Red Riley

Well, nothing in the UK, they were minted purely for Malta where they replaced a local coin called the 'granno'. Even allowing for the relative poverty of Malta, their purchasing power must have been minute. Looks a nice coin and a very good picture.

As far as I'm concerned you can put it in Morecambe Bay!

I can just see the advert now; 'L@@K rare 1967 Clacking Penny - a great opportunity to purchase this internationally acknowledged rarity' and in the small print; 'a few edge knocks due to the number of times I have dropped it on the pavement'. Hmmm... Go for it!

I have around 30 coin books; Peck, Gouby, Rayner, Spink, Groome and CCGB are pretty much indispensable. I expect to see this increasing exponentially in the coming years despite the attractions of the internet.

About a tenner currently but 0.900 silver so may be difficult to sell for scrap in the UK.

I've either bought from or sold to him. Seemed a genuine guy.

I don't know whether it is a first to lampoon your own listings, but here is a beauty I am currently selling (or attempting to sell) on the Bay; http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170597433310

Almost as interesting now would be to work out how it came to be in your aunt's possession (curiously I found a reproduction Elizabeth I 3d in my mother's effects). This type of facsimille is often used by film/TV or even amateur dramatic companies for period dramas, so did she have any connection with that type of thing?

Re 1876H penny To be fair on the seller, he is pretty much laying it out as it is. Despite the possibilities, it is not a coin that I would particularly want.

I don't know the correct weight, but at 40mm. it would be a crown. The weight however is about two-thirds of what I would expect the genuine article to weigh.

Hi Gary, I've sent you the links to a couple I have for sale at the moment. Derek

I doubt if it's a proof set. They issued PVC packs of business coins, many of which may now have gone gloopy.

Before going to the trouble of scanning/photographing everything, why not just put up a list of what you've got and we can eliminate anything that is never going to be of any value. The 1946 & 49 threepences are both representative of scarce years, so unless they've been run over by a train will have some value as will the KN pennies. The maundy 3d you mention was actually a regular issue at the time, and unless virtually uncirculated will probably be worth little more than its metal content. And a final word of warning; don't raise your hopes too high as to value, most accumulations like this, although interesting are rarely worth a huge amount.

It's actually Queen Elizabeth I but I would warn you there are a lot of facsimilles around made of pewter. These were sold as such, so technically aren't forgeries (although they do confuse a hell of a lot of people). Size and weight, and a photo of the reverse would be helpful.

Whether they are worth anything at all really does depend on their condition. Whilst you probably had fun putting the collection together and there's nothing wrong with that, I personally think it unlikely that any collector would really want to buy the entire run. A dealer may be interested if they were all strictly uncirculated but he would certainly not want to pay very much for them. On the plus side, it is actually quite a nice basis for a collection and you may like to add to them or improve the individual coins as you go along. In essence this is the way we all started and for many it has formed a lifelong interest. Very few sixpences were minted dated 1952 and you may have to pay a few pounds for even the scuffiest example.

I'm amazed anybody bothered to mark his death with anything other than rejoicing (perhaps tempered by the fact that he was only to be replaced by his brother). The Times obituary contained the following passage; "There never was an individual less regretted by his fellow-creatures than this deceased king. What eye has wept for him? What heart has heaved one throb of unmercenary sorrow? ... If he ever had a friend — a devoted friend in any rank of life — we protest that the name of him or her never reached us." So, a little bit of erudition to mark my 1,000th post.

I'm sorry Dave I'm just too keen to agree with everybody at the moment. Perhaps it's due to my approaching deification.

Well blow me, that one was so rare I didn't even bother to look for it. I think the beers are on Dave!

Yes, I see your point but it's rather like the Irishman (I use an Irishman because I can get away with it, being part Irish!) asked how to get to Dublin, to which his reply was, 'Well if I were you I wouldn't start from here'.

Reminds me of the old Benny Hill sketch of an Englishman going into a German/Dutch grocer's store which went something like this; 'FUNEX?' 'SVFX' 'FUNEM?' 'SVFM' I think you really needed to be there.

But you would then have to invent a new counting system with the zero being employed after 16 and that's not the way anybody counts, so far as I am aware. Computers may do it that way, but hey, I'm not a computer.

If you're coming Chris, don't forget your apron. Somebody's got to do the washing up.

Spit it out Peter.

On the other hand going back onto the gold standard brought this country to the brink of ruin in 1925.

I think that's only relevant if you're a mathematician. Since the introduction of the zero from the Indian sub-continent slowly from the 12th century, a base of 10 made far more sense. Everyone else has looked at the problem and come up with base 100 as being the best solution. If we had decided otherwise it would have been a case of 'everyone being out of step except my son John' would it not?