Paddy

If that's supposed to get my sympathy, I'll swap you! North Devon this morning - 9C, fresh Breeze and drizzle...

Our Commanding Officer when I was in Bomb Disposal was Colonel Bates, but we referred to him as "Master".

Our favourite saying was; "The job where you don't learn by your mistakes".

Not I! I did have fun on one occasion whilst demonstrating the effectiveness of a dug-in gun position to a bunch of generals. I had laid out a range of small charges to simulate an artillery barrage and played it to the limits with the safety distances. I think I had one or two of the old duffers cacking their pants! Final piece was a simulated nuclear explosion, achieved with a 45 gallon oil drum, plastic explosive and diesel to produce a mushroom cloud. Very satisfying.

Looks like we are stuck with the old design for the Brexit 50p - just the date changed: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-51250753 Also some indication of mintage given - if they are right at 10M these will not be a scarce coin!

I can't say I have any food related memories that get me that nostalgic, however I do recall the annual family performance in the lead up to bonfire night! At that time local stores could provide only a limited range of smaller fireworks, so we were taken on the train (a treat in itself) to central London and the Selfridges store, where we were allowed to select the fireworks we most desired from the dazzling display beneath the counter. On the train home we took it in turns to take out our favourites and read the descriptions on the labels. (Can you imagine what "Elf n Safety" would say about that now?) At home, the fireworks were stored in our own bedroom for the week until bonfire night. On the great night we were allowed to light a range of fireworks for ourselves, making the displays they made even more exciting to us. The morning after, we would explore the local area trying to recover as many of the spent canisters and rockets as we could. On the rare occasion we found something that had failed to ignite properly, we then set that off in the field on our own. I can still feel the excitement today! Is it any wonder I spent a career in the army learning about and using explosives - eventually in Bomb Disposal?

The last bit on this saga - the final dealer has now been sentenced. He got away with a suspended sentence because of his health... https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-51234408

We could always take the French approach - move the decimal point a couple of places to the left. Then the old pound becomes a Penny and the new pound is equivalent to 100 old pounds. Effectively winds the clock back about 100 years in terms of buying power... I am only joking!

As I have previously expressed here, my main concern with moving to a cashless society is that "Big Brother" will know exactly where we are and what we are doing all the time. I suspect it would be the demise of the Flea markets and car boot sales too.

First side appears to read "Moneta Revalie" and the second "Magistri Livonie". I had a look through Livonia coins on Numista and came up with this: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces156067.html "Modern copy of coin from Livonian order Reval. Tallinn."

This from the BBC today: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51134884 Honest guv, wasn't me!

To me the current design is classic PC bunkum, typical of the almost puritanical disregard for people's real needs and desires. We need art, entertainment, enjoyment, excitement - not meaningless mealy-mouthed platitudes. You would have thought by now they had got the message - the wishy-washy original objectives for the Millennium Dome proved a disaster, but now focused on providing entertainment and enjoyment as the O2 arena, it is thriving.

From experience I can say that Barclays generally do accept the £2 and £5 coins. Lloyds definitely don't. Anyone any feedback on any of the others?

... I doubt that is meant as a compliment!

I have a 1682 - it is pretty worn but it looks to be 1682/1 as well.

I agree completely. My enquiry on relative price was simply to get an idea of relative scarcity as the coin is definitely not for sale. And yes - I do like it very much. I think the reverse design on the veiled head half crowns is one of the best they came up with.

That is brilliant - thank you. Mine is definitely 1 and A, so the standard issue for 1893 and so nothing to get too excited about. (Although a pretty good example I think!) Thanks again.

I have so far avoided getting into varieties on Victorian Silver, and I have no books on them - could you expand on the above a bit? Spink mentions a longer tooth variety for the 1896, but not for the 1893. Do both occur on both dates? The 1896 value jumps from £125 in VF for the shorter tooth to £165 for the longer tooth - are there comparable figures for the the 1893? I have a very nice 1893, which I think is longer tooth and I would be interested to know if I have picked up a rarity!

Looks like Amazon is getting into the fake coin market too! This one is a laugh: https://www.amazon.co.uk/YunBest-Antique-United-Kingdom-Coins/dp/B07NTJYQ2F/ref=pd_bxgy_201_img_3/257-3157509-3924743?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07NTJYQ2F&pd_rd_r=16b4708f-032e-4c51-9f30-16310fa59822&pd_rd_w=eZVQS&pd_rd_wg=mQqM7&pf_rd_p=6f720012-7a84-4e92-a268-5ba72c1e4b52&pf_rd_r=K3BDTJZ6HTZQZ54FMJMS&psc=1&refRID=K3BDTJZ6HTZQZ54FMJMS

Belated for Christmas - came across this tidying up my photo files. (May have been posted here before - sorry if it has.)

Why should the truth get in the way of a good story?

I did some research on this for a local collector a couple of years ago, but seem to have lost my list! A good starting point is the list of Commonwealth countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_Commonwealth_of_Nations However this includes Mozambique, which was never British, and misses out many that have been in the Empire at some stage and have severed contacts, or been amalgamated into other nations. Also misses many places that are not "Members of the United Nations in their own right" to quote Pointless! So a few to add: Egypt, Palestine (protectorates in the early 20th century, Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey etc (don't count as independent), Ionian Islands, Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) Demerary and Essequibo (Went into Guyana but has lovely early 19th century coins) East Africa, British West Africa, British Caribbean Territories (which are now all several different countries) The various provinces of Canada, (which formerly were more independent than now). Probably others can add many more. Someone was quoted in a recent documentary as saying that 70% of the countries of the world have either been part of the British Empire or invaded by it at some point! (They did include Chile because some British pirates landed there once, which I think was stretching the point too far.)

I remember him best on Rutland Weekend Television (I think?). Was "How sweet to be an idiot" one of his? Very funny. So many of our great artists fading away.

Thanks - just done that.

... and the full coin to confirm we are on the right track: