1949threepence

Very, very interesting. An absolute bargain for £85.00, I'd say. Can't see it being on sale for long. It does look like a narrow date, yes. It also looks genuine. It's about as right as a WWII bomber on the moon! Without even trying to look at dies it is apparent that the second 1 is a totally different style. I had the very fortunate miss on an 1860 penny on ebay at £1200 a couple of years ago (I think it made over £2k). It appeared to be an unrecorded J + g. It now appears on page 100 of Michael Goubys book as an altered date forgery. At least this seller states he thinks it is a wrong un. Ebay is an absolute minefield and should be negotiated in a bomb suit (preferably 2) with a very good sniffer dog and detector in front of you! I was being sarcastic. If there had been any chance of it being genuine, 1) It would already have gone, 2) There would have been a lot more fanfare, higher price plus attempt at verification and 3) If it hadn't gone after that, I'd have bought it myself in a heartbeat That said, of course, somebody will buy it "as is", and probably re-sell it for more !!! Yes, the obverse is the giveaway, not appearing on pennies before 1874. The question is, what's it been altered from? That doesn't look obvious. ....and when was it altered....?

Very, very interesting. An absolute bargain for £85.00, I'd say. Can't see it being on sale for long. It does look like a narrow date, yes. It also looks genuine. It's about as right as a WWII bomber on the moon! Without even trying to look at dies it is apparent that the second 1 is a totally different style. I had the very fortunate miss on an 1860 penny on ebay at £1200 a couple of years ago (I think it made over £2k). It appeared to be an unrecorded J + g. It now appears on page 100 of Michael Goubys book as an altered date forgery. At least this seller states he thinks it is a wrong un. Ebay is an absolute minefield and should be negotiated in a bomb suit (preferably 2) with a very good sniffer dog and detector in front of you! I was being sarcastic. If there had been any chance of it being genuine, 1) It would already have gone, 2) There would have been a lot more fanfare, higher price plus attempt at verification and 3) If it hadn't gone after that, I'd have bought it myself in a heartbeat That said, of course, somebody will buy it "as is", and probably re-sell it for more !!!

They're both totally integral to penny selling and collecting habits. No doubt about it. As you say though, Peck, not as rare as many of the slightly less well known buns. Well played you ~ what condition are they in ?

I knew Barca would win. Far too much class for Man U. They'll be celebrating on the streets of Barcelona and Liverpool tonight !!!

Very, very interesting. An absolute bargain for £85.00, I'd say. Can't see it being on sale for long. It does look like a narrow date, yes. It also looks genuine.

The problem with collecting is that you start off thinking it's a finite art ~ that you will collect a given series and then leave it at that (for a time at least). But the reality is very different. Once you start it's exceedingly difficult to stop, especially for those of us whose interest becomes all encompassing, verging on the obsessional !!! Even in any given series or date run, it's knowing the best time to call it a day in respect of that specific collection. Do you limit yourself to just dates, and then the odd upgrade. Or do you go beyond in the hope of obtaining every different listed type ? Do you content yourself with a mid grade rarer type, or do you practically re-mortgage your house in a bid (no pun intended) to get one of the few outstanding examples ? It is these philosphical points I frequently ponder in my quieter moments When I was collecting pennies, I had every date and major variety from 1797. What constituted a major variety was saomething I usually made up my mind on early on and stuck to. For example, I would always regard the 1874-79 wide/narrow dates as 'major' even if Spinks didn't list them as such and the portrait changes of 1874 and 1881 (far more noticeable in my view than 1926) too were major. On the other hand 1903 open 3, 1897 high tide and coins with sundry dots on just didn't seem to have enough different about them to make collecting worthwhile. There came a point where I tended to upgrade rather than add new varieties and once this became prohibitively expensive, I gave up and became a dealer! I pretty much agree on all counts. Certainly, the wide and narrow dates differences from 1874 to 79 absolutely hit you square in the eye, and are a must for collection IMO ~ although 1877nd seems a tall order, as it is R18, 6 to 15 known, apparently, and I believe one went for £6k last year, in F only. 1879nd is also difficult, obviously. I had originally intended to just collect the wide and narrow dates + H and non H from 1874, but the different portraits are also now nagging me. Like you, however, the 1903 open 3 is not an essential, nor is the 1897 high tide. Also, if I'm honest, the 1902 low tide and 1895 2mm seem a tad overrated as well. Just to whet the appetite:-

The problem with collecting is that you start off thinking it's a finite art ~ that you will collect a given series and then leave it at that (for a time at least). But the reality is very different. Once you start it's exceedingly difficult to stop, especially for those of us whose interest becomes all encompassing, verging on the obsessional !!! Even in any given series or date run, it's knowing the best time to call it a day in respect of that specific collection. Do you limit yourself to just dates, and then the odd upgrade. Or do you go beyond in the hope of obtaining every different listed type ? Do you content yourself with a mid grade rarer type, or do you practically re-mortgage your house in a bid (no pun intended) to get one of the few outstanding examples ? It is these philosphical points I frequently ponder in my quieter moments

The trouble with worn coins is that very ikely, the H will simply have worn away. Could be a clogged die, although I'm inclined towards the worn away H. I don't personally believe there's any 1876(no H)pennies around.

Ah, all is revealed. It does look totally different in the earlier pics.

Indeed, that's true enough. Leastways, that's how it looks unless there's an optical illusion at work.

Agreed. I don't think it's a ding, nor, to be honest, a blocked die either. Looks very "anomalous". It's hard to tell from the photo as it gives no idea of relative relief. There's clearly a problem (I would guess damaged die) with the vertical stroke of the 'E' but as far as I can tell the horizontal strokes and serifs are unaffected. It's only the precise position of the damage that coincidentally creates the impression of something more. You're right, of course, about the relief. But although this may be random damage, the prominence looks like an almost perfect semi circle, in a "C" shape. Unusually precise for a damaged die.

Agreed. I don't think it's a ding, nor, to be honest, a blocked die either. Looks very "anomalous".

The reality is, of course, that employers do not want disabled people on their payroll. Not because they are any less committed or intelligent, but because adaptations have to be made quite frequently, and they are not as easy to move round different jobs, as the able bodied. In what is now, once again, a very competitive jobs market, it will be very difficult for the government to accommodate the disabled in meaningful paid employment ~ especially those who have been out of work for a number of years, and very especially in the private sector which is not as hot on diversity principles as the public. So one gets the feeling that this initiative is a complete waste of time anyway.

Very useful link, Sion. Thanks for your time and effort. Sorry to hear there's not a lot in your neck of the woods. Although there's supposedly one where I now live (Nuneaton), I suspect it may be defunct as I've never heard of it before, and the telephone code is the old pre 1999 one. There's a decent one where I used to live, in Chelmsford. I've got Chelmsford down already. I've removed the Corbitts that's no longer operating as well as the Edinburgh Club. I've added Coinote and Intercoin. I'll have a look into Nuneaton. Thanks Sion.

A link to the upcoming London Coins Auction ~ well actually, here's a copy and paste of the e mail I received:- Pert 1 of the auction contains the coins, and part 2 is mostly banknotes

Very useful link, Sion. Thanks for your time and effort. Sorry to hear there's not a lot in your neck of the woods. Although there's supposedly one where I now live (Nuneaton), I suspect it may be defunct as I've never heard of it before, and the telephone code is the old pre 1999 one. There's a decent one where I used to live, in Chelmsford.

Well, precisely. Not only have I experienced at first hand, e mail enquiries to the Royal Mint being totally ignored, but I think the difficulties others have also encountered in this regard, is already documented on here. I will use the Act to obtain the information I want, especially as there is no criteria laid down as to the type of enquiry considered valid, save for overly time consuming questions, and ones for which the answer is already available. That said, I wouldn't make a habit of pestering them every five minutes with trivia. I'd also add that I have sent a reply e mail to Mr Payne thanking him for his time and effort, which I genuinely appreciated. I sincerely hope my e mail enquiry didn't come across as rude, Sion. I'd be mortified if it did. At the end of the day, the facility is offered up for public use, with no draconian pre-conditions, and I legitimately took advantage. I honestly don't see that as in any way wrong. Sorry guys.

From the condition of those offered for sale, it's absolutely clear that a fair few entered general circulation, so I did wonder if it was possible that some had been sent to banks in various parts of the country. Apparently not.

I noticed this facility when trawling through the Royal Mint website recently, and thought I would punt some reasonably standard questions to see what the response was. Lo and behold within just a couple of days, I got a response. here is a copy and paste of the e mail exchange, minus my details:- Think up some useful questions guys. It appears the world is your oyster !!! Freedom of information link

There are pictures of his body and a video of his burial. However he was not an active commander and he wasn't doing much - killing him just got AQ very pissed off. Apparently the pictures of his dead body (head) are so gruesome that they can't show them in the media, plus it might inflame tensions. One radio interviewee said they should make them available to the media at a separate showing so the media can verify the matter, but wouldn't be allowed to publish. Yeah, allegedly they shot him in the eye first before shooting him through the heart. But I think he's still alive ~ probably in a top secret military facility somewhere.

You might need to put in a late snipe. The auction finishes on Sunday night, and it's already at £101.00. I wouldn't be surprised to see it finish at well over £200, despite its rather worn state. But that's rarity for you !!! Ha ~ £510 in the end !!!

Indeed, the post is 7½ years old & the poster has de-registered by the look of things.

The one bit of that link that I like is this:- Actually now £1.67. Could be a good time to buy e bay coins from the States.

They're red hot on security in the States. Obviously much more so with incoming packages, than outgoing ones.

There are marks all along the exergue. What appears to be the foot of an underlying "1" is most likely just another mark. Interesting though.