Rob

You can always boulder horizontally. We used to have a route around the caving club hut living room where you had to make a complete circuit without touching the floor. Easier said than done when you've had a skinful. More willingly attempted when you've had a skinful too.

Are you waffer(sic) thin, with tentacles stuck on your shoulders and hips? If you can answer yes to all points you will do well. I might add, this the softies way of climbing. Get out on the hills and find some real exposure - something that will make you remember to take the spare underwear next time.

Everyone should know how much they bid, so everyone should know if they won or not unless it is at their maximum

I checked my account with DNW online. They were pretty quick to put up the invoice. Nothing then . Cheers for letting me know. It depends, the sale doesn't finish until tomorrow, so they might not have done all of them yet.

Yes, but the estimates are less than half Spink book, so most are going for UNC plus a bit, or say 2-3x book. I see ... never taken notice of this series before, just left the audio running and was surprised so many of the estimates were so far out, is this common practice? I think the sovereigns were estimated low because there are so many of the same dates.

Ditto

Yes, but the estimates are less than half Spink book, so most are going for UNC plus a bit, or say 2-3x book.

Double strike. There are some bargains today, with a couple rather high. A real curate's egg of a sale.

DNW on 8/9/1999 had 3 lots (709-711) of 1765 sets (4d, 3d & 2d)! Unfortunately not pictured. Spink sold some 1765s in the past, but I don't have details. Is their search facility working? I have assumed not in keeping with the rest of the site.

Possibly not all that it seems. This example from DNW in 2008 is nowhere near a die match - different number of pearls on the crown arch for a start. Given the rarity of this year, more than a couple dies would have to be a no-no. Anybody want to do a search for more? The DNW site has been re-vamped and is now much faster, but images seem to be at a premium. Try that with the image included.

There's not a bag of them but about 25 of them were struck (forged) during that period in the 70's/80's by the same person(s)....who, I am told, is alledgedly still around. Do you know why he did not make more? If he could make such good fakes in the 70's / 80's, then I dread to think what will happen in 50 years time. Nothing given he should be pushing up the daisies

I can feel a large HMRC bill coming on after the recent US sales.

Oi. What about the halfpenny and farthing? Both point to the N with the farthing marginally closer to the centre. So we can categorically state that pennies are the oddballs. Nothing new there then.

There's no VAT on books, so import duty? Wasn't aware of that and certainly hasn't happened to me before.

Provenance, tickets, links to any old illustrations whether named or not, people are going to have to start doing homework. All these will come to the market initially on auction sites such as ebay with a few good copies probably sold to dealers. If they start making copies of valuable Chinese coins, there is just a chance that action will be taken, particularly if a high up party official gets conned.

If I remember, the Adams catalogue showed three distint positions for the colon, with no need to measure with a micrometer.

Not a rare coin but not in a decent condition either, particularly the obverse which is quite flat. This isn't an issue/date/type that is known for forgeries or modern copies, so suggest it is real. At a few Euros buy it, you can't lose.

I can't find the email at present. I'll have to do some gardening as the inbox has 2500 emails in it.

There's a couple hundred in it before costs. I bought the gothic florin.

Did you win it? It was cheap enough at 875.

Later years. Avoid pre 1852. Many 1850s onwards, 2nd head 1860s with die numbers, 3rd head 1872, 1873 & 1874. 4th head 1879, 1883 - 1887. The 1839 (WW on neck) is reasonably common and quite affordable. Yes, but all those dates I listed are the cheapest you will find. There are many dates that are one step up in price leaving aside the acknowledged rarities. 1883 onwards may well be the easiest and cheapest.

I stand corrected Dave - 1922 penny on ebay- meant to bid on this but forgot. Flaw on both neck and ear are in the same postion as those on the 1918KN but this is a different obverse die. Must conclude that this micro variety is in fact a result of clashed dies Yes, it looks right for the folds in the drapery between Britannia's thigh and lower leg. So recessed ear types they are not. The illustrated has die clash earwax too.

What metals are involved and what grade are the coins? Steer clear of plastic coin sleeves for copper irrespective of any claims about their inertness or not. Silver is a bit more forgiving in plastic. If average grade, say around VF, then mylar window 2x2s are ok. If mint state you could use capsules, or do it yourself slabs. You could always get a mahogany cabinet if you want to go up market. Steer clear of Whitman folders as the acid in the card will affect the coins on the rims, plus you often have to push the coins in to fit which provides for finger grease contamination. The fatty acids in the grease will mark the coins. If we are only talking about low grade coins below VF at best, then 2x2 card holders are ok. You can get staple together or self adhesive types.

Later years. Avoid pre 1852. Many 1850s onwards, 2nd head 1860s with die numbers, 3rd head 1872, 1873 & 1874. 4th head 1879, 1883 - 1887.

A whole new grading challenge! A lot of these must have slipped through as 'clipped' I'm thinking. I'm presuming this is a phenomenon consistent over a number of flans, and they've been on the button, weight wise? Could it be that the engravers were expecting larger flans, but the silver was just coming through too thick? There are 3 decent examples of the 1645 F7. Mine (ex-Lockett 2460), Carlyon-Britton (1921) lot 337 and Morrieson 534. All are well centred, but missing the reverse periphery. Attached is a less desirable example off Lloyd's site, which although off centre on the reverse, is still too big.