Coinery

Sadly I don't have any, and certainly not of the E1 shilling, as that's a genuine tone! I'd be happy to revive this thread next year sometime with some before and after images, if that would be of interest?

Right before my eyes!!

I perhaps shouldn't have been so vague, I was meaning the two further scratches forming XII! I wonder whether the X we often see on shillings was put there by some folk to use as a clear identifier when storing or spending their money?

Its best effect is on silver, it's used predominantly by the jewellery industry to 'age' silver for artistic effect! I learnt a lot from playing around with the various combinations, also using toothpaste for highlighting! Hammered coins can be totally blackened and then highlighted to look similar in effect to the reverse of this coin (which is 100% natural toning in this example, I hasten to add, though I'd say it's been 'artistically' cleaned/highlighted in the past - very pretty, though) I must state clearly here that I have only ever experimented with artificial toning to better my own understanding of what makes for a tampered, or recently toned coin! When done well, it's very difficult to tell! However, success isn't always guaranteed, the variables are immense and, statistically speaking, I'd say the imperfect result weigh at 75%, so of no use to the numismatist! Good for spotting the crook's attempts though, which are far and few between it's fair to say!

Firstly, what a shame the bust isn't struck-up on this one, you could cut your fingers on the legends! 261363485603 (link anyone?) Secondly, this coin has a cross scratched into the field, BUT it also has something else that offers a strong and obvious possibily into why these coins are marked in this way? Another interesting point, which hadn't occurred to me before, is that I haven't noticed the cross on 6d's.

I grant you it's a whole lot better to buy than sell on eBay, there's a serious imbalance! Even if eBay get things wrong, whichever way the pendulum swings, they still get millions...bar stewards that they are!

Not for me, no. Imagine the exact same situation with brand new proof dies and a polished blank. It's still going to be slightly sharper than your currency piece and should get a higher score.So I guess there is a finite number, less than 100, for a currency piece, not that we'd ever get CGS to acknowledge what that number is? A currency 91 must already be a scary proposition for them!

Blistering white! I'll put up the UIN tomorrow, and get a photo up too! I've been meaning to crack it out for about 6 months, so will do so when the camera next comes out!

Bearing in mind there are such things as brand spanking new currency dies...if you could press the very first currency coin from that pair of dies and remove it from the machine with cotton gloves and present it to CGS, that would be FDC and worth 100 wouldn't it? Nb: I'm going to post my bright, former AU, now UNC, 1897 XII, just to ask your thoughts on its tonal status!

Just to clarify, in case I've gone off track...I was basically thinking that an 'atrocious' attempt at counterfeiting doesn't instantly reject it as being contemporary on the basis 'you'd never pass that off as genuine' in Tudor or Stuart England!

??? most likely by folk who handled a lot of coins - a slivver of silver from the one coin you saw in 12 months would have no market Good point, David...I was just trying to explain away how an obvious 'unlikeness' of a type was not spotted? I would expect regular handlers of contemporary coinage to have spotted a dud??

Yes, I couldn't imagine for a second that CGS would tie themselves into the knot of a 'perfect' currency piece, 'just in case a better one came along'!

Is that your's TG? That's a really interesting piece because, whilst it's unconvincing to us, it obviously was convincing to a Stuart (not I ), as it's been clipped for its 'silver' content!I put up a very crude E1 HP recently, and also spoke to Chris C. about it. I think in that particular instance it genuinely was a Victorian piece, but a comment that came up was 'it would have to be a very dark tavern' or words to that effect, etc., etc...point being, maybe coinage (especially the larger denominations [xii's]) wasn't so well understood by the peasant classes, who were, after all, the most likely clippers in the first place???

There's nothing to stop US buyers from searching .co.uk, or vice versa...I've also noticed in the past that, depending on how eBay are feeling, or whatever statistical research they are trying to fathom, they'll chuck your listing onto US, or US items onto UK, presumably to see what happens! I paid the US fee for 3 months, when I had around 50 items regularly listed, and found no difference in sales! I'm guessing the US, like us, have the common sense to search .co.uk when looking for UK coins, as we would for US items?

You won't find your items by using eBay US (.com) as you, believe it or not, have to pay an extra fee for your items to appear on the US/Canada sites! Good, ain't it! Revising is a real pain now, as once someone has bid, you're pretty much reduced to putting an add-on, which appears if you can be bothered to scroll to the very bottom of your page! If you've got a lot of info. (description, terms & C's, etc.), you're pretty screwed, as your description 'update' is always missed! Pretty pointless I reckon!

No dullness to the sound, a definite solidity about it!

Sorry Peck, I meant BU-Bright in colour, not grade!

yes! edit: I should say, in as much as it sounds normal for a coin you'd spin and hear rotating to a stop, if you know what I mean?

I've been meaning to share this for some time, but kept forgetting to photograph it! This was a gleaming BU-bright, coin, which became part of a series of my own experiments into what could be achieved with various different chemical processes! As with dipping, this was something I carried out as part of my own 'practical' studies into what could be achieved by the unscrupulous, and what I could look out for in the future! This particular coin has bounced around in my wallet for about 6 months now, so is looking rather bag-marked! It is one of the better results, but I noted others which, whilst they looked convincing, they never quite made the grade, so to speak! I have seen coins on the 'bay which have looked so close to some of my own 'nearlies' that I have left them alone. Anyway, just thought I'd show you, if only to add another dimension to dipping and toning! Incidentally, the cooked yolks of boiled eggs was another good result, though a tad whiffy!

In view of the differing devices, lettering, lis, lions, etc, it looks to have been carved directly onto the dies, rather than made up from individual punches! I can't see anything obvious that might suggest casting from moulds, so I'm thinking hammered and contemporary, any thoughts?

One point that hasn't been mentioned re the CGS change of tack, is the valuations of the coins now they've been upgraded, albeit by name? I bought a CGS coin at EF money, and now have an 'official' CGS UNC, happy days! However, has part of the change been more about keeping the punters happy, when they look in the price guides and see what their coin is 'worth'? So, have CGS also changed their valuations placed against formerly graded coins, now that they are 'officially' a higher grade?

Really interesting post! Great stuff!

Welcome aboard, we get all sorts of coinage on here, I'd say IoM and Irish Coinage is pretty close to home, and would be of interest to most on here! I was watching this eBay coin with interest 321278325585 Just out of interest, what is the earliest dated IoM coin?

Many thanks, Mike, interesting post! Happy New Year to you, too!