Rob

Makes you wonder why they made and stockpiled Charles I halfpennies at the Tower from 1577 onwards until required 50 years later, but then subsequently produced Elizabethan halfpennies in the intervening 6th and 7th issue periods, not to mention the issues during the reign of James 1st. It also isn't only sloppy listing. Someone has gone out of their way to write a load of spiel about the coin which is patently wrong ie. they weren't striking halfpennies in 1577. If you are going to write crap, it should at least be plausible with a potential match to the historical evidence. Well done Saxby's.

Just keep on drip feeding the collection. Nobody will time the market perfectly. Some will be overpaid and others bought cheaply, but more importantly you have fulfilled your collecting desires.

My wallet has emerged unscathed so far. Wow. I wanted the Briot hammered halfcrown, but wasn't willing to pay nearly £5K. I thought 3 was pushing the boat out.

This happens on a regular basis, so yes, there are bargains to be had because half the US collectors won't go near it, relying on the 'superior knowledge' of the TPG.

If you look at the prices asked for GCS slabbed coins, they are invariably multiples of the raw coin price. I think they are just trying to emulate the US market where a premium is the norm for a label. Nobody is forced to buy though. As an aside, I also see that the US TPGs seem to have lost the plot a bit more. Baldwins sale next week has a Richard II noble (lot 4322). PCGS have given it AU58. Steve Hill, who usually pushes every last drop of grade on his listings has given it good fine! Goldbergs next sale has an 1812 1/6d bank token (lot 4338) which I threw out of my collection due to the wear to the high points and sold as a nearly gEF has come back as NGC MS66!!

My eyes are dim, I cannot see....Ooooh

That'll be a seat for two in the 3rd row then. I'm hoping to be impoverished tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Get your ME on a 1927 for £30-50, then you have a lot of spare change to buy other things.

'Stylised A' mintmark on this fine detailed VF obverse! Saxby's has always been a byword for things to avoid IMHO. Thankfully the listings always used to be obvious and so easily avoided. Not looked recently though. I'll have a few Matildas if you don't mind. Well, maybe not. They always list continental hammered coins as "British found" which was fine, until their eBay feedback showed bulk purchases of coins from the continent... So basically they sell things - not sure what, that were purchased in a far away land called Britain - not. Yet another ebay seller with a compromised moral compass. They are either ignorant of what they're selling , or someone is trying to pull a fast one. Given nobody in business owns up to being in the dark about their chosen field nor should they be, it's a bit self incriminating.

'Stylised A' mintmark on this fine detailed VF obverse! Saxby's has always been a byword for things to avoid IMHO. Thankfully the listings always used to be obvious and so easily avoided. Not looked recently though. I'll have a few Matildas if you don't mind. Well, maybe not.

That's what I use. It doesn't matter as long as it is searchable. There is a limit to the number of things you want to search, so keep some of the info off the sheet in a separate file dedicated to that coin.

Not popular. There is too much large and interesting Chas 1 material for the small things to get much attention.

I agree - but my point was that the penny equivalent is worth far more, as halfpennies just aren't fashionable. Sure it will sell, at a good price for a halfpenny, but... I concur.

I'd be interested in it.

o***t (2001) I reckon. Although only 11% bids with this seller, and shops for all sorts of other stuff, he's retracted 49 bids. I've been shopping on eBay nearly 10 years and I've never retracted a bid. That one only bid up to 150 on the first listing. Sorry, should have said r***6 - crap eyesight. He won it at the beginning of the month.

Websites takes too long to update. I set out with good intentions whereby I thought I could update every few days, but usually find there's no time. By the time you have got decent images, copy and pasted existing entries which are then amended to the new coin's spec, set the paths, upload the revised lists and new images to the host and then check everything is working - you can easily lose a day. The temptation to revert to playing with atoms in a vacuum is immense.

Who is the shill on this one? n***6 doesn't fit in with the characters I'm familiar with. The description is a joke on this one. Excessively rare - not. Quite common compared to a lot of Soho pieces thanks to the number that have entered the market courtesy of the Boulton family. Obviously doesn't read the Circular, or if read promptly ignored Mick's article. Auction prices suggest 1500-2000 - where? Anyone paying that amount for a P1258 needs to see a man in a white coat. £400-600 is about right for this in the current market, so the underbidder wasn't being unreasonable. You can get one of the rarer types of 1797 proof pennies for just over 1K, so why pay nearly double for something common?

Most dealers there I'd never heard of, Clive, and looking them up afterwards quite a few have no internet presence at all, which is remarkable. Quite old school in a way - it almost felt a bit "underground", compared to the mainstream I'm used to swimming in. As well as Rob, the other people who sold me stuff were: David Craddock Birmingham Coins Ian Pratt Paul Davis Numismatic Legends D T Peake K B Coins Dave Craddock and K B Coins are very much old-timers - I remember them from the mid-90s. Possibly Ian Pratt too? but the other names are unfamiliar. Did you happen to see Dorset Coins, Carlton Coins, Lockdales, or Wayne Nicholls there? They were familiar faces to me all those years ago. Carlton Coins is Derek Peake

See, I'll wean you off eBay eventually. You can't beat a coin fair. What you see is what you get, unlike eBay where what you see you might get applies. Coin fairs also filter out the washers, because nobody wants to carry them around for the day. They go into the melting pot as a default action. It's actually quite difficult to find something in less than fine at a coin fair unless it is at the very least scarce or rare. You will, Rob, of that there's no doubt! I even caught myself fantasising about having a table but I'd have to get into buying stock for stock's sake, and I'm not sure I want to do down that route. I have always avoided buying downgrades, so, unlike most dealers, I don't have sacks of junk in the cellar that I have cherry picked. I'm not sure Gnome Cottage has room for a cellar.

See, I'll wean you off eBay eventually. You can't beat a coin fair. What you see is what you get, unlike eBay where what you see you might get applies. Coin fairs also filter out the washers, because nobody wants to carry them around for the day. They go into the melting pot as a default action. It's actually quite difficult to find something in less than fine at a coin fair unless it is at the very least scarce or rare.

One to avoid bookmarking. Plastering images of 5 guineas and high grade hammered gives you a false sense of anticipation.

I'm not sure future generations will ever appreciate YOUR collection. They might appreciate their collection, but even if they adopt yours along the way, odds on that they will keep a few bits but throw out more. Collections are quite personal. To have any hope of them continuing what you started you will need to involve them long before you're pushing up the daisies.

You must have been like a kid in a sweet shop. See what happens when you get let off the lead.

Where you go depends on what you want. Ask the questions and you will get answers. Old coins covers a few thousand years of history starting with Lydia in around 700 BC through to decimalisation in 1970 and those decimals no longer circulating. All of us will accept returns in the event of you not being happy with a coin, but first you have to know what you want to collect. There are plenty of reputable characters in the business, but like most capable people tend not to shout from the rooftops. Personal recommendation from a third party is always a good sign.

I would say buy a selection of books first, then buy the coins. I would advise against going too heavily into ebay as ignorance/deceit/overpriced tat are everywhere. If you do decide to go down the ebay route, disregard the assigned grades. As you are a novice, buy Derek's grading book first so that you decide the grade and not the vendor. The beauty of books is that you can decide what you like from the images and then start from a position of some knowledge.