Paulus

Well what I was doing is right-click copying and pasting, but I can't work out how to do that in the new version of PB ... I am currently using IE for PB (instead of Chrome) as (for me) this is still using the old version, but that will change on the 18/3. I have noticed that if I put the pics on this forum, I can then right-click copy them, so something similar might be the answer!

If they're going on the 'bay, you could do a lot worse than BIN & BO! You can sit them on eBay for a year for under a fiver! The right buyer will turn up before then! That's where I have knowledge, and where I am leaning, for coins £100-£400 anyway, I think the effective 15% or so sellers' premium and 0% buyers' premium swings it, will ensure it is open to eBay.com too, it's only a few pence

Absolutely right, insured postage too! Me too, though it's only 5% in Paulus's neck 'o' the woods! Good old Croydon Auctions, their website is a bit rubbish though! When is the next auction??

I think their strictness could well have the reverse effect than that intended : as a result of how they graded your coins there is absolutely no way I would ever risk sending any of my best coins to them, to be marked down in the same way. So if I was ever likely to reverse my attitude to slabbing, there is now no way I would do so. I believe I can grade quite well, and I find I am very often in agreement with Derek (who wrote the book). I must admit, it's a bit galling to have some coins I admire, bought for my collection as EF and at EF prices, to be graded as VF, knowing that they would almost certainly be graded as EF once again by many dealers and sellers as raw coins! Some of the coins in this batch were sold to me by very highly respected dealers at a grade or more higher than CGS have given. The jury is still out for me, but their apparent over-strictness and unwillingness to move with the times a bit is certainly a double-edged sword at best! I am also a fan of Derek's grading, in my few dealings to date I had to break 3 coins back out of the slabs CGS delivered to me! I just couldn't swallow the grades and/or valuations! It sounds like you may be doing something similar? Did they value them favourably overall? Most CGS buyers will take a look at the UIN to check out the valuation on the CGS website, and you can be sure you'll be getting under that, even before selling fees! I've been looking forward to your response Stuart! On balance it's what I expected, some well below and a couple a bit above what I expected! But you're right, I'm not taking a loss by selling some of them at the CGS valuations in their slabs, in a couple of cases they are ridiculous even in the sense of what I could get by ripping them out and starting them at 99p on eBay! But it's all part of this little learning experience, and I have learned a lot from it so far ... especially regarding how to grade ... the next bit of learning will be the reaction of buyers of the ones I sell in their coffins! So far it has been money well worth spending, especially after the 'free' time I spent with the graders today! Their benchmark coins are something to behold!!

Absolutely right, insured postage too!

Hi Nek, welcome to what must be the best coin forum for British predecimal in the world! My grading would be (and I am not an expert): Coin 1 (British Guiana issue) GF Coin 2 Fine + Coin 3 NVF Coin 4 Fine + Coin 5 VF Coin 6 VF + Coin 7 VF (cleaned?) Coin 8 Near Fine (NF) Why 1818 onwards and not 1816 (as your interest)?

I think their strictness could well have the reverse effect than that intended : as a result of how they graded your coins there is absolutely no way I would ever risk sending any of my best coins to them, to be marked down in the same way. So if I was ever likely to reverse my attitude to slabbing, there is now no way I would do so. I believe I can grade quite well, and I find I am very often in agreement with Derek (who wrote the book). I must admit, it's a bit galling to have some coins I admire, bought for my collection as EF and at EF prices, to be graded as VF, knowing that they would almost certainly be graded as EF once again by many dealers and sellers as raw coins! Some of the coins in this batch were sold to me by very highly respected dealers at a grade or more higher than CGS have given. The jury is still out for me, but their apparent over-strictness and unwillingness to move with the times a bit is certainly a double-edged sword at best! I am also a fan of Derek's grading, in my few dealings to date

An 1894 penny. Quite nice - except for the fingerpriints. They gave it an AU78. Can I ask which TPG it was? I think Red already told you. AU78 rules out NGC and PCGS, so it's gonna be CGS. Yes, of course, brain wasn't in gear! Out of interest, are CGS definitely the only TPG that use a 1-100 scale?

I learnt a lot about their grading process today, spending over two hours with one of their graders (Paul Radford), who has been with CGS since the start. One of the reasons their grading appears so strict is that there is no concept of 'compensation' - a whole series of negatives in several different categories will simply mark the coin down, so if one side is half a grade or more lower than the other, then so is the grade for the whole coin, in essence! (In other words, they don't 'average' the two sides when arriving at the single grade).

The results are in! 1820 HC - VF40 1823 HC - VF45 1834 HC - EF65 1852 FL - EF60 1884 FL - AU75 1825 SH - EF60 (new variety 5/5) 1697 SX - VF45 1712 SH - ungraded (scratches) On balance pretty much as I expected, especially given how many people said how strict they are, and having seen their grading process in person earlier today (quite impressed!). Very pleased that none of them came back as cleaned or tampered with in any way (they absolutely will not grade those). A bit disappointed with the 1823, it is a lot better than 45 in my inexpert opinion! A few people (including myself) thought the 1834 might make it to AU. Pleasantly surprised with the 1884 making AU, it must be the weaker strike - as Nick suggested - (which still marks the coin down a bit,) rather than wear. Nick was remarkably accurate with his predictions, going for 60 on the 1852 (spot on), 78 on the 1884 (3 out), but a little high (55-60) on the 1820 and 1823 G4 HCs. So the next stage will be to put 6 of them up for sale (all bar the 1823 and 1834). All options will be considered including: Private sale On-line auction Tradational English auction house American auction house such as Heritage Removing some of them from the slabs if I feel this might help Bearing in mind of course any import/customs charges, buyers' and sellers' premiums, and postage fees that might apply to some of these methods. Any other options? Again, all and any comments and advice extremely welcome! Thanks to all who have contributed so far

An 1894 penny. Quite nice - except for the fingerpriints. They gave it an AU78. Can I ask which TPG it was?

Thanks for that Benny ... I will be selling all apart from the 1823 and 1834, as I either have better examples of the type, or they fall outside my current focus

Interesting that you say more wear on that one. I would say less wear, but more weakness. Those lions are notoriously weak on some of the Gothic florins. I'll stick my neck out, with an AU78 prediction. Thanks Nick, that's just my ignorance for you!

Thanks for all your comments so far Whether I submit any further coins to CGS will depend on a whole range of factors, including: what I think of the products and services they offer once I have my coins returned what I and you all think about the future for slabbed English coins, especially taking in to account the fascinating debates in the 'other' CGS topic what I think of them after visiting their offices and witnessing their grading process (taking place very soon) what the coins I am selling realise what I feel about the coins I am keeping once they are 'entombed' and therefore 'separated' from the rest of my collection As I have said, this is a trial run, a kind of experiment, as I wanted to witness and experience this side of collecting first hand

Close up of the 5

Thanks Sword! I love the 1834 too, it is one I will be keeping Last one of this trial batch. #8 CGS UIN 25580 Bought from Michael Gouby as a 5 over <yet to be established> variety, and currently attributed by CGS as a new (?) variety being '5 over higher broken 5 in date'

Close up of the B:

A couple of varieties to finish. #7 CGS UIN 25581 Bought as a B/E Sixpence from the London Coin Fair, but CGS so far not attributing it as such.

#6 CGS UIN 25578 Another Viccy Florin, bit more wear on this one

#5 CGS UIN 25579 An early milled (shilling) for a change

#4 CGS UIN 25577

Thanks Nick I don't know what 'score' I would give the G4 HCs but the 1823 is half a grade better than the 1820 imo

#3 CGS UIN 25576:

#2 CGS UIN 25575: Peter has already commented on these, saying "Nice coins. The 1820 has a few edge dings at 12 o'clock on the reverse and both have a few digs. They are practically as struck and IMO GEF+. From the pictures I cannot see evidence of cleaning. " Anyone with a CGS log in can of course track these on their site

For anyone interested, I had already stated (in the other CGS topic) that I have submitted a batch of coins to be authenticated, graded and slabbed by CGS. I will also be selling most of them (I haven't decided what selling method yet) and I think I will be able to gauge the level of interest and prices I realise compared to raw coins I have been selling over the last year, admittedly only on eBay. There are 8 coins submitted on 7/2 - so they are already over the 30 day milestone - but they are all at the 'Finalising Grade' stage. I will post the CGS pics here and invite and welcome any comments, opinions as to grade, etc, and we will see what CGS have to say about them by way of comparison, hopefully in a few days' time. Here are the first 2, I will post the rest during the course of this evening. #1 CGS UIN 25574: