Rob

You and me both. I wrote up the coin reference file using the description of a submerged swimmer as seen in the hand without looking at any other images. I just assumed the crappy design clarity was considered contemporary excellence. That's a sad reflection of perceived quality when you expect a design to be abstract and only vaguely representative of the subject matter. Still no takers on the last time an unadopted design was inadvertently adopted?

A question to be asked is when was the last incorrectly rendered design issued by the RM? Spelling mistakes in the legend are common enough, but to actually release the wrong design into circulation may be a first. The withdrawn 1887 sixpences were due to confusion with half sovereigns. The 2008 20p and the 1983 2 NEW PENCE pieces were mules with an obsolete design and so don't count. I can't think of any other examples off the top of my head. Clearly they had to reduce the lined design down to the correct size, so you would have thought someone would have noticed unless there were 2 prospective designs, only one of which was adopted. I think there may be more to this than meets the eye.

It appears I've got one of them too. I have to confess being underwhelmed with the series and hadn't even bothered looking.

I dont remember bidding on that one although the words 'silver' and 'halfpenny' in a description would have tickled my fancy had I seen it! Aug 2006... just after I finished at Bolton Street... probably could have afforded £100 then as well! However, I assume this isnt what it went for?! Still, having recently purchased a 1983 Unc set with the 2p mule (unfortunately the seller did know what they had ), perhaps my budget limits aren't as tight as I thought they were! Well, you pushed the boat out for the second listing. The first time it was listed and shilled, you bid £75 and the shill won it for £365. In the second listing I bought it for £370 which was a bit under what I would have paid at Baldwins. First time round on ebay I bid £355, which makes me wonder whether the other bidder had noted my statement that I was going to bid the same again as this person bid £360 and the shill bid £356. Questions, questions. So many unknowns.

They are modern concoctions, make no claims to be fakes, or genuine. They are just a pair of obverses and reverses combined to provide gullible consumers with something that they won't be able to sell easily in the future. The 1823 obverse doesn't even look real. Pence, not pounds should be the real price and I would recommend you avoid them.

Where did you get this reference from? I cant find it on his current webpage? Rascoins website Thanks Rob, for some reason I was still getting his old list via bookmarked page So do I, but the new link came via email with list 22. The new site has the /global22 bit stuck on the end - whatever that means.

Where did you get this reference from? I cant find it on his current webpage? Rascoins website

Just English milled silver for me, maybe I'll have to pretend that it isn't a different 'type' ... Do you know what the shilling went for and if so are you allowed to say? £2750. ex Ashby 2448. Thanks, I have contacted some dealers on-line, and if there are any dealers/members on here that know of one for sale please let me know, I have a reasonable budget for one! So do I

I'm always suspicious of "rainbow" toning - I just can't see how it can be natural? (I.e. with red yellow and blue all present). If yours had just been blue where it's toned, I would have said "great natural toning". As it is, it really doesn't look bad, in fact it looks nice, but.... And is there a huge gouge on the cheek? You can get red, yellow and blue all present at the same time. Neither of these two are AT, guaranteed. I'm generally very suspicious of rainbow toning, but those are beautiful coins Rob. I want the gift from Peck! The second one was gifted from Peck to Rev. Rogers in 1957 as the ticket says. It was then acquired by Baldwins post mortem in 1961 where it languished in the basement for over 40 years whereupon I bought it. AT it isn't, though it is deliciously toned and looks like an oil painting. It is the worst condition of any of my R59 halfpennies, but I felt compelled to create a "Far too nice to sell" category and so retained some duplication. The first one was ex Selig (sold 1999) who got it from the Circular in 1982. The toning patterns are the same now as then, so definitely not AT either.

I don't think any of the British are AT given the age of the pieces. What is more of an issue is the rainbow toned coins that are still in nappies. You don't get modern coins from the last few decades with some of the toning seen. They are invariably multihued concentric circles. The older coins on the site listed have random patchy colouring which is what you would expect for 100+ year old silver.

I'm always suspicious of "rainbow" toning - I just can't see how it can be natural? (I.e. with red yellow and blue all present). If yours had just been blue where it's toned, I would have said "great natural toning". As it is, it really doesn't look bad, in fact it looks nice, but.... And is there a huge gouge on the cheek? You can get red, yellow and blue all present at the same time. Neither of these two are AT, guaranteed. 1807 silver halfpenny P1169, pattern halfpenny

Just English milled silver for me, maybe I'll have to pretend that it isn't a different 'type' ... Do you know what the shilling went for and if so are you allowed to say? £2750. ex Ashby 2448.

Congratulations, mine's a double . Time will tell for you to wish the 5lb 11oz catch had been a bass though.

Look in the local sellers' inventories if you want to buy non-US pieces. First of all the quality is likely to be better than on home turf and the quantities are also going to be greater. Very few items are found worldwide on auction sites, though the US is better served than most in this respect being the melting pot that it is. The lower grade material inevitably gravitates to ebay because most people don't have things that are worth considering for conventional auctions. At least in the US you are able to get mint state or thereabouts British coins with several sales coming up in the next week containing a good amount of qualtiy material. Greek and Roman are similarly widely traded, but beyond this you will need to look in the countries of origin. The US being geared towards slabbed coin sales means that only the higher grade pieces pass through the saleroom there. European countries have a reasonably diverse selection of material and you could do worse than explore this avenue. For most dealers, foreign coins tend to be a by-product of their own national currency which is what pays the bills. There are a few dealers in the US specialising in British material such as Allan Davisson in MN, but he tends to specialise in upmarket pieces which may be beyond your pocket. There are plenty of people on this site who would be able to offer British material if you were interested.

Not anything and everything. I am in truth a fairly selective magpie. As for worrying what is going to happen in the future, don't worry until the situation arises. All our collections are special to each of us, but very few will be first class and worthy of note. Those that have them will be aware of this and most will somewhere along the way have communicated the value to close relatives. Obviously, if you are collecting surreptitiously without the wife or family knowing, you are storing up a potential problem for the future, but if you share your enthusiasm with family members then they will grow to appreciate the collection too. I'm not saying they have to wholeheartedly embrace collecting, but forewarned is forearmed. I suppose I am saying, don't be the avaricious and secretive Gollum and be a bit more like the philanthropic members of past and present society - sharing your wealth by passing on the knowledge of what is in a decent collection will set them in good stead for the future and not result in throwing value away.

The box is that originally used for the 1953 proof set. If the coins are currency pieces that have been substituted, then treat them as currency. If proofs, but mis-described you would be on a winner at that price. Therein lies the beauty and one of many pitfalls with ebay. The seller may not know what they have or may be fully aware and has described it accurately, though the mint specimen sets were the plastic wallet pieces. The latter are frequently toned and unattractive as a result of spending the last 50+ years in a plastic wallet which has leached plasticiser over the coin surfaces. Ask him for better images of one or some of the coins. This should tell you whether the coins are proofs or not.

Not a problem at all if you can seal the the container adequately. It is probably only worth going to the hassle of this for quality (and probably expensive quality) though.

First of all, a Happy New Year to you and all the collecting fraternity. Formalities over, I too have had an interesting year viewing collections and seeing the various angles taken by collectors when deciding what to go for. Many seem to be restricting themselves to denominations, or a period within that. Ever the contrarian, I decided to migrate away from the denomination scene a few years ago when I found it increasingly difficult to acquire good examples to fill the gaps in the collection, of which there were many. I also found the ranks of similarly lustred halfpennies in particular a bit too consistent to provide continuing eye appeal. As a whole they were very nice to look at, but constituted a complete unit rather than a collection of many pieces, each with their own attractive features. This is one reason why I decided to refocus the collection, though couldn't bear to part with the George III patterns which were in a variety of metals and by extension, richly and variably toned with much resulting eye-appeal. The shillings were more varied due to the toning properties of silver which provided eye-appeal, but still had the uniformity of size. Without the constraints of a theme, the world is your oyster and so now the collection can have pieces ranging from a fraction of a centimeter across to a couple of inches, which in addition can sit next to each other in the trays. A point made to me by a discerning collector who accumulates rather than acquiring pieces based on a theme said this provides much more interest because you see each coin as an individual object in isolation rather than a small component of the whole - something I hadn't previously considered, but with which I wholeheartedly concur. You buy coins individually, yet end up looking at them as just one small piece in a tray of many. As I am attempting to build a collection encompassing the whole of British coinage with no constraints on diversity but at the same time trying to avoid duplication, you could argue that this is the 'theme'. I hope this will negate the feeling of despair when it seems impossible to add to the collection because this shouldn't happen when there are few or no constraints. I know of several collectors who stopped because they had effectively completed the task in hand or were unable to add to the collection. At this point you have to make a decision and for some it means the end because the individual's enthusiasm is tested to destruction. I don't want to go there.

That's disappointing. I'd somehow convinced myself he'd take a few back issues of the SNC and a bag of jelly beans for it, but now you've made me think I'll have to increase my offer ... Try a few Kinder eggs with a do it yourself early Saxon penny kit in each one - then you might have a chance.

Of course there's a better one. The coin used to illustrate the type in Spink and petitioncrown's current avatar for a start. Mind you, you might not be granted the opportunity to get it. The Spink and Petitoncrown's coins are both G2's with eye mark, I think Tom is highlighting the G1 with this mark which can prove to be tough to find, I don't know of any in near decent grade? I always think it's well worth picking up a coin with a bit of rarity especially if it's going cheep!! But I agree the general run of the mill coins are better of waiting for from a good collection, so same resolution for me!! Sorry, my fault, you are right, his is a G1. I was blinded by the quality of Tom's coin and not concentrating. The coins I was referring to are one and the same.

Of course there's a better one. The coin used to illustrate the type in Spink and petitioncrown's current avatar for a start. Mind you, you might not be granted the opportunity to get it.

Mine is to tick some more boxes taking the opportunity to acquire the rarities before the common options unless the common one is unusually good for the issue. Getting a Truro crown and an Exeter Tower/EX crown would help as I could then forget about those two mints. Ticking off some more rare mints along the way would also be good. Actually, any gap filled with an appropriately graded piece would be good - so it's as you were.

I must have 30 of the blighters left from NEF to UNC after buying a job lot years ago.These sell for 99p on Ebay so I can't be bothered to list. graffiti on coins is the same as on everything else... Want to sell me one Peter ? paypal ?, if so throw me a price all in will you. Take a deep breath and save up. I was an underbidder on the two numbered pennies in the Adams sale in 2003 and they hammered at 600 and 920 respectively. My halfpenny cost me £650 in 2007 and is numbered 138/405. Some have sold for over £1K. The numbers in the fields refer to the quantity of that denomination struck and the total bronze respectively (see Graham Dyer's article in the 1982 BNJ (vol.52) p.234-240. Obviously there is no duplication of number combinations. They appear to be some sort of mint control or record. How they escaped into the collecting fraternity isn't certain, but they seem to have appeared in the 1940-50s. I am not 100% sure how, so will not speculate. Thank you Rob. I can't access that yet though, or find it online. So are you saying that they struck 138,000 or merely a 138 copper and 405 Bronze. i know others will understand this off the bat, but I am a bit slower I am afraid, and as it is a bit special I thought I would be the daft sod to ask about it for other beginners who wandered across it but didn't want to look daft asking here ( looking daft is a family trait, so I'm not bothered ). I thought it had to do with how many 000's before the die was knackered !. Oh well. That would be 138 tons of halfpennies and 405 tons of bronze in total by 1866. The one on Gouby's site is 139 and 406, so possibly they were sampled every complete ton struck.

I must have 30 of the blighters left from NEF to UNC after buying a job lot years ago.These sell for 99p on Ebay so I can't be bothered to list. graffiti on coins is the same as on everything else... Want to sell me one Peter ? paypal ?, if so throw me a price all in will you. Take a deep breath and save up. I was an underbidder on the two numbered pennies in the Adams sale in 2003 and they hammered at 600 and 920 respectively. My halfpenny cost me £650 in 2007 and is numbered 138/405. Some have sold for over £1K. The numbers in the fields refer to the quantity of that denomination struck and the total bronze respectively (see Graham Dyer's article in the 1982 BNJ (vol.52) p.234-240. Obviously there is no duplication of number combinations. They appear to be some sort of mint control or record. How they escaped into the collecting fraternity isn't certain, but they seem to have appeared in the 1940-50s. I am not 100% sure how, so will not speculate.

I concur. Unfortunately my powers of forgetfulness are not all they could be.