Colin G.

I know the guy who organised the charity event and should have been going myself There were unexpected issues, and as usual a couple of idiots have undoubtedly created a lot of hassle for the organiser and land owner, and again given the hobby a bad name, but there is also a lot of media hype at the moment around the event. What the media neglect to mention is that those who found the coins legally have 14 days to report them to the coroner. I have a feeling this may run for a while The historical importance is that they may be the result of a robbery, and I think it is just the way the legislation captures things which may not be of sufficient age, but could still be of substantial value.

There isn't a great deal between the 1822 and 1825 farthings, and the farthings have managed 186 years without losing their lustre, a bit longer should be okay

Ahhh were the 48 yours I bought from London coins? If so you let me have them at a reasonable price!! No I had already disperesed of mine then, I think they must have been another part from the same hoard....I was tempted

It is a case of waiting with the 1825 farthings, they will disperse but it will always be the easiest date in the series. I needed to turn them around fairly quickly, and knew the market price would drop as a result and had to factor that in when buying, and had to sell them via various sources The last few I have will stay in stock. I have no rush now to get rid of them

Understandable to be proud, that is a great achievement

And I would agree with him, don't get too focused on the price books, if you are telling me that compared to auction houses on a specific coin, similar grade coins are selling for less on ebay, then buy them on ebay if you want one, and sell them through the auction house if you have one to sell I think it is too easy to assume that you are comparing similar items. But if you are comparing similar items the above guidance would make perfect sense

And I would agree with him, don't get too focused on the price books, if you are telling me that compared to auction houses on a specific coin, similar grade coins are selling for less on ebay, then buy them on ebay if you want one, and sell them through the auction house if you have one to sell

First, it depends where you live, assuming its the UK, then they seem very much relaxed when opening packets from the USA etc. There is no tax to be paid on anything inside the EU, anything outside can be charged tax, but only if they open the package. I live in Germany, and the bar stewards open EVERYTHING from outside the EU, so i have no choice but to pay 7% on the value over 22 euros, under that is free, so i tend to either not buy outside the EU or ask the seller to drop the price on the customs label. I've also bought from an AU auctionhouse, and they had a very clever was of disguising what was inside. It was like a small book, to thick pieces of cardboard, when i opened it, it was like an advertisement for stamps etc, but taped under that was my 500$ worth of coins, very impressed I'm always amazed at the speed that this forum picks things up, thanks ForumGod Are there no documents (custom's declarations, etc.) that the auction houses are obliged to put on the packets they send out that would get them picked up by the UK customs' bods? I tend to have this happen with the larger auction houses, and recently got charged import duty, and a nice administration charge by the postal company for paying it for me

Welcome back John the numbers of sane people in this place have been balanced again now that you have returned....the nutters were taking over!!! I hope all is well with the family.

Azda, you are correct it is a partially block die, there are also examples of 1843 penny DFF, both described in Bramahs, on the better grade examples the lower part of the E is still traceable and repairs to the E are evident on the later dates. I've also dealt with Ian, we do email now and again, but not sure why these would be called DFF when you can clearly see the trace of the E, so obviously not an F. Its not ike the inverted A for V on the halfpennies where its obvious a letter has been replaced The same is also stated for 1875H farthings where the lower limb of the E is broken, they are also referred to as RFG type, just a simpler form of denoting the type, but you are correct, it is incorrect

Hi, I am at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to "micro varieties", and it can be possible with study to put the dies into some form of sequence when looking at the varying combinations. As Rob says the problem comes when trying to determine what are progressive die features, and what are features that have been copied over multiple dies from the "master die" or "hub" Do these varieties add value to a coin? Well if it a type I have noy test studied or in which I am trying to find a better example then yes I will certainly pay a premium, but in many cases it will be a fairly marginal premium until/unless a variety becomes "collected". It is only when an established set of varieties become known and collected that any real attempt at rarity can be allocated and therefore a value will inevitably follow if the series becomes collected. You only have to look at Gouby and the bronze penny series to see this situation unfolding. It is true it will not appeal to every collector, but it does to me As for the 1839 farthings, they are probably a very good example to use, these can normally be allocated to one of four types, which it would seem show progressive breakdown of a master reverse die to some extent rather than individual die errors. There are no progressive stages between to indicate individual die flaws evolving. http://www.aboutfarthings.co.uk/Farthing%20-%201839.html I know I need to get out more

Hi do you record your finds with UKDFD, it is worthwhile, Rod should be able to give you an ID

Not that familiar with pennies, but legend reads EDWARDVS so should be one of the Edwards, although EDWARDVS looks mispelt EDWARDWS. I would guess at Edward III, mint is York (EBORACI) and there is a quatrefoil on the reverse, as for the saltire stops on the reverse, hopefully someone will come along shortly and give you a more accurate idea!!

The slabbing, putting in plastic, grading whatever raises many individual blood pressure! Why should this bother you? Doesn't really bother me, I think it will save a few coins from mis-handling which really does annoy me, especially by dealers at fairs etc. who should know better! Grading will always be subjective and slabbing will not change that, but I already feel better about slabbing than I used to be. The move to the sale of coins from the dealer to the auction house, why should this concern us? Is this really happening, there may be a few more auction houses about, but there also seem to be a lot more "dealers" about. I have never really thought this to be an issue. In the US and Europe the dealer works in harmony with the auction houses, dealers support the hobby by investing into stocks, is this missing in the UK? Is this a weak link in the UK? I have never really thought this to be an issue either. Outside the UK the internet is embraced and used as an information tool, updating of prices, knowledge transfer, a dealer transparency tool, the internet assisted Heritage have an auction company that grows from strength to strength. Every few months new marketing and creative offers keep being created. I think the trouble is we are always resistant to change over here (especially coin collectors & dealers) we are an old school bunch, so we will always drag behind slightly. However I should think the way coin prices are in the USA the auction houses must do a lot better than the UK auction houses financially, and therefore more cash to invest in development. What do we gain by hiding collections? There have been many emails and advice that if you show your collection either on the internet or in a catalogue you will sell your collection for less money. I think this could work either way depending on the coin and where it is "publicly visable". Surely it adds to the provenance in some respects

I think the issue of the "publicly seen" aspect, is that a coin which has been tucked away in a collection for years attracts attention when it sells because it is a fresh example. Whereas a coin that has been on display on a website is "known" and seen daily so it loses its mystique. I would think that this could work either way, having a coin that has been featured somewhere must also attract some interest.

I agree, people do all sorts to coins, so it will help to rule out post mint alteration

If those identifiers are EXACTLY the same as known fakes, then it stands a very high chance of being one. I would have thought DNW staff would be more expert than that, though if carefully placed as a single item, it could well have slipped through. One chance of its being genuine is if it turned out to be the very coin the Chinese fakes were cast from, but I simply don't know what happens to their source material. Good research and spot. Rob has an example of a coin that was used as the original that fakes were cast from

Hello Geordie long time no see, how are you doing?

The 1874H G/Sideways G shown on my site, if only it was mine, it has stunning lustre not captured in the photo!! http://www.aboutfarthings.co.uk/Farthing%20-%201874H.html A proper drool moment!!

This one should be "ebay cry" not "ebay laugh" http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190587060016 Have you seen the reverse photo!!

If that is an offer for a day's detecting, count me in!!

The trouble is time and knowledge is money, and even whilst as a collector I try and offer information on farthings as part of my passion for the denomination, and will gladly help and support fellow collectors, I am also not naive enough to list my findings on rarities and my interpretation on prices, and I assume it is the same situation for other parties involved. Why offer something for free when it takes real time and effort to update and you can get people to pay for it. It is getting the pricing right of such a prodcut that is the important part. Whilst such apps may be beneficial to a collector they also have to be beneficial to the person producing them

I think it is important not to read too much into the results of a single auction, sometimes there are auctions where the focus is not where you expect and you can grab some bargains, and other times when you wonder whether you missed something because of the ludicrous price a particular lot achieved. You have to have the right people in the room (or at the computer) at that time If you had several auctions return a similar trend towards halfcrown, then it could be classed as a trend, but it is just a single sale and there may have been other reasons why those pieces did not realise what we anticipated • Demand for quality material outstripping supply - Yes and I think this is why variety collecting is becoming more popular • Provenances - Agree with Peck on this one!! • The internet - And this one!! • Continual volatility & risk in the investment, pension, banking market creating a heightened level of fear and instability - I think it is still unclear whether this will have a positive or negative effect on collecting prices, only time will tell....place your bets now!!

I agree fascinating read, I think the mid grade prices will suffer, because the collectors that covet this grade range, will start to inevitably feel the pinch financially, and this will in my opinion affect prices. The higher grade pieces and true rarities will inevitably become investment targets, whilst the world economy is still trying to correct itself. I think that "variety collectors" are much more prolific than a lot of people realise. Since setting up my site, I have been amazed at the number of people who target this field of collecting. I know it may not appeal to all, but it is an area that allows bargain hunting to continue, and allows collectors of a series to expand on current collecting goals. I have to agree with comments that Peter has made before that it is mainly the publication of Gouby's guide that has triggered off the collecting phenomenon around bunhead pennies, and when similar publications are released for other denominations I have no doubt prices will increase around varieties of these denominations as they become sought after by the masses. Look how many of us on the forum are scouring for micro varieties, it keeps collecting fresh in my opinion!! (as long as it does not get to Batty's stage!! )

Variety or not (I couldn't care less to be honest - there are so many in that series!) - it is one hell of a beaut of a coin. Nice find mate. Oh but that is a clear error unlike many of the other varieties in the series....well worth a mention