Sylvester Posted March 19, 2004 Posted March 19, 2004 What coins do you focus on?Chris will be pleased to know that my retinue of denominations has become ever more focused, and at last i'm finally beginning to specialise...FINALLY!I'm down to three areas... 3 = the least important, 1 = the most important to me.3) King Stephen pennies (yes i've decided that i'm gonna give this a bash, just for fun, i have one so far).2) James II Half Guineas 1686-1688 (a total of 3 coins to get, i have one).1) Charles II - William and Mary Sixpences 1674-1694 (a total of 24 coins to get, i have five and a half... the half is one i'm half way through buying).Those are the main collections, but i'll take in most other nice conditioned EM sixpences i can get.So what do you collect? Quote
mint_mark Posted March 20, 2004 Posted March 20, 2004 Cor, that is specialist... I don't think I could do that. You make it sound like a game a top trumps I mean, you actually have a chance of your collection becoming complete!I collect coins intended for circulation, so everything except commemoratives, proofs, precious metal strikes, maundy etc... from all around the world but I pay more attention to some geographical areas than others. More interested in types than dates, I like the coins to tell a story.Of course, I eventually do complete small series of coins... if I had to pick one British series to collect it would be the dark farthings 1897-1918. They look gorgeous and span three reigns. Only a couple of gaps to fill and a few that could be upgraded! Quote
Sylvester Posted March 20, 2004 Author Posted March 20, 2004 Hey i had to specialise eventually because my collection had no focus to it, but what i can say is the James II sixpences are going to be the problem all 7 of them.There's something nice about farthings, i did once seriously consider them myself, i just like the size of the things. But copper could never fascinate me quite the same, it's the lack of lustre they develop i think.Ah you're a type collector then! World coins are interesting some countries moreso than others. but you just can't help feeling that you've just opened up a whole tidal wave... it's a vast area out there. But intereting nonetheless, i had some late 19th early 20th century Spanish 50 cent coins loitering about somewhere, very smart coins, very sixpencey. Quote
william Posted March 20, 2004 Posted March 20, 2004 I collect Victorian coins. I also have one of those dark farthings which Mark likes. Beautiful coin (1901, UNC ) Quote
Sylvester Posted March 20, 2004 Author Posted March 20, 2004 I collect Victorian coins. I also have one of those dark farthings which Mark likes. Beautiful coin (1901, UNC ) Of course Victorian coins allow us to make mention of the beauty that is the Gothic Florin. Quote
Sylvester Posted March 20, 2004 Author Posted March 20, 2004 Yes, one of my all time favourite coins! mine too! Quote
Emperor Oli Posted March 20, 2004 Posted March 20, 2004 I'm on 20th century farthings at the minute - attempting to buy them in BU is quite a hard task! Quote
Sylvester Posted March 20, 2004 Author Posted March 20, 2004 I'm on 20th century farthings at the minute - attempting to buy them in BU is quite a hard task! It's hard isn't it! i tried doing that with Brass threepences many years ago... you wouldn't believe how difficult that is and there is far less to get. (as they started in 1937)With regards to the Farthings lemme guess Edward VII ones are the hardest to get? Quote
Emperor Oli Posted March 20, 2004 Posted March 20, 2004 With regards to the Farthings lemme guess Edward VII ones are the hardest to get?Bang on, Sylvester (not to mention the most expensive)! That's why I started in reverse from 1956 back to Edward VII Quote
Sylvester Posted March 20, 2004 Author Posted March 20, 2004 Bang on, Sylvester (not to mention the most expensive)! That's why I started in reverse from 1956 back to Edward VII Do you go for all the full lustre ones then? (as BU has connotations of lustre) Quote
Emperor Oli Posted March 21, 2004 Posted March 21, 2004 I never buy them lower than BU but I always aim for full or nearly full lustre Quote
Sylvester Posted March 21, 2004 Author Posted March 21, 2004 I never buy them lower than BU but I always aim for full or nearly full lustre I was doing the same thing as you a 20th century set but with Sixpences in BU, I've got quite a few but i'm a long way from done.You'd be surprised how hard some of the Elizabeth ones are! i think it was 1961 and 1963? Quote
Emperor Oli Posted March 21, 2004 Posted March 21, 2004 You'd be surprised how hard some of the Elizabeth ones are! i think it was 1961 and 1963?Really? I would have thought they would be the most abundant Quote
Sylvester Posted March 21, 2004 Author Posted March 21, 2004 You'd be surprised how hard some of the Elizabeth ones are! i think it was 1961 and 1963?Really? I would have thought they would be the most abundant So did i! I've seen more 1952s in BU than 1961s or 1960s for that matter! Quote
william Posted March 21, 2004 Posted March 21, 2004 You'd be surprised how hard some of the Elizabeth ones are! i think it was 1961 and 1963?Sylvester,I have two 1961 6ds, and two 1963 ones. Neither of them are BU though... Quote
PAUL.J Posted March 22, 2004 Posted March 22, 2004 I collect early milled silver so anything that circulated after 1662 and prior to 1760. (Although I have got hammered and later examples in my collection) I don't think I would now buy any more pieces that date after 1760. I focus on all major types, but am not too bothered about minor varieties, over dates etc. My first ambition is to collect each major bust variety for sixpences, shillings, halfcrowns and Crowns. Not done too badly for everything except Crowns!! I try and buy the best examples I can and insist on a minimum of VF with no flaws etc, but you have to be a little flexible!! I've found that James II sixpences do pop up from time to time but when I was looking my difficulty was getting one in a grade within my price range. I found several in EF and better but very few in the lower grades. The other problem is that they don't stay on the market for long so you have to be quick when considering a purchase! Quote
TomGoodheart Posted March 22, 2004 Posted March 22, 2004 I started collecting Shillings originally, intending to get the first issue of each reign. I have partly succeded but I have recently switched to hammered leaving a gap in the Stewarts. (Course I got the recent cheap stuff haven't I ?)I first thought I would collect shillings and their equivalents from the Tudor period (thus including Scottish Irish variants, French testons etc) but have recently become 'distracted' by Charles I. Thus at present I am concentrating on good type variations from between 1549 to 1649.Anyone got any 'Declaration' shillings? Quote
Guest custard1966 Posted March 22, 2004 Posted March 22, 2004 Having started on the old 'one from every monarch' I fairly quickly settled on copper & bronze pennies.One of the fascinations of these coins is the sheer number of varieties.I own four reference books and there are still varieties not listed in any of these.I generally try to get UNC/BU examples but some varieties are so rare and/or expensive that you have to compromise. Quote
Sylvester Posted March 22, 2004 Author Posted March 22, 2004 Having started on the old 'one from every monarch' I fairly quickly settled on copper & bronze pennies. Clever move! That means you only have to worry about James I - Charles II, William & Mary - Elizabeth IISo you can snip off Egbert - Elizabeth I and James II! Quote
Sylvester Posted March 22, 2004 Author Posted March 22, 2004 Hang on a minute having re-read your post, just pennies? So that George III - Elizabeth II, ha even better! Quote
TomGoodheart Posted March 22, 2004 Posted March 22, 2004 I guess I could do this as a poll (if I could figure out how, that is) but it just occurred to me... how big is a 'collection'.Mine is around 55 coins (shillings from EdVii to 1970). This doesn't include another 20 or so shillings from around the commonwealth in any old grade just for completeness or the boxes of odds and ends that my Dad started collecting and I occasionally add to.And another thing (please accept my apologies for getting VERY much out of 'theme' here) - following the mythical rare 2p's - what happened to the 1988 £1 coin? That's the one with the crowned shield on the reverse. I haven't seen mintage figures but I've only ever picked up one in circulation. Is it rare? Hoarded? Anyone know? Quote
Emperor Oli Posted March 22, 2004 Posted March 22, 2004 And another thing (please accept my apologies for getting VERY much out of 'theme' here) - following the mythical rare 2p's - what happened to the 1988 £1 coin? That's the one with the crowned shield on the reverse. I haven't seen mintage figures but I've only ever picked up one in circulation. Is it rare? Hoarded? Anyone know?Oooh I had one of those a few days ago. Spinks values it at £5 which is £1 more than the others. Rarer, but certainly not rare imho Quote
Sylvester Posted March 22, 2004 Author Posted March 22, 2004 what happened to the 1988 £1 coin? That's the one with the crowned shield on the reverse. I haven't seen mintage figures but I've only ever picked up one in circulation. Is it rare? Hoarded? Anyone know? I've got about 6 of em...Rather low mintage figure that year.But if you want rare then you can't beat a 1985 50p coin. (i did see the odd one, but very rarely) only beaten by the 1992 (which i never saw)...1985 = 682,1031992 = 109,000now compared to all the others they are small! Quote
TomGoodheart Posted March 22, 2004 Posted March 22, 2004 Thanks for that! It got me rummaging through my 'odds' boxes. I found a Gibraltar £1 (battered), BU Nigerian 1 Kobo piece, a few (more!) of my Dad's 1973 ('hands') 50p pieces, and a 'Commonwealth Games' £2 (now THAT'S ugly!). Didn't find any '85 or '82 50ps but it reminded me what fun coin collecting is! Quote
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