Strange 1936 Penny

[1949threepence]

I think it's a blodge of something above another blodge of something, giving the appearance of a "1". There's some more muck between the "3" & "6".

But until you get coin in hand, who knows for certain.

I think we all see want we want to see at times. Here's one that fooled me - a reentered "O" in ONE in a 1903 penny

Ebay picture on left

No doubt here it's the same coin - another 99p dream shattered

David

Object lesson in how you can never fully trust photos.

Strike that fully 1949 - I know what Photoshop can do!

That was just for normal photos, Peck, where no intentional distortion has occurred. Photoshop is for con men, pure and simple.

[Red Riley]

No doubt here it's the same coin - another 99p dream shattered

David

I would be surprised if there was any intention to defraud here. I suspect that a re-entered 'O' is way beyond the wit of e-bayers selling scrap bronze at 99p a throw. The first photograph looks like it was taken in natural light and the second under artificial light or possibly even a scanner. I can't explain the shadow in the first photo but these things happen.

Photoshop when used correctly, is a useful tool and I find it essential to adjust the brightness/contrast when photos typically turn out too dark largely as a result of an automatic camera over-correcting the light exposure. Where it tips into fraud is functions like the spot-healing tool which can remove stains or spots of verdigris. I even have a function that can give the impression of wrapping the entire coin in plastic! Unfortunately there isn't one which works the other way round and removes the slab...

[Peckris]

I think it's a blodge of something above another blodge of something, giving the appearance of a "1". There's some more muck between the "3" & "6".

But until you get coin in hand, who knows for certain.

I think we all see want we want to see at times. Here's one that fooled me - a reentered "O" in ONE in a 1903 penny

Ebay picture on left

No doubt here it's the same coin - another 99p dream shattered

David

Object lesson in how you can never fully trust photos.

Strike that fully 1949 - I know what Photoshop can do!

That was just for normal photos, Peck, where no intentional distortion has occurred. Photoshop is for con men, pure and simple.

Bit strong, 1949! I'm with Derek on this - it's very useful for adjusting the exposure and levels, contrast, colour balance etc - all kinds of things. But yes, you can pervert it to 'improve' coins at which point it is a menace, but what can you do? My solution is never to buy from anyone who doesn't give a 7-day moeny-back guarantee if not satisfied.

[Tony Clayton]

A hard one to call...

I have made mistakes in the past, as happens when dealing online, on ebay and with visits to my premises.

I did sell a high value shilling twice by selling it to a caller and not clearing it from my website availability, so yes, mistakes do happen.

Is it likely that a German dealer would use this forum? You know him Dave, does he have any interest in or a vast stock of GB coins?

I think you have already been told several times but..... say nowt about owt until you have possession!!!!

He does have a fair few English coins John, more than i would say was normal for a German dealer, maybe around a few hundred. i think his English coins outweigh everything else he has for sale from different countries. So it might be possible that he reads the boards, although his English isn't that great. Well it was obviously a lesson for me, but he said in an email to me that what he puts up for sale is not always what is for sale, it was in his German Terms of Sale, but what i would say is, why photograph a coin if its not the actual coin you're buying?

Ususally a German dealer would state if he has more than a few of the same year coin (diverse Jahrgang) but this did not state this, but as i said, a lesson learned, he also said he will now refuse to sell to me again (big deal i say, there's a million dealers in this world)

To my mind posting a 'stock' image of a similar coin is misleading, and I certainly would not deal with that person again.

As to the original image - I have seen so many blemishes caused by corrosion looking like die letters etc that I doubt that the original coin had anything real there.