1949threepence

Totally agree. It is, intrinsically, a conflict of interest.

Haven't really got the motivation to search tonight, but a cursory glance at the one in Richard's collection shows (interestingly) that the lower bar E of PENNY is curved, whereas the lower bar E in ONE is, seemingly, straight.

No they're just normal trays with bog standard recesses.

Just bought a couple of upgrades from Asprey Coins, based in Havant. In doing so, I had a good long chat with the owner, Mark Horton, on Monday Evening. Easy to talk to and a real coin enthusiast. Anyway, we got round to talking about varieties, and he drew my attention to something - possibly a mini variety - which I've never come across before. Namely slight differences in the E of PENNY in 1900 pennies. Mark had observed that the lower bar of E in penny was straight in some examples, and slightly curved in others. I checked mine, which was curved. Mark sent me an e mail with some illustrative pics. They're a bit big to use on here, so instead I started looking at 1900 penny examples on e bay, and outsorted a couple of examples. Straight lower bar of E in PENNY Slightly curved lower bar of E in PENNY I've used the direct links as you can employ the zoom feature and see more easily. But he's right, there is a noticeable difference. Thoughts? Mark was very happy for me to raise the issue on here and use his name.

However, if you must buy commemoratives, then gold ones are the best IMO. By orders of magnitude.

One piece of advice I would always give to those interested in buying commemoratives - buy gold. Whatever else happens, they will never lose their bullion value.

Great hair detail - but not that great.....

Thanks Ian - much appreciated. I'm upgrading my F10 with one I've seen on a dealer's website - advertised as a F10, but wasn't 100% certain. My existing one is only VF.

I had no idea. What are they auctioning?

Varieties are (or can be) difficult to weigh up in terms of their noteworthiness. I agree with @Mr T that Freeman is probably the very best source for modern milled bronze, although he starts at 1860 for pure currency coins, at the commencement of the bronze era. All his varieties are taken very seriously, whereas some of the more recently discovered ones never seem to resonate with dealers and collectors - minute date width differences+ being an obvious example. As far as current values you need a decent website, as book values soon become out of date. You might find this useful, possiby - link

OK, cheers Mick. Thanks for that.

Quick question - got a blind spot and can never tell these two obverses apart. It's an 1860 reverse D. So the coin is either F10 or F13. But is this obverse 2 or obverse 3? The letters in BRITT always look the same to me, and don't look out of alignment. Thanks in advance.

I've just ordered a 4 tray drop door mahagony cabinet from Rob Davis - specifically for patterns and proofs. Just £165. All recesses 45mm, need a decent size. Will be quality, I'm certain. link

Derek is still very active on facebook, and has challenged my views in public threads on more than one occasion- although it always ends amicably/humourously. I did once ask him why he never posts on here anymore, but he never responded.

Should have added that the very dry air and low humidity has added to the cold feel once the Sun goes down. Some of the time humidity has been <40%, which is quite unusual for a British Summer. Interestingly the Summer of 1976, whilst very hot by day, was often quite chilly at nights (by normal Summer standards), especially later into July and in August. Intense dryness, low humidity and clear skies meant considerable overnight relief from the heat for many - not dissimilar to desert conditions. Typically a max of between 30 and 32 degrees by day, could be preceded and followed by 8 to 10 degrees overnight. Same recently, but obviously not very hot by day. As the heat and humidity rise from tomorrow onwards, it will all feel very different. You won't need a scarf, that's for sure. Nor will your living room be just 12 degrees.

Either or both of those would be an absolutely fantastic addition to a serious collection. But they're becoming almost out of reach.

It went for £10k hammer, plus whatever juice was on top of that. The same specimen sold for £1900 hammer at the Laurie Bamford auction in 2006. now 2006 I didn't think it would go for quite as much as that to be honest. But it is vanishingly rare of course. R19.

Excellent post, and one I can't really add to. @Peckris 2 over to you.

Not necessarily - if we get a severe Winter with a persistent Scandinavian anticyclone, we could experience a flat calm over many weeks just in the areas where most turbines are placed. As far as what you say about China is concerned, I'm way more cynical than you on this issue. I certainly would regard it as moronic beyond all belief if we continued to tighten towards net zero before are ready - and we are very far from ready yet. The "setting an example" you hint it is just arrogance. Especially as no-one will take a blind bit of notice, until such time as we truly are at net zero. Then they might. Any rate, I notice that Starmer was back peddling slightly today when he admitted it would be a very long time before we could do completely without fossil fuels. Actually the idea of a "GB Energy" isn't a bad one. I'll let @oldcopper reply if he wishes to do so, and quote to you what he says. Although I must admit, I find it quite extraordinary from a technical point of view, that one member's posts really are invisible to you.

Don't worry, it won't be like this for much longer. Heat & humidity wii be heading our way towards the end of the week.

I did say they would not be granting any new licences. I know that existing ones will be honoured. It's great that renewables are now reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, but by deliberately cutting back on fossil fuels at this stage, we risk a Winter crisis at some point, especially if the wind stops, as it very well might depending on the weather conditions. Moreover, some time will be needed for any (new) nuclear power stations to come on line. I'll let you argue with the unions over new job opportunities. It's them that's raised it, and they bankroll the Labour Party to a greater or lesser extent. So Starmer really doesn't want to get on their wrong side before he's even in power. As far as 2030, the target will be missed whether or not the eco zealots get their knickers in a twist over it. ************************************************************************************************************************* By the way here's a question for you from @oldcopper whose posts I know you once said were invisible to you. If you want to reply through me, I'll make sure he sees it.

The thinking of some of these eco zealots is truly, truly odd. They go screaming raving mad over what the UK do or don't do, with our 1% emissions (which have halved anyway since 1990), and quite literally never say a word about the likes of China, India - and even the USA. I just can't take them seriously at all as I don't think they're all there. I also think that with specific regard to "just stop oil", a tragedy is imminent, whether because of a motorist just completely losing it and ploughing into them deliberately, or (more likely) a genuine accident. What does seriously annoy me personally is the deliberate shutting down of any other view than so called "settled science". It's all part of this somewhat Orwellian "disinformation" campaign. Who the hell decides what's disinformation and what is valid reasonable argument, and what precisely lends them the intellectual supremacy to do so? If they are confident in their own view, then they should be happy to argue it out in open debate. But that never happens, at least not in the MSM. As we know from history, new evidence can emerge which changes the landscape completely - such as the discovery in the 19th century that cholera was caused by infected water. If that debate had been closed down, how many more would have died?

Got to laugh. Keir Starmer has upset the unions (GMB & Unite) with his messianic zeal over not granting any more oil and gas exploration licences if Labour get in next year. They are unhappy about the effects on their member's jobs and financial security. As I've said before, yes, a transition to net zero would be a fantastic long term aspiration. 2030 is absolutely impossible to achieve, 2045 maybe. In the meantime we also need oil and gas both to ensure our own security and as a possible export to Europe. link

There was an uprising in East Germany in June 1953, which was quelled by Soviet troops. Although it wasn't an invasion as such. They were already stationed there. link ETA: the map is incorrect anyway, as it extends across all of Germany, despite the fact that West Germany was unaffected.

Spot on - sat out today in the garden, and it really couldn't have been better weather. Hot sun, nice ambient temperature of 21 degrees, and a pleasant breeze. Idyllic.