1949threepence

I've noticed that, certainly as far as the years immediately preceding them are concerned. Usually this will be due to the metal mix. The example that always springs to mind, is the 1918 and 1919KN being a very distinctive tan coloured shade, even when well worn. No blackening whatever. When it comes to rim width, there are differences which occur. My 1881H seems extraordinarily thick, compared to all of its peers in the bun series (in my collection, leastways). Also, a thick rim acts as a protective barrier against wear, when the obverse and reverse fields are set, as it were, concavely into it. Conversely, a convex effect on one side, can lead to greater wear and a distinctive difference in obverse/reverse grade on the same coin.

Welcome back, John

As far as I can tell, you just e mail your details and bid. I don't think you have to register.

Welcome to the forum, Christoph. My user name co-incides with the image you are looking for !!! What you are attempting to produce will inevitably have taken a lot of painstaking work on your part, so well dome on that. You might find some more outstanding images in Tony Clayton's website He has a remarkable array of high grade coin photos, some very rare. Good luck with your venture.

Hmmm...."The Royal Mint".....what cheapo gimmick will they dream up next ?

Very true. All borders are now open in the mumismatic world. I think it's pretty much inevitable that the American market will move into the British one, quite substantially over the next few years. This may be perceived as either a positive or negative trend, depending on how you look at it. It will certainly enhance interest and place coins into a higher investment league. Existing private collections will be re-valued upwards, and collectors with money will continue to buy. I imagine ~ although I readily concede that I may be well wide of the mark with this assessment ~ that the US influence will widen the gap between UNC and the rest. Or between the very best available and the rest. So we may have a two tier market with very distinct boundaries. The first will be for wealthy collectors and investors, both UK and US based, who will compete for the high quality end of the market, and the rest will be the small time collectors who will be increasingly confined to a mid grade, and even sub mid grade world. Meanwhile the percentage price differentials between EF and UNC will continue to steepen, while those between mid grade and EF might narrow. Grade chasing will be commoner, even of less scarce specimens. "Rare in this grade" will be the stock phrase.

Same here.

Don't get me wrong, I am not casting aspersions(?) on Chris Taylor's grading at all, I just suspect that some bidders may have been bidding the grade, not the coin. Oh absolutely. His grading was spot on IMO, but bidders were chasing the grade, not the coins themselves, which is a pity.

I don't know. Not encountered such a crown before. Intriguing though.

Unreal

I absolutely agree with you. It's definitely undergraded.

Anyone see anything interesting ? link here

Totally agree with that. Simplicity is definitely best in situations where people want straight facts and no superfluous frills. Unfortunately all too rare in an age where everything has been made ludicrously long winded and needlessly complex.

I noticed that. In fact I bought the 1878. Looked like a bargain - let you know when I get it... £200 for an 1894, however good is way over the top. A quick search of the internet should get you an equally good coin a good deal cheaper. Looking at the images, there didn't seem to be a lot between these coins and I rather felt people were bidding purely on the strength of the quoted grade rather than looking at the image and assessing it themselves. Well done on that 1878, Derek. I think you got a stunning bargain there. I bought my "very high grade" 1878 for £137.00 back in February this year. Here are the reverses of the two, side by side. Don't think there's much difference:- I reckon you will make a good profit on that. You are definitely right about buyers being attracted to the quoted grade, between what were essentially very similar quality coins. Shows the fundamental gullibility of buyers who are unable to make their own mind up in the grade/attractiveness equation.

I know Steeple Bumpstead. It's a village near Braintree. Chipping Sodbury is in Wiltshire, I think (or Gloucestershire) ~ one of the two.

Just as a matter of interest, why do you blame e bay for the lack of bargains ? Some excellent points in all the posts above above, and I'm not going to argue with any of them. I think there is merit in all our arguments, for different reasons, and maybe covering different types/eras of collections. One thing is certain: the top grade is outing everything at the moment. This was illustrated tonight when a group of high grade buns were auctioned on e bay by buckscoins. An 1878 described as EF, but good looking and with lustre, went for just £86, a much less scarce 1879, described as AU went for £90, and an UNC 1894 went for £200.

I suppose the bottom end of the market will mainly be kids who are just starting out on the hobby and collecting gap fillers along with the occasional slightly better coin. The top end of the market is for those with money, or those who have a little less money available, but are prepared to save up for the odd quality piece to painstakingly (eventually) assemble a half decent collection ~ I place myself in this letter bracket, and have a second part time job to fund this. The middle of the market ~ the collectors of mainly mid grade coins ~ well I'm not sure who they are, or what category they fall into. Presumably keen collectors who just don't have the bucks to spend big, but nonetheless want to assemble a collection. There will surely always be folk in this slot, but at a time of severe economic crisis, when money becomes very tight, then other commitments will take over to swallow up all their remaining income. Maybe the wage freeze is partially responsible for the middle sector bombing.

Now withdrawn from sale. I'd take this to be a mistake as the seller is usually a good reliable one.

Well, as others have hinted, they mostly look like that, including mine.

Thing is, whoever is ultimately responsible for all this spam, really can't have a lot of intelligence. As a form of advertising it is 100% useless. The only effect it has on nearly all sites, is to irritate both the owners and users, who, by definition, will have absolutely no interest whatsoever in what s being offered ~ and even that pre-supposes they can understand the garbage that forms the advert. There must be a tiny % of idiots who respond to whatever it is. And maybe the profits wrung from that moronity make it all worth it? Moronity would indeed be the collective noun to describe anyone willing to send money to Russia/Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan/Turkmenistan, or wherever this cyber rubbish emanates, on the vague hope that the junk they were ordering might actually turn up. Almost like sending £1000 to certain gentlemen in Nigeria, on the promise of £1,000,000 being paid back to you as a winner. One I received actually referred to their "London Office" and gave an address. When I google Earthed, it turned out to be a disused petrol station in Hendon !!!

Thing is, whoever is ultimately responsible for all this spam, really can't have a lot of intelligence. As a form of advertising it is 100% useless. The only effect it has on nearly all sites, is to irritate both the owners and users, who, by definition, will have absolutely no interest whatsoever in what s being offered ~ and even that pre-supposes they can understand the garbage that forms the advert.

Some forums admin vet every new applicant member before they can post ~ and that is for this very reason: spam posts. Maybe consideration should be given for a similar approach here ?

Oh that's easy. There's one on the moon - it was taken there in the B52 bomber that's also up there. Probably another one at the end of the rainbow, Peck It's keeping that BU 1926ME you were looking for, company........

Well there will always be exceptions here and there, and you were lucky, Dave. I also did say they existed in private collections. If you'd now like to point me in the right direction of where to look for an UNC 1864 crosslet 4, I'm listening

Well, there's an abundance of low and middle grade stock. It's the high end material which is becoming very difficult to locate, and when it actually is, one must often be prepared to dig very, very deep in order to obtain such decent items. Undoubtedly prices for quality coins has risen very sharply this year. I can speak from first hand experience here, as I have gradually been assembling my bun penny collection. The intention was always to buy high grade material, and I set myself what I now realise was the absurd objective of obtaining every example in at least EF, up to and including (eventually), the much vaunted 1869. However, even since I started the bun collection in early 2010, I have noticed the high grade coins increasingly fetching far more than one might have hoped for (as a buyer) at auction, and dealers quoting higher asking prices for each one. Moreover, at the risk of becoming a crashing bore on the matter, I will again re-iterate that it is virtually impossible to even locate for sale some high grades within this bun penny sphere. As a consequence, actually buying them ~ even at a grossly inflated price ~ is out of the question since they are just not available. I would cite both types of 1864, the 1875H, as well as the 1877 and 1879 narrow date. Such high grade examples do exist, but they are hidden away in private collections, and unlikely to be put back on the market in a hurry. Oddly enough, the rare 1860 beaded border, and the 1869, are not impossible to locate and buy in top grade. As far as the remainder of your question is concerned, I would say that there most definitely is a solid future for numismatics, both for genuine collectors and investors. But I fear that we could see a two tier economy developing in this respect. Genuine, but not massively wealthy collectors/dealers hitting a glass ceiling when it comes to obtaining certain high end rarities, either because they are totally out of reach financially, or just not available, and wealthy speculators who are buying somewhat indiscriminately, in order to boost their precious metal holdings. Incidentally, I hold most UK collectors and dealers close together in terms of overall motivation when it comes to coins, and this includes internet dealers. Many dealers are themselves collectors who hold a genuine interest in the hobby, as well as being a vast resource of technical knowledge on the subject. When the US starts taking a serious interest in our holdings, we may see a rise in prices whch makes today's increases look like chicken feed in comparison. If you are a genuine collector for the long term, then now NOW, is the time to feverishly enrich your collection, ahead of a potential gold rush from across the pond. I hope I'm wrong.