Nick

I've got one. It's excellent value and packs away very neatly indeed for storage or transport. The camera stand is ok, if a little bit lightweight, but ok for compact cameras. The lights are halogen, so be careful where you place them relative to the light tent and how you handle them once you're done. However, you can buy replacement bulbs (LED etc) that do the job and don't get anywhere near as hot.

You'll need a pretty substantial tripod to take the weight of a DLSR, especially if you want to point the camera downwards.

One might think that would be true, but apparently it isn't. Here's some analysis I found: The belief that Scottish independence would consign the rest of the UK to permanent Conservative government is one that inspires hope among Tories and despair among Labour. But both overestimate the influence of Scotland on general elections. On no occasion since 1945 would independence have changed the identity of the winning party and on only two occasions would it have converted a Labour majority into a hung parliament (1964 and October 1974). Without Scotland, Labour would still have won in 1945 (with a majority of 143, down from 146), in 1966 (75, down from 98), in 1997 (137, down from 179), in 2001 (127, down from 166) and in 2005 (43, down from 66).

My understanding is that the Scottish MPs would be able to stay until such time as independence was official (timetabled to be March 2016).

I know you ladies will be interested to read that an Independent Scotland can use the pound, contrary to what all the scaremongers/liars in Westminster keep telling us all, thus we'll be paying our share of your debt http://www.thecourier.co.uk/opinion/columnists/jennifer-dempsie/battle-to-save-the-union-was-based-on-false-claim-1.546581 I thought that Salmond said they would only pay their share of the debt if they got a currency union? In any case, an independent Scotland could continue to use the pound, but it would have no central bank supporting it - leaving Scotland exposed to currency speculators and runs on banks.

I haven't used eBay in months. I used to spend at least a £1000 each year, but eBay's wilful refusal to do anything about fakes etc means that I save my money to spend with the more responsible auction houses instead.

Spink 2014 gives an UNC value of £65.

Shut down eBay. World-wide fraud would be decimated in a stroke.

There is one born every minute... and they all frequent eBay.

The major auction houses and slabbing companies should be playing a part here. Each time they reject a coin as fake, pictures should be stored in their online archives clearly labelled and searchable as such.

Getting a current list of fakes is easy. Just do an eBay search for coins with the description containing the word genuine.

Of those 3 designs, I like the 2005 reverse design the best.

There are a couple of dodgy 1818 halfcrowns for sale here but if you don't want to pay that much for a replica (and I'm sure you don't) try here.

Ethiopian 1/100 Birr. link

Do a simple specific gravity test. There is sufficient difference between the densities of silver and zinc, that even fairly crude measurements should allow you to distinguish between the two metals.

London Coins should probably know better because CGS have previously rejected one as non-authentic (UIN:23853).

The fake 1818 halfcrown doesn't seem to be known by some of the established auction houses. DNW and London Coins auction archives both contain examples of the fakes. In their March sale, London Coins sold two (lots 1652 and 1653) which exhibit all of the known flaws and a few more: dent in the forehead, nicks on the chin and the neck etc.

...good point, well made. It's just so typical of SE arrogance that they think they are funding the rest of Britain. And where WEREN'T the manufacturies and foundries during the Industrial Revolution? Yeah, you guessed it - in the SE... You can ignore the facts if you like, but you can't change them. At the present time, London and the south-east do subsidise the rest of the UK and during the Industrial Revolution it was probably the other way around.

Would have been worth a go if it was a sixpence, but it's a shilling.

I do take your point Peck. To reduce the gap between rich and poor, which has been ever widening since the seventies, income tax would need to be increased and indirect taxes such as VAT need to reduce. The problem with income tax though is that the higher rates don't actually raise much and to make any kind of difference, the basic rate would need to be increased and you can imagine the howls of anguish this would produce from the dogs in the manger. As a result raising it is probably politically impossible.Despite it being a maximum of 50 miles from me, I have never heard of Elmbridge! It's just the name of a borough. People would more readily recognise the places it contains: Esher, Weybridge, Walton-on-Thames.

I'm with you there Dave, but for me it's the Tory b******s in the Home Counties who should declare independence and leave the rest of the UK to everyone else including the Scots. Your part of the UK would be a bit short of income if they did. Elmbridge in Surrey (£1.18bn) alone pays more income tax than Glasgow (£898m), Sheffield (£812m), Aberdeen (£728m), Cardiff (£589m) and Newcastle (£443m). Income tax payers are the poor little pampered darlings who've all had it very very easy since the 1990s. Meanwhile the rest of us, as ever, pay VAT on nearly everything we buy, crippling fuel duty on our transport, Council Tax, insurance tax, and anything else the Government can think up to scorch us for. I have absolutely no sympathy with or pity for income tax payers in the slightest, or in the good citizens of Elmbridge in Surrey... Income tax is still the largest source of income for the government of the day and income tax payers also pay VAT, fuel duty, council tax, etc etc, so without the tax payers of Elmbridge there would be £1.18bn less for the government to spend, which no doubt you would also moan about. I notice you didn't answer how your part of the UK would deal with the shortfall of income once the home counties had been floated offshore.

I'm with you there Dave, but for me it's the Tory b******s in the Home Counties who should declare independence and leave the rest of the UK to everyone else including the Scots. Your part of the UK would be a bit short of income if they did. Elmbridge in Surrey (£1.18bn) alone pays more income tax than Glasgow (£898m), Sheffield (£812m), Aberdeen (£728m), Cardiff (£589m) and Newcastle (£443m).

I have to say I didn't take such a close look at Nick's, being dazzled by that CGS 92, but you could be right! That is a beautiful coin Nick I definitely prefer the toning on your's too! Thanks. It is a nice looking coin and the toning is not unattractive, which is not something you can always say about toned 1902 matt proofs. Indeed the shilling from the same set is decidedly unattractive. I'm not sure whether this one would grade 92 or higher, but we're not going to find out.

Suggesting that an independent Scotland walks away from their share of the UK debt would do wonders for their credit rating as a fledgling nation.

The only matt proof crown I have had is this one: