Peckris

I miss the old billion too! Ours, I mean, not the American one which we've adopted. If our deficit was measured in proper billions, we'd be in even deeper doodie than we already are!!

If you go back to the bastard offspring of Edward IV that Henry VII entirely based his claims on, they aren't royal at all! Henry VII and VIII spent much of their time killing off the more legitimate "pretenders", though apparently the true line has actually survived to the present day.

As Tom says, the coins in question will determine the best auction to select. Also, what he says about fees is also very germane. I'm not saying eBay is necessarily your solution, but for certain types of coin, the costs would be much lower. This is one experience I had selling a lot a few years back at Greenslade Taylor Hunt in Taunton. The two lots went for £30 (hammer price) - I got a cheque for £17. Just a thought.

It's definitely filled with something - the hatching beneath the letters is still very clear. I don't know if it's an I though, but I've never actually seen one.

I knew there was a picture somewhere! (To my shame I've never used the Search facility here).

I have nothing but admiration for any survivors of WW2 (though let's not be so black and white - even among surviving soldiers some will be genuine heroes, others may have a sorrier or more mundane tale to tell.) They all deserve their pension, and the care of the State. However, despite his no doubt creditable war service, no-one can sanely or reasonably compare the Duke of Edinburgh to any other war survivor. Has he ever had to worry about his financial situation? No. If he is ever ill, does he have to worry that he won't get the best private medicine that money can buy? No. Is he renowned as a man of moderate, sensitive and tolerant views, especially of certain foreign races? No. So, if anyone takes the piss, it's not because of his war service but because of who he has been for the past 60 years. Even so, our remarks (above) were hardly on the level of Hogarth and Rawlinson, were they? No.

Sorry I can't be of help on your question. But, a giant LOL @ "FRETNA" !!! It's actually FR ET NAV REX (short for FRANCIAE ET NAVARRAE REX - "King of France and Navarre").

You're welcome. Here's one on eBay that someone is asking forty quid for : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1799-George-111-Halfpenny-AEF-SN1422-/230598523295?pt=UK_Coins_BritishMilled_RL&hash=item35b0be399f#ht_3811wt_915 It's comparable to yours but probably a fraction less wear, and no graffiti. (Just in case you wanted to see one in reasonable shape).

No, none of those are. The way to tell is from the lower loop of the 3. If it curves up towards the top loop, almost vertically, it's the normal type. The open 3 looks far more like the typed 3 <------ but with the lower loop a bit further extended outwards than the top loop. If you Google it, there are some decent photographs on the net.

Well that seems to have sorted that out then! It's a Sydney Mint variety, and the initials are not present on most half sovs it seems (probably too little space to include them). As for value, it would need to be calculated using catalogue values only as a guide. Gold bullion values are much higher than when the last ed. of Spink was published (unless someone has the 2012 edition yet?). If using an older edition, then do this (it's a bit complicated) : 1. look up the UNC prices of Elizabeth II sovs - they will be just a little above bullion 2. Note that values of Vic veiled head Sydney half sovs in VF (which yours is - average of obverse (+) and reverse (-) ) are roughly the same as this 3. As yours is a scarce variety, the values in EF and UNC will be way over bullion in multiples, so ignore what's listed 4. Your coin should be worth - very approximate - the bullion value of a sovereign (its own bullion value would be (half?) that) That's a very very approximate guide indeed. You'd be better off waiting for the 2012 Spink and looking up the actual value in VF. Your nearest large library will have a copy.

Nothing 'poor little' about that! You can add that to my "impossible reality", "incredible dream" too. :)

I'm not sure? One's a striking error, the other is a design error. In my eyes, the two things are worlds apart (from a personal 'desirability' point of view).

Ok, that's fair enough. Well assuming it's London Mint (no mintmark) then it's worth bullion value, but gold is pretty high right now, so if you can get a quote on that, it's worth its weight in gold!

That script looks Cyrillic, so Russian? The double-headed eagle looks about right for Russia.

You sure that's a genuine half sov? It doesn't seem to have the right colour, it looks almost like a bronze lustred copy. If it was genuine with an Aussie mint (M P or S) it would be rare and valuable. Otherwise it would be bullion value.

It's a one-year type halfpenny 1799. The AVR would probably just be graffiti. The coin is in respectable condition VF or better, but not worth a great deal with the graffiti.

It's quite nice but a very common date - probably not much more than a fiver?

That's an early milled beauty, it really is. Just supposing your dreams came true and you had the funds to realise it, how much would that set you back? £9645.25 plus postage at 2003 prices Eh????? What catalogue lists values down to £...45.25??? I agree. I was just trying to find a pic I had of the specimen 1922 with reverse of 1927, but with the ME obverse, to see if this was also identical to your X2 reverse. Unfortunately I don't seem to have it which may be because I promised to delete it after viewing! Oh well, not to worry. Your picture is really nice anyway - a handsome specimen :-)

Your verbal description was way too harsh! I'd say that's a clear Fine, that reverse. (Haven't seen the obverse). The problem is, there is still too much wear to be really sure of that 8. Yes, there is something wrong there for sure, but it is highly unusual to see a problem with the first 8 of the date : that tended to be carried across on dies for different dates, with only the last digit or two being punched separately for different years. What is most likely is that some 'foreign matter' may have crept onto the blank when struck, e.g. a bit of metal from the previous strike. Or, it may be a cracked die with the crack developed enough to cause a raised anomaly on the final coin.

You can go there with diddly and still enjoy it.You can see what you want to go for...bettcha buy something Exactly. You don't even need hundreds - you could still have a great day out. Look out for the higher priced "trays", e.g. £5 or more - they can have some real bargains in if you devote the time to look through them.

That's an early milled beauty, it really is. Just supposing your dreams came true and you had the funds to realise it, how much would that set you back?

No.

You don't want this one, the lustre is suspect. I remember that coin (from Manchester?) and did wonder about the lustre. The 1933 and 1954 are both on my bucket list, together with the 1920 3+B! Otherwise, I have to do with this (apologies for those that have seen it before). Particularly as it only cost me a penny! No apology necessary - I'd love one of those! But one thing seems quite clear - if you look in my previous post just above, that Photoshopped image is of a genuine 1927 reverse. The so-called "1922 with 1927 reverse" (yours) is nothing of the sort really. It has a much wider rim and longer & thicker teeth. It is really a reverse on its own, a 'try out' if you like. It should be reclassified as a unique reverse, and given its own number. It's not even identical to the 1928-onwards reverse either, as the rim and teeth are different. In fact I'd go as far as saying that the reverses from 1922 onwards would be : Reverse X - normal 1922 reverse, also used in 1926 Reverse X2 - the rare "1927" 1922 reverse (pattern?) Reverse Y - 1927 reverse Reverse Z - 1928 - 1936 reverse (I've given them XYZ letters as I haven't bothered to dovetail them in with previous Geo V reverses)

It's most likely to be in average condition, but the range of values would go from around bullion value in Fair (£2?) up to several hundred £ in Mint condition. Here's mine. Looks impressive huh? Actually, it isn't even EF - that's how critical grading is, and how important to get right. thats a nice coin, i just keep buying crap off ebay it seems, im trying to offload my 15 kn pennies on there at the moment Ebay is OK but get some good dealers and use them. If you went to a fair you could pick up most of the bargain basement items from dealers 50p tins...look in the £4 tins and there are £10 ebay coins Yes, that was my experience too. Stephen Lockett used to dump some quite good 'lot bulk' coins in his trays, but you had to sort them from the chaff. It was well worth it and such coins used to make up a decent proportion of my list. I think Gary has more or less given up on British coins, mainly due to Chinese fakes he told me. He concentrates on foreign coins now, but if you're in there just ask what he's got in your budget and he will pull out any drawers or cases - don't get your hopes up though; his last list had very little British on it. My 1918KN and like Peck's 1930 halfcrown, nice but not in top grade David That IS nice. I don't have a good KN at all. The 19 in really GF but that's it. I've spent years searching for a really GVF or NEF but the prices are silly now and the moment has gone.

If Victoria has been worn almost smooth, then the coin wouldn't even rate Fair (which is the equivalent of VG) - for Fine you should be able to see all design features except the highest. For example you have to see hairlines - at least some. As for your picture, we would need to see it really : try compressing it in an image editor (you can reduce a JPEG to less than half full quality for example, which cuts down the file size to around a quarter or even less than full quality. And if you reduce the actual image size a bit, that will also reduce the file size. It's worth pointing out that Dave - azda - posts HUGE images that still come in under 150k; no, I don't know how he does it..!) If your image isn't a JPEG, maybe that's the problem? Some other formats have very large file sizes.