Rob

Merry Christmas from me too

I am using my old bookmark. Finds it ok.

I put a cross in every possible box. We will see what happens.

How big is it? The trays look to be too deep for coins unless the whole thing is little bigger than a metronome.

If you can learn deffo, then you might as well learn both definitely and defiantly. That gives you two words with which to bamboozle the general populace instead of using a 'one size fits all' term. I don't object to the occasional error because we are all human, but people could at least demonstrate they have the fundamentals in place.

Not overly impressed. I now get emails because I 'follow' threads (which I never did before). email overload is a problem without the forum adding to the list. As with Tom, I think there is too much unused screen now. If the screen is there it is better used than not. It's as bad as a pdf in that respect. I assume this layout is to make it 'up to date in appearance', in which case I would like to revert to using Hengist Pod's square wheel.

The much used term 'deffo' in order to circumvent any problems arising when trying to spell definately, defiantly, definetly, definitly (sic) http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/10/definitely-versus-defiantly-difference/

The three examples listed in Peck that weren't in a museum were the Lockett coin, which GC got from Slaney, and the other two were listed as in the Brooks and in Peck's own collection. The Alderley example was listed as ex Brooks and Peck, so the waters are somewhat muddied. If not the Alderley one, it would need a picture because you can't be certain that those are the only 6. He listed the pieces he saw, but that is rarely a full list. The Slaney coin is given as ex Brice, Montagu, Murdoch, Manton & Lockett. The Alderley as ex Brice, Montagu, Peck, Brooks, Noble and Entwistle. See where I'm coming from?

I've got spares for April and May, but no July - and for the majority of issues since 1998. If anybody needs anything please PM me.

VLARD ON CANT, so Cl.2-4b i.e. Richard I. Struggling a bit with narrowing it down further though due to no detail.

Gremlins today. I was going to edit to say that it appears to be a general problem rather than specific program - but it won't bring up the edit reply page. Thankfully reply is still working. Hey, whadda you know. Now it does edit.

Same here many times over.

There are a few books which are helpful for identification, but the quid pro quo is their weight which iincreases in line with the complexity of the subject. Brussels hoard, Mass sylloge, or any one of the numerous BNJ articles on restricted sections, one way or another you are going to have to carry around a volume or two if you want to identify the variants within the main classes. TBH Spink isn't that bad given you are probably going to have it with you for other references. Anyway, a parcel of 100 should ensure you are fully up to speed on a few classes, which means that you will know what not to buy. Just as important as looking for specifics, is knowing what you have and avoiding them too.

But they are only responding to the desire of the collector to find ever more esoteric varieties. It's a chicken and egg situation, but mostly chicken. Stop paying grossly inflated sums for minescule differences and this situation will go away. By all means include them as part of a detailed study, but as long as the herd mentality pushes up prices to silly (IMO) levels, then people will appear to satisfy the demand, or increase the price of existing stock to reflect the demand. That's business. The prices asked are determined by collector demand at auction, not dealers closely examining every coin and pushing the slightest difference as a variety - they don't have the time whereas collectors will talk, as on this forum when a new discovery suddenly turns into half a dozen known.

How did you count the edge milling? Used sellotape to ensure it didn't move and then marked off every 10 Sellotape on a coin??? Well, it will never be worth more than bullion. It only touches the high points of the milling to provide friction and it was necessary to prove the point. Just looking at it and pronouncing a verdict to a seller is not good enough without providing some evidence. They just think you are trying to pull a fast one. I suppose I could have used a marker on the milling to count off every 10.

Take a punt and say it is a case of copy and paste from the Roland Harris description, the populations having since been extended along with the highest recorded number. This happens a lot. Even going back half a century you find lots with exactly the same description in catalogues even 10 years on. e.g. a bulk lot was bought in the Parsons sale in 1954, and a lot with exactly the same eclectic description was sold when the purchaser in Parsons sold up in the early 1960s. Another glaring example was a Pontefract shilling in a Bonhams sale 10 years which didn't go with an estimate of 1300. As it was clearly a £2-3000 coin, the question was why? It had been plugged, It was then sold in the following sale, described as plugged but not illustrated. The link was possible with the copy and paste identical faulty references used. It then reappeared on eBay as being ex the first Bonhams sale where there was no mention of it being plugged. I advised the top and underbidders whereupon they withdrew.their bids.

How did you count the edge milling? Used sellotape to ensure it didn't move and then marked off every 10

I thought that Lincon and Winchester were quite difficult to find in general ... I considered Durham and Bury St. Edmund more common .... Depends on which issue you are talking about. Not all mints struck all of the time. Durham is quite common in later years where the local bishop was granted powers to strike coins, but quite scarce in the Norman period. Bury St. Edmunds comes and goes throughout a 300 year period. Winchester was the old capital of Wessex and a major centre. A few kings were crowned there, and unsurprisingly a good number of coins struck too. Lincoln is for the most part common, but there are still periods when the output reduced in size, leading to scarce issues and corresponding moneyers. Even London has its rarities This is the big drawback with the standard general references. There are many instances where the general description doesn't reflect the populations of the various issues concerned. Take Cissbury for example. In a collecting sense it is a single issue mint. 39(?) coins known, all bar one of which is a Last Small Cross with a dozen or so in private hands. The price given in Spink for a VF example from the mint is £3K, which reasonably accurately reflects the prices of recent transactions.There is a single Cnut Quatrefoil known which is in the BM, so what price a Quatrefoil should another one appear? Guarantee it will be more than £3K.

Has the reverse die initially been inserted into the press 90 degrees out and then repositioned? i.e. is there any other legend that is displaced by the same angle or is it just this letter and therefore likely to be an engraving error?

That's because it is currently touring the UK and being held hostage by a supporter of Matilda.

I quite like the mint toned pieces with their nice, consistent mid-chocolate tone. I even allowed myself an example.

Yes, I've got a couple of Beirut Victorian gold pieces, 1887 £2 & £5. The most obvious indicator being the off centre die axis, though a deficit of 4 milling lines on the £5 also helps together with missing finer detail. The gold purity is rumoured to be 0.89-0.895, but I haven't had this checked.

There is no 'complete' volume of mints and moneyers. what you have to do is buy the relevant specialist volumes for a particular issue or series and make your own list if you want a full one. It is however, still going to be out of date, though incrementally a little better than the one you made a decade ago, and the one ten years before that. Half of all Saxon/Norman (and for the most part the Plantagenet) coins come from the five main mints of London, York, Lincoln, Winchester and Canterbury. However, there are still rarities withing these mints as a result of fire/plague etc or mint closure and relocation on account of invasion.

The first quarter of the shield has notable differences in the shapes of the angle voids to the St. George's cross. It all looks a bit bulky and clunky to me.

Have a good one.