DaveG38

Hi All, I have now about finished my book on 20th century bronze coin varieties. However, I have a small issue that I wonder if anybody can help with. When it comes to decimal bronze, I have, I think, established most of the varieties for the 1/2p, 1p and 2p up to 1984 and I am aware of the two metal content types for 1992 and 1998, but does anybody know of any others covering the period from 1985 to 1999? Of course it may be that nobody has yet tried to find any, there aren't any to find given modern minting methods, or that nobody can be bothered - I must say that closely examining piles of similar coins can be very tedious! So can anybody help? Anybody know of any references to mags or articles on this subject? Thanks. DaveG38

Hi All, I am looking for an article concerning decimal bronze varieties and I wonder if anybody can help. The article was written by Iain WP Dracott and published in a magazine called Coin (Not Coin Monthly) for the period 25 Jan - 7 Feb 1980. If anybody has it would they be prepared to copy the article for me and email it or scan it? All reasonable costs would be met, as well as my grateful thanks. Please all rush at once!!! DaveG38

A coin which took my fancy when I first saw it and I have always wanted is the Elizabeth I sixth issue crown from 1601-2. I think its a combination of veneration of the age of the coin, the size, the excellent portrait and the fantastic detail for a hammered coin, which makes it so appealing for me. I have never got around to buying one (and they are pricey) plus the fact that I don't really 'do' hammered which has stopped me having one.

Hi all, Earlier in this thread, you may recall me detailing a book I was putting together on 20th Century Coin Varieties. Well, it's getting there, although I have split the book in two volumes, one to cover bronze and brass and the other silver/cupro-nickel. The main sections of the bronze volume are written, photographs taken and a structure put in place. I am now going through it, editing and researching new information to make it as comprehensive as possible and in doing so, I have found that I need some help, which I hope the forum can supply. I need a photo of the 1915 or 1916 penny obverse with and without a 'recessed ear.' I have looked around on the internet at various coins and I have been unable to find anything that gives me a clue as to what I am looking for. So can anybody help with photos I can use? If so then 300dpi is the standard needed and a close up on the 'ears' is all I need, not the whole coin. Obviously, due acknowledgements will be made when the book finally appears. Many Thanks. DaveG38

Chris, Details of the hammer price for those rarities I bid on and failed miserably as follows: 1863 Florin in fair at best - £420 1823 First Rev Halfcrown in poor/fair with a bend - £380 1841 Halfcrown in nF - £540 1816 3 Shillings in VF - £800 Coins I didn't need but still rare include: 1893 Jub Head 6d in fair - £120 1850 Shilling in fine - £440 1854 Shilling in VG - £130 1698 Farthing DIE in fair - £60 1854 Florin in G/VG - £310 1905 Halfcrown in GF with ek - £800 1849 Penny in VG - £150 These were the main rarities. Bear in mind too that all these are hammer prices without buyers premium, which for Lockdales is 12.5%. If you want any more data from this auction then by all means let me know. Regards. DaveG38

I have just failed miserably to add 'missing' coins to my collection. The last Lockdales auction, last weekend, had a number of rare date items, albeit in pretty poor condition e.g. 1863 florin in fair, a 1823 first reverse 2/6d in poor/fair etc. I put in some, what I thought, fairly generous bids, well beyond what I believed these coins were worth, and expected to pick up something, only to find that the realised prices were off the scale!! I am amazed. Many were beyond the book price for better grades and that's without the buyer's premium. In my case my bids were some 50-60% of the final price. Extraordinary. I can only think that there were some private bidders there determined to get the gap in their collection at almost any price. At this rate, I am going to have a long wait to fill these elusive gaps in my collection. Has anybody else had a similar experience? In this case, its not that I was outbid, its just the sheer scale of the excess paid that I find hard to beleive.

Not ddoherty_dog by any chance? I too am still waiting after nearly two weeks for a coin.

Thanks Chris. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I plan on making it for coins/numismatics only and I will advertise it in numismatic sites and magazines. I'm not going to give up my day job and I'm going to be realistic. I've had the logo,banners, advertising and business cards professionally designed but as you say I have seen auction sites come and go. I'm just hoping that many have reached the end of their tether and if it works it works, if not, so be it. I just want to offer collectors and dealers an alternative. I might be of interest for you, that there is a working german alternative to ebay concerning coins http://www.muenzauktion.com/ . Quite attractive for sellers, because they don`t have to pay any fees for there offers. Instead of that you can (but you don`t have to) let register yourself as a sponsor. In that case you pay at least 12 € (or 24, 36 and so on) a year. As a sponsor your offers appear minor or more often, when people are visiting the website. The side is used by amateurs and professionels as well. I thought about selling a few coins there, but I didn't, because I'm afraid, not many people are searching for British coins there (although you will find quite a lot). I have used this site a few times myself and have bought some very nice coins at reasonable prices so I quite like this site. The only pity is that I am now collecting early milled and not too much of that appears for sale.

Hi everyone, Do you think this item is one of the many very good Chinese fakes? There's something about it that doesn't look quite right - either that or its the light! If it is a fake then I guess ebay 'laughs' isn't really an appropriate place for it. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VERY-SCARCE-1763-SHI...id=p3286.c0.m14

I presume in this case, that VF means Very Flat!! http://coins.shop.ebay.co.uk/items/Early-M...tZ72366QQ_pgnZ4

If you still want to get hold of the book ' The Guidebook and Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins, 1649-1971, 3rd edition' by James Remick, then there are several copies on Abebooks.com DaveG38

Andy, In my limited experience of these auctions, I found London Coin Auctions to be excellent for high quality high price material, if that's your area. Overall, and not surprisingly, they seem to get a large influx of punters, as they use a hotel close to the Dartford Crossing on the M25. This makes them a magent for just about any collectors in the south east. Croydon Coin Auctions on the other hand often have material that I would be more interested in i.e. middle grade and price. However, I long ago gave up visiting these auctions - if I want something, I simply ask for a scan of the item(s) and bid accordingly or not. Using this approach I have rarely been disappointed and have got a few items at what I consider to be a good price. I have used a similar approach with Lockdales, again without any issues from my point of view. It all depends too on what you want. If, like me, you are a single coin buyer, looking to fill gaps in your collection, then my method works perfectly well. If on the other hand you are a high quality/price collector, and absolutely must see an item before you buy, my only suggestion would be to ask for top quality scans - this does usually show up most flaws. However, if you are buying bulk items to sell on, then a personal visit is the only way in my view. Don't know if this helps. PS: What's your opinion of Brock's etc. in the north. I have considered a few speculative bids and prices do seem a little lower than in the South, but the lack of photos has always been a problem for me. I have also bought from Sheffield Coin Auctions, but unfortunately the owner died a few years ago, so that was the end of that.

Hi All Here's a question that I think I asked on another forum several years ago but never got a satisfactory answer. Does anybody know how the 1893 proof sets were presented? Were they in boxes, leather or card cases, vellum pouches (I made this one up) or what? Was there any embossing on the lid? What does it say? What colour were they? What shape etc. I guess you get the idea. Were they different for the long set as opposed to the short one? Any advice gratefully received. DaveG38

I don't think she would be amused!!!

Thanks Red Riley, Seeing the posts in this topic, I was beginning to get rather disheartened by the apparent enormity of this task. I agree with you that I will need to draw a line somewhere - for me its looking like the main varieties identified by most of the well known authors in numismatics and not the esoteric minor types. However, I can see an argument that says all types should be put in for completeness. For now I am going to press on as I have been. Cheers DaveG38

Aardhawk, You're posts are depressing me!!! For my book I thought I had gone through a fair number of sources to extract quite a large number of varieties with descriptors so that the different types could be reconciled. Now I find that there are a large number of additional minor varieties which will take a hell of a lot of tracking down to describe, but will also be difficult to find examples of to photograph. My head hurts - help!!

Can you post pictures please? DaveG38

Hi AardHawk, Can you point me to a definitive source for these articles please? DaveG38

Dear muygrandeoso, On another thread on this forum, you may have seen that I am currently putting a book together about 20th Century varieties. The one you mention here is a new one to me and I wonder if you would be willing to allow me to use your photographs in my book - with due thanks and acknowledgments of course. DaveG38

Hi Master jmd, I certainly intend to cover farthings - already completed Liz II - but only for 20th Century. However, you might like to try this website whcih has a way to go yet, but is still an excellent resource for farthings. http://aboutfarthings.co.uk/ DaveG38

Rob, I entirely agree that Peck is hopelessly out of date and that there are many minor variants referred to by others that Peck doesn't even identify. However, Peck does mention many and I wanted to make sure that I refer to all sources for data and to the descriptions they contai, so that I give a comprehensive view of 20C varieties. To do this I need to include Peck numbers, but I also need to be sure that I have the most up to date edition - hence my question. If you are saying that the 1970 reprint is just that, with no further data added or amendments made, then I think this answers my question. Thanks. DaveG38

Hi Chris, Many thanks for the kind offer of help with the marketing. I don't really expect much of a market for my book - its more a labour of love, with possibly a few souls buying one once complete. I don't really fancy myself as any kind of expert author. Having said this, at this stage, I really don't know what I might need but I already see many issues and areas where the help of everybody on the forum might be useful. Can I start with a first quick easy question for everybody. I am basing my information on the bronze coinage largely on the 2006 issue of Freeman, which I own, and the 1964 second edition of Peck, which I have on loan from the library. However, I understand that there is a later printing of Peck dated 1970 and I wondered if anybody on the forum owns one. If so, can they tell me if it covers coins from 1963 to 1970 or is it just an update on the 1964 edition (which only goes up to 1963)? If it does go up to 1970, or at least later than 1963, would the owner be prepared to carry out some basic checks on coins in it, and provide me with some data so that I can be sure I have the most accurate information? Thanks DaveG38

I may be misunderstanding here, but are you saying that the 'L' to a bullet is the rare type? If so, then there have been several on ebay lately, the best being a pretty much UNC one for £24. Are you sure it isn't the 'L' to a space type that's the rare one? In fact, I haven't found a specimen with the 'L' to a space! DaveG38

First of all, many thanks for the support from forum members and for the kind offers of help. At this stage, I am not sure what might be needed, but I will certainly approach the forum as necessary. However, there is one area where I would appreciate some advice, perhaps from 'HistoricCoinage,' and that is in the area of the structure and layout for the book. This project is not entirely a twinkle in my eye as I have been thinking about it for some months now and have already put finger to keyboard. Progress is as follows: 1) Title - I have decided to call it 'British 20th Century Coin Varieties.' 2) I have identified from my 6 main sources all the reported varieties that I can find. 3) I have sorted out all those that I have examples of and am on the lookout for the remainder. 4) I have more or less sorted out the overall structure for the book. 5) I have designed a standard layout for the individual sections, which I hope is useable for readers. 6) Have written about 35 pages covering pre-decimal Elizabeth II and George VI bronze. The area where I would like some advice is number 5), where a fresh pair of eyes and brain might be useful in order to ensure that I have the best layout and approach. If anybody is willing to look at a section of the book, say the Elizabeth II farthings and let me have comments then that would be really helpful. It goes without saying that all such help will be acknowledged in the book as will any other inputs made by forum members e.g. photographs etc. Regards. DaveG38

Chris, Many thanks for the reply. I agree with you that its better to be safe than sorry rather than discover that I have infringed copyright when its too late. Oh well, another task or two to add to all the others!!! As to publishing, it will be done by me personally - I have published a poetry book for my other half already and the process is pretty easy. The tricky part is the marketing, but I do see options for me for the coin book. What I am impressed with is the quality of self published material these days. Its gone a long way from the days when all you could do is staple together the pages!!!! What's it about? Put simply, 20th century varieties. Lots of commentators mention them, but often describe them differently or don't include them all. What I am going to attempt is to reconcile them, with lots of photos from my personal collection - I've got most of them, but not all. Don't know how long it will take - probably a year or so. Regards. DaveG38