damian1986

Precisely why I've built my own desktops over the years - it means I can have exactly what I want for less than a pre-built one. Yeah it's the best way to go about it and I run Windows as my core OS with other operating systems running as virtual machines. Unfortunately you can only develop Mac and iOS apps using a Mac machine so you pretty much have to go out and buy one of their products. I have a Mac Mini which represents the cheapest option given its intended usage. It's more difficult with laptops though where you can't pick-and-choose your monitor and case and in this area Apple excel, build quality is excellent. That said if you went to Dell for an ultrabook at the same price as a Macbook you could give them a run for their money. In the interests of balance Windows is a pain in the arse platform at the best of times and their latest monstrosity (8) is detrimental to... actually using the thing. Linux-based operating systems are wonderful until you realise that no one wrote the drivers for your sound card and half the software you want has to be compiled from source.

And the massively important third thing is the brand. You're paying more because it comes in a pretty white box and they paid Mitchell and Webb and whoever else to market their shiny products. Their components are, as a general rule, high quality, but not strictly value for money if you're really looking to get juice out of your machine! E.g. the 27 inch iMac at £1,740: 27" monitor, beautiful3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz8GB (two 4GB) memory at 1600MHz1TB hard drive 7200rpm NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M with 2GB video memoryNot actually very good!! Mac monitors are excellent but you can pick up a high-end 4K screen for in the region of £600 now. The i5 is a hell of a lot cheaper than the i7 and performs far worse. You can get a six-core i7 processor overclocked for in the region of £400. Turbo boost is nonsensical. Just overclock your processor to 4.5 GHz and be done with it. 8GB of ram is piss-poor for a high-end machine. 16GB of ram operating at 2400 Mhz is easily achieved for in the region of £130 A 1TB mechanical hard drive costs about £50. You want a solid state drive nowadays. The graphics card is not particularly good if you want to do any high end gaming or video processing work. As to the operating system debate, well, pros and cons across the board. Mac OS is well-polished but fewer software vendors develop for the platform and support for any hardware that Apple didn't develop drivers for is rubbish.

You have to factor in the artist's time on this one Matt

Thanks Rob that's a very good point!

Thanks Peckris just trying to figure out your logic here. Different legends for Liz II and George VI and one of every effigy of George V. Suppose there'd have to be a darkened penny in there and possibly a KN (but not likely in BU!) for the mint. How about the bunhead coinage what do you reckon? I only really got as far as older features, Heaton mint, younger features and beaded border.

Rob it's difficult given the potential scope for collecting. I wouldn't have entertained the notion of purchasing something from the middle Anglo-Saxon period 12 months ago but I'm largely motivated by coins as historical entities and this is now a viable buy - going from collecting a few farthings and some decimal to being that bit more invested in numismatics brings with it these sorts of concerns I just need a little inspiration really. I know that unless I can make sense out of my collection as a whole I'll lose interest in individual pieces, although the rules by which I collect don't necessarily have to be that well-defined. Your points are valid though appreciate the feedback, thanks.

This would be ideal, so lots of collectors do that do they? Any particular examples / approaches? This would work, just wondering how I'd maintain the balance of the collection were I to have more than one coin per monarch / period or if I should be strict with myself. Yes the Cromwell farthing comes later.. Ah this is the problem though, a date run 1970 to 1860 in BU is very difficult, even omitting rarer Freeman types. Really I suppose I'm trying to find a way of justifying having one or a few coins per period whilst retaining some sense of purpose / goals as a collector.

Another Collector's Anonymous post. I'm trying to figure out what would make up a *representative* collection of bronze and copper without going gung-ho on every Freeman and Peck die combination or known variety. Type collecting or by monarch appeals more at the minute but I don't know how well this works with copper. I took a bunch of farthings and ha'pnies out the other day to look at which ones I'd keep and which ones I don't like any more. Ended up with some coins I'd struggle to part with and then decided there'd be no point shipping the rest off as otherwise I'd be left with a bunch of coins that don't *mean anything* (i.e. don't complete anything) but look nice. So really I'm trying to work out where to go from here. My interests are more diverse now and some of the early early coins are very expensive so have to be realistic in terms of budget too, can't have everything. Not sure what I'll do yet, but opinions welcome!

Thanks Paulus. This was a suggestion for Dan as he's off to Wakefield this weekend although I was looking at a 1902 florin earlier and may end up buying it - the other nice thing about 1902 is that the dies were brand new this year so the strike is usually better and given how easily this coin wore anyway...

A couple of other suggestions (pre 1960 though) with gold taken out of the equation: Any of the crowns 1887 to 1910. Saint George slaying the dragon reverse. I have an unhealthy interest in the designs of Benedetto Pistrucci.A florin 1902 to 1910. Very nice reverse, Britannia before everything went to shit. I have an unhealthy interest in Susan Hicks Beach.

Yep and like I say I don't want to have a go at the dealer! Sorry Andrew! It's a nice coin and I'd like it in my collection but the premium on the slab is way too high. 1. A CGS 85 can't be said to equate to MS65 if other TPGS won't grade it MS65. Don't get me wrong, resubmission of this coin may see it come back MS65, but still. 2. 100-point scale, 70-point scale, RB, RD, ... let's not forget what's inside that slab. 3. If a 1924 half penny in UNC is going to cost collectors £125 (I assume best offers would have to be reasonable) it's time to give up.

Okay don't mean to ruffle any feathers with this one, dealer is UK-based, many of their coins are better priced, seems genuine and am sure a pleasure to deal with. Dealer may even use these forums, but: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221299038370?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT "Slabbed and graded by CGS UK at 85 which equates to MS 65 on the Sheldon scale" and then later we have, "Provenance: Ex-Cheshire NGC MS64 RB" So it's not full lustre and there's a toning spot on the obverse. Ex-Cheshire is about as interesting as Ex-Damian. And it didn't make the grade at NGC. £125?

Perfection!

Anotherbellend.com made it for me 20 minutes of my life I'm never going to get back. I'll never forgive his use of the definite article, however much it sells for. I should register that domain and put something up there. Rubbish journalists, eBay scammers and people who make a living out of being friends with other people. The gutter press. People who use the word "like" as a coordinating conjunction. Ah no I'd have no time for anything else, like, there are other things to do like.

On 1940 how about VF for the obverse and gVF for the reverse? I've never known a grading company grade both sides of the coin but I prefer it when dealers grade both sides.

20 minutes of my life I'm never going to get back. I'll never forgive his use of the definite article, however much it sells for.

How can you have '24 carat plated'? If the 'plating' was anything less than 24 carat that would just mean that the bar had less gold plating. The unit of carat is just a ratio of (mass of pure gold) to (mass of material). This is like saying "the gold bit of this 8 carat necklace is 24 carat".

La Semeuse! A bit of porzellan, get a picture posted Scott? Still not too sure what to do with the notgeld / medals yet probably a small but 'representative' sample, whatever that means.

The darkened post-war pennies are lush and leave my darkened farthings alone

Yes quite a nice one isn't it! The Notgeld coins issued during WWI would have actually been spent but later on they were being issued purely to meet collector demand. The devaluation of the mark 1922 - 24 meant that they re-issued spendable Notgeld but I think that most of this was paper. With this one, yes I think it was just the bank showing off, they also issused silk notes during this period. There's a story about how shoppers would take wheelbarrows full of Notgeld to the shops during hyperinflation only for muggers to steel the wheelbarrow and leave the pile of cash right there. Pretty sure it's bull, but makes a point.

One of the nicer pieces of Notgeld but these were mostly issued to collectors and didn't really enter circulation, unlike the tatty old Notgeld of 1914-1918. Coin written about at length here (and their sample is nicer than mine :@).

I bet this is what every British collector of foreign coinage says to begin with... Liking the Marianne and Marianne-esque coinage you've posted nice theme to run with.

Thanks yes I have a copy of Jaeger. Not that I'm able to sit down and read it casually. It's really handy for post-1871 coinage since all the dealers use the numbers as a reference. It's also really good for doing bicep curls, with Spink in my other arm.

Be nice to see it. Here's an interesting half mark I got my hands on recently. Many of the half marks of 1918 and 1919 were darkened by the mints (geschwärzt) to prevent hoarding.