1949threepence

I've kept all my receipts for coin purchases made since 2011. They are nearly all hard copy. I've printed out the e copies and keep them all tagged together in date order. Still got many coins without a receipt though. Just thinking back to that fantastic 1922 penny with 1927 reverse that Steve sold for - was £7k ish last year? - he actually got that in his change when he was a young guy, so there's no way that could ever have a receipt.

One could argue that in terms of difference from the otherwise accepted norm, we are down to the most exquisite minutiae, such as one extra border bead, or some such. Is the mainstream collector really that interested in those kind of variances? Where does coin "type" end and coin "curio" begin? Moreover, the big money rarities are those which are immediately obvious to the naked eye. For example if you have a Freeman 27 and a Freeman 90, both in say, VF, on offer, it's manifestly obvious which is going to net the greater spoils for the vendor. Despite the fact that technically, the F27 is rarer than the F90, the F90 will always go for more money. Witness the Bamford sale where his F27 went for £540, and his F90 for £3,100. Both not dissimilar condition. I don't really know to be honest. The above is just a few musings from my perspective.

I don't think there's anything before a Freeman 1, but if there was, and it is theoretically possible, they could always have 0, -1, -2 etc, marked in bold, to indicate a discovery pre-dating what was previously thought to be the first example. But in any case, it is not vital to the integrity of the numbering system/die pairings, that they be in exact chronological order, in terms of which type is produced first and subsequently, within each year. In some cases it's not even going to be possible to determine where any given type or variant fits in chronologically.

If only Freeman had left a gap in his numbers between each year, the spare numbers could have been utilised for new finds in later years.

100% agree with that.

I hope you soon get over whatever the problem was, Pete. I know from what you said on facebook that you've been through the mill with this injury, David. But as you and Pete quite rightly say, the NHS are absolutely brilliant. Their staff deal with crisis and underfunding on a daily basis. I don't often agree with Jeremy Corbyn, but he is spot on when he says the NHS should get an immediate cash injection. Funnily enough, I've just done a You Gov poll, which asked whether I would have any problem with the basic rate of Income Tax increasing from 20p to 21p to help the NHS, and whilst I would normally rail against any form of tax increase, I couldn't help but agree with that one. Although we could save quite a bit by imposing a 5 year moratorium on foreign aid.

For me, it's Freeman all the way down the line. Whilst I have read the Gouby books cover to cover, and greatly admire his work and outstanding level of detail, I just can't get used to his classification system, and find myself constantly cross referencing back to Freeman numbers. Besides which, as far as I'm concerned, there has to be a natural limit on the collection, otherwise it could just go on forever, delving deeper and deeper into the tiniest discrepancies. That said, Gouby has turned up some new discoveries, which very much are of interest.

Whilst insurance is a good idea, I'd also say that however good your policy is, it's not going to be able to replace the actual items you have lost, which, dependent on your collection, may have taken decades to build up, and would take decades to replace. The trick is to find a safe and environmentally sound hiding place, so that in the event of a house break, other things get nicked, but your collection remains unfound by the thieving scrotes who have broken in. Easier said than done, but I suppose the mantra would be to use your nous and imagination.

Well I just went to your link, Matt, and watched the video about the new £1 coin. It was actually very well produced and informative I thought. I am intrigued as to precisely what the hidden top secret security feature is though. The big date is 28th March, and I think he said we have until the end of October to spend all the old ones, before they are demonetised. The total weight of the ones produced for circulation since 1983, is equivalent to the weight of 6000 elephants.

Photography clearly isn't his strong point. The 1860/59 is, essentially, a blurred image. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1860-59-Penny-The-One-Most-Collectors-Are-Missing-Ext-Rare-Beautiful-Coin-/262782510032?hash=item3d2f0ee3d0:g:mPcAAOSw2xRYUppq

What the hell has happened with the date here?

It went for £77.00 !!!

Good job he hadn't got to his destination and tried paying in Rizlas. But I guess in some parts of the country the drivers want money up front before they start driving. Understandable.

I assume this has now been cleaned up, as there are now no references to TPG or grading.

Shades of the 1950/51 penny craze of the late 1960's? There were 210,000 minted. In the 2014 Coin Yearbook, they were listed at £4.00 per UNC specimen. That had risen to £30 in the 2017 book. I imagine the rise in value is being caused to some extent by current demand exceeding supply. But there are a number on offer. Out of interest It might be worth keeping an eye on this one due to end tomorrow, and currently at about £30. Just to see where it ends up.

Yes, I did click on it, but I've never seen a non found web page display like that before.

The "9" of your 1893 looks a bit odd, Scott. Or is it an optical illusion? Sorry, can't get rid of the previous quote above.

Yes, I got a 2016 myself today, and immediately noticed the radiating lines. So evidently a common feature of 2015 and 2016 20p's. Brogan's specimen does exhibit an issue with the full stop after "REG", however. Double struck, possibly? Here's a not brilliant picture of the obverse of the one I got today, but the radiating lines into the field round the Queen's head clearly show.

Nothing wrong with Essex. Great county. Speaking as someone who was born and brought up in Chelmsford, I can vouch for that. That's an amazing view from your conservatory, Terry.

We could maybe do with a pinned thread somewhere, entitled "Newbies, introduce yourself and outline your area of numismatic interest" or some such.

Nowadays he'd be called a pervert and probably go on the sex offenders register. I get my underpants off Amazon. More convenient.

OK, cheers Paul. It does sound like a book title.

Buggered if I can find them. Not exactly hitting me in the eye. I've found the general circulation mintages here but no sign of a "coins of England" link. Are they on the RM site?

Second one found In Scotland. Two down, two to go.

Probably touted as the one that Freeman didn't spot, Pete Well........erm.....