damian1986

Thanks Rob. Naturally I'm just being bitter because I want one

My understanding is that the hoard will be valued by the Treasure Valuation Committee. It will be declared as treasure. By the Treasure Act of 1996 the owner must then offer it for sale to a museum. The museum will find the funds. So... The British museum are currently asking for sizable donations (of the order of 10s of thousands) that will go towards the cataloging and photographing of coins. Because they don't have enough money to take account of what they have. But... They'll find a few million quid to cover the purchase of a large hoard. Which... Will never be photographed and cataloged because they don't have the money. Cuckoo.

Hmmm. Just wondering what you lot think this is actually worth? For me this is only fine, and then you have to factor in the JCB work. Don't see anywhere near 4 figures. Actually on this note, what is it with the Cromwell shillings, halfcrowns and crowns? There's loads of 'em knocking about and always 3, 4, 5, 6 grand...

I do something similar in terms of what I'm collecting. Your goals are more difficult than they seem or you could effectively end up building a nice collection of hammered and milled groats. There are issues with Philip and Mary and Cromwell. If one that appeals to you for either comes up then snap it up as I for one haven't got the balls now to spend £2,000 on a shilling in a molested VF which seems to be about the going rate. So when one does slip through the net... also there's an argument for buying the most expensive / hardest to obtain first if you do intend to buy them eventually anyway, even if it means passing on 10 purchases just to get 1.

I feel bad, the designers / engravers are very talented people no doubt but all that we have here is a couple of dozen blobs. Below is how Saxony celebrated victory over the French in 1871. Maybe at the time everyone in Saxony thought oh no what another shit commemorative, but probably not. This coin photo filched from emuenzen.de.

The main issue is content management for me, things keep disappearing. Thanks for taking away the Numismatic Circulars. It is a nice coin if you are willing to ignore the reverse stress cracks. I suppose actually if I were giving serious consideration to doing ~ £4,000 on it the cracks would be problematic. These sorts of imperfections generally bother me far less with hammered than milled, though that may change.

I'll help them fix it in exchange for them pulling the upcoming Leicester 1d of William I and duly sending it my way.

Much much appreciated Richard! Now if everyone else can do the same for their chosen area of focus I can pick up a little bit of everything!?

A couple of auctions that just came to an end on eBay... 1950 proof 1/2d nFDC = £1.46 with free postage 1915 half mark (silver) AU = £0.99 with free postage Not sure what I was expecting. Not as good as the BINs hence took the risk. The only reason I'm not hanging onto them is because I want my collection to be less random and a bit more focused, fewer pieces that I will appreciate more than a quantity of coins. I figure someone else will get more out of them than me now, different goals and appreciation. I was just hoping I wouldn't have to actually pay to move them on

Part of the reason I mentioned milled silver specifically is that I think the hairlines are exacerbated on silver coins under certain lighting. If this coin has spent say 100 years of its life wrapped in a cloth or in a felted tray, the faintest of hairlines are to be expected? Meaning that the "lightest of handling marks" - the slightly deeper hairlines visible on both photos - are the only marks worth caring about? If this were a run of the mill florin, would the slabbed photo put you off buying it?

I don't mind adjustment marks, I guess it depends where they are and how much adjusting had to be done Woodpecker cider eh I may have had a few of those too... we then moved onto White Lightning which brought an abrupt end to our cider-drinking careers.

Appreciate your comments. I would guess that the TPGs are well-placed to grade at this level of detail - they post frequently about the technology they have at their disposal and the techniques utilised to grade coins so I can see where this adds value to their service. It seems in practice there's still a huge element of subjectivity though so short of identifying damaged coins at the microscopic level that value isn't being realised to its fullest IMO. As a collector I don't feel I really need a surface grade, just a nice photo and anything amiss to be mentioned in the description but it's not a bad idea - they do this with the ancient coins but they come out of the ground; we have very high expectations of the milled coinage!

The photography is a tricky one - when you photograph anything else you tweak until it's as you want it to look. It seems to be the nature of photography that you capture the object in its best light. Obviously when something that is perceived to be problematic - whizzing, tooling, dents, scratches etc. - is obfuscated or intentionally buffed out it's a problem, but otherwise I think there's a lot to be said for being able to take a nice photograph that captures the coin as it would be observed in hand. If anything the Internet has, presumably, made people like me too fussy. Most coins are bought based on ridiculously high resolution images. I just pulled the below out of a mint roll of coins. So it's practically as it was when it left the mint, excepting bag marks with rubbing against other coins. The hairlines are minimal but do exist. I appreciate that minting practices were different in 1834 but still. Incidentally, this is the definition of an MS66 on the Sheldon scale: A few very light hairlines may show under magnification, or there may be one or two light scuff marks showing on frosted surfaces or in the field. The eye appeal must be above average and very pleasing for the date and mint.

Thanks chky. I usually watch out for certain key words (Schrötlingsfehler, berieben, kratzer, randfehler, justiert, ...) but the seller didn't describe the coin. I'm not complaining by the way, both nice coins, just trying to gauge where to draw the line for buying upgrades or seeking better alternatives.

Thanks Peckris. Ah yes see if the hairlines were a result of cleaning that I would consider damage. In this case I'd probably just like a nicer / less brutal picture for my records. Below is another one though. Firstly the coin as sold by a German seller, secondly the coin photographed under direct light. Definitely rubbed IMO but you wouldn't know that from the seller's original picture. The second photo is probably too honest but on the other hand I can't make my mind up as to whether the seller's original photo is very good (given that it's not an easy coin to photograph) or a bit deceiving.

It seems to me that the majority of the later milled British silver coins show some hairlines when held under angled light / viewed under high magnification and they are clearest when photographed with a soft light. These coins are not usually penalised on grade or on price. Many photos tend to mask hairlines, sometimes by using a bright light or a diffusing box to 'wash out' the metallic surfaces, and in hand these hairlines don't usually detract. Also toning has the effect of masking hairlines naturally. Should these coins be penalised or is this just par for the course? We're not talking about whizzing or rubbing marks here to be clear. I was photographing this shilling and it's a nice coin but under higher magnification the surface marks do detract. Certainly the seller's photo was much less revealing even though high-res. Appreciate your thoughts anyway.

No, buy it Paulus. Why is this in here rather than the my wife has bled me dry thread? Oi, you! No only joking keep that thread for the nice stuff that crops up. I think bringing wives into it is a bit unfair, despite furs being mentioned. It's the Dr. Jekyll thread. This one is the Edward Hyde.

There are a few nice EFs up for grabs http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Coin-Victorian-Penny-Young-Head-EF-1855-/381048592159 Most of the grading seems to be by consensus rather than by any analysis of the coin's wear which is why the EFs end up as UNCs and the VFs as EFs. But I can't grade for toffee so... I propose a new two-tier grading system. I was just reading some of his feedback though and I feel sorry for him actually, assuming his responses are honest as it would appear that other sellers are trying to discredit him on false grounds.

No, buy it Paulus. Why is this in here rather than the my wife has bled me dry thread?

Nice. I have one of those too. I also have the halfpenny (dated 1795). 2014-12-03 13.06.27.jpg Very nice. Can't beat a nice chunk of copper. It's really pleasing in hand - about the size of the shillings issued in the 18th Century and I think the designs on many of these tokens are excellent. I do have my eye on some halfpennies but I'm trying to exercise patience here as it's not a market I know particularly well and some of the common ones that have gone into slabs appear to be a little pricey when compared with what the specialist dealers are asking for them raw.

This is the first Conder I've got hold of. Bath Farthing, King Bladud founded Bath through his Swine.

http://coins.ha.com/itm/great-britain/world-coins/great-britain-middlesex-young-s-penny-token-nd-c-1790-s-ms65-brown-ngc-/a/241445-15038.s#1191511915906 Look at that... 1798 eh? Wonder what they were collecting back then... "'Ere you are guv - I've got 5 UNC Cartwheel twopences. You can 'ave 'em for just a shilling" "Nah. Not interested in modern rubbish. Any news on that Petition Crown?" I could happily collect only the stuff that came out of the Soho mint. I was tempted to go after this token but just saw the estimate, I think best left to an aficionado of things Conder. I'll take those 5 cartwheels 2ds please Peckris.

http://coins.ha.com/itm/great-britain/world-coins/great-britain-middlesex-young-s-penny-token-nd-c-1790-s-ms65-brown-ngc-/a/241445-15038.s#1191511915906 Look at that...

The Edward VIII sovereign from earlier this year? £516,000 all in. For silver there was the reddite crown that sold at Spink earlier this year for £396,000 total. There's my pick for the dream coin. In terms of dream coins that aren't wholly inconceivable purchases the Oxford crowns and pounds of Charles I and then you could just close your eyes and point to anything in the Emery May Norweb collection of Anglo-Saxon coins (SCBI 16) and that'd do.

Based on 20% commission that runs at around £1150, so someone i's hoping for a quick large profit. It will be interesting to see where it lands, whats LCs selling commission? I think 10%. Good on them? it's a bit of a risk as it's gonna have to hammer at just shy of £1300 to break even. Coming from America There will also be 5% import duty On the initial outlay so it has to sell at around £1400 to break Even. What lot number is it in LCs?2994. Estimate is 900 to 1200. See when you factor all that in do you still think they're trying to turn it around quickly? The Stacks auction was actually only August assuming it is the same coin.