secret santa

I haven't yet found any of the 2015 commemoratives (Magna carta, 1st WW or Britannia) in my change - have they all been released ?

Excitement over - back to the drawing board for Sunday !

I suspect that the overdate is actually a scratch or a small flaw as it's further left than usual - but you never know...........................

Matt - Absolutely - I always have to go back to the books to be sure.

Matt - reverse r (N) also has the "colouring" on the shield but the shield is FLAT - this IS reverse r - believe me.

This is definitely reverse r with around 50 more teeth than reverse p on both F111 and F114 so if it's a genuine overdate it's really exciting. As you say, it's probably obverse R but it's vital that we know - it could be an unrecorded mule with an overdate !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is interesting - it appears to be reverse r (Freeman N), i.e. F115 not F111, but with 2 over 1 which has not been recorded ! I can't see the obverse to determine its variety.

Good question - the 1882 (no H) penny in the next LCA begs that question - it's nastily corroded and edge-knocked but its detail is quite good.

Yep

I think they're getting more accurate with time as they gradually progress in size and importance towards the "senior" auction houses. It wasn't so long ago they their catalogues were just just printed lists but now they rival the biggies and their photographs now surpass Spink. If they would only join the internet bidding world they could even become the best, and their fees are without doubt the best.

Taking care not to open myself up to libel claims, I must stress that this is only my personal opinion but I found that up to about 10 years ago Spink were always quite conservative in their grading, rarely describing anything as "uncirculated" and more or less anything I bought that they described as EF I would have accepted as Unc. Now, I didn't examine the recent Andy Scott collection coins in person and I know that the catalogue and website pictures were awful, but there were a lot of coins described as "uncirculated" that in the past might possibly have been graded a little lower in my opinion. Steve Hill moved from Spink to Baldwins a few years ago and I have faith in his grading of copper coins. Mark Rasmussen (dealer) has always been very accurate in my experience. There are definitely some well-known dealers who grade a little ambitiously but I'm not going to name anyone here.

I see that the owner of the Elstree Collection has been revealed as David Reissner - I should have guessed as he and I met several times at Croydon & London auctions and battled over the same coins many times ! Very nice chap.

I've found out this afternoon that the recent winner of the lottery that finally came forward to claim his £32 million recently is a guy who who I used to play cricket with for years. I shall be sending him a Friend Request shortly and I'm sure he'll buy the entire Elstree Collection for an old friend..................................

Ah yes, thanks Matt I'll remember that for next time.

Great piece of work, Ian. I tried to print it off with no success - is that deliberate ?

I've been working up to buying a digital microscope and also working up to upgrading my desktop from 8.1 to 10 and now you've all scared me off both !!!!!

Just looked at mine - they're there !!!!!

Absolutely right, Ian, in every detail.

One day , when you're famous (or dead) this will be worth a fortune !

Pete, this is a really difficult question to answer. I've found that I concentrate on proceedings so much that I don't really notice who else is bidding, and i don't know many penny collectors by sight. I do know that several major collectors have sold their collections over the last few years and I don't have much of a feel as to who will be competing for these latest coins. I would think that it is the people with extensive collections that WILL be prepared to pay over the odds for the coins that they really want. Bidders should be made to wear their names on their clothes like footballers !

Maybe not - there's a huge range of coins but only a relatively limited audience with presumably limited funds, so collectors will have to be choosy about what they buy. When Laurie Bamford's collection was sold, prices were generally quite low (in my opinion) because of this. There will be some bargains !!!!

I'll just have one last say on the subject as someone with an obsolete Chemistry degree from the sixties. Acetone (dimethyl ketone) is an excellent organic solvent that efficiently dissolves all sorts of organic (carbon-based) matter, which is why it's used as nail varnish remover. When applied to a coin it will dissolve some of the dirt into a solution that must be wiped off, otherwise the acetone will simply and swiftly evaporate (its boiling point is below normal room temperature) and leave the dirt, possibly in a different place. The acetone will not react with the metal content of the coin. Just putting acetone onto the coin and leaving it to evaporate will therefore not achieve anything. But it does aid the removal of surface matter which must be wiped off with a cotton bud or something soft. Rubbing the coin gently with a cotton bud soaked in acetone should remove much grime without scarring the surface. That's the science but everyone will have their beliefs and opinions which must be tolerated - that's life !!

I've been reading this post with interest and have now cleaned some of my pennies with acetone and am very pleased with the results on some of the dirtier ones.

Thanks Rob - I'll go for the set of weights - hopefully they're cheaper than 2 or 3 sovereigns ! Can you suggest a source ?

Sorry Pete - credit to you !