Peckris

They're respectable - all Fine apart from the (common)1902 which looks nearer VF. The 1905 is NOT rare! Do my eyes deceive me, or is his 1909 another 1907?

They said £750,000 this morning!

The average annual RM proof sets go for around half Spink value - or less - at auction.

Picture? Link?

I'm very fond of this book, but yes there are errors. The one that always makes me laugh is a total error of judgement : look up the rarity of 1923 halfcrowns, then read the comment next to 1925!

Because the obverse edge dink at 7 o'clock shows on the reverse at 11 o'clock, as it would if you rotated the coin through its vertical axis!

Not quite - they (and 10p's) were indeed struck from 1968 - 1971, but they weren't stockpiled. They entered circulation each year to run alongside shillings and florins, which were no longer struck after 1966 and 1967. Also in 1968, they introduced the blue plastic wallet sets of each decimal denomination from 10p down to 1/2p. However, the three bronze coins were dated 1971 and weren't legal tender until then.

Indeed it is. One penny.

I can't believe I didn't spot this April Fool back in 2010! It's all Bernie's fault for posting it in September...

Yes, that London Coins 1905 sold for £800 - and another (which they described as Good Fine, but which to my eyes is minimum VF) sold for £1400 ! As Michael says, collectors are more savvy than to take auction grades at face value.

Difficult one. Strange colour but that need not necessarily be 'wrong'. 1872 is not a rare date, and £74 for a GVF example sounds about right. However, I'd want to see it 'in hand' (mine, not someone else's!) before making a judgement call.

I think it's true of all ages, pre-Roman onwards, that gold was not used for everyday transactions. In the days before banks, it's the form you would have held your assets in, apart from property, land, and such like. Even from the 17th Century onwards (when banks appeared) gold would have been a rich man's toy - either held in a strongbox in preference to a bank, or used for gambling, betting, prize money e.g. in horse racing, or for paying for really expensive items like original works of art, racehorses etc. That's why pre-Victorian gold coins are worth far in excess of their gold value - the rarity value alone due to such limited issues makes them very costly for collectors.

I'd say that was London Coins being excessively cautious. If I were a seller, I'd say "Bold F/NVF"

Whereas the eBay description is just rubble!

It doesn't say "automatically" though. I think they're just covering their a***s.

I'd say VF too, but the edge knock is worrying. I'd not offer £200 for it. That series is by no means rare. You'll find a better one. Admittedly it was over 10 years ago, but I picked up an EF for £220. The Spink value is a bit OTT.

Bloody Brexiteers - they get everywhere.

No, but Philip of Edinburgh is definitely the husband in law of Elizabeth II.

Haha. Find a dictionary and a pin, see what words you can randomly hit then put it on eBay as a description.

As Neymar's price has just been quoted as £200m, he should be easily able to afford that!

What grades are the other coins in? If the 1905 is truly Fine, then I'd say you haven't done too bad. Without the dents that 1903 would probably fetch around £250 so you could say perhaps £100 or so with the knocks.

Coins were described as NEW PENCE until 1983 when the NEW was dropped. There's a few 1983 2p's that read NEW PENCE instead of TWO PENCE, but apart from those, none are rare.

Just about to get my bathroom converted to a wet room. Hoping it's neither eye-wateringly expensive, nor a lengthy process. Anyway, nice kitchen.

Me too - for the longest time I thought it stood for NorthWest Electricity Board

Welcome to the forums Cryogenic The worst example of what you mention is where someone has cleaned a coin to make it appear 'nicer' - this is the biggest no-no, as no cleaning can affect the wear that has already occurred, and will reduce its value. Another example is of people applying artificial lustre (or polish) to an EF copper to make it seem BU. Slightly trickier for the novice to spot, but with experience they soon become obvious. A third way is for a coin that has sustained some wear to be 're-tooled' so some of the detail appears to have been restored. Again, to someone familiar with the design of a particular series, this is obvious, but a beginner might be fooled. You can't make a coin 'better' than it is, with the exception of removing crud or very bad toning using very gentle and careful methods. If you're in any doubt, and you have pictures, do post them and we'll give you an opinion.