Paddy

This from the BBC website this morning. Interesting and very rare Viking penny from Athelstan II, formerly Guthrum, as King in East Anglia. Also discussion of the implementation of the new detectorist rules regarding items of National Significance. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg79e45341po Oh, and PS: For once the pictures of the coin are quite good!

Generally the best place to find decent hammered is online with the better coin auctioneers and specialist dealers. Ebay tends to have them over-priced or over graded - when they are not fake. Henry II is more difficult to find in decent grade, but Noonan's have some nice ones at auction on the 6th September. (noonans.co.uk).

I don't have the book to see the details of the coins you are looking at. (I gave up on decimal last year!) What year are you looking at? I know there is a privy mark on some of the 2019 Britannia 50ps, but that is clearly too early for a coin to record her death.

I have spotted a job lot at a local auction including a set of Model coins featuring Queen Victoria's children. They are white metal and have some biographical details for each child. Apparently in a tortoiseshell box, though this not pictured. These are not for me, but if anyone here is interested, PM me and I will send you a link. Current estimate is only £20 to £30.

I have never used them, but I understand your views on Ebay! Have you tried emailing them - or messaging them via Ebay?

Spotted this sign at auction. Can't believe they ever got away with this!

... and finally the 1863 Shilling - substantial upgrade for me, but not the 1863/1 mentioned above:

... 1725 Shilling - another upgrade for me:

... 1672 Shilling - a new date for me:

So here are my pickups from the auction - arrived today. One per post. 1663 Shilling - an upgrade for me:

I didn't get all the ones I was interested in - the bidding went too high - but like you I pout in late bids on a couple that seemed to be going very cheap. I am also very pleased with my wins and should have them in hand very soon.

Well spotted! A great buy for anyone into the variations. I have just checked back and you are correct - Irish and Scottish shields switched across. I don't go looking for that sort of thing, so probably miss some bargains. I am content with a decent example of each date.

Devon to Mayfair is not much easier! I didn't view in person either - just trusted to their photography. (Noonans are reasonably reliable, unlike some of the others.) In fact I nearly missed the auction entirely. It was only an article on the BBC website on the morning of the sale that alerted me to it. The others I got were: the 1663 Shilling lot 14 as an upgrade; the 1672 Shilling lot 23, filling a gap; and the 1725 Shilling lot 163 as an upgrade.

I was bidding online too. I picked up 4 lots, which must mean the prices were not as strong as usual. I got the 1863 as an upgrade, but not the 1863/1. I will post pics once I have them in hand.

... not even with someone else's bargepole...

I can't help you with that specific version, but there do seem to have been a huge number of different versions produced. I had this one, with the same bust but a slightly different reverse quite a few years ago: Are you sure yours is silver? Many of these were struck in a pewter-like alloy. I assume you have checked the edge for any inscription that might relate it to a particular place?

I don't know if anyone has definitive figures, but I have one, so it can't be that rare! 🙂 The rarest pennies site shows two examples, neither of them mine.

This one is a Dubonni Silver unit:

I have struggled to buy any of the 17th and 18th century silver I need in the last few months, so in desperation I resorted to bidding on Celtic coins as they seem so much more affordable. Two just arrived - this one is Atrebates Silver unit:

No postage specified, otherwise I might have made him an offer of £1, just to see his reaction! First time I have noticed the "Ebay automated Feedback". How long has this been going on? Positive but "This seller successfully completed an order" certainly counts as "Damning by faint praise!

I find a single source of light striking the coin at an angle works better.

That is a very pleasing inheritance and a great starting point for a collection! You seem to have the basic identification of the monarchs on each coin correct. It would help to add the denomination to the description as for some coins only the size differentiates one denomination from another. For example the Queen Anne 1707 could at first glance be anything from a Crown down to a sixpence, each with a different value. If you are unsure of the denomination, add a scale so we can advise. As to how to value the collection, there are two main approaches: - Learn enough to do it yourself. Buy the book (Spink Coins of England) and read up on how to grade, then assign a value based on your acquired knowledge. - Get hold of an expert. You can find local coin dealers online or at a coin fair, or you can go to an auction house. Bear in mind they will be looking at the coins mostly with a view to what they could buy or sell them for. Some dealers will do an Insurance valuation, but quite rightly they would charge for this as there is no profit for them in the deal. I can't see anything in there that is outstandingly valuable, and one, the 1977 Crown, has virtually no value. Unless you are planning to sell them, why not just enjoy them as they are rather than worry about their precise value? In any case, any value is only an opinion and only becomes fixed when you sell it. Good coins can go for peanuts on a bad day, and poor coins for a fortune on another.

Certainly seems to be 9+L. As to the raised dot - I think we would need a close up picture of that area. To me it just looks like a piece of extraneous metal has got stuck to the coin at some point. Unlikely to be called out as a new variety unless others are identified with the same mark.

The concerns were discussed at length on this forum several years ago. The usual gripe about always winning with one's maximum bid was the start of the debate, and this linked with the lack of live online bidding (this may have changed since then) meant the auctioneer could have prior knowledge of the top bids left and so engineer the auction to ensure this limit was reached.

I gave up on LCA several years ago. The combination of over-doctored images, inaccurate descriptions and (reportedly) dodgy auctioneering practice put me off. Visiting Bracknell to view or bid was too much of a trek, even when that was an option. One has to be able to trust the auction house when bidding online. Trust takes a while to build up but can be blown away in moments.