1949threepence

I think there's FUK U and WAN KING Chinese restaurants somewhere as well.

Probably some bloke down the pub he saw three of when blotto. Pubs are full of experts on all sorts of things I've noticed over the years - kind as well, all willing to give you their expert opinion free of charge.

I should hope not Ian. Once Pete had pointed out where the sold listings were, I had a look and noticed you got quite decent prices for most of them, and some were very well contested. Although somebody obviously got a bargain with the F105, which is a nice specimen. Looking forward to the next sale in the Autumn.

Brilliant - cheers Pete.

How did the sales go, Ian? I know there were bids for all of them, but I missed the final hammer, as it were. Now only the two buy it now's left.

Yes, very interesting. Three observations:- 1/ I agree with Neil that many UK collectors prefer not to have their coins slabbed. They appreciate the aesthetic beauty of the coin in the raw state, where it can be handled and seen as it should be seen, not through plastic. 2/ This video made me realise even more than I conjectured in the thread I started about the issue a few months back, that slabbing places a steep premium on a coin, and that the subjective difference between say MS63 & MS64 can mean thousands of pounds difference in price. 3/ I'm not sure I necessarily agree with getting a professional to remove a coin from a slab. If you take care you should be able to do it yourself without damaging the coin. There are instructional videos on you tube as to how to do it. I've removed quite a few now, without damaging one coin in the process.

Actually it has caused confusion and irritation before on many occasions, to both sides. In any dealings with Americans or American companies it's always best to write the day and the actual month in, like "14th March 2021", so it can't be misread, and to confirm any dates with them using the month. So if they put 10.2.21, that they meant October 2nd 2021. As in "thanks for your invitation to xxxxxx set for October 2nd 2021".

I'm afraid it's been the case for a long time, Chris. In the same way you'd get a red underlined "spelling error" for the English centre instead of the American center etc. Try it you'll see.

Yep, with some of them it's like trying to break into Fort Knox to get at the coin.

I'm sure they'd all plead ignorance and "sold in good faith". What I suspect may have happened is that somewhere, (maybe more than once), along the line, a buyer realised they'd been sold a lemon, and then decided to off load it as a legitimate item to get their money back. Proving that would be next to impossible, as it remains between that seller and their conscience, with absolutely no witnesses.

Indeed, how far back does the "chain of ignorance" go?

Certainly made hard work of what should be a simple two photo presentation.

The database is an excellent idea. I must create one at some point. Very useful. At the moment I just keep all the receipts, or even a hard copy of a screenshot if I don't get a proper receipt with the item. I might incorporate a space for a photo of the receipt.

If you see them in plain text, highlight the text, right click and then click on "go to" which will have the web address in front of it. Of course these days, so many are using mobile devices, that "click", as by a mouse, only applies to desktop PC's and some laptops. As far as the fake halfcrown is concerned, it's very easy for both buyer and seller to have been totally duped. Dates/denominations such as the 1905 halfcrown and shilling are prime targets for fakery, so you've really got to know your stuff before buying one. Especially from the shark infested waters of e bay.

That's a really useful addition, and if you're interested in shillings, I'd also recommend David Groom's book "The identification of British 20th Century silver coin varieties". Obviously as the name suggests, it's only 20th century, but it's very good and served me well when I collected 20th century shillings. As far as coin fairs, if you're in Manchester, then maybe the York coin fair might be a great option for you. What would it be? about 70 odd miles straight along the M62. They're normally held every January and July, and are one of the principal annual coin fairs. In addition to the two you mention. Anyway welcome to the forum and good luck with the collecting.

Ah, hadn't realised that. Fair enough. Still expensive though. Could just issue an official correction sheet to be sealed onto the pack somewhere as an alternative to sending the entire thing back (if there's room), and give customers the choice. How long before we get the rare "Televison" sets offered on e bay at an inflated price (or the other way round)

Absolutely. It doesn't say much for their Quality Assurance. Also, at the risk of becoming a bore, the other thing I still can't quite get my head round, is why they would want the entire set to be returned because of spelling/grammatical errors in the pack. Surely it would be more sensible just to issue a new pack to the registered addresses of the buyers, with a short explanatory note and apology. Anyone with half a brain would realise that the majority just won't bother because of the additional hassle and inconvenience.

I've met two, both totally contrasting characters. One was Bruce Forsyth at a London restaurant in 2002 when we somehow got in each other's way in a narrow corridor leading to the Gents - you know when you both intend to avoid each other but move in the same direction, and he looked really nasty and said "Get out of the effing way you dickhead" - charming, thought I. Not a bit like his TV persona. I just wish now I'd given him a mouthful back instead of saying sorry. The other was Frank Skinner in a pub in Chelmsford, also in 2002 (no idea what he was doing there), but I accidentally dropped a £2 coin and it rolled along the floor. Frank picked it up, handed it to me, and said "here you go mate, don't chuck your money away" in that familiar Brummie accent of his. He was there with a woman - maybe his partner. No idea.

Mine too - and therein lies the problem. A reluctance to go for a re-print because of that. Probably explains why it's not happened. However, as long as there are some in existence, albeit expensive and very hard to get, it's not too much of a problem. I'm not sure about that. You may be right of course, but I can't say I've seen any decline in interest. If there is it may perhaps reflect a lack of technical knowledge amongst the newer collectors, who will no doubt catch up in time. Any rate, as you say, it'll be interesting to see.

That one drives me up the wall. Another annoying one "your" instead of "you're". Oh and "sort after area" (which I've seen in an estate agent's ad) instead of "sought after area". I've never said it this way myself, but in the part of Essex I come from, the common speech parlance for "university" is "univers IT E", as in "I've got a place at univers IT E".

Can't be 100% certain, but from the appearance I'd say more probable than not, that it hasn't been cleaned. Need a better pic.

If anyone wants to look up an old Spink Numismatic circular, you can get a copy of any one (or part of one) you want for a small fee, from the Fitzwilliam Museum library. That's where I got my 1895 scan about the small date 1857 last year. The link to the Spink circulars list, which start on page 101 is here Just e mail this address and ask for the one you want. They'll let you know the nominal charge:-> licensing@fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk As far as Spink themselves, you'd get more sense from the cat. @Mr T - you might find the above useful info.

Thanks for the above Ian. Once again, fantastically useful information. Interesting you say that not many were collecting Bramah variations at that time. Do you think that Bramah has had something of a renaissance since then? I must admit, I don't see him referred to very often - only by the more experienced sellers. It's a pity his book has only one edition and is so rare. Many, probably most, must have been lost or destroyed since the original publication in 1929, over 90 years ago, and we are left with mainly high priced ex library copies. Maybe there should be a re-print of his book. Copyright expires 70 years after the author's death, and as Bramah died in 1942, that 70 years was reached in 2012. I wonder if Rotographic would entertain this idea. Or maybe those who own a copy of the original book would prefer to keep things the way they are. But of course, whatever the reason, you are spot on, as it's clear that very few DFF's of even 1844 are available nowadays. Between 2007 and 2012, it would not have been too difficult to get one. So the figures are conclusive, then and now.

Thanks Richard. I would say that is is, without doubt, the most difficult of the circulated Victoria copper penny series to obtain. Even more so than the 1854/3 and the 1854 no colon variety. Thanks to Ian I've now bought one, but there were none on the open market. Obviously the 1843 is a rare penny in and of itself. Ian's figures showed that maybe just over 11 in every 100 1843 pennies extant, is a DFF type, which considerably amplifies that already existing rarity.