scottishmoney

I sold an 1862 $10 bill yesterday on eBay, the serious bids came in during the last 20 seconds of the auction. I was glad, because the high bidder for a bit of yesterday was a bidder that registered - yesterday! and had of course zilch feedback. But alas someone that had been something of a pest about getting images of the note, details etc. put a proxy snipe bid in, and blew them all way out of the water. The item had something like 25 bids on it, and about as many watchers. It is kind of exciting to see something double in bid amount in the last seconds, and to have appreciated a 200% return on my investment.

That is not such a bad thing.

Yesterday I sniped a coin with 10 seconds to go, but my best ever was 0 seconds a few years ago. So now I should have a James IV plack coming my way for a mere £6.75. If for some reason my bid wasn't high enough, then I did not want it that bad.

I have several auctions which are closing as I write this, yes, I have noticed several sniper bids. So, I do it myself too. I sniped on an auction for a James IV Plack just awhile ago. I do it manually, never electronically, it is more thrilling that way.

My gawd, they are trying to make her look like:

Going on memory, I think the martlet issue is 1560-1, I used to own of these. Coincidentally I watched Elizabeth I last night, didn't really care for the movie and it's concentration on her affair with the Earl of Essex. I think that was grossly over dramatized. My wife has a 1562 tanner that I gave her when we were engaged. I would definitely like to get a nice portrait coin again, I may have a groat from 1564 somewhere, but I will have to look for it in one of the banks.

Sweet Love those nice natural tones too. The 1770 Halfpenny is my favourite though, an early and hard to find a such nice example of. Isn't the detail in the quarter farthing amazing for such a pecuniary coin? Look at the detail in the Mayflower on the reverse. I have a BU Half Farthing from 1842 that has the Mayflower, Thistle, and Shamrock on, just amazing.

ABBA never goes away, even my teenage daughter listens to old ABBA songs, and to think, they have been around since the 10th century in some form

They have both been cleaned sometime, that detracts from value.

The oldest coin I have gotten in circulation ever was last year, I went through several boxes of 2500 cents each, and found a 1910 cent. But I found several 1918-1919 and 1920's era cents. It has more to do with the Coinstar machines set up in grocery stores where people bring in bags and buckets of accumulated change. But Switzerland is better, it is possible to get coins as early as 1880 in circulation with the rappen minor coins as the composition hasn't changed since then.

The earliest 5¢ coin I have gotten in circulation was a Buffalo nickel from 1920 that I got in a department store about a year ago. But the Shield nickels(Struck to 1883) and the Liberty Nickels (struck up to 1912) are the same composition and weight as the current ones. But the act refers to the denomination, so that even the 1942-1945 nickels that were struck in silver and manganese cannot be melted down, even though they have 80¢ worth of metal(in the government's legislation they still circulate) even though in reality it is rare to get one in circulation now, the last one I saw was last year when I got a very beaten up 1943-S, but the same lot of coins contained a 1982 20p from Great Britain.

Yes, the heavily circulated Scottish shillings have no more than nominal value, not much above face if you can find someone that wants them. But in better grades they are right unusual to find. But what about the older large sized 5p's from before 1992, can those be melted? My guess would be yes, but here in the USA the melting prohibition covers our 5¢ coins issued in cu-ni, technically all the way back to 1867, but in reality I do still get 1939 and 1940 on up nickels in change fairly often. So even those early dates are covered because they still circulate to some extent.

Some of the 1950's era Scottish reverse shillings are worth a hair more than the English, they were usually minted in smaller quantities. Curiously they may have more scrap value(illegal to melt though) than the numismatic value.

Bleeping cheap airlines that don't let a guy haul his money around wi' him. Once I hauled home something like 5000 nickels that I won in a casino in Las Vegas, I only brought them so I could search them for pre-1960 dates.

Most of the silver plated copper forgeries found today were produced during the period of 1810-1820, when coins were in short supply anyway. Often times the Bank of England 18 Pence and Three Shillings coins of 1813 were counterfeited, probably by people thinking the authorities would not prosecute as heartily as if they were coins of the realm.

Where were you when I was buying these things like there was no tomorrow? Now I have bags and bags of them creaking the floor boards and I want to do the same thing you are, sell them.

I do appreciate your conservative approach to it, but it is looking a wee on the XF's side to moi.

Okay, with a bit of a search I found the auction and the images: This piece is NOT eBay material, this is the stuff of Spinks, DNW etc. You will get a far better price and be much happier with the results. Else wise if your not so inclined to sell as an auction item, I am sure there are those in our very midst that would make a right fair offer therein.

Let me add to what I said prior in this discussion topic, this piece, because of the association with William & Mary, the date 1689, etc. might actually have enhanced interest for collectors. Please do go ahead and post an image of the whole coin, I don't think anybody here will have any problems with that(or we will just bonk their heads) 'Tis the whole purpose of the group, to admire and lust after numismatic wonders.

But if you download it, you canna get it personally autographed by C. H. Perkins I will need one of those and the Banknotes guide when it comes off of the presses.

One of the problems with finding errors, even as spectacular as this, is that they have to catch the interests of the right people to make the price right for it. With so many early coins, even hammereds, there are quite a few which in their state are regarded as unique because of some unrecorded variety, but in the end it comes down to whom is most interested and how deep their pockets are. I have a Scottish groat from the reign of David II(1329-1371) which is one of four known examples, it is described as unique in the 1886 edition of Burn's Coins of Scotland, and the same in the 1969 reprint. Curiously enough, because it is so rare, it has seven arcs in the tressure around the monarch's portrait, it is not even priced, let alone even described in Seaby or even in Coincraft. The coin is in VF-EF for the issue, which may make it the finest known example. How do I price it? I know what I paid for it years ago, since I bought it instead of an Edward III Noble, at a fraction of the Noble price too. Similarly I have a Scottish 30/- from 1586, it is one of three known examples of that date, at least it is described as Extremely rare in Seaby and in Coincraft, but again... the dilemma is how to price it. I have records on it that go back to 1903, so it is a well pedigreed coin, but it isn't worth much to a lot of collectors because the coin is more collected by type than date, and even the more commonly encountered coins are still quite rare.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Queen Elizabeth II was set to become Britain's oldest reigning monarch on Thursday, surpassing the record set by her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria. Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne in 1952. By early Friday, the queen will be 81 years and 244 days old. Victoria died in 1901, having lived 81 years and 243 days. A spokeswoman said Buckingham Palace had heard from historians and observers that the milestone would come around 5 p.m. (noon ET) Thursday. The record is different from that of the longest-serving monarch, which belongs to Queen Victoria, who reigned for nearly 64 years. Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952, meaning she has served 55 years. The queen was born at 2:40 a.m. on April 21, 1926. 11 prime ministers, starting with Winston Churchill, have served during her reign. Buckingham Palace said the queen would not be marking the day with any special events or public engagements, but would be "working as normal."

Of all the many thousands, literally, of British coins I own, I have a mere 27 farthings. Sad.

I would suggest playing it safe and finding something cheap, but in a similar state, perhaps a junk box item for 20p or something. Then soak it in distilled water not tap water from the faucet. I would first soak it for a week in a covered container, preferably porcelain or bakeware and not plastic. Then I would gently work on it with a very soft, and fine brush, you can find them Vcoins.com to clean the verdigris off. With that suggestion, I would see how it works on the cheap similar condition coin then move on up to the farthing, but taking your time and being methodical. Remember you are being a conservator here, and not Dr. Destructo:) My son and I have played around with some filthy Romans using this method, and it does take time, but you do get results, and should not be disappointed.

I have added notes in Austria, Canada, Ireland, Romania, Laos, and Portugal. The Austrian is quickly becoming a new favourite: A bit pricey for a Scot to afford, but I like it.