Paulus

I have sold quite a few over the last year out of financial necessity, for me the ones I sell first are those commanding a current premium (anything with a 1914 date or high-top grade milled), those I hang on to are those with the most eye appeal. There is an occasional conflict! I will hang on for dear life to my very, very favourite coins, which if push comes to shove number in the 20s

It is a rare modern rarity that commands a premium, there are not many

... and now for a massage from the Swedish prime minister

Well, you know, they're in their pub, we're all driving so I had to make a pint of Guinness last 2 hours, the roar of the home crowd, etc etc... Anne Elk (Miss) And what it is too. Full marks!

Ah yes, an easy 1, the Spanish wotsits, is it harder to play away in a quiz? I'll throw another one in just for the craic, who claimed to have a theory about the brontosaurus? (spelling all-important!)

Excellent, off the bat I can only take a stab at 1 (Cheese), 4 (cheese), 6 (an Aboriginee's armpit)??

Very attractive coins and quality photos Marvin, however, judging by the photos alone, I wouldn't place either coin in the very top grade, there is noticeable wear to the hair in both cases

Oh go on then Dec, what were the Python questions?

London Coins auctioned 2 dodgy G3 half crowns a few months ago, and a dealer sold one on to me They were both 180 degrees aligned, so were obvious to anyone who thought to check ... not sure if the counterfeiters do this by mistake, or so they can claim (if challenged) that their coins are deliberately not exact replicas ...

Sounds as if, during the cleaning, the spread sheet was led to believe it was somewhat larger than it needs to be! I would highlight just the cells that you want and copy/paste them into Sheet2 (assuming it's a new(ish) work book). You can then dispose of Sheet1.

Is your scroll lock on?

Perfect, thanks Rob

I would value opinions on this coin, which I am considering as an acquisition. Don't often ask before buying (maybe I should more often), but late hammered is becoming a new passion and mistakes will be more painful than they used to be! Peoples opinion on grade (VF for me), attribution (I concur with the seller on S 2893), authenticity (anything awry?) and eye appeal (there's a massive bonus for a round flat flan with no cracks for me) are appreciated. Seller's pics only I'm afraid Thanks for any responses

Welcome to the Forum gpw. That sounds on the face of it to be a significant variety, what do others think?

Test R symbol ℞ Nope, no idea!

Indeed, many happy returns to both.

Absolutely superb, I don't imagine the hoard will remain unsold for long!

PWA I am also a fan of CGS in certain situations, I have had around 70 coins slabbed by them now for various reasons, I have met with their graders, and understand the pros and cons (for me). I mention / defend Neil / Colin Cooke / NRP because they are all the same person / dealer, i.e. Colin Cooke Coins

Neil, I for one have no problem with your service, in any of the categories I suggested. Do the coins referenced by PWA come from you, if so I think your returns policy is excellent, if not I think PWA needs to clarify?

20 pence

PWA, what I mean is this - there are many worthy collectible and valuable coins that will have defects such as scratches, edge knocks, evidence of light cleaning in the past, carbon spots, inactive verdigris traces, and other imperfections. When it comes to hammered coins it is almost impossible (and not expected) to find a faultless coin. So a coin with some imperfections is not necessarily 'faulty', but may be rejected by CGS based on their standards and processes. I would like a dealer to state that a CGS reject would trigger a refund, I haven't seen that stated as yet? Can you say which dealer it was?

You buying fakes, then, PWA? 3 seems like more than bad luck! Who's at fault, buyer or vendor?And I genuinely mean that non-accusationally! That's a good point Coinery makes here ... there are many worthy coins that would be rejected by CGS for various reasons, I actually think it was quite decent of the dealer to agree to refund if rejected (especially as the turnaround for this process is typically a month or so)! Partly depends on the coins though I guess (and of course the reason for rejection, if fake then fair enough) ... It might be interesting one day to have ratings for coin sellers/dealers/auction houses like they do for hotels and restaurants! Categories could include grading accuracy, attribution, return policy, P&P, speed of delivery, flexibility, commission charges etc etc ... we could start our own Forum thread for that???

Indeed, a die crack is most likely to reduce the eye appeal of a coin, and therefore its value

Amazing the lengths some buyers will go to. I just sold a coin for the princely sum of £1.91 and received an eBay email from the buyer stating that he miss-typed and meant to bid £1.01. The bidding history clearly shows a number of bids for the coin, including 4 from the successful buyer, only 1 of which could (but probably wasn't) have been £1.91. Good grief.

'Another point that seems to apply is that grading in auction catalogues is often taken as gospel, possibly with the bidder having relied on images on his computer when deciding how much to pay. This is also going to cause a headache further down the line because there are a lot of things in my opinion that are either very fully graded or overgraded - something which can only be determined by many hours spent looking at different grades of coins in hand. The marketing effect of a higher catalogue grade cannot be overstated. As a rule of thumb, I reckon on marking down at least 10 coins (and probably more) for every one that I feel is undergraded, though many have to be said are ok. Just depends on whose auction catalogue you are looking at. This factor I believe has led to appreciably higher prices at the top end where an EF coin looks uncirculated to the untrained eye. Bids are then made according to perception.' Rob's words here are not to be taken lightly in my opinion, ignore the auction pics, grade, and estimate for anything significant and do due diligence, they have a vested interest in getting the highest price after all! Just like any auction really!