Colin G.

I have seen similar letter styling on Lauer half farthings, and some 1860 farthings (if my memory is correct) and two types of font were listed for Lauer half farthings as plain and decorative. Some examples have similar lettering with fishtailing to the base of the letters, I have had discussions with people about this and it would appear that it is not a font change but caused by metal flow when the coin is struck, the reason why it affects somw coins and not others I am not quite sure about. The same could apply to this misstrike as the metal flows out because of the lack of a collar around the entire coin. We need a metal/die specialist

Thanks Colin. I had a flag come up on the bottom of the screen this a.m. saying Microsoft updates had been installed. Could this be the reason? If I look at the folder above AppData, there is no sign of the AppData sub-folder. The implication that I could be part of a network could mean that I've been hacked (by Microsoft?)? What version of Windows are you using? I would guess that it is the update that has caused the problem, Microsoft are renown for causing issues with updates, I remember the dreaded IE8 problems Might be worth uninstalling the latest update to see if it corrects itself

Rob, Direct links are usually for a single user PC, roaming would seem to indicate that you are part of a network of computers, or that you have multiple users on that PC and therefore the files are made roaming so that you can access them from different computers/accounts. It seems that this is something taht windows does automatically depending on how it thinks the file will be used/and the size of the files, it may be that a change in the folder size has triggered a change, but it doesn't explain why the data has not moved as well

This is quite a common feature throughout this series, and I am not personally convinced that they are actually an inverted letter V. On a vast majority there is evidence of of a horizontal bar at the edges which would indicate that the horizontal bar on the die was filled with crud. On other examples there is an underlying A which looks like it has been repunched with an inverted V to strengthen/recut the underlying worn letter A. This can only be seen on high grade examples so it is difficult to determine which type you have on lower grade coins. Bet you wished you had never asked now

Rob, have a look on my 1911 farthing page, there is an image showing how to identify the hollow neck

It looks like it may not be a partial brockage, but may be the reult of a bit of post mint trickery. I have seen similar coins made to look like a brockage by squeezing one coin against another in a vice. The result is that the coin gets damaged/thinner at that point, the edge gets damaged and the design on the other side of the coin gets weakened by being squashed (which in a true brockage should not happen). I am by no means an expert on errors, but that would have been my first impression on that one.

It is worth registering on the site and looking at the population report, you can see photos of some of the coins

That's unlike you Dave I know where you are coming from, but the couple of farthings I have slabbed are 85's and they are very nice coins, with great eye appeal, so a 90 must be the dogs danglies!!! I dread to think what a 99 must be like......holy grail material

I think half the problem is that we are such a difficult bunch to please, we ourselves are constantly discussing technical aspects of grades and disagreeing so how on earth does anyone come up with a scale that will please all of us I have never been an advocate of slabbing, but I must admit I am now slowly warming to the idea, but I still have reservations. I don't see the issue with not achieving a grade of 100, in much the same way as I am the kind of person who does not get ate up about the fact that a coin can never literally be uncirculated. They offer a service that will benefit some collectors (including themselves) but you can either use it or not, it is that simple From my experience to date, they give me a lot more confidence in their abilities than any of the US grading companies

Can anyone provide me with a scan of page 6 of this report, or does anyone know where a copy of the report is for sale?

Whoa........ I guarantee you someone will still profit from them if you do that, you can guarantee they would re-circulate back into the coin market Do they not make enough by us lot hoarding their coins for them These 20p's will always be a highly priced collectable due to the fact that none collectors are even aware of them. I am like you Peter and will hold onto one if I ever come across one in my change or see one at a "reasonable price". I always thought they would drop down to about £20 once the stampede had subsided, but the media keep hyping them up so they keep on holding their price. It is just one of those coins that I don't think collectors are desperate to own.......yet

Mr F welcome to the forum and an interesting first post!! The biggest problem with your approach is that inevitably a number of coins would end up getting sold for profit, whilst your best efforts may be to prevent that, it is inevitable. If you went to a coin fair and gave them to 150 collectors, I would guess that only a percentage would genuinely hold on to the coin or keep it in their collection. I know that may seem like a negative viewpoint, but I am just being honest

Bob, she is a stunner Now I know I am definitely sad

Although the mintage recorded for 1844 1/4d's was 430,000 I would suggest many of these were not actually dated 1844.It is the same with 1869 1d's. Both these coins are rare and availability does not reflect the mintages. Yes for mintages on this series you might as well take the number and add or subtract up to 50% just look at 1850!! That reminds me I must add a commentary note on my pages on the website. I thought I had done it but alas no

That is a very good point and well spotted, it certainly does look like some abrasion has taken place in these areas.

Have a look on ebay for "model" or "lauer" or "moore" in the coins section, you should find some examples. Here are some I had previously for sale http://www.aboutfarthings.co.uk/shop/images/products/1070.jpg http://www.aboutfarthings.co.uk/shop/images/products/1071.jpg

Happy new year to you all

Welcome to the forum, that is some quantity of coins you have, do you collect certain Countries/dates, or is it a world type set?

I have a few dates where I have kept two coins because I could not make my mind up But if you forced me to choose I would go for yours

Dave, no luck yet, is there a manufacturers name on the microscope anywhere, so I can try and find an alternative supplier

Yes Merry Christmas to you all

I must admit I assumed the QX5 would have the same problem as the QX3. Interesting to know that it definitely works on vista...hmmmmmm Cheers guys

I am trying to canvas opinions on digital microscopes after my current moddel decidied to stop working I used to use an intel QX3 kids microscope which had x10 x60 and x200, which was ideal, it was simple to use, and the results weren't bad. The blighters at Intel have stopped issuing support for the product and the drivers no longer work on Windows 7/vista machines, I have searched far and wide and even tried a couple of proposed solutions but to no joy I invested in one of the cheaper digital microscopes off ebay just as a tester, but as I thought it really is pants, the capture button is on the side of the lens, so every time you press it, the image moves/goes out of focus slightly even when clamped. the quality is crap I know Azda has mentioned one he picked up, but I just wondered what other peoples experience is. I have a biological microscope but can not get my digital camera to work with it. I have looked at the Celestron solutions (which look pretty good has anybody tried them?), but would value others opinions