Rob

I see a hand dividing R F (French?)

It's on the British Numismatic Society website. Someone else will have to provide a link. I find it easier to get the book out, as it takes less time to read than it does to download.

Schneider covers these in the 1959 section of his BNJ article on Tower gold (vol. 29 p.382-403). Up to and including Tun (period ends 8th May1638), the predominant type was that with a wire line inner circle ( as per yours), though others with both a beaded inner circle and no inner circle were also known. After Tun, i.e. Anchor onwards, all subsequent issues had a beaded inner circle.

And the problem is? NGC have correctly identified it as a penny.

No Minton.

It sold for £8, but I don't have the buyer noted for that lot. Given it went to Bliss, it is highly likely that he bought it at the sale, probably through Spink. Have you just bought it?

Which one? They all started at lot 1.

Looks like an antique silver dealer that has assumed it is a genuine crown and knows they will go for more than the starting price in that condition.

The one on the left is from the same reverse die as the coin above, not sure about the obverse though it looks a pretty good match. There is more than one punch in use for a given character and the design is entered by hand as seen by the legend alignment. I can't see a problem with it.

I doubt it. Just looks like a die flaw.

'not much of a freebie if only half the dealers there - one even bought his coins but had no price list so I was stuck staring at coins i could not buy - might as well have gone to a museum' At the large fairs there isn't enough time to look at every table, so the larger space combined with less to look at made the whole day more relaxing - nobody elbowing their way in and shunting people sideways. Also, less is more, as a surfeit of choice usually results in prevarication with most potential customers continually drifting from one table to the next and never making their mind up. Fewer things available tempts people to spend longer considering the options, and usually brings a positive result. I always do better at the smaller ones. Nearly a hundred dealers only gives people a few minutes per table at the most to look at what is on offer, and if they stop to buy, that gives even less time to look at the rest.

It was ok. Up at 5, left for the Midland at half 5, so no sign of snow until past Crewe and it only took 20 minutes longer than usual to get to the museum. And it was a good day to boot. Maybe a third or so of the dealers appeared and probably not many more than that number of visitors - but having made it to the fair, everybody had plenty of space for a relaxing look around the tables and good money was spent. All those who didn't go also missed the free entry.

In Tudor times it was illegal for Irish coinage to circulate in England and Wales because the coinage was struck to a lower standard. Consequently English coins traded at a premium to Irish in Ireland.

Still is.

That's just coke/metal polish/some other cleaner and has been burnished. Maybe heated as well, but that is a less probable afterthought. How many do you want like that - I can supply hundreds.

If you aren't careful, Seuk will be organising another Danish invasion. Just sayin'.

If you want a hardbound copy they will do that too. It's probably only about 40 or 50 pounds on top of the basic book and protects the pages better than the softback.

Michael Sharp's classification (see BNJ 1977). Bust type H1, reverse 1.

That's the one thing you don't want. Coin collections are a personal thing. They will probably buy something that is overpriced and in a grade that you will want to improve on. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder etc.

I think it probably is the one described by North as Aldgar as there is no AED..... listed. A weak upper portion to the E could mislead the cataloguer. Eadgar is also listed for EdC at London. Aldgar (Aedgar) would make sense as he strikes in both EdC and H2, the above being a late issue. Maybe Clive has a bit to add.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/must_see/42288252/prankster-defends-cementing-head-in-microwave Not entirely stupid as he does wear a cap, helpfully marked O(bviously) B(rain) D(ead)

There is no AEDGAR at London. Plenty of AE.............s, and an ALDGAR according to North. A picture would have been infinitely more useful than a description as spellings of the same name frequently varied. It is often to do with using up the space fully (empty gaps in the legend weren't allowed), or abbreviating a name to fit in both moneyer and mint.

There's nothing to match in D&H, but Davis Dublin 17 onward (p.214-222), mostly have a crowned harp. There is a number (dozens) of legend varieties/number of pearls to crown/laurel leaf pointings which are rendered irrelevant by the condition of the object above. The dates are approx. 1800-1822.

With the exception of a few well documented types, the likelihood of a coin being dodgy is very low. People get exercised for obvious reasons about the fakes being touted as real that emanate from China, but these coins are known to collectors. If there were lots of copies around of other types, the word would soon get out. That it hasn't is a fairly good reflection of the risk. Copy types are measured in the hundreds or maybe a thousand by now, but are characteristically too good to be true. Taking the British coinage over the past couple of millennia, it is fair to say that the number of varieties combined with dates is into 6 figures. Look at individual dies and we are probably well over a million. Got to keep things in perspective.

There's cleaning and cleaning. You can use soapy water or some other suitable solvent depending on what you want to remove. Try it in an ultrasonic bath, but only as long as the coin is held suspended and not touching the sides of the vessel. What you don't want to use is a Brillo Pad. Looking at a lot of detector finds, I suspect that message hasn't got through. If you have greasy deposits then a suitable organic solvent wouldn't go amiss. I suppose the crucial point, if you intend to use physical contact, is to use something with a lower Mohs scale value than the material you are trying to clean.