Rob

I've got two different dies for sales listed as 1868 Maundy - 1 obverse 2 and 1 obverse 3. Obverse 2 has less than 8 beads from D to the colon after G, while obverse 3 has 11+ over the same D to colon. Obverse 3 has IT of BRIT parallel and misaligned wrt the R Ist type of obverse 2 found on WAG 43/186, Baldwins 77/2832 and Aureo 245/699 Obverse 3, Spink 9031/636, Spink 15006/638. Possibly DNW 92/241, but not clear. The pictures could be better on some which might indicate a different alignment on the obv.3 coins of the IT. I though I had 2 obverse 2s but the image was a composite. There might be 2 obverse 3s though.

They might all be the same Davies type, but different dies within that configuaration could exist. There could be two type 3s and one type two, one of each or three type 3s. We need to identify slight differences for nominally the same die to be certain.

I'm open minded about everything in the latest ESC given the lack of proof reading evident. How many 1868 maundy sets have people seen? As Nick said, there were allegedly 3 dies used which should be possible to identify. If it is possible to identify three non-RR dies, then the latter should reasonably be a currency die.

I would expect to see some sets with an example if they were issued in them. If you don't know of any, I would think it more likely they were currency. Also, what is the grade distribution? Most maundy coins didn't circulate, even in the fullness of time, so a maundy issue should be heavily skewed towards a high grade population, leaving aside the fact that people look for them.

A silver halfpenny in a milled silver post - what's wrong with that? Check your copy of Peck (2nd ed. p.200 refers) and read back what the description says.

I just look at the date.

And the reverse

P778. This is Peck's own piece which had the weight erroneously given as 157.3 grains. The weight is actually 115.7grains with the 1 footnote numeral taken from the weight and the footnote 3 numeral incorporated into the weight. Anyone with a copy of Peck will understand what I mean.

Probably from contact with something it was held in. There is nothing to be seen in hand, only when the flash is used. Polishing lines on the die tend to be obvious in hand and are raised in any case.

I picked it up in 2006. It's a real shame about the two small horizontal marks on the leg because those aside there isn't any wear to be seen. It is in the 'Too nice to sell' section of the collection.

It's right on the border with Austria. As Dave said - so many Chinese. We dropped in with daughter and partner on the way to Italy only to find that you had to book at least 2 days in advance. The large hotels/restaurants you can see at the bottom were fully booked by Asian tourist parties. Literally nowhere to sit down and eat. Wasn't like that when we went 30 years ago. Anyway, compensated by saying sod it and going for a beer at Andechs - see Dave's post somewhere on this one.

What sort of info are you looking for?

Rust spots on the knee make this a KH4 rather than a KH2. Given this came out of Baldwin's basement, which Peck had access to when compiling his tome, I suspect he must have missed a few.

KH4 silver pattern halfpenny, not in Peck

It is worthwhile if you can pick up a sizeable quantity in as struck condition as I disposed of most of the complete decimal collection I bought a couple years ago in about 6 months. However, all the things I get offered are coins people have taken from change, and usually it is one or two coins at the most (apparently worth £400 each because eBay says that what they sell for)

The whole world and their dog are hoarding 50p and £2 coins if the number of times I am asked on a daily basis whether I want to buy these things is anything to go by. I have put a lot of business eBay's way - not that I will get any thanks for it, from either them or buyers! I usually recommend that a buyer with no brain and a very fat wallet is best found on eBay, as I have yet to find one at a coin fair.

I used them for a while, but now use Hiscox as their quotes were cheaper and the policy was more flexible.

You could also use a specialist insurer with a separate policy. Typical rates are 1/2% of the sum insured, but that shouldn't be necessary if you use a sensible mainstream insurer.

The latter would be interesting in the case of some Victorian decimal patterns as they only occur on a laminating flan. I suspect a little flexibility would apply here.

2nd mortgage job on sausages and wine. Just kept adding in cases of wine at Henke until the car was full

People don't know how lucky they are. I've not had any holiday entitlement since 1987.

Probably any metal dip will suffice as it is a chemical reaction in the first place.

It appears I missed a bit. I saw one rowing race when passing a bar in Siena 10 days ago. Stopped for the few minutes it took to watch and that was the sum total of my exposure to the Olympics.

Farthings of Ed.VII were mint toned before release. i.e nearly black. Anything that colour will have been cleaned.

I'm not sure why the differentiation between forums and facebook etc. Surely forums are just different social media sites, but with a more focussed audience? i.e. you can filter out virtually all the unwanted self-centred crap associated with the mainstream sites. Coin acquisition of the week would be even more unwieldy if members felt compelled to post half a dozen images for every coin - a selfie of the person looking, another examining the coin, another negotiating the price, another shaking hands on the deal and finally a proud owner holding it beside their face with an inane smile, plus a spare in case there isn't enough exposure to be acceptable.