Sword

If you shop in Tesco's, you can trade £5 of your clubcard vouchers for a £20 voucher towards admission. Then you have the option of upgrading your day ticket to a one year pass (for free entry to six palaces including Hampton Court) at the end of the visit.

Now CGS photos (later graded as CGS 80)

LCA photos of 1888 halfcrown (described as UNC with colourful tone and some very light contact marks)

Now these are CGS photos (later graded as CGS 85)

I do think CGS photos somewhat better than LCA photos. I will give two random examples. These are LCA photos of 1902 matt proof crown (graded as nFDC)

Charles II portrait punch. It was used as a master tool to make dies. Reverse punch of Charles II.

Trial plates were used to test the purity of coins. These are the Commonwealth and Charles II Plates.

I spent a day in the Tower of London recently and was impressed by the coins they have on display. Firstly, the Petition Crown. Simply an amazing coin.

There was a little blue colour around part of the edge when I brought it. It has been getting bigger since. Likewise the brown colour has been developing from the rim inwards.

Oh, it is inside of the window. I would never dare to leave a coin outside!

Initially I covered it loosely with the lid of a coin capsule. However nothing happened for ages. Then I took away the capsule lid and use a blower to remove the dust on the coin once in a while. That window gets the sun in the afternoon and it must have helped.

Since "cleaned and retoned" has been talked about lately, I will post my example of such a thing. It was one of the first coins I brought (from an auction house in Warwickshire). It was described as "1902 crown AUNC". I was very inexperienced at the time and didn't realise that the description should have been "1902 matt proof crown, cleaned". It has been toning on my window sill for several years now and is gradually looking better.

Thanks for your advice guys. I am into halfcrowns at the moment and will try out Quadrums / Everslab as the coins will fit perfectly in 32mm holes.

I know this have been discussed before but I still need some advice. What is the safest way to store a high grade coin so that it can withstand some “rough handling”? We all know the conventional wisdom is to use a coin cabinet, wear gloves, don’t talk and control humidity. However, I am just not the careful type and have picked up some bad habits from my childhood days when I was collecting modern proofs sealed in plastic. I have a habit of looking at my coins during TV adverts and sometimes even on the garden table when the weather is nice. Initially I tried coin capsules but immediately realised that even with less than 1mm of extra space, the coins can rattle a bit and might pick up high point friction. I have read some nice things about quadrums. However, the foam holes also come in 1mm increments and so in theory the coins won’t be held totally tight either. I confess to using CGS when I was buying high grade coins from LCA. However, we all know what happened to CGS and it is no longer an option. Currently, I am using 2x2 self-adhesive coin holders. I like the way the coin is sealed in. However, the problem is that the coin stands proud of the card holder and I am worried it rubbing against surfaces. So to be safe, I would cut up another coin holder, remove the plastic windows and stick the two halves on the original holder. This way, I have double the thickness of the card and the coin is no longer proud. Am I just paranoid about friction? Are coin capsules and quadrums 100% safe even if there is a tiny bit of movement?

Many thanks for your expertise gents.

My understanding is that you can access photos, population reports, CGS valuations etc. once you have paid the £99. In addition, you can also apply to be a grading member if you pay a £499 deposit upfront (unless you have slabbed enough coins with them in the past) If you don't want any more coins graded but simply want to access the CGS data such as photos, then they intend to charge £49 for it. However, this level of service is not currently available and you will have to wait. http://www.coingradingservices.co.uk/lcgs_menu/price.php You might want to consider trying to take your own photos instead.

You can no longer download CGS photos from the London Coins site unless you have paid unfortunately.

My Charles I halfcrown has been delivered today and the weight is 15.09g. Can anyone tell me what is the acceptable weight range? Thanks.

GF examples are indeed very common in auctions. Thanks for the link. Looks like I might want to aim for better than just VF. This particular coin type loses its appeal for me if one of Edward's eyes is not showing well (as in GF examples)

Many thanks for the advice Tom. I confess that I have never handled a hammered coin before and so your tips are really appreciated. I totally agree that eye appeal is even more important for hammered. (I really won't enjoy owing a near mint coin that has weak king's feature for instance) I have been looking at coins from the DNW, LCA and Lockdale websites for quite a while to get an idea of the sort of coins available. I think I will need to save up for an Edward VI shilling next. Having said I am aware that a VF problem free example is pricey.

Thank you so much for sharing that.

Many thanks Rob for your expertise! Much appreciated. Is it more usual for the legend to read MAG and HIB rather than MA and HI?

I wanted to buy my first hammered coin and have decided that a Charles I halfcrown would be the best bet. A common type can be picked up at a reasonable price. The history of that period is fascinating. A halfcrown is an impressive large lump of silver too. The problem is that my knowledge of hammered coins is very limited and I am not certain about what to look for. (But then again, I will probably not get better until I have brought a few). At the end I have brought this Charles I halfcrown from the recent LCA. I like the coin because 1) it's round, 2) well centred, 3) no weak areas, 4) decent enough grade, with rather good details ( LCA graded it as VF) 5) full flan as far as I can tell. It ended up costing me £260 + juice. I am very grateful to receive any comments. Are there any problems with it? Would you grade it VF? Is the price OK? Just be frank! I noticed that there are some letters missing on the legend and think this sort of thing is rather common. Can any one tell me how that occurred. The mintmark is bell and I assume that the year is therefore 1634-5 (from Spink). The Bell mint mark is given the number 60 in spink. How was the number 60 assigned? Many thanks!

Looking at the table in the link, I do find it rather amusing that the grading terms in foreign languages can't be taken literally either. I can read very little Japanese and hope that I haven't translated too badly: Sheldon Japanese Grade My Translation AG3 収集不適品 Not suitable for collection MS63 未使用品 Goods that have never been used MS66 完全未使用品 Completely unused goods MS68 空前絶後品 Never seen before and will never see again

Most people would admire a 100+ years old circulating coin graded MS68 (or CGS equivalent) as an object of high rarity. I certainly can't see any interest for a modern proof coin wrapped in plastic moments after birth and later graded as MS70 or CGS123...