ozjohn

I looked at tripods. Again anything that was any good was very expensive and they did not seem to be able to pointed directly downwards which I think is necessary if you want to reduce distortion of the picture. Possibly you can correct this with Photoshop but the least post processing the better Also the stability of the camera tripod combination is questionable as the camera is not over the center axis.

Trying to improve my coin photography rather than a flat bed scanner which seems to show flat surfaces where the coin comes in contact with the glass plate. This was taken with a hand held Canon A540 6MP with close up lens. I'm looking for a camera stand but they seem to be just about impossible to obtain in Australia although I have seen some cheapies on Ebay but the freight is GBP60 for something costing GBP30. I hope this shows the coin better than my last effort.

I was reorganizing my florin collection and noticed I have an 1892 jubilee head florin. I checked the value with the Value of UK Coins of Great Britain and England site where it is listed as F 30 GBP, VF GBP 100 GBP & EF GBP 325. The first question is are these realistic values and the second is what is the grade of this coin? My grading of the coin is VF+ to EF-. Any comments please.

Not at all I was referring to Salmond Having been born in the UK I think I have every right to comment on the self destructive actions of a few who exploit many for their political ego. This madness was started by Blair who setup the separate governments for Scotland etc. with no regard to the English who only have the Westminster government. At least I think we have got it right here in Australia with the State Governments whose activities are regulated by our Constitution. The irony of it all is our Constitution was a bill of the House of Commons where they managed to get it right for Australia but fail to do so for the UK. For example if Queensland wanted to leave the Commonwealth of Australia it would require a referendum with a 2/3 majority and also be carried by a majority of the States. A union is the sum of its parts and all should get their say not just the Scots in this case. Given the ill will that has been generated by this exercise and the unequal distribution of powers like for example free Universities in Scotland I get the feeling that many English would now vote for Scotland to leave the union if they had the chance as they are by and large financing this.

He ain't no scot and has little grasp of the truth.

I don't think the coin listed on ebay would fool anyone that it is a reproduction. However there are coins listed on ebay that are reproductions and not marked as such which could be used to defraud people as they are cast from molds made from real coins and you cannot tell if they are the real thing or not from a picture on the ebay listing. It has to be said the seller points out they are reproductions but if they are brought by a third party and relisted as genuine no one will be the wiser until they receive the coins and realize they are not silver and are fakes.

It's a nice coin but I am just wondering if it has been cleaned at one time as I can see slight scratch marks all in the same direction especially on the reverse of the coin.

I was flicking through the Coincraft 1998 Std. Catalog and read the following in the florin mintage figures for 1927, 1927 116497 non proof issues with the note 1927 florin was proof only issue: mintage figure as reported. The next item on the list was 1927 15000 proof issue. As far as I am aware only the proof issue of 15000 were minted that year which begs the question what was the date on the other 116497 florins?. Were they some left over from the previous year perhaps? has anyone got any idea?

What was this pattern 1920 shilling?

Mark, The coin is in an old 17th C oak flight of draws maybe something in the oak wood helps. John

The opposite end of the scale to my I've Cleaned It. One way I have found is to breath on a coin like you are cleaning glasses and leaving in a protected place open to the air. Repeat as many times necessary but it's a slow process. The coin illustrated took a year to retone. I have to say it wasn't dipped by me but it was very bright when I obtained it.

You are probably right but I could not find Goddards locally and all I could get were various preparations offered by chain jewelers which all contained sulfuric acid. Funny thing is Goddards used to be available from discount stores in Australia but no longer it seems. Even the polishing cloths seem to have disappeared.

I've just received a 1927 florin I brought on Ebay. I can't believe the relatively low price this coin brings as there were only 15000 minted for the proof sets with no issue for general circulation in 1927. Also I have noticed several circulated examples of this coin turning up on ebay which suggests many sets would have been broken up and spent as it was released just before the start of the great depression. I suspect the number of this coin still in high grade is considerably less than the 15000 issued adding to its rarity.

sorry John not Johni

Hi Mark, I used sodium bicarb plus salt in hot water with aluminium foil in the bottom of the dish. I tried to make the solution fairly weak so I could control the reaction by removing the coin and then washing it. I did this about 3 times (hard on the fingers with the hot water) until I was happy with the result. I looked around at various commercial silver dips to see if they would be suitable but most contained sulfuric acid which I thought would not be very good for coins. Johnj

A lot of coins are dirty around the lettering as the surface is more protected there by the lettering and the rim of the coin. On the other hand it is harder to clean in that area for the same reasons.

I checked some Australian predecimal coins which contained the DG up to about 1964. but was missing on the 1965 50c rounds. Funny thing is Australia has gone from strength to strength since then.

I looked at our Australian coins you are right the DG has gone. The history of Australian coins is interesting initially we started with a motley collection of coins, British and foreign, called proclamation coins. These included the cartwheel pennies and a coin called a holey dollar which was a Spanish 8 reales with the center punched out and marked 15 pence while the rest of the coin was valued at 5/-. Nothing new about debasing coins! Also beware of forgeries This is considered to be Australia's first coin but in reality the idea of debasing the coin by removing some of the silver in it was an attempt to keep these coins in Australia. I think similar strategies were applied elsewhere in the West Indies.. After the English recoinage English coins were issued and branches of the Royal Mint were setup in Melbourne and Sydney and later in Perth for the production of soveriegns. These mints also issued English coins in the later 1800s for circulation in Australia while earlier the coins were imported directly. English coins continued to circulate in Australia until the 1930s then they migrated back to the UK as the Australian Pound was devalued to 15/- in 1932. In addition Australia issued its own set of coins in 1911. Florin, shilling sixpence, threepence, penny and halfpenny. The fact that English coins were the currency for close to a centaury seems to escape most collectors here in Australia when in truth coins of this period from a historical perspective should form part of any comprehensive Australian collection.

If you do not know about the I in QUI close to the top LHS of the shield on the reverse of the coin it convincing as a genuine 1905 halfcrown.. Buyer beware.

Thanks for all the replies. On the whole they seem to be positive which gives me confidence I have done the right thing in this case. I hasten to add I would not embark on cleaning coins lightly but in this case I think it was the right thing.

I gave the coin some more time in the bicarb of soda/ aluminium foil bath and I am pleased with the result. Most of the heavy toning has gone while the coin still retains good eye appeal. I am pleased with the result. On reflection the bicarb of soda/aluminum foil bath is a fairly gentle process as it does not contain sulfuric acid as many proprietary silver dip preparations do. The process involves removing the sulfur from the silver sulfide (the toning) and converting it back into silver metal and the aluminium in the foil is converted into aluminium sulfide.

Exactly the other coin I showed I think has been over cleaned and it was not the same coin.. Not badly cleaned but it has removed all of the toning. What I am trying to achieve is a compromise. Also one reply notes wear on the ear. That's fine but there is no wear on the eyebrow. I suspect the ear was not struck up initially. As I said previously the milling on the coin is pristine. Of course this is difficult to determine for sure but I think the grading is some where in the MS area,

This is the other end of scale.

Normally I would agree with you trouble is you could not see the coin underneath. One thing it has revealed is the coin's true grading. I have not shown the milling of the coin but it is crisp as the day it was minted and given the difficulty of grading KGV coins this is a very good guide.

I think the finished result is better than the photos. However I think you maybe right about needing more cleaning.