1949threepence

I wonder what happened to the Skripals? Never hear a word about them now. Presumably got new identities.

GB News have got a petition to save cash if anybody's interested in signing it. https://www.gbnews.com/cash

Don't you mean fork handles?

I always hold some cash as the gardener and other tradesmen much prefer it.

Had to laugh yesterday afternoon. A local coffee shop which I sometimes frequent to have a cappucino, became card only recently, but yesterday when I went in, the machine had gone wrong and wasn't operating. So they were forced to accept cash (fortunately had a spare tenner), and give IOU notes to the customers in place of change. It was either that or an empty shop.

Prigozhin, apparently, is holed up in a windowless hotel in Belarus. Not a joke.

Damn, missed it completely.

"gorgeous toning"

From asking a fairly random question, I feel I've learned quite a lot - thanks Gents.

In fact I'm not sure the detached clover is a reliable indicator as there are a number of other varieties and dates which also have it, including my 1860/59, several 1858's and going back, even my 1853 proof penny has a detached clover. My 1856 OT does seem to have a misaligned colon. For me, the die flaw between the rim and C of VICTORIA seem totally unique to the 1858/6.

Indeed, well spotted Richard. I must admit, I hadn't even started to look. Immediately checked mine which also has the die crack running from the C of VICTORIA to the rim, between teeth (but not horizontally as on the example above). Also, the detached clover is present. The logical presumption with the 8/6 is that it has to be based on the dies used for small date 1856's. I checked my PT small date and OT 1856's. The very noticeable clue is that the detached clover is present on the OT 1856 (which are all small dates), but the clover remains attached on the PT small date 1856. Should add that my OT 1856 is only fine, but thedetached clover is very clear.

A great read! THESE ARE ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY "THOMAS COOK VACATIONS" FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS: 1. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax." 2. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food." 3. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish." 4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price." 5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room." 6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow." 7. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallartato close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time -- this should be banned." 8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared." 9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers." 10. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts." 11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun." 12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair." 13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends' three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller." 14. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the resort.' We're trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service." 15. "When we were in Spain, there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners." 16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning." 17. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel." 18. "I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes." 19. "My fiancée and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

Absolutely, not noticed that. It is extremely good going.

Indeed, with the LCGS slabbing, the "top pop" was just based on the coins they personally slabbed, not the entire extant population.

Thanks Ian - I'll apply my detective skills !

Thanks very much, Ian. Again, incredibly useful info. You still don't see many of them offered for sale, and there are many misattributions, such as the Ingram specimen. With regard to the emboldened text above, may I ask what the feature is which marks out the 8/6, without needing to look at the date itself.

Well it certainly looks different, but I don't think it's over a 6. If they were certain and it really was over a 6, I think they'd be asking quite a bit more. ETA: might be over a 2. Seems to have that characteristic die crack through the lower part of the numbers, although not especially well pronounced. Also, it's large, not small date. For 8/6, it needs to be small date.

I wondered if anybody had any thoughts as to how rare or otherwise the 1858/6 penny was. Somewhat curiously, it's not noted by either Peck or Bramah. Gouby mentions it in passing, but as far as I can see, does not speculate as to its scarcity. I managed to get one from Britannia Coins in August 2020, toned aEF and issue free, for £66, which struck me as a slam dunk bargain. Not a coin you see offered every 5 minutes, and when you do, close up examination usually reveals that the seller has got it wrong, and there is no giveaway vertical line on the left side between the loops of the final 8. Some even with a large date, whereas of course all 1858/6's are small date. The genuine article seldom spotted. I'd have to say rare, possibly very rare.

I wasn't sure of the rules on this, so looked them up. It appears you need a post count of 30 before you can post in the "wanted" section - link

Very much so - although the new grass (turf) I had fitted in April did really well for rain in the first few weeks, the long dry spell caused it to begin to look faded and for the individual squares to be seen. Should have used a hose on it. As it is, my rain gauge measured 77.4 mm (about 3 inches) of rain up to 9am yesterday - a good soak over 3 days.

Nor round here either. As soon as the residual rain cloud cleared late morning, it was just sunny for the rest of the day. Actually it was nice to sit in the living room and feel comfortable instead of uncomfortably hot. Due to get hot again over the next couple of days. Beyond that, there is a possibility it might turn cooler and more unsettled generally, but especially in the North and West.

Thanks for the additional comparative detail, Richard.

Yes. I've just watched the BBC News weather forecast which confirmed that. Should be arriving here in the South Midlands by about 5am. Round here we had two or three pulses of heavy to torrential rain, each lasting 2 or three hours. The last of which was indeed during the night, between about 11pm and 2am. More moderate in intensity this time.

I know not everywhere got it, but for those who did, the heavy thundery rain of yesterday, will really have done the gardens good. They needed a drink - and there's more forecast for tomorrow in many areas.

They still work for me, and did so when I first loaded them. Always check links to make sure they work. So, not sure. Maybe there is an issue.