Peckris

How can a coin in VF be thought of as AU, by any stretch of the imagination? I mean, it just isn't. Not even close.

Reported

Good point - would you see recut numerals all offset by exactly the same degree? You might if the whole date was on a single punch but as we know, they never were.

Interesting in that very many dies in this series have the dates and other parts of the legend recut / repunched, so it's a clear example of that. You won't find it listed as a variety though.

So a centipede is 1 year of the total time Jimmy Savile should have spent in jail?

Ah. Micro-variety land. I'll pass.

X is for Xcited! ( ... or a hasty Xit. I'll get me coat ... )

I believe the value of the metal used is now worth more than 2p, which is why the Mint switched to steel in the 90s. The problem would be finding a buyer who would be willing to pay - say - 2.1p so they could make a 0.4p profit.

Not sure why you say 'scarcer'? All George VI silver dated 1944-1946 - and even earlier - is very common even in top grades, due to general hoarding of genuine silver coins once CuNi came in. (This is also why high grade silver 1915 - 1918 is more common than post-1920 when they were debased to 50% silver).

B for Beatrix! (Actually, Boudicca would have been better than Bond - after all, she actually existed ... though she hasn't brought in as many £££ as Bond.)

Mackintosh is Scottish. And yes - the Loch Ness Monster DOES exist ... in the minds of the Tourist Board . J for Jubilee is pretty poor too - I can think of things like Jodrell Bank, J Arthur Rank, Joyce Grenfell, and I'm sure many others, that would have made a better choice. I suppose we mustn't forget that the Mint makes a fair old packet out of every Jubilee.

Along with F for Failed (in every football tournament since 1966), B for BNP, O for Oswald Mosley, N for Nigel Farridge, X for Xenophobia, you mean? By the way, it's British, not English.

My take is that it's NOT the same coin and you'd be justified in returning it on those grounds. There are many many signs that get my suspicions going, but here's just three: 1. the teeth on the right coin (from the V anti-clockwise to the left hand edge of the bust) are thin compared to the greater wear on the left hand coin 2. the totally different style of the JEB - particularly the E which is curved like a reversed 3 on the left, and a normal E on the right, sloping to the right 3. the upper knot on the pendant ribbon has a complete incuse line on the right, which can barely be seen at all on the left. Add to that the scratch on the last A of GRATIA (not present on the left), and a faint doubling of the ear lobe on the right, and I'd say you've been the victim of possible malpractice.

I don't regard Spinks and Davies 100% accurate on this (Spink probably took their information from Davies anyway). The fact is, all regular proofs between 1937 and 1953 come with or without frosting, and those that are frosted have variable levels of frosting, and some coins in sets are frosted while others aren't. You can't determine a VIP proof from frosting alone if there are no other differences.

Because there is also a normal proof set for 1953, you wouldn't see any difference between those and the VIP proofs. VIPs are usually for years when there are no regular proofs issued, hence their rarity. However, that rare 1953 penny on its own makes the set a very sought after commodity, and you can bet your bottom dollar that the buyer was only after the penny, for which a very high sum was paid.

"Six month gape" - wow, that's a long time to spend gazing on even the loveliest coin!

Have to correct you there. I agree with you about eBay, Amazon, and Google, but not Microsoft and Apple whose interests lie far beyond "just the internet".

You'd be best consulting a specialist work - the nearest I can find in Spink is S37, Savernake Forest type (though yours is not exactly like their illustration - I don't know how relevant that is.)

It could well be AOK - I saw a BU one at Warwick&Warwick a few years back, that was bright enough to be a petrol station football medal! But I was assured it was good.

No, not a mint stamp. Maybe some Customs and Excise thing, or a company's initials? I don't really know. Never seen it before.

Last week there was a great moment on the Beeb: Politics Today were interviewing the guy who'd just started a Remain Party. They were in the studio, he was on the pavement outside the building where his group were holding a press conference. Suddenly the presenter puts her hand to her earpiece and says "I'm just hearing that one of your supporters has walked out of the press conference. Is that true?" "Yes. That was me, so I could be interviewed by you."

A complete shot in the dark: G M could stand for Gulielmus Maria, the Latin names for William and Mary as on their coin legends. The difficulty is that Mary had been dead 7 years by 1701.

It wasn't slabbing in the modern sense - there was no ID or grading or certificate or even label. I.e. there was no TPG connected - it was just a service that encased your coin(s) in a lump of perspex to preserve condition and avoid handling marks. As for actual slabbing, I believe that may have started in the States in the 80s? (Not sure).

Is it just me, or does she have the head of a dog? knight's templar (What's going on? I can only add the attachment as a downloadable link, not as a picture in the post.) Mystery solved - an image has to have the extension .jpg for this forum, even it is already a jpeg. Which is totally pants!

And the 1951 Crown at £4/10 .. not far off what you'd pay for one now, and at least £40 in today's money (probably a lot more).