Test Jump to content
The British Coin Forum - Predecimal.com

Recommended Posts

Posted

70-100K for an 1834 crown anyone?  If that goes at even low estimate, the world's surely gone mad...   (nothing for me in this one, I'm looking at a couple in Spink the week before)

Posted

The stand out piece for me is the Freeman 4, with absolutely original provenance from L.C.Wyon, no less, who presented it to Mrs Letts, the wife of a friend of his, the Reverend Letts, with a handwritten note, available with the coin, it the original case. 

link   

Posted
2 hours ago, Nick said:

If I had the readies, I'd be going for the high grade 1854 sixpence.

I don't trust LCA enough to spend that kind of money on a coin from them. I would have to see the coin 'in hand' and that is simply not practicable.

Equally, I am avoiding anything that is described as having 'contact marks' or 'friction', light or otherwise. LCA's contact marks could quite easily be someone else's scratches.

Posted
3 minutes ago, PWA 1967 said:

In fairness to LCA they will take coins to shows in the Uk ,so you can see them before bidding.

Unfortunately, I'm not in the UK.

Posted

I do think that the quality of LCA's written descriptions have done downhill in the last couple of years or so. E.g. the "small rim nick by ANNO" of this coin looks like a rather big  rim bruise to me. 

 

 

img.jpeg

Posted
37 minutes ago, Sword said:

I do think that the quality of LCA's written descriptions have done downhill in the last couple of years or so. E.g. the "small rim nick by ANNO" of this coin looks like a rather big  rim bruise to me. 

 

 

img.jpeg

Agreed, I couldn't live with that!

Posted

I'm with Jaggy on that '54 6d. The obverse may or may not have been cleaned; I'll not compete on that in any case as I have the Cheshire '54...

Posted
16 hours ago, 1949threepence said:

The stand out piece for me is the Freeman 4, with absolutely original provenance from L.C.Wyon, no less, who presented it to Mrs Letts, the wife of a friend of his, the Reverend Letts, with a handwritten note, available with the coin, it the original case. 

link   

That's certainly one to drool over

Posted
6 hours ago, VickySilver said:

I'm with Jaggy on that '54 6d. The obverse may or may not have been cleaned; I'll not compete on that in any case as I have the Cheshire '54...

Need some sunglasses for that one, seems far to bright, either cleaned or over exposed to cover it's problems

Posted
1 hour ago, azda said:

Need some sunglasses for that one, seems far to bright, either cleaned or over exposed to cover it's problems

I had a good look at it. The description is gushing but doesn't actually tell you anything about the piece. There are clearly some contact marks on the obverse between F:D: and the bust. Given LCA's photography they could be scratches which indicated cleaning. On the reverse there is a die flaw not mentioned in the description and what looks like a scratch to the left of the six.

LCA does have some very good coins but my experience has been mixed and much more so than at DNW. What I have discovered is that their photography does a pretty good job of hiding scratches and especially hairline ones. So 'caveat emptor' is very much the motto for me. There are a couple of coins I intend to go for in the auction so it is not all bad. But the 1854 is not one of them.

Posted
1 minute ago, jaggy said:

I had a good look at it. The description is gushing but doesn't actually tell you anything about the piece. There are clearly some contact marks on the obverse between F:D: and the bust. Given LCA's photography they could be scratches which indicated cleaning. On the reverse there is a die flaw not mentioned in the description and what looks like a scratch to the left of the six.

LCA does have some very good coins but my experience has been mixed and much more so than at DNW. What I have discovered is that their photography does a pretty good job of hiding scratches and especially hairline ones. So 'caveat emptor' is very much the motto for me. There are a couple of coins I intend to go for in the auction so it is not all bad. But the 1854 is not one of them.

The only thing that grinds me about LCA is that their photography isn't consistent with all the coins, some are really dark, some over exposed etc, a company like LCA should be employing a photographer that has the correct setup. Look at how often people here try try and try again to get it right, LCA never seem to improve on this which is really one of the important jobs when distance selling or buying coins 

Posted

I agree with the above in that quality, as represented in the photographs is spotty in that it is sometimes there and sometimes not. There are a couple of pieces that appear attractive to me, but really need to be seen "in hand". PM me if anybody going to sale please.

Posted

I was just looking at LCA and note that the Lot 791 is listed as Proof 1932 Wreath. I just don't see a "proof" in this coin's photos, and not that IMO it appears as many Wreaths, esp. of the lower mintage 1932, '34 and '36 issues that many are Proof-like but just don't measure up. IMO, some of those slabbed by TPGs also do not qualify. Not to diverge, but this is also true for non-1902 "matte" issues that simply are not.

Posted
2 hours ago, secret santa said:

Can anyone see the 8 over a 6 in lot 1197 ? I can't.

I had a close look at this with a 40x loupe at the Midland yesterday, and was not convinced.  There were some surface marks that  in appearance hinted at an 8 over 6 overstrike,  but I doubt that they were ever on the die. The coin is really far too worn to be sure, and I suspect wishful thinking.  I wont be bidding.

Jerry

  • Like 1
Posted

Has there ever been a case of a fake coin being auctioned by LCA or by any or the other big houses in the UK? Accidentally of course.

Posted
37 minutes ago, Leo said:

Has there ever been a case of a fake coin being auctioned by LCA or by any or the other big houses in the UK? Accidentally of course.

There was a VERY dubious 1918 Sovereign that most here condemed but Mr Lockett said was kosher

Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Leo said:

Has there ever been a case of a fake coin being auctioned by LCA or by any or the other big houses in the UK? Accidentally of course.

Yep.  Have a look at the two 1818 halfcrowns in London Coins Auction 144 (02/03/2014), consecutive lots 1652 and 1653.  Both fake and obviously so.

Edited by Nick
Posted
27 minutes ago, Paulus said:

I was going to mention these two as I bought one of them from Bucks. The die axis is 180 degrees out.

The easiest to spot is the broken garter line above P in PENSE.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...
Test