Sword

I don't think there is any problem if the coins are kept separately in capsules. But if humidity is high, then keeping some desiccant permanently in the box would be a good idea.

Getting electronic copies of annual catalogues is a great idea and also good for the planet. Hardcopies take up space on the bookshelves. I would still want hard copies of books like ESC as they only get updated once every two decades.

"However, as I don't know anything about coins, I felt it was worth checking out." Just the sort of things you hear about regularly on FleaBay. Nice that it is a genuine find this time.

VAT is always payable on buyer's premium. Some auction houses like LCA simply combine the VAT with their buyer's premium to give an overall charge. Buyer's premium inc. VAT so to speak. Other auction houses like DNW don't combine VAT with their premium. I suppose their premium is already high and combining VAT would make it an even higher figure which is not good for marketing.

My guess is that "1933" object will at some point be relisted with a shocking asking price of between £50K to £100k. It will then attract more than 50 "bids". Bidders tend to have feedbacks of 1, 0, 179, 705, or private. Then it will be relisted again with some excuse about the "bidder" wouldn't pay up. Then the game will repeat itself.

This is one of the reproduction 1933 pennies sold by Dirkin49 for £3.59. Good price for a repro. gap filler. Note the wrong serifs on letters and the "additional" wave under Britannia's toes.

It is just greed and naivety for any one bidding on a "1933 penny" on eBay thinking it could be genuine in my opinion. This established seller of reproduction 1933 pennies https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dirkin49/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from= is a familiar name to many "1933 penny" sellers. I think it will be relisted. Shall we see?

Is there a significant difference in price between the bronzed and copper? If not, then it might not be worth the expense to get both as they have similar desirability and look virtually identical. However, if you really like the coin, then the existence of two versions is a perfect excuse to get one more.

It was a mistake in my view that we did not go entirely metric in the 1970s. Some people would have complained, but everyone would have adjusted to metric in a year or two, and there will be no need for arguments today. Everyone understood that 100p make up a pound very quickly. This was due (at least in part) to the fact that we did not allow the Lsd system to continue alongside the decimal system. I still give my height in feet and inches, and my weight in stones and pounds. I measure my waist and collar in inches because Imperial units are still the norm in such situations. I have simply memorised my weight in stones, and have to use myself as a guide when estimating other people's weight. But do I have an intrinsic feeling as to how much one stone is? Not really. I do however know what a kilogram or gram feels like. I can give an accurate estimation of the length of a meter but not of a foot. I am clueless how long is a yard. The metric system is a much more logical system, and the one to teach to the kids. Those of us aged 50+ have managed to learn to use much harder things like computers, mobile phones, internet, etc. People would have adjusted and coped. However, since we did not completely get rid of the imperial system totally and it has been used alongside metric for so many decades, we might as well let it die a natural death in due time.

We have been essentially metric for many decades now and I can't believe we want to go back to the less intuitive imperial system. 100p to the pound, 1000g to the Kg, 100cm to the meter is just far more logical than 240pence to the pound, 28 grams to the ounce and 12 inches to the foot. Even those in middle age are not comfortable with the imperial system. Youngsters won't have a clue. As Peck has pointed out, we still use a little Imperial occasionally for nostalgic reasons like pints for beers and milk. Let's use the "freedoms" from Brexit to do worthwhile things rather than taking steps backwards in time.

The Medici dynasty will always be associated with unlimited wealth and enormous power. The name is still majestic today.

In this particular case, I think the cleaning is definitely the right thing to do. The uncleaned coin has very poor visual appeal. Although the cleaned coin is not lustrous, it is at least much easier on the eye.

Sorry, they are still selling CGS coins. The "choice English coins" tab has been removed but they are still selling at the bottom of their web page.

I have just noticed that LCA is no longer selling CGS coins on its website.

Some of the earliest members like Emperor Oli and Halfpenny Jon were kids when they first joined. Now in their thirties and have probably given up coin collecting long ago. I guess the hobby was a little more popular with children when the internet was not so big. I don't think there are any regular members younger than 25 (or even 35) now. I have been thinking about Peter too. Hopefully he is OK and is just taking a break from here.

The eagles certainly.

Users of LCGS have already reported that they are no longer in the business. (I too had an account from the CGS days. That ceased to work when CGS became LCGS.)

NGC has a London office. https://www.ngccoin.uk/news/article/6822/london-office-opens/

1699 Hungarian Thaler featuring Leopold I as Holy Roman Emperor:

Here are some of my examples of thalers: 1565 thaler featuring Augustus as Elector of Saxony

Thalers often feature impressive designs and I particularly like the cityscape reverses. Even 14th and 15th centuries thalers are usually milled and minted to a much higher standard compared to the hammered English coinage of the same period.

I wouldn't myself. When a coin is worn, tarnish / toning tends to highlight the remaining details. For example, you can just make out the "I" of honi thanks to the toning.

Yes indeed. A nice bold fine example to my eyes. A nice collectable example. And I disagree, I think it is very good :-) (grading that is)

Apart from the grading issue, I am stunned that anyone could say that "a coin will be selected at random from the chosen condition" for an asking price of over £300! I want to know exactly what I am getting for anything costing more than £10.