Paulus

An eBay seller with just 4 sales to his name, who claims to have dug it up in Lincolnshire ...

I was wondering what members thought of this before the bidding ends (soon after midday on Sunday 12/2/2012): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130643290621?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648 I am finding myself drawn to it even though it seems like it will go for a significant premium on GF (although I would gauge the Rev as nVF)

Hi, welcome to the forum! I only know about eBay, you can save an advanced search, for example auctions about particular coins or containing certain words, and it will automatically email you when a match comes up - a few too many emails about the same coin, but it works well for me! Hope this helps

I hate it, rare date or not ... perhaps the seller meant to write 'a little worn' ... toned indeed!!!

Brilliant question!

1/2 an inch here in South London ...

I couldn't agree more! What you have said captures the whole spirit of it all. When I was 18 I bought an old Jaguar 420G for pennies and stripped the whole thing to pieces in my parents' back garden...lovingly dealing with every aspect of the rebuild was the thing that made that car special. I could afford one now, that is far better condition, and maybe even concours, but I wouldn't have anything like the same love and interest in owning something that has been grafted on by someone else...but many are the flashy classical car owners who go out and buy the best and don't even know what waxoyl is! They're classic car equivalents of the slab collectors, but there is no denying they are out there! Hanging around forums like this, making a few mistakes, battling out the details of a grade, is what makes it so fascinating for me! Totally with you on that one Coinery, same goes for Proof coins for me too ...

Being too new to this site to have taken part in the previous heated discussions, and holding back a bit, I would like to say that as a collector I hate them with a passion, for many if not all the reasons eloquently articulated by others. The first one I bought that was slabbed was immediately broken out of it (carefully I might add, with the aid of a hammer and chisel). But I can see the point for sellers, investors and dealers, if their integrity survives ...

Thanks Rob! I will investigate further ...

From the Philippines too! No way I would risk that one ... Pardon my ignorance (again) but does anyone know why the 1850 is so rare/valuable, the mintage wasn't particularly low? The mintage figures back then were for total minted IN that year, not OF that year. Many's the time the Mint used up a previous year's dies but they were still recorded in the figure for the year they were struck in. Is there any information out there, for example Royal Mint Annual Reports, that would allow more accurate mintage figures to be compiled? Unfortunately not, not official figures. The Mint would refer to their own records which would show the wrong figure. You'd have to rely on a Freeman doing a large survey, but those become less and less reliable over time. I am partially enlightened, thanks ... does anyone know how many 1850 shillings were minted then? (roughly?)

Does any one collect/have an interest in/know the value of coins/tokens/medals like these? I would be interested to know more about it, thanks for any help

From the Philippines too! No way I would risk that one ... Pardon my ignorance (again) but does anyone know why the 1850 is so rare/valuable, the mintage wasn't particularly low?

That would of course be great, but if we want it free who would do it! And if it's all on Wiki it looses a bit of mystique and we can lose an edge and there is misinformation ... IMO we have a great resource right here, maybe the best for English pre-decimal, I for one would like to see a members' area for coin collections with photos and comments, links to a photo site like photobucket can provide this for free! Any other opinions?

No, I bid well over the guide price but still got way outbid! Looks like most of the winning bids were well over the guide price to me!

Brilliant, thanks Peck

It's S456 - a Julius Caesar denarius, elephant obverse, and reverse priestly emblems. Spinks also give a RRC number 443/1. This refers to Crawford's Roman Republican Coinage. The value in F would be between £75 and £100. Here's mine (different design): Thanks Peck, I will be selling all my Roman coins I think, need to fund some very expensive purchases! Any reason to think my coin is not genuine? Were these forged a lot do you know?

Do you have any photos Garry?

I have the coin below, and know very little about it ... I have no reason to doubt its authenticity, but how can I verify this? Thanks for any pointers.

At a guess I would say that CCGB (correct me if I'm wrong Chris) and coin yearbook both take their lead from Spink. Spink will only quote FDC prices because they are a bit sniffy about things and tend not to think that anybody would want anything other than FDC and of course most Spink clients wouldn't. Can you recommend a guide that perhaps reflects real prices achieved at auction? I am intrigued for example why decent gold sovereigns often go for 220-240 at a brick house auction and 280-290 on eBay, seems bizarre to me!

Seeing as this eBay Laughs thread has turned in to a discussion about proofs, I have a question for the assembled masses. I posted the link to the worn 27 florin because I thought it was a bit of a joke, I mean who would want a proof coin in that condition?? But as has been pointed out, proof is a method of striking, not an indication of condition, so, as has also been pointed out, perhaps those YEAR collectors only have one way to fill that gap, a low mintage proof in any condition - I guess I just didn't imagine that many, if any, proof coins would be circulated. My question is, I have 3 price guide books (Spink, CCGB and Coin Yearbook) and none of them quote the price of proofs in anything other than FDC - why is that? Please pardon my ignorance

Get your bids in quick on this one, Azda this one is a must for your collection surely? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1927-King-George-V-Proof-Florin-circulated-very-rare-reasonable-grade-/250970454183?pt=UK_Coins_BritishMilled_RL&hash=item3a6f0138a7#ht_1328wt_1397

Thanks Debbie, and I thought you might!

Thanks Debbie, I have just placed my first on-line bid at a non-eBay auction!

It has been a great thread, does anyone know if we can access the grading companies photographs at all? 60 quid is an aUNC price for my 6d so it's a fair price, but I think I will be hanging on to it as my best example of an Eddie 7 6d type, thanks all the same!