1949threepence

Nice one Richard.

Great that the ATM was kept, but this whole call centre culture which has developed over the last 20 odd years, and emanating from local closures (not just of banks) has definitely led to a significant drop in customer service standards. 1) The caller is immediately confronted with an array of annoying options, the intentions of which are sometimes unclear or overlap. 2/ Often it's difficult to actually get through to an agent, as you are patently discouraged from going any further via references to their website/experiencing high call volumes etc. 3/ When you do get through it often seems to be to the wrong person, and /or they have difficulty understanding you and you them, as English is not their first language. 4/ If you complain you either get a completely nonsensical reply - literally !!! Or they just defend the indefensible. Apologies just don't happen these days.

Absolute highway robbery, and some naive sap fell for it. That is so obviously not a mule.

Christ Almighty, Richard, what a bloody frustrating time you've had of it. What with non receipt, wading through the robots you have to deal with subsequently, and then finding the coin had gone to somebody dishonest. It's enough to put you off trading abroad for life. I'd certainly never buy or sell anything from/to Italy - that's a cert, given their reputation. Nor the other places you mention. Although so far I've been lucky in buying coins from the USA, and two from Australia, which have always duly arrived without having been opened.

Not encountered him before, but his website is here Quality and price good, as far as I can tell..

I'm not iannich48, Richard, but your spare pennies website isn't letting me in. It prompts me for a username and password, but I don't think I ever had a password. Also, I've lost the link to your personal collection as I had an upgrade which has obliterated my old e mail account.

I've never heard of one, Richard. That one just looks a bit worn, which sometimes distorts true perception. Cue someone to now say they are known

A cashless society would certainly favour HMRC and others of a controlling nature who are desperate to keep tabs on us. It would mean we could never disappear for a few days or weeks living in a caravan somewhere, with a wad of cash to keep us going. Well we could do that, but we would leave a digital fingerprint with every item we bought and hence would be traceable. But I do wonder if international agreement would need to be reached before any country dares to take the ultimate plunge and go completely cashless.

To be honest - and call me thick if you like - I'm not entirely sure what you're driving at. Are you referring to random shapes which resemble something we know of (you mentioned animals) which might, for whatever reason, appeared on the surface of a coin. Or are you referring to some intentional underlying design, initially meant to be hidden (?) from the general public. If the former, I don't see any point in bothering. If the latter, explain more or clarify what you do mean.

If it's worth buying, Larry, it's worth spending.

Genuine F5 proof from the same collection:- Click Image to Zoom Back to Catalogue Lot Preview (More Information) To be Sold on: 19th & 20th September 2018 Estimate: £600 - £800 SAVE TO CABINET The Collection of Copper and Bronze British Coins Formed by the Late Hiram Brown (Part II) BRITISH COINS, Victoria (1837-1901), Proof Penny, 1860, dies Ca, in bronzed-copper on a heavy flan, beaded border, thin inner rim, lc wyon on truncation, vertical eyeline, edge plain, 10.59g/12h (Gouby CB; Bamford 169; F 5 [dies 1+A]; BMC 1622; Norweb 1732). Some obverse carbon spots, otherwise extremely fine, very rare £600-800

Well here's the reverse of mine, Pete. Spot the difference (apart from slightly fewer knocked off beads in the same vicinity)

It even looks as though it follows the typical pattern of a circulation F6, with some of the reverse beads being knocked off.

I agree with you Pete. I literally can't see anything to distinguish that coin from any equivalent currency strike.

How strong is the hobby in Australia, out of interest?

No Bob - dnw describe the variety as such for their upcoming auction. Thought maybe they knew something I didn't - link to item Click Image to Zoom Back to Catalogue Lot Preview (More Information) To be Sold on: 19th & 20th September 2018 Estimate: £300 - £400 ✔ SAVED IN YOUR CABINET! The Collection of Copper and Bronze British Coins Formed by the Late Hiram Brown (Part II) BRITISH COINS, Victoria (1837-1901), Penny, 1860, dies Dd, toothed borders, lc wyon on truncation, lcw below shield, n over sideways n in one (Gouby JA; Bamford –; F 10A; BMC 1629; S 3954). Light scuff in reverse field, about extremely fine, some original colour, streaky on obverse, very rare £300-400

I haven't seen the updated Freeman book, but I gather that the 1860 N over sideways N (Z) is now referred to as a Freeman 10A.

It was an outstanding find and in great condition for a reverse F, for a truly bargain price. So yes, very, very well played Jerry.

It was damned irritating.

On a recent trip to Kew Gardens, I was appalled to find that the cafeteria there, would not accept cash, so I had to use my contactless card. Also, bus companies up and down the country won't accept cash either. Moreover, there are young people now who claim they never carry cash, and just use cards. Although this must be difficult with smaller items, as a number of places still do not hold contactless technology. You'd look mighty strange getting your debit card out to pay for a bag of crisps. Also, how do you contribute to office collections with a debit or credit card? All that said, cash does remain very popular and billions of transactions are still carried out each year using cash. I believe it remains the most popular monetary transaction medium. Especially abroad, where in many countries it is still actively preferred to cards. I am filled with horror at the thought of cash no longer being available, as this negates any chance of anonymity when buying an article, or paying someone for any kind of service, such as tradesmen who frequently offer a discount for cash in hand. I can't see us going cashless for some time yet, if ever. Although I am sure there are those who would like to see this for their own ends. What do others think about this question?

Although collectors are still interested in really ancient coins, so no reason to suppose that pennies won't hold an interest for forthcoming generations. One thing to be very cheerful about is the fact that the internet has brought together the coin collecting community in a way that was never possible before. Pre internet we would often have been quite isolated, save for clubs in Cities.

There are those fine even hairlines in the reverse field. They aren't created randomly.

Although in fairness, it was Richard who posted that topic.

I've actually booked leave for the 19th & 20th September when Part 2 of the Hiram Brown collection is up for auction at dnw. They've already got three pages up for preview, and I strongly suspect there will be more. I've saved several to my cabinet.

OK, GEF then. To be honest I hadn't realised at first that she was a glamour model from the 70's. But I put 2 + 2 together and looked up Penny Irving, born 1955. At 63, she still looks bloody good now !!! Recent pic.