1949threepence

Nah - a good fish'nchip supper swilled down with a few oysters, is more her scene (and if she was a true Essex Girl, a few whelks and jellied eels wouldn't go amiss) Essex girls are great. They may not always be the sharpest knives in the drawer, but their hearts are usually in the right place

The 1988 £1 coin has almost reached mythical status, and although it isn't that common, especially set against the astronomic mintages of many years since 1983, you will probably get one in your change at least once per year. What you won't get is one in EF or UNC from change ~ you'd be pretty fortunate to even get a VF circulation 1988 £1 coin. They're sought after for sure, and much sought after in the high grades. When I was about 11, I received one in sparkly UNC !!! Wish I'd had the foresight to keep it

Not really 1949, a few miles south of Colchester on the coast - right in the middle of the Parachute Regiment's firing ranges. Can be awfully noisy at times. Yeah, I bet it can, 400. Although Colchester is a nice City. The inhabitants weren't saying that after Boudicca paid it an official visit. In fact, they weren't saying ANYTHING seeing how they were all dead or fled. Is it Boudicca or Boadicea ? Never sure I think it's like the difference between Jesus and Joshua - one got more popular quite a while after the other (original). So I'm thinking Boudicca is the older spelling? And therefore more authentic. Not sure how far back Boadicea goes (Victorians? LOL) It's just I'm sure it always used to be Boadicea, then suddenly seemed to change to Boudicca without discussion or warning. Bit like Bombay to Mumbai.

Not really 1949, a few miles south of Colchester on the coast - right in the middle of the Parachute Regiment's firing ranges. Can be awfully noisy at times. Yeah, I bet it can, 400. Although Colchester is a nice City. The inhabitants weren't saying that after Boudicca paid it an official visit. In fact, they weren't saying ANYTHING seeing how they were all dead or fled. Is it Boudicca or Boadicea ? Never sure

Not really 1949, a few miles south of Colchester on the coast - right in the middle of the Parachute Regiment's firing ranges. Can be awfully noisy at times. Yeah, I bet it can, 400. Although Colchester is a nice City.

I remember a hailstorm in Southend one humid August day in 1994, which left the streets white as though it had snowed. The accompanying violent thunderstorm caused lightning damage to several buildings nearby, in fact the lightning was so incessant that if it had been night, you could probably have read a book by it. We all knew something really bad was coming as the storm approached, because even from miles away the thunder was non stop. No doubt a freak storm for Dundee, Dave.

"Basted" ? If it really has been gold plated, there is no way on God's Green Earth it would be graded by CGS. Slabbed without a grade, maybe.

Would that be like an A+++ seller !!!

Pleased to meet you Mr President

I wouldn't be surprised if he bought the 1869 + the 1864, for a negotiated price of $2000 for the pair. Time will tell Mike Well if he did buy the 1864, it's not on sale yet. In fact there's not much at all on his e bay page at present.

So was it cleaned again after the first sale, or is the startingly different appearance down to varying photographic takes ?

I wouldn't be surprised if he bought the 1869 + the 1864, for a negotiated price of $2000 for the pair.

Some nice items there. I see you've even got an example of Edward VIII which are generally very rare, although I've no idea about the one you've got.

You're right, Dave, the 1869 was on sale initially from jmb4home at $1400, but in the last few weeks he reduced it to $1350 still as a buy it now. I know, because I'd got a shortcut to it, and was keeping an eye on it. I'd been toying with the idea of going for it myself, and was hoping the pound would rise against the dollar. The $1350 is the last buy it now offer price. MP obviously contacted jmb4home (John Bailey) and negotiated a private purchase outside of e bay. How much reduced from $1350 that was, is anybody's guess. But I wonder if he also bought this very nice 1864 as part of the deal at a collectively reduced price for the pair. Pure speculation on my part. I concede I may be completely wrong. But it would make sense given that John sends out a monthly stock list to all his previous customers, which includes coins already on e bay.

I wish. That was when I lived on the Kent/Sussex borders. Now that I have relocated to North Essex, I find I am living in a beer desert. IPA and Woodfordes Wherry ? Exceedingly poor fare. Guilty of absence sir - it's taken me a while to adjust to the new lifestyle. Hopefully becoming more settled now and might even resume the penny collecting. Then again, I might look at something else because I don't have the money I once had and I notice prices haven't come down. How's the dealing coming along ? Anywhere near my home town, Chelmsford, 400 ?

Yes, Declan, I have & as you say, the coins are breathtaking.

I always found the Russian national anthem (which is the same as the old Soviet Union one, but with different words) quite inspiring, and in truth, pretty much all the national anthems globally, are better than ours. It is, as others have said, a dreary and tedious dirge. There are so many pieces from home grown composers which could easily be adapted to form a new national anthem. To take just two examples, Walton's "Crown Imperial", or maybe Elgar's "Pomp & Circumstance March No 4". Even the hymns "Jerusalem" or "I vow to thee my country" are better than what we have at present.

Actually, thinking about it, have you thought of putting some of your stuff on e bay, Derek. You might shift one or two bits of stock that are presently just sitting there dormant, as it were. I do sell the bum end of various bulk lots on e-bay but that's about it at present. I know it is not unusual for coins to sit in dealers' trays for many a year and that's okay, these pieces can happily hang around with prices periodically adjusted to reflect market trends until the right buyer comes along. I had considered starting an e-bay shop but for the moment I am happy with my website. Like many dealers I do frequently buy coins on e-bay which I consider to be undervalued and this has so far been reasonably successful both in terms of buying in and selling on. I have however noticed a trend away from items being sold in the auction format towards Buy It Nows which, if it continues could restrict the supply of stock to the trade. Indeed. Like the EF1865 5 over 3 penny, which is currently going for £450 as a BIN. Maybe slightly underpriced ? There are, however, several very nice high end auction pennies being sold by Mr Martin Platt !!! An EF 1868, a GVF 1869, an absolutely gorgeous BU 1888, and an UNC 1895 2mm. + 1860 & 1869 nUNC Gothic Head florins. The 1895 2mm, is alreay at £620 with 2 days to go.

Very interesting post. Thanks for the info.

I'm not trying to start an argument here and should perhaps decline to answer your question as others have done, as this is a bit of a touchy subject, but the above is not correct. The United Kingdom is the combination of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland and was created in c.1707. The English portion consisted of England and its two provinces of Wales and Ireland which had been acquired by England sometime after the Norman invasion but before 1707. Both are geographical areas and were never counties as they consisted of many independent tribes, much as England had been prior to the Norman conquest. Today neither have parliaments, rather regional assemblies. Further correction. Wales for centuries has not been a 'province' but a 'Principality'. (Viz., the Prince of Wales). I'm not sure what Ireland's status was in 1707, but Northern Ireland has certainly been a province since the formation of the Irish Free State. The status of the government of N Ireland has changed several times : the parliament at Stormont was suspended in the 1970s during 'the Troubles' and direct rule from Westminster was imposed. But now government has been reintroduced from Stormont with direct elections. The British Isles includes the whole of Ireland (merely a geographical entity). Britain refers to England, Scotland, Wales and the islands. Great Britain refers to the same with the addition of N. Ireland. I certainly inadvertently started something here. Isn't it the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland ? That was always my understanding.

Actually, thinking about it, have you thought of putting some of your stuff on e bay, Derek. You might shift one or two bits of stock that are presently just sitting there dormant, as it were.

There are a plethora of fake £1 coins. You'll have no difficulty locating them in your change if you keep a sharp lookout. I can't imagine many fakes of lower denomination values as it would hardly be worth the effort, their value is so low. Although as stated earlier, there are some pre 1997 fake 50p's about. Haven't yet spotted a fake £2 coin. No doubt the bi metallic is difficult to fake.

No, I'd say it was a deep score mark.

Sounds like typical e bay seller routine. Don't worry, most of us can see through it.

On the face of it, a fantastic concept. Indeed, anything that will go some way towards breaking the power of the current banking system, is to be strongly applauded. Global banking has become way too powerful and arrogant in recent decades. I can see this idea catching on in the years to come, but I'd like to actually see it in action and in a more generally recognised way, before I tried it myself.