1949threepence

Phwoar - what a collection. Some really nice stuff in there. Wonder how much the Edward VIII penny will ultimately fetch?

I agree they're far from ideal, but if they've got something I want then I'll run with it and hope for the best.

No, I bid £1700 in the hopes that would top any other bid. I kind of knew nobody would go that high. Realistically, I think its level is about £1200 hammer. So that seems a fair price to pay (plus juice). They don't crop up very often, and I missed out once before. Also, the F8 is slightly scarcer than the F9. Hence that one went for less. I know what you mean though, Jon. I once did bid for one at LCA that oddly went for the exact amount I bid for it.

Well it's not standard practice on the other auctions I've listened to online - the DNW ones for example, where it is abundantly clear what's going on. The auctioneer reads out the bids as they come in, and whether in the room, from the phone or over the internet bid. As soon as a few seconds, he'll say "last chance, fair warning", then bring the hammer down with "sold" and saying briefly where it's gone. You aren't left in any doubt. Same with Spink. If no bid he starts at the lower reserve estimate or even below that if still no bid. Says something like "shall we start at?" or words to that effect. Or if there is a bid, maybe, "I've got an internet bid of £700". I really must attend one of these auctions in person at some point.

Bad luck Blake. However, it was always going to fetch more than usual, being such a nice, problem free specimen.

Very pleased to say my e mail bid was sufficient to secure Lot No 1969, the Freeman 8 mule.

Don't know what the respective obverses are like, but for me this one has the much sharper strike of the two.

Blake, a veritable tsunami of puns there, leaving me high and dry in my attempts to find more. A real watershed moment in punnery.

Wave after wave of them.

Indeed so. The worst one seems to be the 1897 tide mark. On many of those pennies, you can barely make out the tide at all, let alone whether it's high or low.

About the time I realised that the coin was accompanied by a Michael Freeman letter, I e mailed DNW to see if they could supply me a copy. Then when you posted the above, POete, I thought maybe they wouldn't respond, having already sent out a copy to you. But, surprisingly, they now have. They "redacted" the header and signature, thus removing the sensitive detail you refer to above. But here is the rest of the reply - all technical - which expands on what you said above:- Second bit will have to go in a succeeding post, as there isn't enough room for the two

Obverse 3 - in my opinion, one of the most difficult obverses to identify. Had we all seen this, it would have had many more bidders than 2.

By the way, this was the original:-

I'm not, Chris. Nor a Man City one - but I do have Aguero, Sterling and David Silva in my work Fantasy football team (league of 23 members of staff), as well as Callum Wilson from Bournemouth. So it was an important match in that sense.

See if it works:- Well I'll need to perfect my technique, but so far so good - from photoscape. Thanks @Paddy

Well done Ben Stokes. I must admit I watched the Bournemouth - Man City match.

Somebody's 'avin a larf.......

It hurts your eyes anyway, to keep staring at gaps/teeth, and depending on the angle you are looking at the coin picture from, you can very easily be wrong, unless the coin is in hand. So to find a very obvious and easy way of recognition, such as a thin rim, combined with the much clearer GRA:BRITT differential, is brilliant.

I know some people like them, and I concede they very much have certain positive attributes, but they're not for me. I like the feel of the actual coin itself.

A new (for me anyway) and convincing way of recognition. Well done Jon, that's a real bargain.

The $64,000 question, Terry.

Yep, you're right. The one is definitely over a tooth. It just looked at first glance as though the P of Penny was to a gap not a tooth. I need to get me teeth and gaps sorted.

Jon, I know these are a sod to tell apart, but I think that may be a 177 - P of Penny to a gap and colon between GRA and BRITT to a tooth. I hope one of the experts corrects me, I'm wrong, and it's a 175 or 176.

14 years later I know, but I use the same method as the guy in this video