Spink today

[Accumulator]

I managed to pick up a couple of lower priced pennies at the Spink auction today, but the marked difference in relatively common coins and the big coins in good grades was never more stark. The lovely 1827, graded EF in the catalogue and estimated at £2,000-£2,500 went for an eye watering £6,500. A proof 1826 with plain saltire estimated at £400-600 went for £1,600 and the EF (though very nice) 1919KN estimated at £400-500, fetched £1,700.

A couple of gaps filled anyway

[Rob]

I managed to pick up a couple of lower priced pennies at the Spink auction today, but the marked difference in relatively common coins and the big coins in good grades was never more stark. The lovely 1827, graded EF in the catalogue and estimated at £2,000-£2,500 went for an eye watering £6,500. A proof 1826 with plain saltire estimated at £400-600 went for £1,600 and the EF (though very nice) 1919KN estimated at £400-500, fetched £1,700.

A couple of gaps filled anyway

So which one didn't you buy?

[Accumulator]

I managed to pick up a couple of lower priced pennies at the Spink auction today, but the marked difference in relatively common coins and the big coins in good grades was never more stark. The lovely 1827, graded EF in the catalogue and estimated at £2,000-£2,500 went for an eye watering £6,500. A proof 1826 with plain saltire estimated at £400-600 went for £1,600 and the EF (though very nice) 1919KN estimated at £400-500, fetched £1,700.

A couple of gaps filled anyway

So which one didn't you buy?

None of the above. All a little too rich for me on the day.

I was quite pleased with an 1912H, catalogued as full lustre, almost uncirculated with an estimate of £150-£200 which I picked up for £110. Certainly better than my existing one.

Other than that, just a couple of nice bun heads.

[Rob]

I was following, but what I was thinking of buying either reached what I was willing to pay or exceeded it. There was no must have piece in the sale worth writing a blank cheque out for.

[Peter]

My mouth watered on several.

In the end I sniped 4 from ebay...nothing spectacular (3 1/4d's & a 6d).

At least I can put some Tesco value bread & beans on the table tonight washed down with Blue Nun. The farthings are just on a need to compare with mine...and maybe fill some variety gaps on 1825 & 1834.

The 6d will be back on the bay in a few months

The 1827 1d was very nice.When you see pitted green crap going for silly money I realise that some penny boy out there said sod that.If a few of William 111 farthings came out in EF....my boat is going to be pushed out...don't tell Mrs Peter Trouble is most of our £ is in her name...or under the mattress.

[Accumulator]

My mouth watered on several.

In the end I sniped 4 from ebay...nothing spectacular (3 1/4d's & a 6d).

At least I can put some Tesco value bread & beans on the table tonight washed down with Blue Nun. The farthings are just on a need to compare with mine...and maybe fill some variety gaps on 1825 & 1834.

The 6d will be back on the bay in a few months

The 1827 1d was very nice.When you see pitted green crap going for silly money I realise that some penny boy out there said sod that.If a few of William 111 farthings came out in EF....my boat is going to be pushed out...don't tell Mrs Peter Trouble is most of our £ is in her name...or under the mattress.

At least my 1827 isn't pitted, but it's no beauty:

[Rob]

My mouth watered on several.

In the end I sniped 4 from ebay...nothing spectacular (3 1/4d's & a 6d).

At least I can put some Tesco value bread & beans on the table tonight washed down with Blue Nun. The farthings are just on a need to compare with mine...and maybe fill some variety gaps on 1825 & 1834.

The 6d will be back on the bay in a few months

The 1827 1d was very nice.When you see pitted green crap going for silly money I realise that some penny boy out there said sod that.If a few of William 111 farthings came out in EF....my boat is going to be pushed out...don't tell Mrs Peter Trouble is most of our £ is in her name...or under the mattress.

I'm afraid I suffered from premature salivation. When I saw the fairly lengthy run of bronze halfpennies, I thought I might have filled a gap or two, but the gaps remain.

There were a couple of nice W3 farthings in Warwick & Warwick last week around the EF mark. Ex Brooks too.

PS. Based on some of your posts, your money should be safe under the mattress. Don't want to go there - God knows what one might find.

Edited June 28, 2012 by Rob

[Accumulator]

My mouth watered on several.

In the end I sniped 4 from ebay...nothing spectacular (3 1/4d's & a 6d).

At least I can put some Tesco value bread & beans on the table tonight washed down with Blue Nun. The farthings are just on a need to compare with mine...and maybe fill some variety gaps on 1825 & 1834.

The 6d will be back on the bay in a few months

The 1827 1d was very nice.When you see pitted green crap going for silly money I realise that some penny boy out there said sod that.If a few of William 111 farthings came out in EF....my boat is going to be pushed out...don't tell Mrs Peter Trouble is most of our £ is in her name...or under the mattress.

I'm afraid I suffered from premature salivation. When I saw the fairly lengthy run of bronze halfpennies, I thought I might have filled a gap or two, but the gaps remain.

There were a couple of nice W3 farthings in Warwick & Warwick last week around the EF mark. Ex Brooks too.

PS. Based on some of your posts, your money should be safe under the mattress. Don't want to go there - God knows what one might find.

It was interesting to note that the bronze was all sold under the heading of the 'property of a lady'. As far as pennies were concerned anyway, there were no 'competing' coins elsewhere in the sale.

[argentumandcoins]

I managed to "win" 11 lots, 4 of the Cumberland mining tokens and a lower grade hammered Carlisle penny among them. If I can't sell them up here there is no hope!

Prices were brutal as usual. I got trounced at DNW last week as well. I just wish once in a while I could be the only interested bidder on a couple of lots

Anyway I'll pull my pants up now and go and put some savalon on the part that got ripped open during the bidding bloodbath................

[Rob]

I managed to "win" 11 lots, 4 of the Cumberland mining tokens and a lower grade hammered Carlisle penny among them. If I can't sell them up here there is no hope!

Prices were brutal as usual. I got trounced at DNW last week as well. I just wish once in a while I could be the only interested bidder on a couple of lots

Anyway I'll pull my pants up now and go and put some savalon on the part that got ripped open during the bidding bloodbath................

I did all right last week. I picked up the either/or coin I wanted in the Eginton trial pattern sixpence (lot 721), so left the second one alone. Plus I acquired a couple of others at reasonable prices.

[argentumandcoins]

I managed to "win" 11 lots, 4 of the Cumberland mining tokens and a lower grade hammered Carlisle penny among them. If I can't sell them up here there is no hope!

Prices were brutal as usual. I got trounced at DNW last week as well. I just wish once in a while I could be the only interested bidder on a couple of lots

Anyway I'll pull my pants up now and go and put some savalon on the part that got ripped open during the bidding bloodbath................

I did all right last week. I picked up the either/or coin I wanted in the Eginton trial pattern sixpence (lot 721), so left the second one alone. Plus I acquired a couple of others at reasonable prices.

My bids were all in the milled section Rob, oh and a few lots in the literature.

[Rob]

I managed to "win" 11 lots, 4 of the Cumberland mining tokens and a lower grade hammered Carlisle penny among them. If I can't sell them up here there is no hope!

Prices were brutal as usual. I got trounced at DNW last week as well. I just wish once in a while I could be the only interested bidder on a couple of lots

Anyway I'll pull my pants up now and go and put some savalon on the part that got ripped open during the bidding bloodbath................

I did all right last week. I picked up the either/or coin I wanted in the Eginton trial pattern sixpence (lot 721), so left the second one alone. Plus I acquired a couple of others at reasonable prices.

My bids were all in the milled section Rob, oh and a few lots in the literature.

I only wanted one lot of books and came second.

[argentumandcoins]

I managed to "win" 11 lots, 4 of the Cumberland mining tokens and a lower grade hammered Carlisle penny among them. If I can't sell them up here there is no hope!

Prices were brutal as usual. I got trounced at DNW last week as well. I just wish once in a while I could be the only interested bidder on a couple of lots

Anyway I'll pull my pants up now and go and put some savalon on the part that got ripped open during the bidding bloodbath................

I did all right last week. I picked up the either/or coin I wanted in the Eginton trial pattern sixpence (lot 721), so left the second one alone. Plus I acquired a couple of others at reasonable prices.

My bids were all in the milled section Rob, oh and a few lots in the literature.

I only wanted one lot of books and came second.

I got more silver medals than Englands penalty takers

[Peter]

I managed to "win" 11 lots, 4 of the Cumberland mining tokens and a lower grade hammered Carlisle penny among them. If I can't sell them up here there is no hope!

Prices were brutal as usual. I got trounced at DNW last week as well. I just wish once in a while I could be the only interested bidder on a couple of lots

Anyway I'll pull my pants up now and go and put some savalon on the part that got ripped open during the bidding bloodbath................

I did all right last week. I picked up the either/or coin I wanted in the Eginton trial pattern sixpence (lot 721), so left the second one alone. Plus I acquired a couple of others at reasonable prices.

My bids were all in the milled section Rob, oh and a few lots in the literature.

I only wanted one lot of books and came second.

I'm no pervy Rob

I do have spare copy of Mayfair volume 2 issue 20 if you are interested. It has been kept under the mattress with the white fivers.

[argentumandcoins]

I managed to "win" 11 lots, 4 of the Cumberland mining tokens and a lower grade hammered Carlisle penny among them. If I can't sell them up here there is no hope!

Prices were brutal as usual. I got trounced at DNW last week as well. I just wish once in a while I could be the only interested bidder on a couple of lots

Anyway I'll pull my pants up now and go and put some savalon on the part that got ripped open during the bidding bloodbath................

I did all right last week. I picked up the either/or coin I wanted in the Eginton trial pattern sixpence (lot 721), so left the second one alone. Plus I acquired a couple of others at reasonable prices.

My bids were all in the milled section Rob, oh and a few lots in the literature.

I only wanted one lot of books and came second.

I'm no pervy Rob

I do have spare copy of Mayfair volume 2 issue 20 if you are interested. It has been kept under the mattress with the white fivers.

If you can open the pages without having to use a chisel I might be in the market

[azda]

Oh cum cum now John, am sure Peters pages will pull apart eaaily, each Page is laminated and easy wipe, its the sticky keyboard he has a problem wirh

Edited June 28, 2012 by azda

[VickySilver]

The OP's original points are well taken - quality coins are getting to be quite a challenge. IMO Spink did not have a lot of them in the later milled copper and silver. This (the Spink Auction) may not be the best venue for picking up good-for-value coins. DNW is almost always a write-off for me as well and only go strongly for bits I have to have.

BTW, for attendees of the auction, what did the 1871 Bun look like? Likewise the 1865 no overdate halfpenny?

Is it just me or does the overall quality of Spink's offerings both at auction and through SNC seem to have fallen off?

[Rob]

The OP's original points are well taken - quality coins are getting to be quite a challenge. IMO Spink did not have a lot of them in the later milled copper and silver. This (the Spink Auction) may not be the best venue for picking up good-for-value coins. DNW is almost always a write-off for me as well and only go strongly for bits I have to have.

BTW, for attendees of the auction, what did the 1871 Bun look like? Likewise the 1865 no overdate halfpenny?

Is it just me or does the overall quality of Spink's offerings both at auction and through SNC seem to have fallen off?

Leaving aside the shortage of quality material across the board which is affecting everybody, I think a significant part of the problem arises from Paul Dawson's accident. As the main contact point and a name known within the numismatic world, his not being available to either speak to prospective vendors nor to seek out new stock means they are effectively short staffed. They need a GB coins specialist to replace him if the business is to move forward.

[VickySilver]

And possibly other personnel changes a couple of years ago...

[InforaPenny]

Although my collecting focus on British pre-decimal bronze is primarily on varieties, it was interesting to look at the auction listings for this recent Spink sale, which was mainly a high grade date/mintmark set of the pre-decimal bronze. Here, the gaps in this otherwise very nice and nearly complete collection seemed to jump out at me. For the bun coinage, the “missing†pennies included the 1864, 1869, 1872, 1875-H and 1880, halfpennies lacked examples of the 1878 and 1881, and the farthings appeared to be missing the 1876-H and 1883.

Several possibilities occur to me. One is that suitable examples of these coins were unavailable and never acquired for this collection, or they may have been sold off privately to another collector friend before the sale. Any thoughts?

Best Regards,

InforaPenny

[Peckris]

Although my collecting focus on British pre-decimal bronze is primarily on varieties, it was interesting to look at the auction listings for this recent Spink sale, which was mainly a high grade date/mintmark set of the pre-decimal bronze. Here, the gaps in this otherwise very nice and nearly complete collection seemed to jump out at me. For the bun coinage, the “missing†pennies included the 1864, 1869, 1872, 1875-H and 1880, halfpennies lacked examples of the 1878 and 1881, and the farthings appeared to be missing the 1876-H and 1883.

Several possibilities occur to me. One is that suitable examples of these coins were unavailable and never acquired for this collection, or they may have been sold off privately to another collector friend before the sale. Any thoughts?

Best Regards,

InforaPenny

A mixture of the two perhaps? The two farthings, though on the scarce side are by no means especially rare, the two halfpennies aren't scarce at all, while among those penny rarities, the 1872 is not. It could be that the collector was looking for top of the tree examples, which hadn't turned up yet (with commoner types it can happen especially when you set your standard for those very high), while the rarities speak for themselves?

[VickySilver]

Although I respect thoughts, it was told to me that the 1871 penny was not a superior example. Not to pirate the thread but if someone has a particularly nice specimen for sale, do PM me.

EF date runs are fine, but how are these keys like the 1864 if and when they are represented?

I would imagine that the "keys" were sold elsewhere as I can not imagine building a set and NOT having the keys...

[Accumulator]

Although my collecting focus on British pre-decimal bronze is primarily on varieties, it was interesting to look at the auction listings for this recent Spink sale, which was mainly a high grade date/mintmark set of the pre-decimal bronze. Here, the gaps in this otherwise very nice and nearly complete collection seemed to jump out at me. For the bun coinage, the “missing†pennies included the 1864, 1869, 1872, 1875-H and 1880, halfpennies lacked examples of the 1878 and 1881, and the farthings appeared to be missing the 1876-H and 1883.

Several possibilities occur to me. One is that suitable examples of these coins were unavailable and never acquired for this collection, or they may have been sold off privately to another collector friend before the sale. Any thoughts?

Best Regards,

InforaPenny

I did notice these rather glaring gaps too. The collection was obviously put together in the 1960s, judging by the provenances quoted. I imagine that the 'lady' had inherited (though that may be seen as a sexist comment ) and possibly some of the star pieces had been removed at some point. Other omissions include a 1918H and 1919H, though prize coins like the 1919KN remained. I'm sure Spink would know the story.

Have paid today, so waiting for my coins to arrive.

[Accumulator]

Although I respect thoughts, it was told to me that the 1871 penny was not a superior example. Not to pirate the thread but if someone has a particularly nice specimen for sale, do PM me.

EF date runs are fine, but how are these keys like the 1864 if and when they are represented?

I would imagine that the "keys" were sold elsewhere as I can not imagine building a set and NOT having the keys...

I did look at the 1871, but it had a nasty (carbon?) spot on the reverse.

[Rob]

Although my collecting focus on British pre-decimal bronze is primarily on varieties, it was interesting to look at the auction listings for this recent Spink sale, which was mainly a high grade date/mintmark set of the pre-decimal bronze. Here, the gaps in this otherwise very nice and nearly complete collection seemed to jump out at me. For the bun coinage, the “missing†pennies included the 1864, 1869, 1872, 1875-H and 1880, halfpennies lacked examples of the 1878 and 1881, and the farthings appeared to be missing the 1876-H and 1883.

Several possibilities occur to me. One is that suitable examples of these coins were unavailable and never acquired for this collection, or they may have been sold off privately to another collector friend before the sale. Any thoughts?

Best Regards,

InforaPenny

There was an 1878, but only an 1881H. The halfpennies were essentially a date run with none of the hoped for scarcer dies I was looking for, some of which may not exist in UNC which could have had a bearing on the collection as it was common die pairings in this lot - hence easier to get in UNC.