Coin aquisition of the week.......

[Generic Lad 25]

Picked this one up at a private sale, Peck 625 I believe. Don't have it yet in hand

Traded some old Indian Head pennies I had lying around

 

]]

Edited June 7, 2020 by Generic Lad
Editing that I don't have it yet in hand

[Iannich48 187]

8 hours ago, Generic Lad said:

Picked this one up at a private sale, Peck 625 I believe. Don't have it yet in hand

Traded some old Indian Head pennies I had lying around

 

]]

Yes, i agree. That is a nice farthing.

[Paulus 1,834]

My latest Charles I halfcrown, courtesy of Messrs. Bull & Worby

[Michael-Roo 773]

 

Proper wow. I love it.

 

[Sword 1,263]

I love the details on the horse's head. It is rather artistic that the horse is looking at you rather than ahead. It's a bit strange that the designer did such a short sword. If space is an issue, then a marshal's baton might be more appropriate. 

It seems you are hoarding a lot of Charles I these day. Inspired by Brooker?

[Paulus 1,834]

3 hours ago, Sword said:

I love the details on the horse's head. It is rather artistic that the horse is looking at you rather than ahead. It's a bit strange that the designer did such a short sword. If space is an issue, then a marshal's baton might be more appropriate. 

It seems you are hoarding a lot of Charles I these day. Inspired by Brooker?

Inspired by Maurice Bull! I have all 5 volumes of 'The Halfcrowns of Charles I' and most of mine are ex Maurice's collection ...

Edited June 12, 2020 by Paulus

[Sword 1,263]

I have not got any volumes of Bull's 'The Halfcrowns of Charles I'. Did Maurice actually owned the coins in these books? I am guessing not as there are so many of them.

[Paulus 1,834]

27 minutes ago, Sword said:

I have not got any volumes of Bull's 'The Halfcrowns of Charles I'. Did Maurice actually owned the coins in these books? I am guessing not as there are so many of them.

I don't know to be honest, there are a lot as you say, even if you only count the plate coins - the 'overspill' section may be examples he traced rather than acquired? 

I do have his tickets for those that came from his collection

[Sword 1,263]

On 6/12/2020 at 8:33 PM, Paulus said:

Inspired by Maurice Bull! I have all 5 volumes of 'The Halfcrowns of Charles I' and most of mine are ex Maurice's collection ...

It's truly incredible that a single denomination of one monarch can occupy five volumes. Even with the great number of Charles I half crowns in existence, I do wonder what sort of percentage of hammered examples are round and well struck. Might be just 5% or less. 

[Rob 2,855]

1 hour ago, Sword said:

It's truly incredible that a single denomination of one monarch can occupy five volumes. Even with the great number of Charles I half crowns in existence, I do wonder what sort of percentage of hammered examples are round and well struck. Might be just 5% or less. 

It's because for the most part he has given a whole page to a specific die pair. Put in that context, it isn't so surprising. Half of the die pairs (2&1/2 vols.) are Tower mint with the provincials, Scottish and Irish making up the rest.

As for the question re well struck round pieces, it will depend on the issue, but your guesstimate may not be wide of the mark as an average.

[Sword 1,263]

17 hours ago, Rob said:

It's because for the most part he has given a whole page to a specific die pair. Put in that context, it isn't so surprising. Half of the die pairs (2&1/2 vols.) are Tower mint with the provincials, Scottish and Irish making up the rest.

As for the question re well struck round pieces, it will depend on the issue, but your guesstimate may not be wide of the mark as an average.

If that's the case, might be it would have been better for Bull to be a bit more concise and aimed for 2 volumes rather than five. E.g. one for Tower Mint and one for the rest. Getting all five volumes is quite an expense and might not be justifiable for a non-advanced collector. On a different note, I am enjoying reading Brooker which I I have got recently.

[Rob 2,855]

1 hour ago, Sword said:

If that's the case, might be it would have been better for Bull to be a bit more concise and aimed for 2 volumes rather than five. E.g. one for Tower Mint and one for the rest. Getting all five volumes is quite an expense and might not be justifiable for a non-advanced collector. On a different note, I am enjoying reading Brooker which I I have got recently.

Two volumes or five is probably not the issue. For the majority, it is a mindset because so many people view literature as a luxury. Colin Cooke mentioned in passing that a large number of his customers had nothing more than a basic reference. For some, Coins of England was too complicated, and for many, ESC or Peck were not even contemplated. If someone is only willing to spend a fiver at the most, they will never collect a series in depth. If they decide to collect in depth, the [potential] outlay on coins will justify the expense on books, with their typically limited print runs ensuring there is significant residual value should the owner decide to sell.

I think the principle of doing a study on a particular topic as deeply as possible is the way forward, however complicated, because if it is only limited in scope, then the chances are that it would be covered by existing publications. i.e. Why bother?

As an aside, the number of people who visit the table at fairs asking for 1961 halfpennies, 1947 threepences, 1923-5 pennies etc is a good indicator that for a lot of casual collectors, no books is the norm.

[mhcoins 91]

1 hour ago, Sword said:

If that's the case, might be it would have been better for Bull to be a bit more concise and aimed for 2 volumes rather than five. E.g. one for Tower Mint and one for the rest. Getting all five volumes is quite an expense and might not be justifiable for a non-advanced collector. On a different note, I am enjoying reading Brooker which I I have got recently.

I think trying to condense that many die variation into two books would be impossible given how detailed his die studies are. Also I know first hand that the number of varieties, say of the Oxford mint  is far greater than the initial Bull books indicated (These were made about 10 years ago). I've also established since its publications many new die varietys previously unrecorded with him for the tower mint. 

[mhcoins 91]

1 hour ago, Sword said:

If that's the case, might be it would have been better for Bull to be a bit more concise and aimed for 2 volumes rather than five. E.g. one for Tower Mint and one for the rest. Getting all five volumes is quite an expense and might not be justifiable for a non-advanced collector. On a different note, I am enjoying reading Brooker which I I have got recently.

also I believe very recently Spink were selling the volumes for about 20 each ?

[Sword 1,263]

38 minutes ago, mhcoins said:

also I believe very recently Spink were selling the volumes for about 20 each ?

Spink is asking £85 for a volume now ...

Edited June 15, 2020 by Sword

[Paulus 1,834]

I was lucky enough to get them at £20 each, they sold out at this price in no time

[Paulus 1,834]

My first hammered Charles II example, comes with an interesting ticket, expressing £5 5s as £5 1/4 ...

[Rob 2,855]

59 minutes ago, Paulus said:

My first hammered Charles II example, comes with an interesting ticket, expressing £5 5s as £5 1/4 ...

That's John Hulett's, he often expressed it so. Seaby will have purchased it in 1966 for a couple quid before listing it in the Bulletin.

[Nonmortuus 784]

Something I bought a while back but sent it off to be graded the day it arrived with me.

 

[Paulus 1,834]

6 hours ago, Rob said:

That's John Hulett's, he often expressed it so. Seaby will have purchased it in 1966 for a couple quid before listing it in the Bulletin.

Thanks Rob - I think this is the SCMB Listing (XM219):

 

[Rob 2,855]

11 minutes ago, Paulus said:

Thanks Rob - I think this is the SCMB Listing (XM219):

 

Very good, that's what I like to see.

 

[copper123 1,267]

Reverse possably a bit better than good fine

Edited June 20, 2020 by copper123

[Paulus 1,834]

On 6/20/2020 at 8:29 PM, copper123 said:

Reverse possably a bit better than good fine

Yes, certainly better than the obverse ...

[Paulus 1,834]

Upgrade, pretty little thing ...

[Peckris 2 1,905]

On 6/20/2020 at 6:59 PM, Nonmortuus said:

Something I bought a while back but sent it off to be graded the day it arrived with me.

 

Very hard to get decent 1806 halfpennies, which are ultra common in lower grades. FWIW I'd have looked for something better than that, and I ended up paying well over book price for a good strike. Not so much lustre as that one, but a far crisper strike.