pokal02

Yes, I bought one from CNG 2 months ago for about £1,400 and it's probably half a grade better than the Noonans one.

Quite a few dealers/auction houses still claim these to have been minted at Southwark, rather than Tower. Has this ever been settled or has new evidence come to light?

Thanks Rob. One of many questions that may never be fully proven - I'm inclined to agree that (b) is the likeliest (if I amend to 'was re-opened/never fully closed). .

It would only mean that some of the '1551' coins could have been issued in Jan-Mar 1552. It would still be the case that if the Southwark mint was closed in July 1551, the fine silver would all have to be Tower if the Oct 1551 date is also right. The 1551 'tun' crowns are rarer than the 'y's, suggesting the change over (whether of mint or just mint mark) must have been Jan/Feb 1552.

Lord Stewartby 's book says Southwark was closed in July 1551 and new coinage was not authorised till Oct 1551. is the concensus that A) he was mistaken B) the Southwark mint was briefly reopened in late 1551 C) Yorke brought his Southwark dies to the Tower?

Who's spending £6k inc premium on a 1953 crown when they could apparently have got a decent 1860/59 1d (or maybe a Gothic crown) for half that? I know the modern trend is to prioritise condition over rarity, but this just seems bonkers. Still, each to their own.

I know 3 different busts were used for these. I can't trace any info as to whether they were consecutive or concurrent, and if the former, can any of them be narrowed down more specifically than 1638-42 for an issue date?

Thanks Rob. A bit confusing that Spink puts the last bust in the middle!

I think more than 40 sets must have been issued. The 1853 crown, for which there's no currency equivalent, is rare, but there are definitely more than 40 of them knocking around.

The great coronation rip-off in full swing.. some joker wants £20,000 for the Charles 2022 50p (it's not even a proof!), and someone else £17,000-.. makes Coincraft look cheap!

I think it's just the usual nonsense of a so-called 'MS64' being worth 5-10 times one in AU. As said on another thread, happy for so-called investors to pile in and leave the 'normal' coins to us collectors.

They are saying it would be dispatched 'within 30 days'. Incidentally, the BU 50p costs £11 - Ebay is actually cheaper!

Got a silver proof 50p (£59.50) - I see they are £79.95 on ebay. Not sure why anyone would pay the extra as the mintage is unlimited and you can order until 31 December. It's not like the normal (shield) 50p's where one has to break up a proof set to get one.

Yep, 6 of my last 7 at max and the other one bid below it. The last time an identical coin in UNC went for the same amount as mine in AU.

It's not only Ebay. I was idly trawling Etsy and saw 1898/99/1900 1d's on offer for a bargain £1,000. They are Fair-VG at best (the first two arguably worse). Edit: maybe they are a bargain after all - I've just seen a 1936 1d in Fair-Fine on Etsy for £27,300!! (No, it isn't an Edward VIII). I think I'll give up now.

1669 and 1678 crowns are very under-rated. They are at least as rare as 1665 and 1675, the 1669 probably more so. I've seen/heard about only 5 or 6 1669's in 40 years of collecting crowns, and about 10-12 1678's. I've only ever seen/heard of two 1669's above F.

I see from the Abramson catalogue that the Spink 859 type previously attributed to Aelfwald II is now given to Aelfwald I. Two with the moneyer Eadvini rather than Cuthheard are given to Aelfwald II, although noted as doubtful Is this the only type/moneyer now attributed to Aelfwald II?

What's going on - 180 lots taking 5 hours with another 420 to come? They'll still be bidding at 1 a.m. on that schedule.

Yes, it was all a bit strange. Although most of the coins either went for silly prices or proved that sceats/stycas are seriously undervalued in the catalogues, some went for fairly modest prices - I was so shell-shocked by some of the early bidding (and the extended wait didn't help) that I missed bidding on a Beonna that went for below low estimate. One of the Eardwulf's looked quite low too. My theory that where there are two near-identical coins, the second always fetches more was proved in spades by the two 'Aelfwald II(?)' lots. I was the underbidder on the first at 270, and then watched the second go for (I think) 1700. I'd expected to at least fill my Redwulf, Osberht and Wulfhere gaps given the number of coins offered - managed a Redwulf and Wulfhere, although with hindsight would have gone for the slightly inferior Wulfhere at 220-odd rather than paying 500 for mine. The hammer came down on the last Osberht with my bid winning, but he re-opened it and I didn't bid on.

I spotted one of these at an antiques fair about 15 years ago @ Alexandra Palace once priced at £8 (it was about F). I managed to haggle down to £7 and sold it for £50 on EBay (fairly cheap - F was £200 in Spink at the time). I'd completed a date collection of farthings (excluding proofs etc) in the 1980's but sold up in the early 90's to concentrate on higher denominations - remembered how rare this one was when I saw it.

I've started collecting 50p's recently (only the Shield/Britannias, not Mrs Tiggywinkle etc). I picked up a 1974 for £9 but had to pay silly money (£50+) for 2009 Shield, 2011 and 2016.

I'd say it's one of those that many sellers would go NEF and many prospective buyers GVF (as far as I can tell without seeing it in hand). There's a little bit of wear, although not much, in the hair and at the top of the reverse. I'd agree that the contact marks are fairly insignificant & not enough to downgrade it.

A nasty sting in the tail for me as Spink delivered my lot to an address I left in 2005 (I'd have collected in person but for lockdown restrictions). Fortunately, although the present occupant had opened the package, she willingly handed it over. Myself and Spink both at fault here. The online invoice did indeed show my old address - it didn't occur to me to check immediately as I've had stuff from Spink sent to my new address many times since 2005. It seems I must have had two accounts and for some reason they re-activated the dormant one - they have assured me that the two accounts now merged and the old address deleted!

A nasty sting in the tail for me as Spink delivered my lot to an address I left in 2005 (I'd have collected in person but for lockdown restrictions). Fortunately, although the present occupant had opened the package, she willingly handed it over.

I was thinking more of a date run, which isn't much of an issue for hammered apart from some Commonwealth issues & the 1558 penny. I've managed one of each reign & mint (except Ashby) for hammered groats and have a few more varieties I could still pick up. although as you say there a a few I'm either never going to get or won't bother with,. Have often toyed with expanding into milled groats (definitely easier than shillings) but something else always comes up!