Peckris

We should all complain directly to the RM about their crass insensitivity.

That's a good reproduction Kris - is that on the Epson V500, or V600? That's scanned on the Epson Perfection 4870 Photo that must be getting on for 6 or 7 years old. Probably the equivalent of the V500 or V600 today. The latest ones use LED lamps and mine's plasma so there's no longer a direct equivalent. Ah right - thanks. I'll get further advice from the photographic forum I'm a member of, but you've both been helpful. Thanks again. (By the way, I actually like film grain. It's much better than the 'noise' you get on digital sensors. Others must agree as Photoshop has an 'add film grain' filter!)

You did ok - a Fine 1860 penny for less than £3 including postage is fair enough I'd say. You certainly weren't burned, pissed or not!!

That's a good reproduction Kris - is that on the Epson V500, or V600?

There's a big difference between celebrating and commemorating. Commemoration means to remember and show respect for, which seems ok to me. I think he's referring to the use of that Kitchener recruiting poster? Absolutely appalling and shoddy poor taste and lack of respect.

Ok. If you do find out, let me know? And also, what the resolution is. I find a great limitation with the 2400 dpi of the external shop - they look fine, but just try and bring any shadow detail out and all you get is gaudy luminescent streaks of nothing Having said that, I've seen an Epson photo scanner online for just under £200 that's 6400 dpi resolution which is getting on for three times as much res.

Never wash your hands if you can't tell the difference between a buffalo and a bison.

Oh, which one? There's a range that begins with V followed by a number - is it one of those? And what don't you like about it?

Their one nice gesture is that there is going to be a 50p with the heraldic reverse that Ironside first submitted before the Britannia was eventually accepted.

That would be telling I like your posts too, while we're in this brief cocoon of mutual admiration

What are you using? I've had some of mine done by an external shop, but they come back at 2400 dpi resolution - they're ok, but you couldn't say any better than that. I'd like to do my own, and get perfect high-res copies.

Ah, the great days of Communist cameras! I began with a Russian made Zorki 4 (virtual exact reproduction of a prewar Leica IIIb) for which I got 3 lenses - I still have the camera and standard lens and I bet it works if I got a film for it. I also briefly used a Lubitel (TLR) but it was a hassle getting 120 roll film processed; I did my own D&P of black and white 35mm film back then. And a Leningrad light meter (the Zorki and Lubitel had nothing electronic anywhere in them, not even a light meter) which was pretty good. Now I slum it with a Lumix superzoom FZ camera. Ok, it has a tiny tiny sensor (makes 110 film look like medium format ) but as long as I am aware of its limitations it takes some good pictures... P1000086.jpg I'm far from expert but that's a really well composed photo! Why, thank you! It was quite well received in the photography forum I'm a member of

Which of course became the standard Roman silver coin in the later days of the Empire. Those official antoniniani looked about as authentic as Seuk's collection of Geo III shillings.

Recruiting sergeant: "...the latest nuclear submarines." Homer Simpson: "Nucular. Nucular. It's nucular." Recruiting sergeant: [sigh]. "Whatever."

Ah, the great days of Communist cameras! I began with a Russian made Zorki 4 (virtual exact reproduction of a prewar Leica IIIb) for which I got 3 lenses - I still have the camera and standard lens and I bet it works if I got a film for it. I also briefly used a Lubitel (TLR) but it was a hassle getting 120 roll film processed; I did my own D&P of black and white 35mm film back then. And a Leningrad light meter (the Zorki and Lubitel had nothing electronic anywhere in them, not even a light meter) which was pretty good. Now I slum it with a Lumix superzoom FZ camera. Ok, it has a tiny tiny sensor (makes 110 film look like medium format ) but as long as I am aware of its limitations it takes some good pictures...

Happy Noo Year, people!

You mean the South Koreans accept bank transfers then? I meant OUR building warships for OURSELVES! But wouldn't we need a shipyard for that? Precisely - I'm assuming the Clyde or similar would be used is which an existing asset. (If built in S Korea, it would be part of our balance of payments deficit - eventually we would have to pay up but not in the form of coins, banknotes or cheques!). Money is of course involved in the not inconsiderable costs of materials, fees, and salaries, but they were not exactly a big consideration in Anglo-Saxon times. You were a warleader - you wanted a longboat - you got your serfs to cut down a few trees on your land - you might have paid an expert shipbuilder but that might have been an ingot of gold or silver, or a prime farm, or your daughter's hand in marriage, or an oxen or two - then your ship would have been crewed by your own indentured warriors who were paid handsomely by not having their heads lopped off Ok, some jesting there, but in truth there was only fractional use for money back then compared to now. It was the rise of towns and the middle classes that stimulated the money economy.

If you want to go down the stereotype road, how about the even smugger 'we know best', luvvy, trendy-lefty, Guardian-subscribed, liberals of Notting Hill with huge, often publicly funded (think BBC exec) salaries and fat bottomed pensions? Then we could talk about that multi-multi-millionaire socialist, Tony Blair…. Stereotypes don't work, there are good and bad examples of everything out there. Then you should, in all honesty, also apply that ethic to Rob's parallel argument to which I was responding.

I agree Dave, trouble is they would f*ck it up! Look what the French have done to Roty's beautiful Sower Geez that looks like a Lowry. The only recent Design i like was the 1997 £2 Britannia REV design, they must of sacked that engraver because nothing has come up to scratch since and i can't remember what was great previous to that, i think we're talking decades. They don't seem to have any artistic flair at the mint anymore.Was that the standing Britannia in a warship with flowing hair and robes? That was a cracking design!

Erm, haven't they missed the Maklouf bust out???

You mean the South Koreans accept bank transfers then? I meant OUR building warships for OURSELVES!

We're never going to agree on this. It's just a shame - to me - that the wider British public seems to have had its natural insularity reinforced over the decades by outsiders such as the egregious Rupert who promote xenophobia. For once, he is not the main culprit in my eyes. The seeds of anti-European rhetoric were sown long before he became the owner of the gutter press. It goes back to the decision to join the Common Market, which in a short time morphed into the European Union. That is not what people signed up to. At the moment we have a group of politicians that are self serving. The vast bulk of European citizens are nationals, not Europeans. The system cannot work until someone from Paris or Rome or wherever stands up and says that people elsewhere are being severely disadvantaged to the benefit of their home town/area/country(which should have been abolished by this point). It could even be argued that the same people in the best areas of the EU should be proactive in simultaneously lowering their own conditions whilst raising others'. It ain't going to work because nobody wants it. Exactly the same argument could be applied to the smug fat-cat inhabitants of the stockbroker belt, vis à vis places like Burnley or Teesside!

Yes, to my shame I can't remember the names of the principal WW1 graveyards in Flanders.

We're never going to agree on this. It's just a shame - to me - that the wider British public seems to have had its natural insularity reinforced over the decades by outsiders such as the egregious Rupert who promote xenophobia.

Yes, that doesn't make sense to me. CGS must be grading proofs according to the same criteria as currency pieces. As they are IMO superior artefacts, they should either have their own separate scale (like F1 drivers' times when they drive Top Gear's 'reasonably priced car' around the track), or - which I think a better solution - they should reserve the top 10% of the grading scale and only sink below it when they are sufficiently impaired that describing them as proofs is no longer tenable.