Sword

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.

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.

Taken last winter along a canal.

How much did it sell in 1997? The prices for the proof or currency must be astronomical today I imagine.

I think it depends on how careful you are. People have been using cabinets for a long time before slabs, quadrums, capsules were available and so I assume they must be fine if you are not careless. Like Non, I use quadrums. There is the quadrum intercept claims to protect coins from tarnishing for up to 15 years.

Welcome back Paddy! Great to have you back.

What happened to the shield and trident? The little dolphin looks a bit strange too.

According to an NGC article "Though dated 1981, they were reportedly struck in the 1990s, as the United Kingdom considered whether to replace the pound with the euro." https://www.ngccoin.uk/news/article/9755/

Presumably by provenance and written record.

There are discounts available. E.g. https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/English-Silver-Coinage-Original-Hardback/p/23844 But it's a bit of a rip off to me. The ESC (Maurice Bull) has already got to 7th edition. Is that really necessary to have new editions so frequently? Then this is the smarten up version of the 1992 "original" Rayner's fourth edition. It has been extended to include coins from 1992 to 2022, like if anyone cares. Then it still uses the Seaby's original numbering but we have moved on to the new Bull's numbering.

Iconic shape. Britannia doing manual labour? Rather apt as times were hard in the early eighties.

"could be worth £1800". I "could" win the lottery next week but it will never happen.

I imagine they only need to manually write down your card details and you will still be charged later.

I prefer paying takeaway deliveries with cash as I don't like small businesses using my card retails remotely.

I unexpectedly went to B&Q today and realised I didn't have my wallet. I had a £20 note and thankfully there was still a till that accepts cash. Might be I use cash once a week these days.

It would have been better if the reverse design is more deeply engraved and the shield is convex. But the RM only do flat designs nowadays unfortunately.

Not the Britannia. It is this one:

Glad you like it. The crown will always be one of the popular denominations to collect. I went for the less traditional "£2 ounce" only because I like the reverse design.

I think the line between "errors" and RM "sloppiness" is a bit blur. Even proof coins are not very carefully made these days as illustrated by the thread on the Flying Scotsman. Hence, my opinion is that minting quality issues should be classified as sloppiness and errors have to be much more in your face.

It's six weeks since I sent it back for a replacement which has arrived today. It looks OK this time but I had to use a blower to remove the fine (white) hairs trapped inside the capsule. I do like the crowned portrait of the King and the reverse of the £2 and so this is my souvenir of the coronation.

It's (very) difficult to know why someone has stamped those letters on your coin or when it was done. Coins / banknotes do get defaced very occasionally when they were currency and often for not very good reasons. Since it is passed down, I think it is best to treat it as a sentimental item and a little piece of family history.

I totally agree that since the Royal Mint is government owned, it should therefore serve the national and shouldn't sell coins at rip off prices. However, auctions will have hammered prices closer to the market prices (in contrast to some of the stuff they are currently selling in their shop). Hence, if there is a conflict of interest, it has already occurred before the introduction of auctions. Their own article highlights their profit has rocketed from 12.4 millions to 18 millions. https://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/press-centre/gold-shines-for-the-royal-mint-as-it-announces-record-18-million-pre-tax-profit/

I don't think there is any conflict of interest TBH. The royal mint is obliged to supply the public with circulating coins which they do. Their other interest is just to make as much money as possible. I don't imagine they would care where that money comes from.

True. If you spend £10k on gold commemoratives, you might end up with around 5k worth when you sell. However, spending 10k on silver commemoratives might leave you with just 2k worth.

But the price up from bullion value is so high that one might need to wait for decades to break even. True, a few do well but most won't. I would say just don't buy random commemoratives for "investment". Investing in coins is like investing in shares - you need to know what you are doing.