Rob

I've always assumed that the different shaped letters were a result of the mint or mints purchasing letter punches from different sources. The fact that Heatons do not have this variation found on the Tower mint pieces lends credence to this theory. I have always assumed that they would be bought in items, but even if they made the letter punches in house, there would still be a number of individuals working in this area, so individual characteristic flourishes should be identifiable

Colin Cooke mentioned in passing a couple years ago that he used to keep some coins in the bank. Conditions were not ideal in this particular branch and he returned to them later to find that some base metal had degraded. Any collectors thinking of using a safe deposit facility should consider this. Silver and gold should be OK.

Expand into gold and you will really need the insurance, even for the 20th century only. There's more than a couple rare sovereigns to break the bank.

I'm sure he will accept any method of payment. Get him to do a swap for your duplicates. 1 million 1967 pennies should just about cover it.

The former is decidedly uncommon. The Adams penny collection didn't contain one which suggests the R9 rarity given by Freeman may be a bit out.

If I were you, I would make sure I had read all I could about guineas before buying anything. Some of the gaming counters have only one or two letters different to a genuine guinea legend, but then may have an incorrect date. Better still, take someone with you who knows something about both items if possible. Caveat emptor.

That doesn't make sense. If he is selling things worth pence for a quid and he knows what they are and their value, why would he sell something worth £60 for £12? I'd be suspicious, because gold is frequently traded by the general populace, gaming counters are not.

If they are genuine guineas then that is a no brainer. The scrap gold content is worth a lot more than £12, even with a reduction in weight for the hole. It's always good policy to buy £10 notes for £5.

More likely eBay taking a leaf out of the book of its customers and putting the decimal point in the wrong place. £8.30 would have been more appropriate.

And there is also a 1675/3 no obverse stops about, similarly unrecorded. Another person on this forum can advise on that if they like as they beat me to it.

1675/3 CRAOLVS halfpenny, unrecorded in any literature and rare for any date

I'm struggling to locate any BU examples of the three rare varieties and specifically the 4+C where I am having difficulty finding any at all. Value....?

I always assume they are not unless I know the seller. It's like most of the proofs you get. I was once informed that a coin was definitely a proof "coz it's really shinny" (their spelling not mine). Most coin descriptions on ebay tend towards the most expensive variety and grade. Clearly a case of if you don't have a clue, play it up.

In which case it probably isn't a proof. ESC393M has a rarity of R4 (est. 11-20 examples) and specifically says frosted design and highly polished fields. The frosted design will be the key as without proof-like and proof of the same design side by side it is likely to be difficult to tell unless you know what to look for and there was a similar thread a few months ago on this general topic involving a George VI proof (?).

Yes. We split the difference between what I wanted and what she wanted to let me spend (ie I got half what Iasked for!!) I too have been informed that I will not be spending so much this year

Very sound advice, particularly if you are on a tight budget. As a complete date nut, i can't argue with any of that. If date collecting is your thing (like me), then you're in trouble. It gets worse if you collect by Peck, Freeman, ESC, Davies et al numbers

Very sound advice, particularly if you are on a tight budget.

I think we all have the same problem. The solution of course is to inform her that you intend spending 5 times more than you actually do/can. She informs you that you can spend to a certain limit, then you have a row and you back down so that when you only spend twice the amount you can actually afford or think wise you earn lots of brownie points for your restraint. Then she who must be obeyed may even raise her limit as a bonus.

There are a few pictured on this website. link Most put there by David Magnay, I presume the same one who had the pattern sale at DNW 3/2/1999.

That's because both the predecimal and rotographic links are not obvious at the top of the forum page. The colours are too similar to stand out clearly and this is compounded by small lettering. I always forget they are there, in fact I found Rotographic via Google months before I noticed the link.

Only listed as a variety for 1697 and 3rd bust. Spink 3499 1st bust.

Spink 3611.

Probably just a lower 5. The whole issue is plagued with misaligned dates. I have 1821, 2x1822 & 1825 and all are rising left to right except for the P1411 which has the last two digits level.

Mr Consistency

Davies reverse D with cross touching bead and date covering 10 beads on an 1883 6d. Normally this is reverse F with SIX PENCE wider spaced, cross to space and date covering 11 beads.