Paulus

I'd like to see pics too Gary please. I am particularly interested in attempting to judge the affect CGS slabbing can have on the saleability of a coin, and in what they grade at compared to the opinions of members on here

Life size pics (just an excuse for me to look at it closely again!)

I wonder how much this one might fetch in a Heritage Auction? I do know that I want at least one stellar (circulating) coin in my collection, pre Victoria

Well I have issues with TPG gradings for many reasons, but I do like CGS' relative strictness and reluctance to dish out maximum grades. It is a totally stunning coin, but perhaps has had a few points deducted on the obverse: Gasp! One of my frustrations is that it seems impossible to establish from the TPG how they arrived at a particular grade, even if you paid for the grading yourself. Having said that, if I owned this coin I would be very proud, even though it is a proof!!

Yes it looks like one of those modern 'Millionaire Collection' repros doesn't it!

It certainly looks like it could be a matt proof, but if CGS have attributed and graded it as such then London Coins have failed to mention that very important fact in their auction catalogue! For interest/reference, this is the highest graded (92) matt proof that CGS have processed to date:

It seems clear to me that the coin on the right is the sharper, better strike. The one on the left has lovelier tone certainly, but less detail. It seems crystal clear to me too ... I take it the one on the left has been graded 82, and the one on the right, 78? Does the obverse tell a different story?

It is valued at £750 on the CGS web site!

That will be a mistake I believe, from creating this listing from other listings. Some of his other offerings also have the same 'additional information'. Ok, fair enough. I haven't the patience to trawl through ebay listings - in fact, this and the eBay laughs thread are just about the only time I bother viewing. I think the eBay laughs thread is now this one!

That will be a mistake I believe, from creating this listing from other listings. Some of his other offerings also have the same 'additional information'.

I always gasp at the prices, if only I had got into coin collecting earlier!

A very warm welcome Demonlee! You will find lots of very good advice on here from some very experienced collectors and dealers, it is by far the best coin forum I have come across. I collect English Milled silver from Cromwell to George VI (although I may one day add a milled Elizabeth I or Charles I!) I focus on types rather than dates or varieties, and on coins minted for circulation, as opposed to proofs, Maundy, patterns, etc. Why? Well I started a little like yourself, without much focus, and trying to complete date runs, and decided (after a couple of years gaining some invaluable experience) that I could never hope to complete the date runs in many casesHaving many examples of the same type (with different dates) did not excite me at allGold coins were too expensiveI preferred the look of silver to copper/bronze (although I do like them too!)I wanted higher grade examples so my budget forces me to narrow my focusI am currently paring down my collection so that eventually I hope to have 1 quality example of each milled silver 'major' type from each monarch

Forgive me Sound, but I am embedding your coin image here so I can admire it more readily!

That really is a stunner Sound, congratulations on the coin AND the images! In case you missed it on another thread, here is an article I find useful. I'm still spending many hours trying to get close to what I'm after though! http://www.coinimaging.com/photography.html

Early days for me, David, I haven't got a single 20p...3 x 5p's and 2 x 1p's and 1 x 10p just doesn't make a collection! I'm sure I'll calm down once the bottomless pocket of the boat chills out a bit? You know .. it's nice to have a sideline that we can pursue when material or money is in short supply. And picking shiny coins out and comparing them to see if you can spot one that really doesn't have bagmarks or blemishes (and that's pretty difficult with the standard of coinage today!) is a pretty good one, I reckon. Teaches you to look carefully. How to compare one coin with another and see which you prefer. And if you have to spend them at the end, well, it hasn't really cost you anything other than time, eh? Absobloodylutely!

If you feel you can only keep one, I would also keep the second one, but why not keep both in the collection? There's no rule about such things, and keeping both would enable you to see more attributes of this series, removing the dilemma at the same time!

PM sent Clive

Bargain! If that is MS65, someone should have an example that was too good to fit on the Sheldon scale - so they refused to slab it. Obviously wear to the hair, bun and wreath means nothing. Indeed, very noticeable wear on the reverse too!

Bargain!

I agree with Declan, that looks to be a fair price for a decent, good looking example. And I would echo eBay bidding behaviour (although it is not totally predictable!) ... it can be a bit scary listing a decent coin at 99p start with no reserve, but it will often sell for more than the identical coin with a high starting price or reserve, or listed as Buy It Now (BIN) ... just a bit more risky for the seller!

I will try and take some half decent pics this weekend

My only decent ones are 1901 & 1910, the rest are either George V or later or too worn (although who knows, there may be a rare variety in their somewhere!)

That's right. What have you got that's for sale and not on eBay? Quite a lot will be going, especially if it's not milled silver! Notably: Hammered Edward VI shilling (VF) Mary groat (F) Henry VIII groat (F+) Roman 89 BC (?) silver denarius depicting the rape of the Sabine women (nVF) Julius Caesar denarius depicting elephant (VF) (Spink 456) Copper & Bronze Bronzed proof 1799 farthing (EF+) Misc Victoria farthings Milled Silver George VI shillings (E & S) and half crowns (all dates, all EF-UNC) Miscellaneous Liz II Piedfort £2 and £5 (although I'll probably wait until the silver price recovers a bit, if ever!) I haven't got around to properly describing or photographing these yet, but if there's anything that particularly catches your (or anyone's) eye please PM me!