recent CGS slabbed coin that TG posted up (Christ, can't remember what of, now), can only be a major CGS cock-up, or the original from which the fakes were made? Wonder if they all have a common source? I'm certain they do.

Things do go off topic as has been noticed elsewhere. Nothing to do with coins only had one place to go - the options were rather limited.

I'm still intrigued as to the identity of the original producer of the casts. I have the F3/1 shilling which I bought in Nov. 2004 and I know who has the Newcastle 9b 1d original, which he bought in 2005(?). Anyone know the whereabouts of any other originals and purchase details?

Grilled camel masallah?

I know, but I couldn't think of an appropriately named arabic dish.

Chicken Tikka?

According to my bank manager brother the writing is on the wall for free banking here in the UK. He thinks it will be a thing of the past in 5-10 years. There's nothing wrong with paying for a service, however much it grates that they are also looking after your money. It's much fairer than cross-subsidising which is opaque at best and one must suspect continually open to abuse.

Interesting that he found it in with some clocks.

?

The first has a more deeply engraved neck, the second is shallower. If in doubt, the I of GEORGIVS points to a bead and a space respectively.