Paulus

Most dealers have an on-line presence (but still not all). It's always good to see a coin in hand before committing to buy. Rob Pearce (Rob on here) is a dealer I can thoroughly recommend in the Manchester area http://www.rpcoins.co.uk/ You will soon realise that eBay does not offer the high grade problem-free coins you will be after, except very occasionally ... and when it does they will not go for bargain prices! Worth a trawl if you can spare the time, and I still sell on there. Dealers, proper auctions and coin fairs for decent coin purchases.

Fine+ seems about right Frank, I don't think you were far off at all! This is an example where if you spent a little more you would get a much nicer coin, as they are common in high grade. You will not find it so easy with the young head Viccy halfcrowns! This is my old head example, which didn't break the bank (of course a lot depends on each individual's budget).Not the very best, and there are proofs too, but this is what I try and aim for, or better

Hi Frank the Manc, a very warm welcome to the forum! A few comments from me We do like a laugh on here, but you will not be laughed at or sniggered at for making the odd, inevitable, dodgy newbie purchase! Congratulations on choosing pre-decimal, both the Forum and the coins! So you are thinking of concentrating on half crowns and crowns, will that be date runs (will be very expensive) or just different designs (I collect all the different designs (or 'types') for all silver denominations from Tudor to 1946)? How far back are you thinking of going? Just English coins? Knowledge is the key, gained from experience, forums like this, and books. You will want an up-to-date price guide such as COLLECTORS' COINS GB 2015 (available http://www.predecimal.com/collectors-coins-2015-p-21018.html ), or Spink's Coins of England, and a book on grading, such as The Standard Guide to Grading British Coins: Pre-decimal Issues (1797 to 1970) just to start with. There are many other specialised books for when you get more into things. It is always best to put pics up of both sides of the coin. From the reverse pic, your new purchase appears to be around Good Fine perhaps, and if the obverse is about the same then £16 is an ok price for it. Try and buy the best example you can afford, you will not regret it in the long run I'm sure there will be much more advice coming your way!

Blimey, wonder how long the recipient of that thing would have remained healthy!

I wonder if the weight for earlier (pre-1816) sixpences (3.01g) has simply been given in error for Victoria? The correct weights are stated for George III to William IV sixpences ... I believe the correct weight for Victoria sixpences should be 2.83g

You seem to have one heck of a success rate with your detectoring G3!

Rated R5 in the old ESC (I don't know if this has changed in the new one) - this is supposed to mean 5 to 10 examples known, which I suspect is where London Coins are getting this from. However, 'only' valued at £375 in Fine in Spink 2015, possibly not as rare as that?

I will not be alone in thinking you add value to what is out there, so thanks Rob The quoting function is behaving weirdly for me, hence the double "quote" Have to agree with Stu, and I think you are very well placed to 'take things forward' in your many areas of expertise It's "supersede" by the way Stu (which surprises many) I am always adding to my book library, but there are always gaps as well! I haven't yet acquired all the reference material I will need for Tudor hammered, or other areas I am delving into in more detail, such as Charles I, but getting there

That is very true Rob. But you have a way of bringing together a lot of the combined existing knowledge into an easy to understand consolidated form which highlights what is accepted and what is still unknown/debated, together with very valuable commentary based on your years of experience. It does not have to be a new 'vanity' book publication under the name of Rob Pearce,.. Perhaps, as Coinery / Stuart has already suggested, it could be a more structured and publicly available series of articles on your much improved web site! In the absence of which, many of us I am sure have, and will continue to be, copy/pasting your insights on here into our own reference files

Very understandable, but I have come across some 'coinies' that treat non-detected or dug-up coins the same way! I only hope they were washers before such treatment!

If you don't produce some kind of reference material of your own at some point Rob, well, then, ummm, you should have done!

I originally believed the Brillo Pad comment (which comes up from time to time, not just in this thread) was a joke, i.e. surely no-one, especially a coin collector, would actually clean a coin with a Brillo Pad!! ... I have since realised that some people really do! And Cillip Bang! apparently!

And me ... Stu seems to be back on an even keel!

Seasons greetings to all that read this great forum

I don't collect penny varieties but this strikes me as incredibly useful for those that do! Well done Richard I say!

I await angry posts about Ads to come

I certainly did not!, In fact I was hoping it would grade higher, but it turned out to be a variety of which they only had 3 other examples ... not interested, so it will be on the market!

With you Rob, ignorance of the 3 Rs is rife it seems, even amongst otherwise 'well-educated' people!

Shoot, of course, otherwise obviously my offer may well have been appealing! Sixpences all the way for the Jagster

It's choice, I also have 2 nice Churchill Crowns if you are interested in swapsies

Yes, I am sure Seuk will be interested in that!

It sure does Jaggy, what grade did they give that? Is it the MS 65 you posted in CAOTW (Coin Acquisition of the Week!)?

Richard, check that you are actually signed in, it did not automatically sign me in after the upgrade so it didn't know what was unread for me

The more I look at it, the more I love it, definitely deserves its place in here! A delicate pale blue and orange (appropriate!) tone

For no other reason than I have to share it somehow, someone (who shall remain nameless) on a coin collecting Facebook Group (to which some of us belong) has just recommended cleaning coins with ... Cillit Bang .............. I've never tried it, maybe that's the answer?!!