Peckris

It's very frustrating. I downloaded an image (Google) on iPad, then used the free Resize app to reduce it to 800x800. However, when I try to upload it (on iPad) I get the message that I'm only allowed to upload 500kb - but I can't see how big the file is!! Only that it's 800x800. I do hope you find a solution to this. I'm disabled too, but I use a Mac for most activities, and don't have any problems uploading to this site.

Indeed. We all no doubt remember the time honoured BUGem, which is clearly short for "Bugger 'em".

It's not proof, but if you look at the enlargements, the edges to those dents are much sharper than the rest of the coins, which are quite worn. If done at the Mint, the edges would have worn the same amount.

Ian, thanks for that - an educational if somewhat technical read! The one problem is that the article says that firestain is random, i.e. not only on which (coins) it might appear, but also whereabouts. However, the pattern of 'brown/pink' you see on that halfcrown above, is absolutely typical; in other words if it is seen, it's pretty much always in the same places - the edges of the shield and the parts of the garter where most wear takes place. Similarly, it's usually the same points on the obverse, i.e. the highest parts of the portrait, spreading as it wears more. It's almost as if the copper lies deeper, and is gradually uncovered by wear. But I'm no scientist.

Ok, fair enough. But the issue with - e.g. - 1925 halfcrowns is that the pinky-brown patches appear only on fairly well-worn examples, never on BU examples. Here are two from the Bay (the higher grade halfcrown has a problem with 'green' - a common problem! - but not with brown, unlike the more worn one):

Quite possibly my favourite song of theirs. A mellow song from the late..

Yes, I wrote that article, and had read about the coating of pure silver - but if this was achieved by 'pickling' in acid I'm quite happy to accept that. The brown patches seen so often on silver coins of the mid-20s would almost certainly be due to copper 'leaching' to the surface when it wore.

That's a case. My own set is in a red cardboard box. It is like modern proof sets which come in a choice of packaging at different prices. Here is a picture of one from the internet:

It's possible the original owner left a large gap at the top to hold packs of silica gel?

Yes, if two genuine bidders try the same tactic, there's little you can do. Luckily in my case, a little digging showed there was hanky panky afoot, and the seller and I managed to sort it out between us.

Maybe not, but defaced coins DO exist, and I've never heard of a prosecution in modern times for doing so. Those are very common coins by the way, so no real damage done from our point of view.

Hah! I watched a computer with lots of enhanced features for several days, and was there poised over the keyboard. With little action at 10 minutes to go, I bid £10 over the current top bid, and was 'highest bidder' with about a minute to go. It then went over £400, so I waited for 7 seconds to go, then put in a 'stupid bid' of £701. I won the auction ... at £701. I looked closer and there were two bids after mine - one for £599, then a split second later at £699. I viewed the bidding history and saw that the underbidder had withdrawn their successful bid 16 times out of 18 auctions over the previous 30 days. I contacted the seller, querying the auction and got a reply next day saying he knew nothing about the underbidder and agreed that the winning bid was 'on the high side'. I looked again at the bidding history and saw that the underbidder was 'no longer registered with eBay'. Luckily the seller was honest (100%), and we agreed a BIN price at £10 more than the previous kosher bid. He reckoned that retailers sometimes went onto eBay and forced up auction prices (withdrawing if they won) to raise the market prices of what they had in stock in their shops, e.g. secondhand computers.

Every Picture Tells A Story

Mick - my favourite version of Promised Land is by The Band on Moondog Matinée. How sad is that? To step up several notches in class, this is one of my favourite tracks of the 90s:

I used to love that until they hijacked it for live football on telly.

A varied selection there Mick! Now I know where The Pioneers pinched the riff for Long Shot Kick De Bucket from... Anyway, back to relative normality for me

8 and a half million attended the South Bank exhibition alone; then add in several million more at events held around the UK, and you have a huge potential market for the crown as a keepsake. Also consider it was the first non-gold coin to feature the popular Pistrucci 'George & the Dragon' design for 50 years, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the number sold at Festival events far exceeded the number applied for by post from the RM.

Considering the huge numbers attending the Festival of Britain compared with the coin collector base of the time*, wouldn't that be more likely the other way around? *(nearly 2m 1951 Crowns compared with 20,000 proof sets struck)

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Some later settlements - e.g. at Wroxeter - were based on Roman towns. Others, like Carlisle, maintained a continuous occupation until the Norse raids. It is more true though to say that Roman stone was pilfered for all kinds of uses, especially up at Hadrians Wall which was several times taller than the present paltry remains. However, the resettlement of Roman towns (for example Chester, Colchester, Bath, Exeter, York, Cirencester) tended to be a later trend by which time their Roman artefacts were either buried, ruined, pilfered, or what have you. The Saxons did not use Roman money, in fact their use of any money was limited, until later kingdoms when the Saxon kings issued sceats (silver pennies) with a combination of their own image on one side for propaganda purposes, and Christian symbolism on the reverse, usually a cross. The Saxon and Roman cultures had very little in common, and Roman artefacts tended to be viewed with suspicion for a long time. The closest they came to Rome was the monastic system, and later on, visits to Charlemagne and various Popes, but that wasn't for a few hundred years after the Romans left Britain.

Ah, you were referring to the box colour for the entire set? Ok, but AFAIK, the individual boxed crowns only come in green or burgundy. If you've got a picture of a blue one, I'd be more than happy to see it.

Not strictly speaking a song as such, but definitely one of my favourite clips!

Which they did, long before 1918/19 if you read the introduction to Michael Freeman's 'bible'. Officially they supplied the Mint with blanks from 1912, but given the reddish colour of their blanks, it's not too far-fetched to think they also supplied some between 1908-1910.

Good song, not quite so sure about the performance? Get rid of the echo and go for the full Mark E Smith treatment!

I've seen regular 1951 crowns exactly like the VIP Proof in the picture above.