Rob

Hus's hosting site told him a short while ago that they would stop hosting in 6 months, but then shut it down fairly promptly. That is why the account suspended page came up. It was based in Egypt apparently. According to an email he sent me a week or so ago, he is trying to get the forum contents onto another hosting site with all the data intact. That is why it disappeared.

Don't be hasty. Do you know how much tap washers cost these days? Tap washers are designed and made to fit your tap. That is not fit for purpose, original or maladjusted.

Rob, There is no picture with it, but there is a 1893/2 for sale at: Boulborn Collections LTD Jan issue of Coin News, page 34 Cost 1,995 Pounds Is that a fair price? He would probably send you a close up pic, if he thought your were interested in the coin! Thanks Bob. John sent me a picture, so problem is sorted.

Unlikely becasue that would risk having predated coins in circulation which by definition should be rejected by the person paid if they are half awake.

Talking of dings, my wife had an accident whilst driving my car in 2010 which was her fault so the claim went on my insurance. Come renewal last year and I dutifully fill in the details when applying online. 1 claim for me, 1 accident for her. A price is quoted which sounds ok so I accept. The insurance company rings up and says is it 2 accidents? I clarify and say no, only the one, but named driver had the prang, so my claim. They say, ok we'll knock one of them off and requote. 10 minutes later after consulting the underwriters the premium has increased by 37%. Anyone on here involved with insurance and who would like to venture a possible explanation? It's a pity I hadn't had half a dozen accidents, as by extrapolation my premium should have reduced to the point where they were paying me to drive. Or maybe it was just that I wasn't a valued customer because I didn't use their facilities as much as expected. Plain stupid.

No, but definitely fewer than the 685,000 figure that is stated in ESC and Davies. It is by far the rarest date of the Victorian shillings. Anyone like to make an educated guess how many are left? 2 or 3 dozen perhaps with the number in high grade in low single digits?

Generally speaking they are gaming tokens and worth a minimal sum. There are a lot of variations in the legend to differentiate them from currency guineas and halves which they imitate. Yours appears to refer to George III regaining his health which may or may not be a gaming token as for once it refers to an historic event. I don't know where you would read up about them as there are no articles in the BNJ relating to this type of material. I know there is a token society and they might be able to help.

The tabloid interest in screwing only works on a personal level or a menage a trois at the most. One person screwing tens, hundreds or thousands doesn't have the same appeal. If I had worked for Murdoch, it would have been all over the papers by now - officially.

I suspect that ebay would wonder how the buyer found out that the item had been reported; given that such things are confidential. And if the buyer complained that they had only subsequently found out, without knowing the ebay had been told the coin was dodgy, ebay would probably just tell them to claim their money back from the seller. ebay after all, always have the recourse of saying that they are not experts on coins (or any other item), merely provide a platform for sellers and buyers. Probably they would argue that they didn't misrepresent the item, the seller did. And therefore any complaints the buyer has should firstly be presented to the seller (who from experience will probably just refund the buyer immediately to avoid problems and negative reporting). Afterwards ebay might choose to take action, but as usual, are unlikely to agree to tell anyone what form that action will take. Rob might choose to chip in at this point as he has a little experience in this area .. If it is fraud on ebay, they will do nothing because they refuse to deal with members of the public, only the Police - that was from the horse's mouth as I managed to get a phone link to someone at eBay. And in reality the Police will only get involved if someone has had been hurt or suffered loss through a criminal act. Basically you are on a hiding to nothing. In the case of a well known fraud about 5 or 6 years ago, I got a friend in the local force to do a bit of digging, but there were no open cases against the individuals involved and so nothing to pursue. Presumably because embarrassment ruled where the losers were concerned and nobody reported it as a crime despite the whole world knowing what happened. Simply put, crime pays. In the case of dodgy items on eBay, so many have been reported by so many people and so little done to remove them, that we all know where we stand on that one. Trading standards don't want to know, so again it would need to be a case of criminal loss to get the ball rolling despite everyone knowing the perpetrators.

That will just be copy and paste from the 1934 listing which wasn't too long ago. Relist an item and change the particulars, I think a lot of people do that and only worry about the category when it is completely at odds. Cuddly toy an 1850 shilling is, not. Most people will search in the general category, even as diverse as country to see what's going off in the near future, and as long as shillings appear under coins, probably any sub-category will do. For me the bigger question is still the short list of items sold.

Hmm. 3 British coins sold or on offer in the last 5 years. An 1850 shilling, a 1934 wreath crown and a 1933 wreath crown. The first two are as rare as they come for type, the last one is flagged in Spink as there being copies circulating. I for one wouldn't consider bidding. If a cast copy, the original has to look similar as far as the date is concerned. I'm not sure the date is the problem, more the location and the selling history. If I had to have 3 British coins for sale at random, I'd certainly have the first two, no question.

Of course, you do all realise that I will shill your bids and win by that all important penny. Actually, it will go in time because I bought it for resale and for the decent obverse strike which tends not to be a feature of later YH bronze. I only gave the reverse a cursory check, but, c'est la vie.

But its 3/2? Yes.

Thanks Gary, that's wonderfully inconclusive as it quotes rates of both 5 & 20% without differentiating which should be which. Little wonder there is so much confusion. I had assumed that with Spink et al charging 5% for years that was the rate, but clearly it depends on which line is used from the list. So folks, if you get charged 20% VAT, refer customs to commodity code 9705 00 00 20 and then 03001 and point out this is what all the auction houses use and have done so for at least 10 years or whenever the rate was enacted. As it refers to gold and silver coins, there is a danger that copper/bronze/tin etc could be subject to 20% import VAT.

Sorry chaps, not lucky enough to get it for a fiver, but it is unc.

Thanks John. I think I've just had an unexpected bonus.

Hi. Please can somebody post a close-up image of the overdate if they have an example. Thanks.

I think it is false economy to think small in terms of reference material. Unless you are determined to only collect within a fixed range in perpetuity, having books which only cover the existing collecting criteria means any expansion will result in you having to buy literature which in all probability will also duplicate your current books. An added advantage of having literature outside your current field is that you can do a bit of reading and maybe find that it gives you inspiration to broaden your collection. Very few collections can ever be completed. Currency issues over a narrow range possibly, but beyond that you will in all likelihood struggle to find a few rarities. I can almost guarantee that you will see things outside your current range of 1816-1936 which you find atttractive and wouldn't mind collecting. Post 1816 there are a few killer dates for whichever denomination you choose. For halfcrowns it is the 1839 currency issue, though a decent 1828 will be problematic too. Shillings come unstuck with an 1850, florins with 1854, sixpences you are stuck with the solitary 1847 - so which lucky person is going to be the one that completes the series? For the moment it appears to be quite easy to say that only 1816-1936 are collected, but in time, as it becomes more difficult to fill the gaps, the temptation to diversify gains momentum. View having reference material for both current and potential future collecting periods as a means of problem solving.

When you say "3 date 1887 pieces in lead" I know you mean they have three dates but do you also mean there is more than one of them and if so are they part of your collection? No, the 1887 pieces in lead with 3 dates appear to be unique.

Talking about too much material in official hands, I was talking to someone at York who catalogued a 19th century hoard for a museum about a decade ago. When he called them recently to have a look at it, they denied all knowledge of having it and certainly couldn't/didn't want to find it. As far as they were concerned it didn't exist, despite the cataloguer knowing what he had done in the past. They simply have too much material and not enough interest to look after it responsibly on behalf of the public who are the ulimate beneficiaries.

But that still doesn't explain why coins in UK auctions that are sold by non-EU residents attract the 5% VAT instead of 20%. As I said before, the 5% rule was in force last December, so barring a change in the law over Christmas/New Year, this should still apply. I still suspect that someone somewhere in customs or their agents doesn't realise that coins are taxed at a reduced rate. I vaguely remember someone saying it is something to do with them being classed as collectables or artefacts, but can't think where I read it.

That's even muddier than it was before. At least the 5% for coins was easy to understand

A Wikipedia of coins, great stuff....But what a task!! Anyone got the time or will!? In the US its the third party grading companies that do it (and of course they benefit from it), perhaps CGS would over here? Though I guess it might drive prices up... CGS have already inflated their slab prices to double or more that of a raw coin to reflect the "added value". A Wiki of coins if it ran concurrent with a census would only serve to drive prices down. No more would some believe that there is only a handful of Charles Darwin £2s left on this planet.

Yes. The price guide I would choose is Spink simply because it has more information. If the reference you buy is only going to be an approximate guide which ever one you get, it may as well be comprehensive at the same time.

It applies to coins imported from outside the EU, but there may be other categories that are also favourably treated. Most goods are 20%, but books are zero rated in the UK for example. It also depends on the country into which it is imported. Once VAT has been charged at the appliciable rate in a specific country, it is deemed to have been paid throughout the EU. Chris does this with books which are sold from the UK where they attract 0% VAT as opposed to what the going rate is in Germany. I charge my customers UK VAT if our rate is below that of their country. If our rate is above that of the recipient's I will export VAT free against a VAT number and let them pay their home rate of import VAT. The only difference is the amount changes in two boxes on your VAT return. It may only be a percent or two to the end user, but any reduction in money available to p*** against the wall by the snouts in troughs is to be welcomed.