Nick

Uh? So what's that doing for the value of a 1927 proof set? Over £500 now? Spink quote £650 in FDC.

In that case, my 1927 proof florin (aFDC) was a bargain. I bought it last year for under £110. I have noticed that the Spink prices for the 1927 proof coins are bizarre: £375 for the crown, £90 for the halfcrown, £120 for the florin, £60 for the shilling, £45 for the sixpence and £120 for the threepence. Why would the florin be worth more than the halfcrown, and why would the threepence be nearly three times the value of the sixpence?

eBay is incredible - you'd struggle to get £120 for a 1927 proof florin in FDC, and here is one worn to buggery going for £80.

Grained edge means the same as milled edge. Your's is a belter of a sixpence, but I don't have any clue whether it's a specimen or not.

If you click the left triangle of the two in the top-right corner and select 'My Settings'. Then select 'Notification Options' on the left hand side of the page and you'll see the option to unhide your email address.

I don't seem to have said but you're welcome to use mine (although mostly UK). I have a large store of images so if there's something you want send me a p.m. As far as e-bay is concerned, it's down to laboriously contacting the individuals I'm afraid. And don't bother with Spinks, they always say no. There are many pictures 'Courtesy of Spink' on Tony Clayton's coin pictures website.

It has been a great thread, does anyone know if we can access the grading companies photographs at all? 60 quid is an aUNC price for my 6d so it's a fair price, but I think I will be hanging on to it as my best example of an Eddie 7 6d type, thanks all the same! Create an account at CGS and if the members have requested photos at the time of order then there will be photos, but they are not that large on the website, you may be better looking at some US auction results for the better pictures, but then you get the US grading. In most cases, the CGS photos are not of sufficient size/quality to be able to discern the finer details.

The neck area and inbetween the ear and the eye there are a few more contact marks plus the rim nick at 6 oclock on the OBV. When Paul emailed the picture i went with GEF, i think i'm still of the same opinion but as we can see unless you study the coin VERY CAREFULLY and look beyond how nice it is then you can see it's not quite the UNC coin. Ok, I accept that there are a few more surface marks and rim nicks than I saw initially and therefore it is not quite UNC. GEF still seems a little harsh to me, but as a novice I'm willing to be educated by those with more knowledge and experience. It begs the question though: How many bag marks and rim nicks are acceptable for a coin with no wear to be called UNC?

However, unless everybody else flushes their caches - you'll be the only one that sees the change. I've just flushed mine and see that your avatar is now cyan coloured rather the purple/blue it was before. I think this is a forum s/w issue. Every time a user uploads a new avatar, a unique filename should be generated so that all browsers will download the new image.

I didn't no, and I still don't. Please tell me which leaf(ves) I should be looking at.

There is no officially laid down grading nomenclature but most people go with (in ascending order); Poor Fair F GF NVF VF GVF NEF EF GEF AU Unc. '+' and '?' are often thrown in just to indicate that it is (in the grader's opinion) better than or not quite as good as the stated grade. You will also come across 'Good' and 'Very Good' which are only semi-official in the UK although the norm in America and an attrocious mis-use of the English language actually being less than 'fine'! However, don't let me put you off from buying the book... Thanks again, and BU being the very top grade? Two more coins for members' grading opinions (if people don't mind?) Looks UNC to me. Nice toning too.

Always remembering that die wear and coin wear can be hard to separate especially for beginners. Small things like the lion faces are often the first places to show wear on both the die and the coin. If the reverse has full lustre and displays no rubbing or wear anywhere else, but the lions' faces are flat without losing lustre - then it's die wear and can be graded Unc (if the die wear is obvious to the naked eye and affects much more than tiny lion faces, then you would mention it in the grading - UNC Weak strike) You've misunderstood - GEF is better than EF. Derek was working downwards - i.e. if there's a little wear it's GEF, more and it's EF. But yes, buy the book! Are you saying that any amount of weakness does not affect the grade? For example, what grade would you give for this 1921 halfcrown which has very little wear but is very weakly struck.

There's an example shown on the website in coinery's original post.

I haven't got Gouby, Nick, what does it say in there? Is it also suggesting that the large date is the rarer? I don't have Gouby either, the letters that Declan and I quoted are from the web page that you referred to earlier.

Here is mine. It looks like another large date, Gouby D.

I asked this question a while back. The solution is to flush the cache in your browser.

I would say EF/gEF.

It looks like a die crack (or several close together). Could be - but what's coming down through the middle of upper loop is what looks like a vertical downstroke at a slight slant, with raised edges on either side. And at the base of the proper downstroke there appears to be something curving to the right and up, like the bottom of a B. What do you think? I think that the slanted vertical downstroke is connected to the "branches" of die cracking emanating from the rim, but I do see what you mean about the line curving upwards from the base of the R. Could be the remnants of another letter.

It looks like a die crack (or several close together).

That is correct - just 5%. I have never attended an auction, but have put in quite a few absentee bids and have won a fair number of lots. They obviously manage to keep their costs down by being largely a family run firm and by not spending much time photographing lots. In my opinion, their grading of lots is consistent, if perhaps just a tad optimistic - but offer a decent alternative to the larger London auction houses.

The more I look at this, the less I see. Here's an extreme close-up of the lower part of the six.

Here's a slightly magnified picture (20x zoom). If I can persuade my digital microscope to focus, I may be able to post a much closer view.

Ok I don't get it, whats wrong with a fir tree, it's huge and it sways like hell. My bike has lost it's front panels as they got brok when it fell over, not that I use it anymore but it's still mine. I don't uderstand the Biggish thing Pete, way over my head I am afraid . Big Issue.

Not sure what you're looking at? the 2 and 6? I'd say good honest wear in the 1st picture Worn die/worn coin. It isn't 6/2 if that is what you were hoping. How about this one? There is definitely something poking out from the bottom left corner of the six.

You wouldn't want these shiny, they are matt proofs after all.