Gary D

I like the idea of tickets, the only one I have came with my 1960 VIP crown which simply says it came from Baldwins. I have often wondered about the provenance of my 1935 proof crown. I asked the auction house when I bought it but all they would say was that it came from a reputable source. Gary

Are they all FOC?

Two days ago I purchased from ebay a 1917 maundy 3d which arrived today. "Exceptional silver (0.9250) coin (part of Maundy Set) struck within a set from 1911 to 1920. George V was the second son of Edward VII, and was born in 1865. He had 5 sons and one daughter. He was King during the 1st. World War (1914-1918) and visited the front on several occasions, and during one of His visits had a bad fall breaking the pelvis, injury that would pain him for the rest of his life. Although Britain finish victorious, the tragic loss of 1.5m men dead and/or crippled, largest problems occurred for the generations to follow. During His reign the Empire divided; Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India.Owing the steep price of silver in 1919/20 the issue of standard 0.9250 was debased to 0.5000. in 1912, 1918/9 some pennies were minted under contract to Heaton (Birmingham) Mint. Farthings were again issued. Crown pieces had not been issued for circulation but they were struck in small numbers in 1927/1936, and a special commemorative crown minted on 1935 to be issued in celebration of His Silver Jubilee. As George V died in January 1936, it is likely that all coins dated of 1936 were struck during the reign of George VI." Ok I didn't both to read all of this gumpf, I got as far as (part of maundy set) then my eyes glazzed over. Anyway low and behold a rather scrappy currency 1917 3d arrived so I sent a message to say I will be returning it. "Hi, I have just received the 1917 silver 3d and it is a currency piece not maundy. The maundy peices are proof-like which this coin obviously is not, I would like to return it for a refund." And the answer "Hi Gary! I'm surprised to read the contents of your above e-mail. Starting from the begin. Maundy Sets were never minted and given away as a PROOF grade. Mainly the proof coins are distinctively milled with a frost center i.e. busts, heads, faces. FOC grade is the highest from the mint to Maundy sets. The regular Identical coins have dull dies and Maundy type brighter. I deal with coins for the last 55 years and attended 3 Mints, seeing mintage machines using different processed dies, depending of the raw metals quality, and those more difficult dies designs. The high relieves are planned mainly for the contracts mintage, for how many years the coins are expected to circulate and a possible melt down date. Regarding your requirement to get your cost back, it's within my established rules, for any customer not happy with his buy, the return within 7 days of his or her original receipt, will be accepted with no questions asked. Regards. You learn something new every day.

If it was genuinely uncirculated I'd say that was not far off a fair price. IMO 1921 is by far the rarest shilling in that series in Unc - yes, rarer than 1925. But I assume you're pointing us at the scratch on the neck, and what looks like wear to the hair detail? And as a 5+E the most numerous of the 1921 series. I'd have put it at sub £100 and would have been desperate to go more than £60. I agree it's the commonest of the varieties, but what I was getting at is that NO 1921 shilling is common in Unc. Even in Spink - not the most enthusiastic listers of modern silver varieties - it's over £100. I'm not sure what that ebay dollar price translates to exactly? Didn't I read on here that Spink have the 1921 shillings mixed up making this the cheaper of the two types listed Gary

If it was genuinely uncirculated I'd say that was not far off a fair price. IMO 1921 is by far the rarest shilling in that series in Unc - yes, rarer than 1925. But I assume you're pointing us at the scratch on the neck, and what looks like wear to the hair detail? And as a 5+E the most numerous of the 1921 series. I'd have put it at sub £100 and would have been desperate to go more than £60.

Has the world gone mad Oh my

And the other

Two that spring to mind are 1908 164A which I paid a couple of Australian dollars for, a poorer example had sold at Colin Cooke's in poorer condition a few week before for £600. I also picked up a 1902 low tide penny in BU from Coinex for £25. It's the 2 to gap variety, again an example had sold at Colin Cookes two weeks before for over £400.

I suspect Sulphur could be a good toning agent.. Not sure how you would go about it though Gary

Well, you nearly scared me off.

The are several pointer to the 1926 ME penny. The 1st if in top condition is the signature on GVs neck. Old effigy B.M. modified effigy. BM and further to the back of the neck. This wears very quickly so I go for the I of DEI. I to gap old, I to tooth ME. The 1922 penny. The royal mint is constanly working on new designs which take time to introduce. Although 5 years is a bit long producing no pennies in 1923-25 probably lengthen the gap. I believe the mint were working on reducing ghosting and they knocked up a few trails which just got chucked into the bin for circulation.

Thanks azda, I've had it for about 10 months and had given it EF myself. Red, yes I think there is a touch of wear on the beard, also there is a hint of flattening to the ear.

And the other side

On the subject of 1903 Half Crowns here is mine. Would you guys please give your opinions of grade. There is a bit of a bruise by FID which distracts a little

It's just coincidence. . . . . . . . . (pun intended) It may be coincidence, but in checking my copy of Jaeger, there are only two examples known of the 1933-J (Hamburg mint) 1 Reichsmark coin. Anyone know of any other countries with a similar rarity from that year? British one penny anyone

I know I always seem to buy high and sell cheap on ebay. I suspect a lot on ebay is not what it seems. Although I don't condone it I think it's all about multiple accounts. If you have a coin to sell that's not worthy of a reserve a second account can be used to put a bid on your own item to protect it from going too cheap. Ok you could end up winning it yourself and paying the ebay fee but you would likely only loose a pound or two. Also naturally toned coins don't make money, hence a certain seller dipping his silver, it can increase you selling price by 200%. Sad but true. Gary

You could do what everyone else seems to do. Put them on ebay !!!!!WOW RARE!!!!!!

Got the book when I arrived home this evening and just finished reading it. Great book Dave. Not too many shocks, just a couple fg micro varities to look out for. Gary

The four books I live by are; Spink for prices, Grading British Coins, Dave's copper book and Davies soon to be replaced by Dave's Silver book. I look forward to receiving my copy. Just hope there's no too many news coin to look for.lol. Gary

Yes, as a date run collector it wouldn't matter to me, especially as I couldn't tell. I wouldn't want a 1927 silver 3d in my date run though, so as long as some were issued for currency, Maundy would count. The problem with 1927, well not really a problem, the maundy and currency split and became a different design. The problem with 1927 is that the currency was only issued in the proof set so go for £80-100. Gary

In general Maundy 3d's are proof like so unlike the currency issue the fields are mirrored. 1927 is an easier year to distinguish the Maundy from the currency piece. The Maundy has the 3 with the crown above. The currency for 1927 is only available as a proof issue and is the first of the series to have the oak leaf design. Up to 1927 both the Maundy and currency 3d's shared the same design. From 1927 on the currency had the new oak leaf design which in 1937 was again changed to a sheild design. The maundy coins remained with the 3 with crown above until the present day. Gary

Well if that's an EF, I'm a Dutchman !!! Maybe VF at the very outside ~ and just look at the amount of wear on the three lions. You can hardly see one of them. Interesting, but no denomination, and certainly not a recognised type. Strictly of interest to a narrow specialist market, I'd say. It looks like the copper fantasy crown in copper. If the seller had done a search they would have found at least one going for about £12 As you say, its a fantasy wreath crown dated 1937 and featuring Edward VIII. I've got a small collection of Edward VIII fantasy items, just for the hell of it, and as you say, they come in around £10-15 each at most. My group of these includes four types: 1. A copper strike. 2. A silver strike, which is possibly genuine silver or may be plated onto copper or cupro-nickel. 3. A gold one, which isn't gold, might be plate, but is most likely, looking at the finish brass, and then thinly lacquered to preserve the colour. 4. Another gold type, but very subdued and most likely again a brass or maybe even bronze alloy, coated in lacquer. If this guy can get £2k for his, I'll have mine up on eBay soon as!!! I could do with some extra funds for some real coins. I've got the Edy VIII maundy set in silver and gold again just for the hell of it. The gold set is interesting as they are thinner than the silver but far heavier. I assume there must be some gold in them but I can not find any information on them. Gary

Well if that's an EF, I'm a Dutchman !!! Maybe VF at the very outside ~ and just look at the amount of wear on the three lions. You can hardly see one of them. Interesting, but no denomination, and certainly not a recognised type. Strictly of interest to a narrow specialist market, I'd say. It looks like the copper fantasy crown in copper. If the seller had done a search they would have found at least one going for about £12

Another interesting item, a bit out of my price range Good try

The US TPGs have this habit of grading proofs as PL, PL with cameo, PL with deep cameo and even VIP. Ok VIP is plain enough but what is this CAM and DEEP CAM and where does deep cam meet VIP? Are they just nitpicking. Gary