Red Riley

Purely out of curiosity, have you just bought this coin?

Her vacant gaze would indicate she's probably watching Eastenders somewhere off-coin!

That's a good photo and a good coin. Coins with good lustre usually photograph well. However, I am still looking of a way to reliably photograph bronze/copper coins around 'fine' especially Edward VII and George V.

I'd go with EF too. Perhaps a little too much paid but it's very easy on the eye. This coin more than any other shows that Britannia knows how to multi-task!

I wish I was into photography and then I could tell you what I use without going upstairs to have a look. OK, Canon 400D; Sigma (bugger I've forgotten... ) ah yes, 1:2.8 DG Macro lens, tripod/stand normally using natural light. Curiously, I don't find reflection from the tripod to be a problem.

Yes but could they tell it wasn't EF? I agree there's very little that can be done about it overall, but the odd little victory is good for the soul...

The thing they can never disguise is the wobbly lettering on the edge.

Would normally agree, but there's a lot of kids buy coins on e-bay and frankly I'd prefer they weren't ripped off...

Giving the seller the benefit of the doubt, I would call it Fine (and polished) but that still puts it 2 grades out - and this from someone with 'coins' in their handle!. Actual value = zip. Shall we tell him?

I couldn't have said it better myself! When children are getting paid to go to school, teenage girls are getting paid to get pregnant and asylum-seekers have the right to live in multi-million pound mansions in Chelsea, something is wrong! I'm all for debt reduction, but feel that DC and GO are attacking it arse-about-face - cutting NHS/Police etc budgets whilst still p1ssing money away on social benefits! We also need to take a significantly firmer line on foreign-national (serious) convicts... Rather than giving them free board and lodgings for X day/weeks (do sentences still run into months and years?!) we need to send the back to where they came from and revoke their right to ever enter the UK again! Apologies - I too will put my soap-box away! Quick! Head for the bunker chaps...

The first is a half crown in fair condition and probably woth little more than silver value in that state. It was minted in the first year of a new coinage to celebrate Victoria's golden jubilee and is way the most common year for silver coinage encountered in the entire 64 year reign! The second (assuming you are comparing it to 1860-1970 pennies) is a copper penny of George III and would have been dated 1806 or 7. The same basic design was also used for farthings and halfpennies in different sizes obviously. No value, but big enough to make a useful paper weight. The 1918 penny is the standard Royal Mint version and sadly the world is awash with these. Haven't time to consider the other 2 coins at present. Will revert later if somebody hasn't beaten me to it.

Absolutely right. A die must exhibit way more than that to even approach being classified as a variety. IMHO of course!

This thread is a classic example of 'subject drift'!

Having worked in a regulated environment, I do feel a little uneasy about using the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to obtain what is essentially run of the mill information from the mint. For one thing this wasn't what the Act was designed for, its main purpose being to prevent officialdom both in the public and private sectors from hiding inconvenient truths behind such defences as 'not in the public interest' or 'it is not our policy to divulge such information'. Although they have clearly given you the information requested, in the background they will have had to go through all manner of time-consuming bureaucratic hoops to ensure that their response complied with the act and was recorded as an FoI request. If I were to give an example of the sort of information the Act was designed for in so far as it related to the mint, it would be to explore their commercial dealings with various unpleasant Middle Eastern or African regimes, especially with regard to 'inducements' etc. paid to these regimes. By all means use the Act if your first or second request seems to have fallen on stony ground but otherwise it's a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut and you might eventually end up with a very rude response!

Show off.

Well at least they can't accuse you of being Osama Bin Laden.

My vote for the dullest varieties are the 4 types of 1937 penny, or is it 3 or 5... Apathy r

I think it's all rather sad. Customers have bought pre-1920 silver off me in as high a grade as GVF with a view to melting. When the bubble finally bursts, numismatics will be the poorer as young and starter collectors will have less affordable coins available with which to start their collection. Perhaps it is partly my fault as I should perhaps have raised my prices at the lower end of the scale to avoid this possibility, but in the short term it is once again the less well off collector who suffers.

Unless I am not looking at it right I can only see a 1922 half crown in Fair condition, value around a fiver. Because of its grade, the coin has no numismatic value above its metal content.

The 1909 I would give GVF whilst the 1917 probably around Fair. The fist might be 'worth' about £3 whilst the second has no obvious value. I have put 'worth' in inverted commas because that is purely a book figure; dealers are unlikely to want it other than as part of a bulk lot and you may struggle to reach that figure on e-bay. So make of that what you will!

I did have issues a few years back with CDs going AWOL in the post (4 in one day all from scatterd locations!) but never, touch wood, coins. I have got to know the local postie who has been on the patch for some while and am not too fazed about recorded delivery letters being pushed through the letter box. To give him his due, he did ask me first if this was OK and since he seemed trustworthy I was quite happy with this arrangement. Having to go and fetch mail from the sorting office would be quite a nuisance as it is some miles away. So, as I say, touch wood all OK at present.

I have had problems with a couple of auction houses describing coins as 'Unc.' that patently were not. They all have their shortcomings which makes distance bids a harrowing process and I now prefer to attend sales as I was being forced to adopt my e-bay stance of 'if they say it's unc, then it's probably no better than EF'. The unfortunate thing is that taking this stance means that you don't actually win much in the higher grades. Fortunately I don't live a million miles from most of the salerooms and can make up my own mind about the lots up for sale. Having said that, the lighting and conditions under which the coins are viewed can be diabolical.

Couldn't make Warwick & Warwick today but went to Croydon Coin Auctions yesterday instead (6 trains to get there!). A completely different type of auction, much more homespun and dare I say it, more fun than the bigger sales. Much cheaper buyer's premium too even if the surroundings are a little underwhelming. The type of coin tends to be a bit further down the scale, but even taking this into account, I felt the prices were still a little high. I can't complain too much though since I bought some nice lots including an 1845 penny just a gnats off unc. and a nicely toned 1707E crown in a decent VF. Just got to find some buyers...

But they do exactly what the Royal Mint does by the sound of it I'll have a gross of those please Declan! Brilliant, I want one! No make that a dozen and I'll slyly slip them into the village shop's stock of the Daily Mail...

?You've got me?!