Coinery

I'm guessing that's M M Lis Tower? Doesn't belong to any of the three you've posted.Collectable coins, all of them. Have you been collecting long?

That's a Halfcrown, though, not a shilling? Did it say shilling on the flip? Edit: not the worst I've seen, either! Shame about the grazed AR and couple of scratches! A tiny bit porous too.

Not as far as I know?And you're right, it's already looking a possibility that some die reworking, or secondary sets, are involved. The vertical lines in the shoulder are preliminarily catching my eye, as the second from left one, does not reach to the bottom on some examples, and is faint and frail on others. What happened to the 'ridge' on the die we won't know, but it clearly looks to have been properly smoothed off at the mint at some point (if those coins do indeed turn out to be genuine)? It we could chronologically tie that in with other historical 'developments' on the die, I think it might be an interesting 'tool', as I'm thinking, this could potentially be an area that's ignorantly 'cleaned up' on a cast? I wonder what the lifespan of a cast is, how many coins might be expected from it?

To be fair, no-one has out and out claimed his coin is a fake, anyway...it was just thrown into the melting pot. Thanks, Nick!

A good observation, Rob, maybe guy could help us out with some edge images of his coin. Something we also need to determine is whether there are any milled examples of the Northumberland around? Is that image of the 1899 coin about as good as we're going to get, Rob? Could I have a copy? Also, Paul's reverse has what looks like some clear joins, not on the outer edge as usual, but on the inside rim, so maybe it's sunk inside a cast edge, possibly? Did you take any high-res photos yourself, Paul? I guess, if we start on the premise that only one genuine die existed, and maybe 'trust' CGS's judgement (for now, and assume they have slabbed only genuine coins), we should be able to determine, quite easily, from a number of coins, what are the correct letters and relative positionings? Most importantly, we will know the the progression of clogs and fractures across the series from doing this. This will be useful when dealing with any casts which aren't exposed by seams and/or weight. Did you weigh your copy, Paulus? I'm hypothesising here, but I'm going to suggest it's nigh on impossible to make a perfect cast, and most will require a tiny bit of tidying up. This is where we might find a common mistake? A wider curl, maybe a misshapen one? Or a letter that should be blocked, which isn't? Whilst I've not looked any further, yet, it does look (further to the blocked R) as though the 6-shaped (I wonder Paulus if this was the 6 they were talking about?) curl just to the left of the clasp has some tell-tale signs? What's going on at the top of the curl on Rob's image? Also it's far more evenly curving and of a consistent thickness on the Greuber coin? I think the fakers will have cleared a block, or created an extra small feature when cleaning up the cast. Of course, if more than one cast is made, there'll be other things to look for. So, I'm guessing we need to make a detailed analysis of all the quirks and differences of any, and all, Northumberlands shillings, and then disseminate the findings? Anyone got a Northumberland, and/or any quality images I could chop up with some software for group evaluation? Time to play CGS and the BNTA at their own game. When we've finally concluded, we could concisely present the facts and ask Chris if he could lock it on the forum so it doesn't get buried? Newcomers could always challenge the evidence of the locked post in the usual way.

I wonder if the loop of the 6 was a red herring from CGS? Interesting to see the open topped G of Georgivs. I remember that being a point of interest in the past!

Maybe we should make this our first 'proper' investigation into a fake series! I feel very uneasy with the statement 'send it to CGS for authentication'! It sends out a very bad message about how we view ourselves as serious collectors! I'd sooner clear it up once and for all on our own terms! It's not rocket science!

If you are serious then I am happy to send it to you on the condition that you put a fiver into a charity box when you get it. As a non-collector I don't really have any use for it and would prefer to give it to someone who is interested rather than just put it back into circulation. Hey, fishsticks, that's very kind, and I'll take you up on your offer! I'll donate £5 to charity, AND send you a fiver for a bottle of wine! Many thanks for your generosity. I genuinely don't know a great deal about the decimal coinage, and only gather it as a bit of fun. These oddities do become important to some people, eventually, but it'll unlikely be in your's or my lifetime. However, it's all a bit of fun, and I thank you again. I'll message you in the morning if that's OK? Have a good evening, Stuart

There's no doubt an indepth, and ongoing, die-study is required here! It would most definitely need to begin with a calculation of original dies, and then good access to an historical archive of images. Also, it would be interesting to know the date we were first plagued with this particular fake, and/or when they first became good enough to require an indepth die study?

I'd pay a fiver for it anytime!

Payments made by BACS or CHAPS are guaranteed cleared funds at the time by the bank...... Not according to the woman at my bank, when I enquired due to anxiety regarding a particular dispatch!That's not to say she was right, of course?

I was told by my bank that even direct transfers can be recalled within a timescale, forget what that was now?

Link added. What a load of old flannel that story is. What a crock of ole blarney! I reckon there's at least 2 a week of these going through!Refreshing change that he's actually 'correctly' called it a Threepence, and not a Sixpence, as is the norm! Shame it weighs nearly the same as a sixpence however.

I can't find the coinageofengland coin anymore, the item numbers above all direct to koscoins now???

Interestingly both of these features also appear to be present on the one coinageofengland are selling on Ebay at the moment 171675159718Jerry Same coin isn't it?

Cheers, Nick!

Now this makes for a refreshing grading approach to a commonly listed pewter coin...321669490983 "GRADING IS A OPEN PIT BUT MY OWN GRADING OF THIS COIN IS 6/10" 6 out of ten it is, then! 60p Edit: connect them up with a coin grading company and they'll take the pewter world by storm!

I bet if we could look at the edge, particularly at 3 and 8 o'clock on the reverse, we'd see some giveaway issues? It doesn't have a milled look about it somehow? Anyone know how many dies might have been made for this issue?

Brilliant, Nick, thank-you!

Does anyone on here know how easy, or whether it's possible, to embed a sound into a word document? What I want is to place a series of small images (I guess a bit like a smiley) into the text, which activate a sound when you click on it or, ideally, hover over it, without taking the reader away from the page. Is this possible? I'd settle for either!

I'm carrying a £10 version in my wallet for a couple of months, just so I can pull it out at the pub one day when the old boys are reading the scarcity reports in the papers! I'll be sure to have a copy of CCGB handy, so I can point to a couple of PAST rarity values...then, K'ching, £50 anyone?

Wow! Really? I didn't know that!

I have to say, I've never observed this, yet, but I am extremely particular about 'decontaminating' and 'flipping' my coins! To be fair, however, it's true that anything bigger than an HC is unsuited to 2x2's and folders, though I do have a couple of crowns in mine! I would definitely source some good thick card dividers, regardless of the coins! 2x2 crown-sized flips have so little card remaining at the edge, and are generally under such tension, that they often unknowingly/knowingly split along the edge of the plastic window, which risks uneven tonal changes! I think I'd look for another alternative if I was thinking of acquiring crowns on a regular basis?

Paulus, Paulus, come over to the light side!

Yes!