secret santa

Vicky - thanks for not going higher - when I bid the £7250 I immediately regretted it but was sure that someone would overbid me and that I'd bid no higher - but now that I've got it, I'm pleased that I did bid. Often happens that way, and often happens that I wished I'd bid higher on something ! I also used to open slabs with a hammer but when I ruined a gem BU 1867 penny I resorted to the hacksaw method - much more effective. In fact, I now leave them in the slabs - proof of their grade !

Well, I'm convinced there are different 3's.

Just checked my spares - only got one 1931 but it's the same "open" 3 so it may well be fairly common.

And a forked 1950 !

Just had a look through my spares and I've got a forked 1949 - never looked for it before !

When I was a lad, they used to say that the camera never lies. Different versions of the truth, maybe ?????

Slip of the keyboard there - I think Peter means Verdicare, not verdigris !

Hear, hear - John has helped me with copper varieties in the past and pointed me to a couple of excellent pennies on Ebay.

George Best, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali - another of my idols bites the dust

I couldn't see this Dave - do i need special permission ?

I'll compile a list and make it available.

Superb - May I use the picture on my Varieties website please ?

They're up already. The 1932 proof didn't photograph very well as it's in a slab and my 1934 photo doesn't capture the mirror finish - but they are both lovely !

Thanks guys, I need to sell some spares......fast !!

F192A, 1932 & 34 proofs

Got my 3 on Thursday and they're all beauties (but they should be - cost me a fortune).

Super pictures - what is your final configuration of camera, lights etc ?

Very perceptive Vicky !!!!

Laurie Bamford told me several years ago that they were prone to doing this but yet I've won lots with less than my maximum so I'm not sure exactly how it works. It might be just possible that there were several postal bids that just happened to climax at your maximum bid and that's why they opened the bidding at that level. That would be genuine if a little coincidental.

As a buyer, I much prefer this sort of auction as it allows me to take an overall view of the lots and bid accordingly whereas on a lot by lot basis in a normal auction, once a lot has gone you have no chance to go back and increase a bid when you realise that you could and should have bid higher. As a seller, like Matt says, I've no idea of the size of audience for Colin Cooke's sale but suspect it may be smaller than the big auction houses.

My websites all use the Illustrator style - not chosen scientifically from a review of all styles - other styles may well be better but I just happened to choose this one as a total beginner and it was straightforward to use. You link the website through your "signature".

I'm sure it's gone to a very good home............

The Wordpress software that I've used to create my websites, including my collection, is straightforward and free. I maintain details of my collection on a Word document which is easy to maintain. See example page

I've bought one (£60 cost) coin from this dealer and everything was fine.

Surely not a proof or even a specimen - look at the state of those border teeth !