£400 for a Penny ?

I don't like accountants either, but that seems a bit harsh......

Not only that, but you can't get jellied eels anywhere - mystery to me how you've survived this long.

Very interested in this. I picked up the 1929 potential 'off metal' strike from part 1 of the JW sale at CCC. It was listed as possibly cupro nickel, but most likely silver dipped after minting. That didn't sound right to me, so I snapped it up. It was estimated at £6, but I ended up paying £35 for it as it was very nice uncirculated. My plan was to send it to CGS for verification, the only reason that I haven't done so, is that I feel these off metal strikes are an under explored area and I think it might be to easy for them to knock it back. Having discovered Robert Matthews, I think I will send it to him first, my gut instinct tells me that if it is CN, he is more likely to say so because he doesn't have to value it, if you catch my drift. He's also a metallurgist. If it is a 1929 uncirculated CN penny, then it could be quite difficult to value and I'm sure my coin would fare better if supported by his report. Your 1967 looks exactly the same to me, definitely an experimental strike on a slightly larger flan. These do pop up from time to time, there were several more GV strikes in part 2 of the JW sale as Az mentions, although they were worn examples on flans which were too small. I could be wrong, but it seems to me they haven't been talked about much. What they are, whether offical trial pieces or private experimentation during lunch break remains to be discussed, mine could be either, but I think the nature of your flan size surely indicates a mint worker messing about.

Also think that the attraction of the higher end investment coins is that their ownership is truly independent. You don't need a trustee, a bank or an administrator, you don't have to declare it (for the time being) it's below the radar and one can see the appeal of that in these uncertain times. I believe dealers are required to file a return when selling gold, but I've only ever been asked for my name and address once when buying and I was Mr M Mouse, Florida of course.

I think you should take that advice mate.

Out of interest, John, do you know how he charges his time ? I have a potentially controversial off metal strike that I might want an opinion on. And yes, I know I should ask him myself, but what's the point of having online coin mates, if you can't gossip ?

I'll just bring this fellow to your attention as well; http://www.coinauthentication.co.uk/ I haven't used him, so can't speak from experience, but....

Oh, for sure, people are not buying old pennies for their copper value, but it's a contributor to the 'greenhouse' effect in the market at the moment. Folk have become more aware of commodities, gold is beyond most of us in quantity, silver, well, we all have some, but copper we can all buy and there is a massive bun fight it seems. Lot of interest.

Copper hit it's all time high today on the metal markets.

Yes, welcome Tom. Would agree that on the evidence presented, it looks a nice coin. How much are you proposing to pay for it ?

As far as I'm concerned you can put it in Morecambe Bay! Don't go up there, you'll get a nosebleed. Put it in Sandwich Bay.

Depends whether you want the coins or whether the bag is important to you. If it's just the coins your best bet is probably to accumulate them from places like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100X-ONE-PENNY-ELIZABETH-1967-BU-MINT-BAG-/300520782375?pt=UK_Coins_OtherBritish_RL&hash=item45f86f3a27 Or you could try asking him where he gets them from ?

My vote is to part with the first penny, the second is much nicer to my (3 glasses of shiraz) eye.

Cynic. Hopefully.....

Bit of an over reaction perhaps. These kind of storms in tea cups happen often in the digital age, it is important to remember that in 'real' life, words are only a small part of how we communicate. Many of the other aspects such as tone, nuance, body language, smiles etc, etc are lost entirely and we are just left with stark words which on occasion can be taken the wrong way. Also, it empowers certain individuals who become cyber tigers and are very much braver and more opinionated than they would be face to face. Which is why the facebook generation has no social skills whatsoever and has to text you or send you an email from 4 feet away. Only my opinion (worth nothing) but if it was me, I'd probably take the whole correspondence down, it doesn't edify the item any. Regards.

Lol, look again Derek, my above post, he has since corrected his mistake Don't go thinking you can wriggle out of the beers so easily....

With hindsight, the biggest mistake we made was switching away from the gold standard. Up until then, if you didn't have it, you couldn't spend it and would either have to do without or attend to the economic problem causing the shortage. Afterwards, you could behave like a drunk on a night out with someone else's credit card. And we did/are..

I tried complaining. There is nothing a man can do when faced with a squadron of Valkyries except flee.

Registered design number ? Laurence Brown no 3849 ? no manufacturer ? So - what you gonna do ? Give up and go down the pub or get involved ......

Problem I have with Facebook, is that I discovered it, charged in with best intentions, and was hit with a hail of bullets from every woman I've ever had liasons with. Ex wives, girlfriends, jilted office shags, I was murdered. I'd rather go to York and die slowly.

If you are coming to the UK in July there is also the York fair at the Racecourse on the 3rd Friday & Saturday of the month. If you're in London, you MUST go to the Bank of England Museum and then jump onto the central line (subway) and visit the British Museum's coin gallery sponsored by RBS, then a visit to Spink (around the corner) and finish yourself off at Baldwins in the Strand.

York ? Christ my nose would bleed and bleed and bleed if I went that far north. How many pints of blood/red wine do I have, it's around 8 isn't it - I wouldn't survive the round trip.

Well, use them or lose them....

Mine is about 15 years old (I think - too lazy to get up and look) what I particularly like about it is his 'collectors notes' on the series and what, in his opinion, is a realistic goal for the putative collector. It's a hobbywide tome and therefore doesn't go into the depth a serious type collector would want, but as a general work of reference, it's great. Massive book as well - over an inch and three quarters thick in A4 and size counts, right ?

In fairness though, and to add balance, his standard catalogue reference book that he wrote is excellent IMO. Much better than Spink. Don't think he does it anymore, may have been something of a one off ?