Peckris

I would definitely try to find at least two examples,to class something as a variety,however as you mentioned you have now found what is a probable pattern,so were would you stop collecting that date? I personally wouldn't - but our friend 1887Jubilee is something of an expert on that date, and it isn't at all surprising that there are so many 'patterns' as this was the first major change in the silver coinage (excluding florins) since the beginning of Victoria's reign. That's one hell of a long time, 50 years in fact. I'd agree with this. A mule may not have been intended, but it's a result of human action (someone placed those two dies together) rather than a clogged, broken, or flawed die. Therefore it's a human error, several examples got minted, and it's of great interest to collectors. In fact, you could say that mules - e.g. beaded/toothed 1860 bronze, 1926ME pennies, etc - are among the most collectable varieties. Do you think someone decided not to put the hearts on? Or forgot? I believe the thinking is that someone forgot, and around half of them had been minted before someone noticed the error ... so error or variety? I suppose it would have to be an error then! A common-ish one, perhaps, but an error all the same. Imagine if half the 20ps in whatever year it was had been undated. Would it have then become a variety, or remained as an error? Are the numbers involved important, or just the intention? The respective values - i.e. identical whether 'with hearts' or 'without' - I think shows that numbers are indeed important. If one of the varieties was much scarcer it would command a premium. I think it depends on the error? I have a 1964 sixpence where the I of GRATIA is missing due to a clogged die. You'd think that would make it very collectable, but as the OP said, you need more than one to make it so!

Complete collection? What does that mean?

I don't like that one at all. Try and get your money back - it looks gilded and there's a lot of wear on the obverse. It is a common date (1758 not 1754) so there will be much better examples out there. It's also a fact - I'm not sure exactly why - that some sellers with 100% feedback, sell some of the worst examples of coins on the 'Bay. I can only put it down to a combination of buyer ignorance or inexperience and seller's policy of prompt refunding where buyer not satisfied.

Way too high indeed! (EF only). The odd thing is how he arrived at such a non-standard opening bid? His buying price plus eBay fees and commission?

I agree. Coin 1 looks better. Out of interest, how would you grade coin 1, did I do ok for £180? I personally would rate it VF+, especially the reverse. And yes, I think you did absolutely ok for £180. Those aren't rare, but all early milled has increased substantially the last 10-15 years, and it makes a good type coin.

This is a point I've made time and time again. It's a fact that "a few" beats "one" whenever there's an error - we don't go huge on misstrikes in the UK but we do on varieties, and to find something which can be quantified in some way attracts completists who go all out to find another example. You can't do that with a 'mere' misstrike, for all its uniqueness, which is a bit of an irony. I had an unknown 1887 wreath reverse sixpence but no-one had heard of it even though the characteristics were fairly evident (I put a thread about it in the Varieties subforum). Fortunately, this forum has a member who is expert on 1887JH coinage, and now has it 'in custody' for research and a place in a book, as a probable pattern (of which there are very many in 1887, apparently).

I agree. Coin 1 looks better.

I think that's what I said! Except that "a function of demand flux" is just a posh way of saying "believing the hype". ALL Ed7 halfcrowns are difficult in UNC apart from 1902. No-one is going to tell me that the '05 is THAT much harder than the '03 in UNC or that both are THAT much harder than - say - the '08 or '09. Again, that was my point. I think that was a very sensible strategy.

I think it's not the proof set looking at the case and the coins - you still got it for a good price though. Check the farthing in particular : if the + above Elizabeth's head, and the T of farthing on the reverse both point to the same thing (i.e. a space or a tooth), then you have one of the scarce varieties 1+B scarce or 2+A rare; if they point to different things, then it's one of the two common varieties 1+A or 2+B.

I would have expected more than that, £5.5k is just over Spink EF price. A genuinely uncirculated 1905 halfcrown being auctioned at a top London auction house would easily hit £10k or more. Like the 1934 crown, it's overvalued IMO - it basks in the light emanating from its own hype, as the rarest of a rare group. If you go back a few decades, when its rarity was actually GREATER in relation to commoner E7 halfcrown dates, you will find its value was not the same multiple over them.

Variety or not, that's a very nice handsome crown.

It's difficult to say. The pictures are suspiciously poor (as you say), but what I can see looks ok. I would wait until you see them in hand, and if you're not happy send them back on the grounds that you think they might not be genuine. The fakes coming out of China are expert and would fool most people. On the other hand, you may have got a bargain simply because the pictures were so poor - the seller wouldn't be the first coinie to take awful pictures, and he isn't a major eBay presence. You could have got lucky. I can't see anything that's obviously wrong, but you would need to see them in hand. They're not "rare", of course - that's just the normal eBay hype.

I wouldn't. Why would any honest person want a faked document? There are plenty of reasons why an honest person would want a faked document, I mean perhaps not in 2013 Europe, but such a thing would be useful in Mali today, or in the iron curtain, certainly useful in Germany in 1941 or in Burma. A secondary passport (legitimately obtained of course!) is quite useful as an insurance against disaster, although to legitimately obtain one it costs in excess of $50K or involves time actually spent in that country. I was speaking of 2013 Europe. That advert isn't aimed through time at Jews in Nazi Germany, after all. And I very much doubt if Mali citizens could afford the fees of these shysters.

"YOU ARE BIDDING ON ACTUAL HEAP OF SHITE IN PICTURES" Oops, Steve beat me to it.

I wouldn't. Why would any honest person want a faked document?

I have seen your statement. I myself am 14 years of age and have more time for my coin collection than my playstation. Just thought I'd reply to let you know there are some, bu not many young collectors out there. Welcome, anyway! And I hope you will stick around and share your acquisitions and collecting aspirations with us.

Well, I was thinking one of two things when I wrote the above; that I was either an employee of a TPGC or had my tongue in my cheek! Edit: I think you'll find the small curls that fall in front the forehead, and the proximal end of the topmost ribbon has AEF Details! I feel certain that this was what he was referring to! (Really big winky eye)! I think he slipped that "E" in, accidentally on purpose

Quite right, Stuart. You'd do whatever you thought you had to. Law or no law. Hear hear.

That's due to a combination of 1) the variety being really trivial and hard to spot, but more importantly 2) neither variety is remotely scarce! I've never been sure whether mine are merely 'average' or 'better than average' - as you say, they are difficult to find really strong strikes (these are 'blow ups' from scans as usual, so the quality of the picture is not good!). There's definitely signs of weakness on the '07 reverse - you can even see where the fields are 'dished - convex' and there is some ghosting, probably because the obverse is much stronger in hand than it looks. I remember sending off for a reasonably priced BU '06 some years ago, but when it arrived, the obverse strike was so weak I returned it and kept hold of this one.

The government won't care about that. As long as it has Bulgaria or Romania stamped on the front, from 2014 they'll roll out the red carpet. Free healthcare, benefits, even child support for the kids you left back home. Everyone's welcome. Yeah - they can take the homes of all the disabled this Government will have killed off by then.

Not a huge amount, sadly (issued in large numbers). Somewhere between £10 - £20. I'd be tempted to keep it as an interesting piece.

Can you get me an alternative ID for the internet please, so I can - without detection - spew spam all over unsuspecting forums?

First, make sure your picture is no more than 150k (you can reduce resolution and increase compression in an image editor). Then when you post, you will see Attachments under the box you type in. Choose the file on your computer, then Attach This File, then finally Add to Post (yes, yes, I know, unnecessarily complicated). Or, you can put the pictures on an external site and post the link to it here.

It's definitely a commem, but not necessarily Constantine the Great (though probably is) - it looks like one of the coins issued 330-335 AD celebrating Constantinople becoming twin capital of the Empire with Rome. Obverse legend is almost certainly CONSTANTINOPOLIS It's in a nice condition, around VF I'd say.

Especially as the authorities can't agree whether it's a pattern or a medallion.