mrbadexample

Well I know which one I prefer Paul.

That's very kind of you and I appreciate the offer but it's miles away and darts night.

Err...um...what's the TNS and can I come too?

Sadly, won't be able to make this month's Midland as visiting friends, damn them.

Thanks Colin. I thought this was just a normal date, looked it up in CCGB for an approximate value and saw that the variety was listed. It appeared to fit the bill. After I'd bought it, I started looking at others and couldn't see very many that did appear to have the bar. I could do with getting the muck out of the As.

Good time to go shopping for a 35k coin?

I'll take a punt and then Colin can come along and tell me I'm wrong. I would say 1914-1917. I base this on the spacing of the TT in BRITT. This appears to be the wider spacing, pictures on Colin's site here: http://www.aboutfarthings.co.uk/Farthing%20-%201915.html I don't believe this obverse appears prior to 1914. Assuming 1918 to be too late for trench art, given the time it usually takes for the latest coins to appear in circulation (and also the time taken to do the work), I rule this date out, but it's not impossible by any means. I covet it. It would make a nice present for a friend of mine who likes a bit of God.

I'm a confirmed agnostic, but I still think that's a stunning piece of work.

Thanks. Definitely one of my better purchases.

Could you hammer it across to me too please? Ta.

That's better. Now you just need another little nudge and you're about there.

I think I'm too mean to have anything slabbed Pete. Would have to be pretty special.

I think you're mean Paul. If you use the Rotographic book as a guide, the illustration for fine reverse shows the P & I completely gone, plus half the E, N, S & Y. This is better than that, surely?

I don't like like slabbed coins. I can't make up my mind. I'd never owned a slabbed coin before Colin sent me a farthing. (Sorry Pete, he beat you by a few hours!) I hate the loss of tactility - I like to hold the coin. I like the reassurance it brings that if I need / want to sell it someone will buy it because it's slabbed. The grading given isn't mine. I don't feel the need to (a) overgrade my coins because I want them to be worth more than I paid, or (b) undergrade because I fear my grading isn't critical enough and I don't want to oversell what I've got. And that is a genuine dilemma for me - I'm not hugely experienced, but I like accuracy. I've collected coins for 30+ years and always thought I graded reasonably accurately and reasonable consistently. Since I joined this forum I've had to rethink - almost everything I've got is a grade lower than I thought. I've always been a "close enough" sort of person. I tended not to pay £100 for perfection when £60 would get me pretty close. That's the Yorkshireman in me I guess. Take this 1903 half crown. I bought it a good few years ago in the highest grade I could afford at the time. I can't remember but it probably cost me no more than £40-60. I desperately want it to be VF, but realistically I don't think it's quite there. Maybe GF? If I had it slabbed, I'd have an answer and a definitive value that someone would probably pay. Please give me your view as to the grade, I'd like to know if I'm anywhere near the mark. Wayne, a chance for you to practice. The jury's out, for me.

Particularly stunning reverse.

Which would be here Wayne: http://www.rpcoins.co.uk/collections/milled-silver/products/00002585

So the next question must be: "Is the diameter uniform?"

So just a fraction under then. Could wear account for that much if the coin was normal sized?

Told you already, not my thing. I'd only buy it for far less than it's worth. WOC forum the best place I think for the arabics, although there is a foreign board here somewhere.

Double strike notwithstanding, is there any precedent for larger pennies like this?

The sold listings I was looking at were in broadly similar condition to yours. Don't sell it short. Unless, of course, it's to me.

I don't think it's squashed either. You couldn't do it without affecting the detail in some way. Can't wait for the explanation, if you ever get one. Did you think it was normal sized when you bought it?

Krause 38th edition (2010) gives values as: F $20.00, VF $60.00, XF $210.00. Grading's a bit tricky because the coin is unfamiliar to me but looking at the wear where the fez meets the head I'd guess around VF? Having looked at the sold listings on ebay I think you've got to be looking at £50-100. Nice one.

No, not my thing - just wanted to know what I had. But I'm quite pleased with the knowledge I've acquired in doing so. Yours is an Egyptian 20 piastres, 1923 (1341 AH). I couldn't have told you that a month ago.

That's a good start. Most of mine isn't.