ozjohn

Finger limes are an Australian native https://aussiegreenthumb.com/finger-limes/ used by TV chefs. The soil here is volcanic in origin from the eruption of now extinct volcanoes. Good luck with the poinciana seeds if you want some more let me know.. They we certainly growing fast on the vacant lot next door to me. I don't think they will amount to much as the owner is building after Xmas. PS I think it was you who posted the photos of Jupiter from your telescope. What type of telescope were you using? They were better than my efforts with Celestron Nextstar 4" reflector.

Very nice and well struck for a 1923 half crown.

Seen on Ebay. It's graded at MS 64 by NGC which is a reasonable assessment but GBP 492. I would have paid less than $AU 50 say GBP 25 for the one I have which is a pretty good grade. I've seen the prices from this seller and Heritage auctions and wonder if anyone buys these coins. Tony Clayton gives a 9/ 2025 value of in UNC of GBP 65.

The house next door has just been demolished including a poinciana tree in the front yard. A couple of weeks later seedlings are sprouting everywhere.

Sorry I missed this one earlier. Nice photo. What telescope do you have?

The price is on the low side as well. Tony Clayton's valuations gives GBP 5000 for a 1905 half crown in EF condition. I think I would ask for a better photo if I was considering bidding for this coin. Again a TPG by PCGS or NGC would add more credibility and price.

A 1905 half crown advertised on Ebay at GBP3400 and graded at EF condition. It's hard to see if the I in QUI is broken as the picture is indistinct there. However the orb on top of the pearls in the crown over the shield seems off center which I think is unusual. Any comments.

A good crop this year. Pollinating the vanilla orchid flowers is a tricky business.

PS the tree in the foreground is a jacaranda from South America.

Poinciania time. Trees just coming into bloom and an eastern water dragon a common harmless lizard in SE Queensland. Grows to about 2 ft in length.

The coin attached is not the prettiest coin in the world with the speckled toning. Nevertheless it's in the higher grades and a brief dip in Goddards may improve its apperance. Any thoughts?

Half way along Route 66 also the weather in Arizona. Much cooler in Brisbane being the middle of winter 22 deg C or 71 deg F.

The tsunmai warning ruined the last day in Waikiki.

Sorry posted in the wrong thread.

A light strike perhaps? For the most part 1913 half crowns are much better than the ones minted in WW1.

Have trouble is accepting a grade of MS 64 for this coin.

Finally reached the end of Route 66 in Chicago. Back to Australia via Hawaii.

Before and after using cloudy ammonia that I had to hand. Cloudy ammonia in Australia is 25% with detergent added. I think it has improved the coin marginally but it has removed the green verdigris by the G in GRA. The coin looks better in hand but a very light strike. When I did chemistry at uni it was called Redox, Reduction, Oxidization depending on which way it was going.

Are you talking about clear household ammonia for cleaning that seems to be 25% ammonia or further diluting this product? With regard to your comment the 1918 half crown is a very nice coin but I struggle to accept it has remained without any sign of toning after over a hundred years.

Attached picture is of a 1911 proof set as advertised by Coins and Medals, Brisbane. As you can see the coins are toned after being left somewhere possibly over a hundred years. This is the condition I would expect to find coins of this age to be in. However the amount of coins for sale of a similar age that are bright makes me wonder how they remain in that condition over a similar age as with the 1918 half crown? Anyone who has silver objects will note the only way of keeping them shiny is frequent cleaning Perhaps it may be useful what toning of silver is. It is the equivalent of rust on iron and steel. In other words corrosion where silver metal is attacked by the oxygen and sulfur in the atmosphere to form oxides and sulfides of silver. Some will argue that toning is attractive and I am sympathetic to that view but not all toning is of that nature. Again the colors produced by toning are as a result of constructive and destructive interference where the incident and reflected light interact with each other. Again I still wonder how silver coins retain their shiny status? Some coins certified by TPGs as cleaned while some it is obvious due to signs of abrasion while others I have been stumped by this verdict. Having said that I can only make that judgement from the photographs of the coin and not in hand.

A long way from Brisbane but we can get a selection of bottled UK beers here. Hook Norton, Adnams Broardside , Speckled Hen, Theakstons , Spitfire to name a few.

Very nice coin.

A previously discussed buy the coin not the "grade" Having said that the aim of PGs should be to provide consistency. Strike quality is one of the points in accessing the higher grades and the the upper shield on the MS 65 graded coin should have downgraded this coin.

An NGC MS 65 and PCGS MS 64 for comparison and my best 1920 ungraded florin. If I was given the choice of the PG coins I think the MS 64 is the better coin on the photographs and my one ain't too bad either. I'll be interested to see how much these two coins sell for.

Sorry I put this one in the wrong place.