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Sword

Accomplished Collector
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Posts posted by Sword


  1. There is quite a bit about him on the net. This is on the Noonans website: "Frederick James Jeffery (1907-78), who styled himself as ‘England’s leading provincial coin dealer’, started dealing in coins in 1932. Popularly known as ‘Uncle Fred’ (though not to be confused with Fred Baldwin who also shared the same sobriquet), Jeffery was the first English dealer to regularly attend the American Numismatic Association’s annual convention. His open-style marketing methods and his vast stock ensured that he was well known and he was a fervent supporter of local numismatic societies, often travelling vast distances to a meeting with an estate car laden down with coins and sets to sell to members. His metallic tokens commemorate his 40th year in a business that is carried on today by his son, Richard Jonathan Jeffery; the tokens themselves were struck by Toye Kenning & Spencer in 1973, a decision prompted by the same manufacturer having struck the Wessex Numismatic Society’s Silver Jubilee medal earlier that year, Jeffery being then a prominent member of that Society. Fred Jeffery’s wooden farthing, of which 5,000 were made, was distributed at the 1966 ANA convention in Chicago"

    https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/archive/special-collections/1032/401807/?sort=Hammer

    He has some humour it seems and one of the tokens in the link has the legend "illegal tender for any amount".

    The business is still in Yell.

    • Like 3

  2. I think the shield designs are quite clever but each coin doesn't look great on its own unfortunately. Non collectors looking at their change wouldn't even know they can be put together to form a shield.

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  3. Indeed. But prices are so high these days that £30 doesn't go very far. I wouldn't worry when spending that sort of money on an impulse spend. (But the RM is not a place I go to for impulse purchases though.)

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  4. 23 hours ago, mint_mark said:

    I think these designs are great... I wonder if we'll have the chance to collect a full set of 2023 dates from our change?

    I imagine so, particularly if you go to a bank to get some bags of coins. Otherwise a UNC set is £33.


  5. Even the sets from the 1950s can be picked up relatively cheaply. I guess it is a change from collecting British coinage as the obverse portraits are all different.

    • Like 1

  6. When I first started collecting coins as a teenager, I particularly liked my USA proof set. Out of sentiments, I have just brought a 1992 silver proof set on eBay. I am a little surprised that the older proof sets are so unloved and my cost me £14.50 + postage. Is the excessively high mintage (well over a million) the only reason for the lack of desirability? The designs are generally rather nice. 

    1.jpg.c2ebcd30898720ac0506764dbc55e1ac.jpg

    • Like 1

  7. Did they actually take over Peter Nichol's business or just the name? If the later, I don't feel that strongly about it.

    It's a bit sad less and less people train to be craftsmen these days and opt for more lucrative jobs. Certain crafts will unfortunately die out with time. But I think the demand for coin cabinets will enable at least one or two to make a decent living? Surely there must still be quite a few cabinet makers around?


  8. On 8/26/2023 at 6:07 AM, Mr T said:

    This got a mention in the last issue of Coin News I think but there were no pictures.

    I don't normally keep track of decimal stuff but it looks like a 2022 five pound was struck with a two pound obverse. Only one known so far.

    I wonder how many were actually made. If they discovered the error after a test, then surely only a few examples would exist and I find it hard to believe that any would have escaped. 

    Maybe the RM should be sporting and allow unintentional errors to be released to generate a bit of excitement?

    • Like 1

  9. I honestly think it looks rather nice. The face details are clear and the shield is well struck. Interesting N over I which you pointed out. It certainly wouldn't have been a freebie if it wasn't for the gash at the reverse! I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

    • Like 1

  10. On a different note, I hope that independent retailers will grow in any High Street revival. The give so much more character and soul to a town. I was sad to see Hanningtons, a very large independent departmental store in my home town of Brighton closed in 2001 after nearly 200 years of trading. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanningtons. Boswells of Oxford (first traded in 1738) sadly closed during the COVID pandemic. 

     

    • Like 1

  11. 13 hours ago, Kipster said:

    The whole issue of paying with cash will become obsolete with the generations that follow us, in the same way that music tapes, betamax videos and polaroid cameras did. I was behind a bloke in B & Q the other day and saw him pay for his stuff with his watch. I couldn't believe it, but it'll be second nature to kids that are weened on ipads and mobile apps. Cash money will die eventually with the generations that used.

    Quite. Technology is almost second nature to the young. I have thought about putting cards on my phone so that I don't need to worry about carrying a wallet when exercising but just don't feel comfortable enough to do that in the end. A relative has suggested that I get a smart watch which can do a great number of things like paying and health management but I don't want trade my (vintage look) classic watch (which I am proud of) for a bit of plastic. 

    I imagine that cash transactions might not last beyond two more generations. 


  12. I visited a noodle house recently and they were cash only. Haven't had that experience for as long as I can remember. I am old fashioned and always carry some notes with me and so it wasn't a problem. 

    It's unlikely that we will become completely cashless during our lifetimes. But I do think there are financial benefits to larger shops and supermarkets when people pay contactless. You need just one staff to look after a dozen self-checkouts (which are much more reliable with cards). People pay much faster and so queues are shorter.  They don't need to count money at the end of the day and take cash to banks etc. True, banks do charge a fee and are making a lot of money that way. However, they can find other ways to keep up their profit margins if necessary like giving lower interest rates for savings, account fees etc. 

    For departmental stores, the fees are priced in already and you don't get a discount if you pay cash. So people pay by the most convenient way. I reckon I now pay for more than 80% of the things I buy online as I have supermarket deliveries. Even if I buy a piece of electric in a shop (if I don't want to wait for delivery), paying by credit card gives extra protection, extended warranty, etc.

    Evolution will happen naturally in its own timescale and cash will hopefully still be around for a long time. According to the Bank of England, there is over £70 billion in notes in circulation. They are claiming that it is only relatively recently (2017) that "debit cards overtook cash as the most frequently used payment method in the UK." I think that includes credit cards as well. (Most frequently used payment method is also not the same as the actual amount spent).

    But buying on Ebay or Amazon when the seller is selling cheaper on their own site is a bit silly. It's a bit like paying an extra 3% commission to placing an absentee bid with a platform when you can do that directly without fee directly with the auctioneer. 

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