jelida

I have emailed the auctioneer. It will be interesting to see the outcome. Jerry

Essentially conservation is remedial work to stabilise, and prevent future deterioration. Cleaning is to make it look prettier, at least in the eyes of the ‘cleaner’. Jerry

Possibly, have a look in Michael Gouby’s book where he shows an ‘E’ probably repaired with an ‘L’, but on an F10 penny if I remember correctly. No reason why it couldn’t have been used on other dates, I suspect most dies were ‘refreshed’ for continued use in the early high production years. Jerry

The figure you have drawn in yellow is not an ‘F’ but it’s mirror image. It is unlikely they would ever have needed such a punch as when they were repairing an incuse letter on the die they could just have used an ‘E’ punch or an ‘L’ as Gouby describes where appropriate. Jerry

Yes, it’s a repaired E, but not with an upside-down ‘F’ as it would have to be a mirror image punch. Jerry oops Rob just posted the same point, but much more succinctly.

This almost had me in tears........sob! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1933-One-Penny-EF-ULTRA-RARE-224-918-minted-Union-of-South-Africa-George-V/162965618854?hash=item25f18200a6:g:mdQAAOSwjI5auPKY Cue wanton violence towards massed violins.... Jerry

Yup, looks right.

No, but they might have told me 🤫! It just goes to show that no matter how observant one tries to be, there is so much material that no-one spots everything. I will try and post my recent EBay finds in the next couple of weeks, including a new erroneous 1861 letter die repair I think. Jerry

Wow, nice selection, how did they creep by! Jerry

Very nice, and a bargain! Did you know it was there, or a pleasant surprise? Jerry

I think they are all fake, but have little sympathy for the purchasers who shouldn’t be buying if they don’t know the subject well enough to be aware that most on EBay are replicas. They obviously have so much money that they can throw it away for lack of basic research. I would never buy a siege coin, Gothic Crown, Wreath Crown and several others unless from a known reputable dealer like Rob P. Jerry

That’s pretty much what I reckon, though I’m not a slabber! My coins go in rimless capsules in a mahogany coin cabinet.

To my mind, and it is difficult to be sure from photos, it is a nicer looking coin than the one that just sold on LCA for about 2k with juice. I will post pics in due course. My winning bid was a fraction of my actual bid. As anticipated the vendor had several bin offers, I had warned him he would get them, can’t abide that, I would rather have a chance to win fair and square. The 1879 small date that briefly appeared yesterday may have been pulled for this reason, sadly. There have been some interesting pennies on the bay over the last couple of months, I have a backlog to photo thanks to the domestic situation (move and renovation) but will get snapping soon. From a wet Japan, Jerry

Another optimistic liar. Please report........ https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hammered-Silver-Coin-Elizabeth-1st-Sixpence-1562-AD/263558375340?hash=item3d5d4da7ac:g:0X8AAOSwHcpaq6Ru Jerry

😎

I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Which are you, ‘Guest useless’ or ‘stupid’? And what are you answering? Jerry

If he does know that all his ‘inheritance’ is fake, he must realise that he will get caught out eventually, yet he has used his business name as his EBay moniker; given that he comes from Rotherham, this is probably his Facebook page with address, if anybody is interested. https://www.facebook.com/skyhightreeandgroundsmaintenaceservices/ At the current bid prices, he will have taken over £5000 by the end of these auctions. He is either ignorant, or extremely stupid, or both. Jerry

I bet Ebay are feeding these stories to the Mail for their own benefit! Jerry

Certainly a load of bo**ox. But at least the comments below the article are realistic. Jerry

My take on this is that removal of material, eg mud, grease, wax or varnish which is not integral with the structure of the coin should be considered as different from anything that affects the coin itself, ie patina, surface metal, integrated corrosion products. The former can usually be removed by judicious use of water, solvents, soft brush or cocktail stick and the actual coin will be unchanged, and more stable in the future. This could be seen as conservation, others might say surface cleaning. I consider this acceptable, sometime essential to the prevention of future corrosion. The latter will materially alter the appearance of the coin itself by chemical action or physical abrasion, and involves removal of some integral part of the coin. This could be seen as cleaning, and is generally undesirable. That is not to say that judicious removal of active corrosion eg bronze disease is not essential, otherwise the coin will simply not be around for future generations to enjoy. The removal of local corrosion in a controlled fashion while not treating the coin as a whole could be considered conservation. I find it unhelpful to take a dogmatic negative view with regard to conservation (as opposed to cleaning), as by definition conservation should enhance the longevity and survivability and ideally preserve as much as possible the original state of the coin. ‘Cleaning’ in most collectors minds is conditioned by images of wire wool and brasso, silver dip or a buff with a soft cloth, and understandably carries negative vibes. Conservation is not the same. Neither will be required for most collector coins, though most will already have had the soap and water treatment in the past and we are none the wiser. Jerry

The reverse is (more or less) that of a late C18 guinea or half, and could not be 1701 , which is why I queried 1791 as the 9 and 0 are not dissimilar overall outline. But a better quality gaming token remains most likely, I think you would get what is shown. Jerry

I would say that if the date is 1701 it is a gaming token, if 1791 it could be a guinea or half, without checking comparative sizes. But not my field either way. Jerry

As Zookeeperz will know, I frequently disagree with the varieties proposed, but this one looks good even to me. Nice spot, look forward to your own photos. Jerry

They must surely be OK, they are coming from China via Moussaeiff Jewellers in the Hilton, on Park Lane! And the gold £5 are only a tenner apiece too! Count me in! Not. Jerry

It looks OK to me from the photos, if a genuine half sovereign is worth about £100 depending on current bullion prices at time of sale. Jerry