Peckris

Then they are suffering from an overdose of egotism. There's nothing wrong with the PC hardware, and even the apple software has bugs looking at the crap that the various ayephones occasionally dispense. Even designer shi*e has a price limit. It's not egotism - it's their EULA. Every software designer (unless open source) has one. For example, technically, only a registered copy of Windows can be installed on a Mac, but Apple's EULA prevents even the reverse of that, primarily because they're a hardware company first, software second. My main problem is that (apart from minor experience with iTunes and iPods which seem to do exactly as they please, whether that's what you want or not) an equivalent Apple laptop to my Toshiba would cost me about twice what I paid. I've not had any problems with what I have and it works the way I want it to. I just can't see the point in paying more for something that doesn't appear to do anything more. *shrug* It's two things : one, the quality of components, which is why you pay more for a BMW than a Ford. Two, the included software for example Garageband and iMovie, makes the overall value of the package much more competitive with your Toshiba than it would be without.

Thanks Peckris just trying to figure out your logic here. Different legends for Liz II and George VI and one of every effigy of George V. Suppose there'd have to be a darkened penny in there and possibly a KN (but not likely in BU!) for the mint. How about the bunhead coinage what do you reckon? I only really got as far as older features, Heaton mint, younger features and beaded border. Yes, you got my idea. (1945 for a darkened penny, and a 1918KN in VF). For bun pennies, the differences in obverses and reverses are subtle. I'd say a common type of 1860 beaded border, then 1862 or 1863 in EF minimum. 1874 is the first 'aged' obverse (subtle!), and any date between 1889 and 1893 for the last main subtle obverse type. That would also sweep up most of the main reverse types, provided you ignore the 1860/1861 'signature below foot' '..below rocks' '..below bust' 'no signature' variations. For wide / narrow date varieties, both exist for 1875 and neither are especially expensive. For Heaton (H) 1882 is the cheapest option. If you want one bun in genuine BU, 1890-92 are the cheapest, with 1889 not far behind. For halfpennies and farthings there are far fewer variations and also they're more affordable.

Most of the software exists for both Mac and PC, e.g. Office. Documents can be ported between the two, no problem. Sage apparently doesn't exist in Mac format, though there are online versions which do. You'd need Parallels on a Mac to run Sage. Apple software cannot run legally on a PC, though I've heard of the 'Hacintosh', so it's been done.

Thanks Pies, don't you hate it when you discover scratches or other blemishes for the first time when you photograph the coin!This is exactly why i take hi-res images and post here, so that others may find something i have'nt seenCoin 5 is EF, digs on the OBV, Leaf veins worn, REV left hand thistle has wear along with part of the crown, could be GVF at this rate (sorry) you know how harsh they are Dave, you're only superficially correct. Remember you're looking at a photograph of a sixpence blown up to the same size as pictures of shillings, florins, and on up to crowns. Sixpences are never fully struck up compared to large silver simply due to the physics of getting a complex engraving that small in the first place. That's not say that CGS won't be harsh - they probably will - but we have to make allowances for pictures of small coins where the tiniest flaw is magnified ten times compared to the same size picture of e.g. a crown. I say it as i see it Peck. If its got digs and scratches then its not AUNC, if it has wear on the thistle and crown then its EF and less. Do you think CGS just eyeball a coin and give it a grade? I'm sure it will be done with microscopic Instruments that are much more magnified than a camera.So whats your grade for it Peck? I'll answer that, but first I want to draw your attention to the differences between the shilling and the sixpence, despite the pictures being the same size: 1. the shilling has more evidence of rubbing in the obverse fields - there's apparently none on the sixpence 2. there are fewer hair strands on the 6d, but they are bolder cut, to compensate for the reduced size 3. the laurel wreath leaves are equally unworn, but the raised ribs on the sixpence are less evident due to the smaller design 4. the rose leaves are less complex on the 6d, but equally unworn 5. the 6d crown is much simpler in design - e.g. 13 pearls each side rather than 16; this also applies to the jewels on the headband, almost a different design 6. the lions top left in the small central shield are equally poor, in fact everything is, except for the thing (?) right in the centre If you look closely, there are small differences all over the design, caused entirely by having to reduce them to the size of a sixpence. The one glaring thing is the left hand fleur de lys on the top crown, but that on its own is not enough to say "it's wear rather than die or design reduction". Based on all that, and a VERY close inspection, I would say the two coins are comparable in grade and that this would be most evident in hand, rather than the futile exercise of comparing two pictures that are not even nearly on the same scale.

Here is a representative and inexpensive type collection of BU 20th Century bronze : Pennies : - any from the 1960s - 1953 - 1949 - 1937, 1938, 1947, or 1948 - 1936 - 1927 - 1920 or 1921 - 1912H (EF with lustre) - 1902 (you could also add a high grade Low Tide) - 1901 Halfpennies : - any after 1957 - 1953 - 1952 - 1937, 1942, 1944, 1945 - 1928 or 1936 - 1926 - 1924 or 1925- 1902 - 1901 Farthings : - 1954, 1955 or 1956 - 1953 - any from 1949 to 1952 - any from 1937 to 1948 (1938 is tricky in BU) - any from 1928 to 1933, or 1936 - any from 1919 to 1924 - 1911 or 1917 (darkened) - 1902 - 1901 That wraps up the 20th Century. It gets more complex the further back you go, but that little lot would cost you a few hundred only in BU.

It's a bit tarnished for my taste, but it's certainly EF at least and looks to be problem-free. Nice example from a very short series.

Thanks Pies, don't you hate it when you discover scratches or other blemishes for the first time when you photograph the coin!This is exactly why i take hi-res images and post here, so that others may find something i have'nt seenCoin 5 is EF, digs on the OBV, Leaf veins worn, REV left hand thistle has wear along with part of the crown, could be GVF at this rate (sorry) you know how harsh they are Dave, you're only superficially correct. Remember you're looking at a photograph of a sixpence blown up to the same size as pictures of shillings, florins, and on up to crowns. Sixpences are never fully struck up compared to large silver simply due to the physics of getting a complex engraving that small in the first place. That's not say that CGS won't be harsh - they probably will - but we have to make allowances for pictures of small coins where the tiniest flaw is magnified ten times compared to the same size picture of e.g. a crown.

Nice if you are starting with a blank sheet, but I've got thousands of files which I would lose if I bought an apple. Letters, articles, databases, excel files, website, accounts. Redoing all this isn't an option.I had exactly the same but, with a couple of exceptions (sage accounts was one), all of my thousands of files transferred over to the iMac without a problem. I just ran a cable between the two machines and followed the on-screen prompts. That was 4 years ago and I've never looked back! I'm assuming most of your letters, articles, etc are in Microsoft Word? There is Office for Mac which includes Word and Excel, and both will open/save files created in the PC versions. Also, TextEdit (Apple's equivalent of WordPad) will not only open Word files but Save As.. Word too. Apple's iWork which includes Pages and Numbers will do the same for Word and Excel files. Website is HTML so any halfway decent web creation app will see that and allow you to maintain it. The biggest stumbling block would be accounts and databases. It depends what they were created using. If they are Access databases, they can be exported to Excel and imported on a Mac either using Excel or Numbers, or FileMaker Pro will also 'see' Excel tables and convert them. As for accounts, that is usually proprietary and could be your biggest stumbling block. However, modern Macs can have Windows installed via Bootcamp so any irreplaceable apps you needed could be run in Windows after a reboot. If rebooting proved a pain, there are virtualisation apps like Parallels which let you install Windows and you can run individual Windows programs right there in Mac OS X.

Bear in mind that mid-grade Roman silver is plentiful. If you can find a dealer in them who doesn't have an eBay outlet, a big enough purchase may see you get a reasonable discount. But don't expect huge profits when you come to sell. As Peter says, it helps to know your subject before you embark.

It does seem to have many 'proof' characteristics, but at the same time, as Rob points out, there are some weaknesses and inconsistencies, which would point to a Taylor restrike. Either way, it's a coin I'd happily give cabinet room to.

I'm not sure I can see any other digit there either. I would rate it as F personally - the centre is almost worn flat.

I saw this in Facebook - I reckon a dozy sub-editor missed one journalist's bit of mischief

It's alright, some old dear read my tea leaves. Looks like I had mint tea. Groan

I don't know, I like the idea of psychic coin evaluator. Cross me palm with a piece of (early milled) silver, dearie, and I'll tell you what you want to hear need to know

No way - it's been dipped.

I can, in all honesty, say that in several decades of collecting, no 5 year old has ever flung my coins against a wall... I'll continue to stay away from slabs ... for now

There appears to be a circular, brown stain on that tablecloth towards the centre! For sale: 'White tablecloth with 1896 penny shaped stain on (stain is UNC)" Another nice coin ruined. Or should I say "ruinned"? I placed bids on both of these but the seller's since withdrawn them from sale. P.S. I guess I'll have to settle with http://www.moonestates.com/

There looks to be slight blistering beneath the legend I•GRA•BRIT on the obverse, and is there another connecting the lion's rear left kneebone to the circle? Otherwise looks a nice coin.

There are some provenance-worthy sellers on there, though. I've bought some rarities from Mike Bonser before he sadly passed away last year. Not to mention that Michael Freeman sells on eBay - now THERE's provenance for you!

The seller's other one is clearer. I have taken better pictures of the moon than that..

Although it's not part of the same series, I felt exactly the same way about their fantasy 1798 proof halfpenny, that uses the Kuchler obverse with a close approximation to one of the contemporary Britannia reverses.

True. I saved the listing for myself as a web archive, but I just had a look to see if it was still on eBay under 'Completed listings', but zip zilch nada.

If you took an item back to a shop and they gave you a refund, the item would no longer legally belong to you. If the same thing happened re. an item lost in the post, I'd guess maybe the same thing applies? So if it finally turned up after you got a refund but you didn't say anything about it, then legally you might be on dodgy ground. However if you returned the refund to the seller and explained the item had turned up, that MIGHT constitute a legal contract?

He did several CARtoons for the listing!! In one, a fish is saying to another fish that it's really silver, it's only the sunlight making it look green; the other fish is saying it's really f@&*ing mint green.

He even added his own illustration :