Peckris

...unless you've already invested in cabinets and albums! (That's what I meant by 'unstorable') Ok, so how much does slabbing cost exactly? Firms that slab charge a sliding scale for authentication based (grimly) on coin value (as if that was relevant to the cost of slabbing!) I believe that London Coins' service starts at around £10 per coin? The slab is part of the whole package, I'm not sure there is a company that slabs alone.

...unless you've already invested in cabinets and albums! (That's what I meant by 'unstorable')

Hi Newbie - Welcome to the forums (Do you think you might want a different username if you're going to be here again in the future?) eBay is probably best for experienced collectors, as it's a bit of a minefield, and very many coins there are overgraded. What you could do is lurk and watch for a while - have a look at coins which don't attract a bid even after being up there for a while? Those are often overgraded. Have a look at coins which sell between £25 and £100 : look at the bid history; if there's at least one bid quite early, and lots later on, those are usually (but not invariably) reliable. Get a feel for it. There's lots of rubbish up there. Alternatives include getting a copy of Coin and Banknote News (monthly) where most of the main dealers advertise; also there are many postal lists which can also be good, as long as they have a no-quibble return policy. There are many online sites, e.g. Colin Cooke, where coins have been sold for many years. There aren't too many coins on this site (currently) but those there are, are properly graded and priced. Find a reputable dealer, someone who lives within fairly easy reach, and has a shop or where you can visit. Build a relationship. Gain knowledge. And Coin Fairs are also good - there several in London, The Midlands and the North, monthly fairs. Dealers will have a bit less time for you but you can pick up some bargains. Any coin containing silver can tarnish. I had a 1937 florin that was almost black. Depends on storage and atmosphere. Put up pictures here if you'd like us to see it?

Ha! But it's a smaller market surely? There are such as myself who wouldn't touch them with a bargepole (because 1. I don't want my coins to be in unstorable slabs and 2. I won't pay more just because it's in a slab .. that I don't want!). So you might well get more when you sell on, when you actually find a buyer.

You said above you would START at €300? That implies you were prepared to go higher? For what it's worth, I think it is an attractive coin, so it's really up to you how much you want it. But you may wish to assure yourself it is 20/19 before shelling out your hard-earned. €300 is about £250, which doesn't seem excessive, especially if it turns out to be the rare variety. As for haggling, we can't tell you how to do that. The relationship is between seller and buyer, which is you and he. Well i emailed him and asked him how much he was prepared to come down to firstly, and he replied €360, i have since replied using some of the comments from this thread and said i'd be prepared to go to€300 and that i have bought from him before at a premium. He is a coin dealer so i'm sure he knows it is a 20/19, although its not as visible as some, so we shall see what tomorrow brings. A €100 rebate would be good though :-) Fair enough - but don't lose the coin over €25 in the end, if you really want it. As I say, it's attractive.

Yes the 1957S 1958E and 1959S are all three supposedly scarce and command decent prices (let's say £15-20 for the first two and up to £30 for the 1959S - however do be sure they are genuine BU, you can tell by looking at the hair and laurel on QE2, there should be no wear at all. Similarly on the fleur de lys on the crown above the shield on the reverse, which are all points of first wear).

It's on Amazon : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collecting-Coins-P-Frank-Purvey/dp/0900652152/ref=tag_stc_cust_edpp_ttl As for what to collect, most advisers would suggest you don't specialise too early (unless you already have a clear idea of a collecting theme). Collect widely until you've got a particular interest defined. But always go for quality, according to your budget - then if you want to sell later, you'll have a better chance of making a good sale. Organising is always a personal thing. Storage advice you can get from lots of places, including this forum. There are already good topics on the subject here.

I scan coins at 300 dpi for best effect (or 1200 dpi for close-ups of portions) - I use standard settings, but if yours is giving odd results, you may need to re-calibrate the scanner. And I always finish mine in Photoshop anyway. Any lens which will focus close enough (doesn't have to be macro as long as it will go down to a few cm). This is where a coin holder would come in handy. I don't know anything about scanners, but can they do this ? or this... It's been my best friend, my Nikon, I've got a 17 inch monitor and I can fill the screen with any part of the coin I want. It's so much better than a loupe with a bloodshot eye at one end and a shaking hand at the other. Actually, your Britannia head is very sweet, but a scanner+Photoshop should come close to that. I'm afraid your Vic head looks very patchy indeed - there are some really burned out highlights on that. You get NO burned out area on a scan - it's a uniform tone, the main criticism is that it might look a little dull. To everyone who has talked of using natural light rather than flash : sensible advice, but it's why I mentioned a ring flash above - it's speicifically designed for this kind of situation. It's what naturalists use for close-ups of plants, insects, etc.

You said above you would START at €300? That implies you were prepared to go higher? For what it's worth, I think it is an attractive coin, so it's really up to you how much you want it. But you may wish to assure yourself it is 20/19 before shelling out your hard-earned. €300 is about £250, which doesn't seem excessive, especially if it turns out to be the rare variety. As for haggling, we can't tell you how to do that. The relationship is between seller and buyer, which is you and he.

Welcome to the forums Mark I'm sure you could find buyers for your Mint bags, but not a huge amount above face. What date are the pennies (pre-decimal I'm guessing, from the "1d")? If 1967, then you might find it hard to locate a buyer! Chris Perkins will tell you how much he is paying for scrap silver, and could well make you an offer? I had a vague idea it is maybe 10x face for pre-47 and 20x for pre-20, but don't quote me on that.

There is something called "The Coin Year Book" published by the company that brings out Coin News. Although it does have "blue pages" devoted to coin values, it also has general tips and information. It's not a systematic "beginners' guide" as such, but I'm not sure there is such a thing in Britain? There is also some advice for newcomers at the front of the Spink "Standard Catalogue", and your local library's Reference Section should keep a copy of that.

You're right! It looks quite clear on those darker pictures. And it also looks raised not incuse. Most odd, I never heard of anything like that before. See what the other guys here say, but I admit, it looks intriguing.

I use a flatbed scanner for mine. The final image is not so fine as a camera, but you don't have to worry about focus or plane. "Swings & roundabouts". (As an former keen amateur photographer, I'd suggest a lens at "Macro" setting, and a coin-holder attachment, possibly converted from a filter holder? A ring flash would work well if your finances run to it.)

Rob's answered this pretty fully. I'd only add to the 'Proof' answer : the rim edges can often be really sharp on a proof, sometimes so sharp you can feel it. 'Provenance' generally comes into play if you bought the coin from a big-time dealer, or at a leading sale - those factors will usually be enough to satisfy most collectors. However, a dealer who optimistically describes a "possible proof" you should treat at face value - i.e. not worth the paper it won't be written on. It is also worth pointing out that the Americans have a much more sophisticated attitude to the term "prooflike" than we Brits do. Over there, values for "prooflike" early strikes will command stratospherically higher prices than a mere Unc specimen. So don't regard a "prooflike" non-proof as being unworthy - it may not be a proof, but it will be an attractive coin and should therefore command a premium, even over here.

Hi Voynov - Welcome to the forums Personally, I don't see it? Maybe the 'I'- if it was enlarged real big. But the 'V' just looks like a horizontal gouge, I don't see the downstrokes at all?

Oops, you shouldn't have said anything, Peter. Now you've got competition!! (Don't you just love the "shotgun pellet holes??")

I've looked at a few, but you can't touch Excel for making it do just what you want it to do, and for the ability to change your mind every 5 minutes Much as I admire that Mac stalwart Excel, I think you might do even better with a database manager. For one thing, they give you a lot more flexibility with related files that you can interrogate any number of ways, plus you can create full-page/whole-record layouts AS WELL as the ability to view your data in spreadsheet column/row format too. With a spreadsheet you're limited to the column/row relationship, where with a good DM you can have global fields, relational identifiers, and who knows what else.

I would give the whole coin a nice GVF (obv. check wear on curl in front of ear and on leaves), but it does look nice and could approach EF prices. I agree for wear, but I'm not so convinced about its appeal. Put it this way, I'm not sure I'd want it (but these things are entirely subjective).

Aardhawk, A bit of a cheek, I know, but any chance that you could scan the articles and email them to me? I'm trying to definitively work out the series of 10ps through the 60s and 70s and am finding it a nightmare given that there is Davies, Wiles and Mackenzie and Ron Stafford's attempts, all of which are different, and sometimes changed as new discoveries were made!! Sealy's view would be another layer of information, but might help clarify what I have done already. Alternatively, can you identify which issues of Coin and Medals have these articles in them, as this could allow me either to find them on the web for sale, or I could approach the publisher to see if they have them in an archive and if so whether I can consult them? Somewhere, I have a Ron Stafford survey from circa 1980, where he reviews the numbers of each obverse and reverse, by date, found in a fairly large sample. Unfortunately, as far as I remember, it doesn't detail the actual differences, presumably because he must have thought that any reader who cared would have kept the original article? (I never actually had the original sadly). If this is any use I could scan and upload it for you.

Mine is a series of related database files, each file consisting of a number of layouts and scripts - and it's all in FileMaker Pro. I'm assuming this would not be any use?

Yes Dave - thanks for that. I'd not realised that the difference was between London and Llantrisant. It means much more work must have been done at London, and for longer, than I'd thought?

No, I believe the 1972 set is lower mintage than 1971? The Mint generally reacted to demand, and while demand was very high for 1970 and 1971, it dropped later. But clearly it was still high enough to produce more year sets. Somewhere, I do know there are mintage figures - in fact, possibly in CCGB from before Chris took it over? They didn't - they were only produced for the 1984 sets.

Here is the coin. Hope it comes out OK. Beautiful! The reverse is almost as good as my 1919H - and the obverse is WAY better (On my 19H the obverse die was clearly still only in use with the help of a zimmer, Churchill stairlift, and Viagra)

Very good question! As my 45-year coin comparative values reference is based entirely on Seaby/Spink, that's the source I use. It's just that these days I take them with a hefty pinch of salt Also bear in mind that insurance companies use Spink too. I take an average of 4 to value the coins in my own collection: Tony Clayton British Coins Market Values Spink CCGB I update each one that's a physical book every other year, and Mr Clayton does his own updates. For coins I'm selling, I use my own historical records, corrected for grade, so a coins value is what I reckon I could get for it, based on what I've got for that particular date/variety in the past. Huge databases are half the fun of being a coinie! I agree with you apart from Coins Market Values - I've usually found them to be a bit "under" for values?

Aadhawk, Thank you for this. I think this now explains my confusion very nicely. Davies, in his book, only describes a single obverse type (obverse 3) for the 1969 10p yet my own example is clearly obverse 2 i.e. it has no incuse lines in the eyebrow or hair. I assumed, therefore, that Davies' explanatory notes must be the wrong way round. However, now that you confirm that there are two types of 1969 10p, it becomes clear that Davies' was describing the obverse 3 version in his book and, therefore, his descriptions are correct as far as they go. Equally clearly, he must not have been aware of the obverse 2 type, or he would presumably have included it in his catalogue system. Once again, thanks for helping clear this up. One other thing I'm interested in (really geeky this, probably no-one else will be!) is the difference in finish that was used - I think starting from 1969? All 1968 cupro-nickel - if I remember correct - has what you would call a 'silk' or 'semi matte' finish, which to my mind was gorgeous. Many 1969 coins, including possibly ALL the 50 pences?, have this too but some 1969s brought in an uglier mirrored finish. The mirrored look gradually took over until by the early 80s all cupro-nickel had it. Certainly by the mid-70s all 10p's were mirrored, but I'm sure I remember seeing 5p's dated 1978 - 1980 that may have still had a silkier finish? I've never been quite sure what the Mint's thinking was on this.