zookeeperz

by strange coincidence I received an email from which magazine which is further food for thought. Richard - Bank branches are closing at an alarming rate. Our research found that 60 bank branches close down every month, leaving many communities struggling to access financial services. And although online banking and mobile apps are available, recent IT meltdowns at TSB and Visa have shown such systems aren't infallible. Access to cash is even more at risk as free-to-use cashpoints are coming under threat, which means many communities could be stripped of their access to cash entirely. We want to know: do you find it difficult to access cash in your local area? "The noose tightens"!!!

Always the same old coins be nice to find 1 on an UNC. Has there been any recorded or know appearances of an 1873/2 Penny? 99.9 % sure this is one Much clearer through the loupe but pretty obvious . Have any been recorded or anyone got 1 hiding anywhere? I am sure somewhere in the back of my latent memory I am sure this has been discussed somewhere but I might be thinking of another coin?

I hardly would call it booming in relation to the rest of the mainstream industry. My point being we have adapted to the changes even if at first we were either unsure or dead against them. The goal posts will be moved throughout the decades and eventually as sad as it is . It is inevitable there will be a cashless society but only when technology catches up with everything that is cash operated which wouldn't take a lot of changing tbh just how quickly is anyone's guess but I think reasonable to assume within the next 100 years

Well I don't believe in coincidence so that would make us both mad as march hares. I have seen things on coins for as long as I can remember but never enough detail to be able to put a name to it which always led me to the must be multiple die clash theory or subtle double or even triple strikes at rotated positions which can appear to the eye to be something completely different. The worse thing from my point is the closer you get to the coin the less you see of the distortion . I have seen a recurring pattern on pennies for some years and to be honest it kind of freaks me out as I am not looking for anything it just appears and with the same design. I have a theory as to what they might be but it's just a theory to try and make sense why it keeps happening. I saw on a penny one day intricate lines and curves like mesh netting and small squares and looped lines and realised these were sail masts with crows nests and the lines were the ropes , even the bows of the boats became visible. We don't have this on regular coinage so I left it sitting for years and just put it down me seeing some parodie effect. Then I bought a few canadian and australian books and some on trade tokens. Now this totally blew me away as what I thought was ships could well be that. Trade tokens at the time carried a whole host of imagery on them covering a multitude of industries. Now bearing in mind these were produce in all metals and was a direct result of there being a shortage of coinage. So what happened when the shortage was over what happened to the millions of trade tokens? I have a theory and only that. Could the Rm have sequestered the tokens by informing business these were no longer acceptable as a valid payment and to return the coins to the mint for a value for value swap with the new coinage? And is it possible that these coins were rolled or buffed to dampen any imagery on the coins? It would make sense if we follow the good housekeeping premise.? So "IF" and it is a big "IF" that could of been what they did with the no longer needed trade tokens bearing in mind they were precious metal and would save the mint a substantial cost in reproduction the resulting strike on these ex token coinage could still have left residue images from what was on them before? you only need to look through the trade token era to see how many used ships as themes or animals. I know it is a leap but is it that far of a leap for it to be completely an absurd notion?

Of course we will become a cashless society everything being pushed on us is for a more contactless way of doing business. For security reasons alone it makes perfect sense. There will be a multitude of scan and pay for everything you can think of. But probably not anytime soon but within the next 100 years and history tells us that these slow burners at the start rapidly gain momentum first we had vinyl records (still have them and the sound is far better than auto tuned junk of today)then a short 4 track 8 track car sound players that really never caught on . then the more streamlined cassette players that brought forth the mini hifi systems that just exploded on to the market only to be superceded CD and DVD and at the time is well touted they would never catch on. Now you don't even need DVD with digital downloading on most things. Which eventually will be the norm . Logistics are different but if you think about it we go from vinyl to digital downloads in a 30 year time frame yet for 30 years there was only 1 format. We are now at the same stage as the the first vinyl records (with cash) granted a tad more complex but nothing that cannot be done it's just about acceptance and how fast the wheels of commerce are willing to move to get it done. It will be touchy feely at first as we are already seeing with the introduction of plastic notes for a longer circulation duration meaning less need to be made in subsequent years but they day will come when momentum will be more robust and before we know it we will be a cashless society.

Hi chaps probably barking up the wrong tree here lol but if anyone has any knowledge of swedish coins I would be grateful of some assistance . I have a 1966 swedish 5 ore in the recessed area where the VI is there is a initial or some form of test mark? either B1 or BI.BV. anyone know what it is or why it is there? thanks in advance. I have looked closer and it isn't a mark or signature but 2 small raised dots that appeared to look like a letter. I need new eyes

yes I noticed on the coins I had different rim sizes one almost had no rim and just teeth some seem to be square cut with a flat surface and others are what looks like wire rims. Also you'll notice the placement of the center trident prong differs in relationship of how close it is to the rim of the coin. this also occurs on other specimens some are virtually touching it.Also i noticed that the lettering style on these 2 coins the bases on one are straight and the other has a gentle concave curve on the feet

I don't have 2 good examples to check from . but i'll work on it

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1804-5-Shillings-Dollar-NCG-XF-45/131643734497 becoming more evident these across the pond TPG just cannot grade english coins or can't be bothered. since when was that coin a NVF in any book?. I would of thrown it at them

i'll set something up in the morning . Here is the 1912

If there was some particle or debris on the die wouldn't that produce an incuse mark and not a raised mark? unless the master die received a second impression of the top of the lighthouse . Looking at how the USA define a doubled die which after all these years I am now just starting to understand. Cast your mind to the double ear on lincoln cent I think this is the same thing but the top of the lighthouse has two impressions on the striking die. The only other explanation is they reused older coinage and that is the remnants of another lighthouse but a different type as the tip section is box shaped rather than a ball or a point? there's definitely underlying scaring to suggest something was previously on the coin

a few edge knockers

number 2 is definitely a 3 a 5 wouldn't curve up at that top left edge plus the back of the 3 is top right and scaring from the downstroke. The differences between some are i would imagine where the repunch was set as in high / low tilted clockwise or anticlockwise?

Update 2 : Just had a knock on the door from the post office specifically the bloke who was supposed to have delivered my 1902 half-crown. He scanned the item but put it in 364 instead of 346. It is all time stamped shows where he was, the time and the date. After I registered the complaint I never received the mail he went back to the address as he said to me when they told him he knew what package it was . He knocked on the door and asked for the mail back to which the Polish resident denied ever receiving it. When the proof says otherwise. Sooner Brexit comes the better. If you see any 1902 half-crowns that look a little dusty but full detail give me the nod. I might still be able to get the bloody thing seeing as I can get pictures of the original. What happened to honesty I almost went knocking myself but was talked out of it after a lengthy forget it water under the bridge discussion. Looks like 364 is off my xmas card list

Here are the relevant obverses. almost forgot. the E in DEI on the 1911 obverse has a longer bottom base the rest of the E's are equal.

Thumbing through the books and looking through some coins I noticed some characteristics on different dates that share the same reverse specifically the 1911 penny and 1912/12H much like the obverse 6 penny that has different anomalies this reverse also has some features that just look to me different design . I marked on the pics the differences. I am still working on the obverse but it appears they also have different design aspects. Anyway here's the pics and be interested in your thoughts as always Oh yes there are some others like the Helmet on the 1912H doesn't have that back section at the bottom but that could just be a strike weakness? and the cross lines on the shield are much thicker

Underhanded ebay again protecting what was sold and the price it sold at. Illegal and extremely bad practice to delete the paper trail. Now there is no accountability if something goes wrong. I even tried to find my coin that never arrived and the listing disappeared from my purchased items list. I had to go to paypal to get the tracking number and the sellers name. They have got a bloody nerve and my xmas wish is the receivers are sent in to that shithole.

I saw one of these coins for sale but I left it alone . Wasn't sure if it was just a lazy seller who had a one colour match setting for all his coins in Bronze\copper plated steel steel etc and forgot to take it off for the cupro coins he had although it was the only one that colour. To me it looked like it had missed the cladding part very golden brown colouring very strange. Wasn't be sold as anything other than a 20 pence si I just put it down to a crappy picture mock up. . Found it had a copy of the picture was from 1985 coin . not sure if this is a guilt version as there is a rub on the cheek that suggests there is a silver colour underlying?

what's with all the hiding of past sales ffs. Out of order by ebay it's a sham of a site. I wish someone would close it. It still amazes me how they get on TV advertising there is supposed to be a very strict code of practice policy check before you get to advertise to the masses. Ebay break more compliance and trading standards rules than any online entity I know of. I think the older the human race becomes the closer to the caveman we are becoming. Devolving at a rapid rate of knotts. Very sad

A few landed from croatia this morning and 1 i spotted on the bay of all places lol. another 1926OE sixpence. Accidental purchase forgot I had the other 1 or it was more than likely to cheap to pass on. 1719 Farthing cleaned at some point in its lifetime unlisted legend error still trying to work out what is exactly but if looks like a A struck over a rotated F@ 90 degrees clockwise or it could be an N. Pretty sure the T is struck over Rotated T 180 degrees so possibly can classed as rare? and my 1 ebay find which although not impossible to find as a variety in high grades they are not a common coin 1915 recessed ear Penny and my eyes nearly burst trying to decide from the crappy stock pick if it was one or not. I am siding more towards an A/N as the F still leaves metal I can't place anywhere. whereas the N not that its bang inline but what is left would be what the A should look like.? Your comments and thoughts welcome as always gents

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PADDINGTON-BEAR-IN-PADDINGTON-STATION-2018-50P-RARE-ACCIDENTAL-RELEASE/362348165278 Anyone heard that story? my radar goes off when there is no shred of evidence and bidding more than likely done by his mates @ £999 and rising. Sure smell fishy to me

I don't touch coins . It's au naturale

Arrived today nice 1862 6+G Penny and 1926 OE Sixpence

Update: Don't even want to get in to how inept these services are. Retracing steps I already did to get back to exactly where I was to start with and having to wait in phone queues for 10 mins after i had a 5 min Q&A barrage from Mrs botfire press 1 for this ,press 2 for that. After all that they told me that it had been delivered to Harold wood sorting office 10.35 am 4th june. So if you just glance above in the previous post I already bloody well knew that. Nice lady on the customer service registered the complaint failure of delivery and walked me through the steps I didn't have to take as I was the recipient. So after feeling I accomplished absolutely zero other than to have on record I never received the coin I went back to the seller told him what the CS lady had said that he being the sender would need to open a claim with USPS as they were the designated courier. In the meantime I also registered non receipt with the what I can only describe as Neanderthal fleabay resolution team who informed me they would get involved in 3 days should I wish. They told me the whole procedure which was what I have already done without their useless 3 day too late never updated to current progress system that will take up to 14 days to resolve and even then should it get to the point of he said , I said god knows who would of been deemed at a loss. Then just as my faith in mankind had almost dropped to an all time low Out cousin seller from across the pond had refunded my money in full no questions asked so a reasonable outcome at least. I say reasonable because I would of much rather of had the coin. Don't get many of those 1902 Half crowns above EF for £56 very often. Just glad it's been put to bed