Paddy

I do a lot of trawling around local and small scale online auctions for coins - both bulk lots and individually. You get to spot the different sorts of bulk lots after a while - there are some that are genuine "Grannies old jewellery box" lots, and that is what you really want to find. There are some lots that have had a cursory, non expert, sort - these generally have any gold or silver removed or put into separate lots, but may still have a few interesting bits left. (The non-expert rarely looks closely at coppers or tokens and has poor knowledge on foreign pieces, so you can do well there.) Then there are the dealers' junk lots - accumulations of the coins they cannot sell, sometimes salted with a few slightly better things to tempt the bidding and persuade you they haven't been through it with a fine tooth comb. Telling the difference is not always easy as some dealers go to great lengths to make the lots look original! But they can be great fun and provided you know your stuff and view carefully before bidding, you can do very well.

The link doesn't work for me - pops into a request to download the webloc file...

I can't say I know for sure what this is, but it looks religious - possibly a baptismal token or keepsake. The Sigma letters hint at Greek, but the rest of the letters look more traditional/Roman alphabet. Metal looks to be the cheap pewter-like metal used during the 19th and 20th century for low-value medallions and tourist pieces. Just thoughts.

One of the misuses that gets me every time is "amount" instead of "number", as in "The amount of people collecting coins is on the increase". You use amount for commodities such as flour or sand. You use number for things you can count!

I can't help you with any of the proof strikes, but someone who visited the RM recently reported on here that there were just 200,000 of each letter in circulation strikes. 100,000 of each released in early 2018 and a further 100,000 of each at the end of the year. The RM employees said no more were being made - but of course they can always change their mind. If this is true it puts each coin on a par with Kew Gardens for rarity, though I doubt 10ps will ever be quite so avidly collected as 50ps.

... and yet they still haven't got the mintage figures page on their website sorted out. Been down since at least September.

Somebody ought to email her a link to this thread - might be amusing to see her reaction then!

Numista does the magic. Provided you have some describable feature you can put it into a search there, and it will bring up any coins on its database that match those words anywhere in their description. In this case I put in "Gold Crescent" and it came up with 220 odd possibles in 12 pages. Most were Hungarian but on about page 9 or 10, up popped your answer. Some Islamic/Indian coins have no describable feature, just unreadable script, and then it gets much more difficult.

Travancore 2 Fanams - see: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces48367.html

Time limits set by sellers have no meaning either - the rules are set by legislation and you cannot override that. I believe for coins it comes under the 30 day rule - it varies for different products. It also depends on whether the seller is a business or an individual - although regular individual sellers may be classed as a business whether they like it or not! This gives a lot more: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/ive-got-a-problem-with-something-i-bought-on-ebay

When a seller is listing any item he has the opportunity to tick a box marked "private listing" in which case all bids are completely anonymous. I can't see any legitimate reason to do this, but some sellers use it.

Regardless of what the seller may say, there is no such thing as a "no returns policy". Your statutory rights as an online buyer are not affected by any words he puts in his listing, and you will find that Ebay will support you in this.

Not really my area of expertise, but I believe there was discussion here before about the irregular terminal to the cross at 3 o'clock on the reverse being an indicator of some very good fakes that have shown up recently. I hope I am wrong because without that it would look to be a very nice example.

I would say "fake" is a little too strong. These things are often referred to as "jeweller's copies". They are not designed to deceive, just provide a means of producing a sovereign-style ring or other piece of jewellery at a much lower price. Usually they are in 9 Ct gold, sometimes not even that. No point unmounting it as it's only value above scrap is as a piece of jewellery.

... From Russian Federation... with zero feedback... I think I'll pass thank you!

I messaged him suggesting he had mixed up the pictures and now it has been pulled.

Yes - I just checked that Avast does also include the anti-logger function, so I think I am OK there.

Well I am with @UPINSMOKE - the only use of the term keylogger I have heard of is related to illegal attempts to steal passwords. Keyloggers are most usually Malware of some form. In case I had been wrong all these years I tried Wikipedia and got this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystroke_logging which seems to confirm what I always understood. So either @ozjohn has been hoodwinked into installing malware, or we are talking at cross purposes!

One other thing to watch out for with the safe option: do your research on any company you plan to buy from or do the installation. I fear that many security companies also leak information to the criminal fraternity. 20 years ago or so, when I was married, we decided to get security lighting etc installed on an outside stable block in which we stored horse tack. Within a week of it being installed it was raided and all the tack stolen when we had never had any burglary before. (They also nearly burnt the stable down with the horses still inside by throwing a blanket over the hot lighting.) Since then I have been somewhat distrusting of security companies as I can see no other way that the burglars suddenly decided to target us.

I am up to 11 from change/swaps with other collectors in the market. Got an "M" today as a swap. I hate buying from the RM - I feel immediately that I am being ripped off - but I may have to to complete the set... 😞

To be honest, I can't see that negative feedback is justified there: 1. Is it genuine? Yes, it would seem so. 2. Is what you received the coin pictured on the listing? Yes it is, so no issue there. 3. Is his description misleading or wrong? Not really - he did not assign a formal grade. "Very High Grade" is entirely subjective and not far out. Very Fine also contains the "very" word. I would give a solid GVF to the reverse but only VF to the obverse - which is typical with Victorian silver. His pictures look OK to me - I can't see he was hiding anything there. 4. Was the price fair? Probably a bit high, but you chose to pay it. Negative feedback is a big deal for regular sellers, so I would save it for a really bad listing. If you are really unhappy with it, ask to return it for a refund, don't hit him with a negative out of the blue.

... but Lucido_8 is no newbie - he has been selling coins on Ebay for years. AND someone paid £29 for this! What is going on!

I have put this spare on Ebay. Offers entertained especially from regular contributors! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352561827890

I picked up this rather nice medallion amongst some coins recently. Measures 50mm across and is Copper, whereas all the other examples I can find on the net are 32mm and pewter. This one is engraved to Francis Hamilton Mellor, Recorder of Preston on the edge - he seems to have been a bit of a celebrity in his day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Mellor

That is fair comment. I have sold a few single coins at DNW - the last sold for hammer £150 and I think I received £121.xx. They have a firm 5 week delay before paying off, which is understandable as they need to see the money clear and handle any issues first. With a big (and excellent) collection like this you should be able to negotiate a lower seller's commission. In my view all the top coin auction houses will be falling over themselves to get this one on their books.