Geoff T

One year, one day after my birthday (6th August 1990) Welcome Mitch, hope you enjoy coin collecting and the forum ...so you have the same birthday as my son, Mitch. Welcome from yet another Northerner. I'm in Stockport, just south of Manchester, but come from Merseyside originally. Geoff

I discussed this last year with a well-known farthing expert from south Manchester He informed me that the unbarred A's are simply examples of later strikings from worn dies.

Dave, It's this one http://www.antique-silver.com/des/3218.htm - although mine is in a much better condition, a good EF with all the high points (like Cromwell's nose) still there. I got mine from Colin Cooke who had bought it the day before, so I became its third owner in as many days. If I get the chance this evening I'll organise a picture of my own for you. Geoff

The Leeds/Wakefield coin fair is held on the last Sunday of every month at the Cedar Court Hotel, Denby Dale, Wakefield. Just off J39 of the MI, 8.45-14.00 Next one is this Sunday.

I'm relying on memory here, but the half crowns must now be into triple figures, or which about 90 are a collection, the rest leftovers from upgrades. About 50-60 odds and sods, mostly silver - crowns, double florins and florins. 8 pieces of gold - and counting. About 10 copper items, but I'm a silver man at heart. Then there's the rupees, a little sideline but not extensive. Commemorative medals - I must have 50 or so by now, dating from Cromwell to Elizabeth II. Finally, the fruits of my tendency to pick out of my change any largely uncirculated coins which get hoarded. Collections are housed in Nova trays or one of two cabinets; one a handsome mahogany one with brass fittings, the other bought from a numismatic acquaintance who made it himelf (quite expertly too). Spares and most decimals are kept in paper envelopes in a late Victorian wooden box which once belonged to my grandfather.

Colin Cooke has shown me examples of coins wrongly listed by Peck because the latter had used as evidence examples too worn to reveal subtle diffrerences.

I have some BU early 80s 1/2p which could go to a good home. I've only ever seen the '84 in proof. G

They seem to be appearing more frequently now. If you're stuck I have a spare.

Lucky you - mine was £18 on eBay! Now you can have fun disagreeing with some of his more contentious classifications as to Common, Normal, Scarce or Rare

Revisting this discussion after an interval of a few weeks, I'm surprised to see such backward looking attitudes among those so young. Condemning modern buildings is fashionable and no doubt always has been. True, there are a lot of nondescript ones about, but then again, there always have been. I suspect too that a lot of people think of older buildings as merely "old", regardless of period. I'm reminded of the person who fulminated in my presence against two innocent 60s maisonettes set back from the road in Elm Hill, one of the pretty, touristy "old" streets in Norwich. They spoiled the unity of the street, she claimed, oblivious to the fact that on the opposite side buildings from the 15th to the 19th century jostled side by side. Unity? In the same city, I'm sure that the citizens of the 15th century were aghast at the "modern" vault clapped on their "old" 12th century cathedral, or by the "modern" 15th century windows pierced in its "old" walls and filled with "modern" stained glass. To the unthinking of today, who couldn't tell a transom from a transept, it's all just "old" and therefore "lovely" and by implication sacrosanct. Presumably they'd feel the same about the "modern" dome Wren was proposing to replace the tower of old St. Pauls with (approved by Charles II only days before the fire), or the early 17th century facades Inigo Jones had already added to the medieval fabric. As for the Victorians - what's so fascinating about them is that they believed implicitly in technological progress yet maintained a romantic attachment to their past. The result was often a blunt and contraductory fusion of the two. This is an age which built hundreds of railway stations in celebration of its technological modernity, but thought nothing of the anachronism of disguising them as tudor cottages, gothic cathedrals or classical temples. Today we build pseudo-Georgian office blocks but make sure they have modern lighting, heating and sanitation. Plus ca change. The past left us many, many great buildings. Our challenge is to leave our successors equally great ones which speak of our own time. We can ape a past which few really understand from a cultural standpoint, but our mindset is that of our own age. There, that's my riposte wearing my architectural historian's hat. End of rant - now back to work G

Yes, I'm sure this guy's to be treated with the utmost suspicion. I've been to Estonia a couple of times. I've always found the people very friendly and honest, and also very determined to shed that "Eastern Europe ex-Soviet bloc" image, but I daresay there are plenty of exceptions. G

Hi Geoff - I'll be there (table no 5 I think - in any case, top of the stairs and turn right!) PS Happy New Year everyone!

The 1927 3d is only available as a proof. Current price from Spink is £40 FDC. Geoff

What happened? I went out on Christmas Eve to buy some milk and came back with a 1905 half sovereign! Hope you all had a good Christmas and will have a great New Year. Anyone going to the York Coin Fair? 14-15 January. Geoff

Since I have the 1937 proof farthing I could scan it and send you a pic, but it might not do it justice. I imagine that Chris knows what he's selling. Geoff

Sorry not to get back until now, but this does sound like the bronze 1897 diamond jubilee medal. How big is it? The large bronze is about 55mm in diameter, the small one presumably the same size as the silver, which is about 20mm. The reverse has the young head and the motto "Longitudo dierum in dextra eius et in sinistra gloria" (Longevity in her right hand and glory in her left". I've no figures to hand but I've no reason to believe that the small bronze is any rarer than the silver. I have the small silver and large bronze, the latter in the original case. Geoff

Any genuine coin or medal of George I wouldn't have the ordinal mumber on it anyway as at that point he was George the Only. This might well be a George III medal if the obverse is facing right. Any chance of a picture? Geoff

"Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" - the old German chorale as used by Bach and others. G

To be honest, any sense of disappointment is at the design not being bold enough in speaking of the early 21st century. Much as I like the Pistrucci and proposed Wyon designs, I don't see why we have to value them purely for being older/more traditional. The way this one tries to be up to date without completely letting go of the hand of tradition reminds me of those "modern" hymns in the 60s which did the same and ended up beling bland and falling between two stools, or all those pseudo-oldy-worldy modern buildings which Prince Charles raves about. So it's the blandness, the not having the courage of its convictions to be truly contemporary which somewhat annoys me. Perhaps we should have grasped the nettle and replaced St. George with something completely different. There now, that's set a few cats among the pigeons!

Third query. Me again! This is the official medal struck by the Royal Mint to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. One side has the young head after Wyon and the other the old head. It was struck in two sizes in silver and bronze (and presumbaly gold although I've never seen that one). Again, fairly common, but worth a little more if you have the original case of issue. Geoff

2nd query. This is a medal struck to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897. It's one of a number which show the Queen annd her heirs in the next three generations. The small boy of 3 is not George VI but Edward VIII. They're fairly common; the most attractice one of this type I've come across was issued by Spink. Geoff

Your 1st query. What you have here is a toy coin from one of the sets made by Lauer in Germany in the 19th century. They were produced as educational toys and are not uncommon. Geoff

That's smaller than the 2/6d

Chance would have been a fine thing, but the 1698 farthing wouldn't have been legal tender in 1954 - whereas the 1945 silver 3d would have been and still is, if you can find one, let alone be prepared to spend it. The pre-decimal addition question took me back, but the answer, as Sylvester rightly says, is that you would have got 6/5 three-farthing change and the biggest coin you'd be likely to get would be a half-crown. It's a 1952 and you set off to the Dog and Partridge...

Hi, Just a rider to Sylvester's list. Even though there will be some years from 1971 onwards for which no circulating coins were issued, there will be proofs in the proof year-sets issued by the mint. So there are, for example, proofs for 1972 and it's not inconceivable that a set could get broken up and the coins enter circulation. They are, after all, legal tender. The 1972 Queen's silver wedding crown was issued as a non-proof commemorative as well as part of the proof set, so those could in theory be found in your change. As for the 2004 20p, I found one the other day, ditto a 2004 Bannister 50p, so they're obviously now in circulation. I've not seen any 2004 Forth Bridge £1s though yet. Geoff