Ætheling

Ah the Machin Obverse, my personal favourite.

Well i doubt it'll be worth that much, but hopefully when we issue Series B in 2006, which will be a totally different design, there will be more interest in the series. Especially if you're doing the old type set.

Right; Gxseries, Oli, Kuhli and Trantor, the 2005-S Short Snorters have been printed and are nearly ready for shipping, technically they should have gone out this afternoon, but due to a few things cropping up it got delayed. I just need some bigger envelopes to send them out in. Trantor i've got a Series A, Second Issue (10GN) for you (i.e one with that little error [the black mintmark] corrected). If i were you'd i'd hang onto the First Issue one you've got because heck there's only six of them in existence, and there won't be anymore. I can't issue the corrected 20s yet though because i've got some First Issues to dispose of still. As for the Short Snorters i thought they looked good on the computer screen, but they look way better on paper!

Depending on circumstances permitting, watch out for me there. Hopefully i'll have some cash and i can go on an Henry VI Annulet issue coin hunt!

It's often been said that Wyon was a master at die engraving. It's pieces like this that show how good he was. It's easy to see why the Queen was delighted by his portrait of her and also why she insisted rather erm... modestly on keeping it unchanged for 50 years.

Platinum and Palladium, oh yeah i can imagine. At nearly $900 per ounce for Pt alone.

Well i don't usually list prices i've paid for things but since you specifically asked, then the most i've ever paid out would be $1800. (Which for me is a heck of alot, usually i try and stay well below the $1000 mark). Oh and Tiff... nice coin!

Some of us don't have cards though. With me it's either cash or nothing. I suppose i could write a cheque if needs be, but i don't particularly like writing them, it's alot quicker and easier to have over a bagful of £1/£2 coins. Actually this leads me to the chewing gum argument. Why do people by one pack of chewing gum and then pay for it with a credit card? Drives me up the friggin' wall. Handing over 40p or whatever takes what about a 30 second transaction at most. A card requires waiting for the till's computer to register and check it, then there's the signature thing, hee's your reciept. All in all that takes about 2 to 3 minutes on average. And when you have three people in a queue doing that that about 6-9 minutes in the queue rather than 1 and a half minutes. Which when catching public transport that only runs every hour can be extremely frustrating... rant over.

As if.

As a medieval collector i know exactly what you mean about medieval coins being described as 'ancient', Ancient to me ended with the fall of the Western Roman Empire everything after, Dark Ages*-1500 is medieval, be it early, high or late. *Dark Ages, is it still referred to as that or has Political Correctness changed it to something not entirely rememberable.

Some are saying keep the $2 bill, why? The $2 bill is another failure like the Sac dollar ain't it? Might as well replace that with a coin whilst it's out of the running. It'd be easier to replace it now rather than getting a successful $2 bill and then a few years down the line everyone will be saying 'lose the rag $2!' Coins are the way forward. In a paper/coin argument the coin will always come out on top because they simply last longer and therefore are more versatile. In a coin/plastic argument... plastic would do better.

Ey?

I know one of the most popular ways to collect Roman coins is by Emperor. However i must confess if i were to take up collecting ancients (which i hope to do one day) then i would take the collect by deity approach. Mercury/Hermes being popular as is Jupiter, Juno and of course the ever popular Athene/Minerva. The latter the Athenian Owls being the most famous example of. Which is probably the coin i'd start on. Greek/Roman coins are something i've wanted to do something about for a while but i've never yet got around to it. Although happily i seem to be slowly working my way back to that point one century at a time. So there is hope yet. On a few occasions now i've nearly bought an Athenian Owl, the only thing that stopped me last time was the hole that had been drilled into the coin. (Were these not done by bankers? Or someone similar to test for either the purity of the coin or to see if it was real? I honestly forget).

But with bigger weapons.

This is pretty much my stance on the topic too. I did also consider the case for replicas being passed off at the genuine article although i did not mention it on here. One example i can think of comes to mind almost immediately whenever anyone mentions replicas is the following. At the Jorvik Viking centre in York, England (which is basically a museum of sorts) they issue replicas of Viking coinage. The one's i've seen are examples that have a die muling from two completely different issues, so as to make it clear to collectors that these coins are not real Viking pieces. The reverse features the hammer of Thor as you would find on Viking coinage of the period, the obverse is a copy of the obverse of a contemporary Saxon penny of King Æthelstan (who was based in the south). Now no collector would would be fooled as such. However several specimens have already turned up on ebay being sold as either genuine Anglo-Saxon issue coins of the kingdom of Wessex, or genuine coinage from the Viking Kingdom of York. More adventurous individuals have even promoted the coin as a rare 'error', having he bizarre obverse/reverse match. As far as i can tell the coins don't say copy on them as UK law (as far as i am aware) does not require the word COPY to be put on the coins. I think they require An 'R' for replica (or something similar)... although this i'm not entirely sure about.

I'd rather have a gap, gaps are good, i like gaps... means i've got something to fill. When i complete a set i get bored with it very quickly. I've come to the conclusion i don't actually like finishing sets. That's why i make it as hard as possible to actually complete them.

Well many dealers have told me that the main focus of my collection is indeed a 'specialist' area in it's own right. As such getting coins for this set is very tricky. The dealers that do sell the coins i require on the internet are usually not very evident and thus it takes some patient scouring through listings on search engines (using a whole variety of spellings and rewording). Unfortunately the vast majority of those listings are either archaeological excavation/museum reports or copies of the coins for sale. So i'm getting pretty fed up of seeing copies here there and everywhere, but none of the real ones! Answering the question therefore the answer is a resounding no, no and double no. I'm into coins for the history, for the places they been, the events they've witnessed and the hands they've been in. Not for the looks of the coin so much. When i see a copy, even if it's a faithful reproduction in the faithful .925 silver alloy, all i'm seeing is something that was minted in 19XX and not in 9XX. So nope i wouldn't.

Hang on you mean you have jars on the side full of pennies to let people give or take as they please? Wow if you did that in England those jars would be empty pretty quick. Infact over here they have to put gauze wire over the money fountains to stop people trying to take it back out. I'm telling you if they had a penny jar on the counter in our stores i'd be swiping ten pennies a day from every one i came across. And i certainly wouldn't leave any... jeeze i even stood at the till for 5 minutes once waiting for my penny change whilst the cashier opened a new bagful into the till. Pennies make Pounds.

Varieties are the reason (well one of them) why i won't dabble in copper/bronze. Because even if you attempt the simplest of date runs you get snookered half way through when the number you have to get suddenly gets doubled. I'm one of these collectors that likes to have them all ticked off as got. I figure well what's the point i'd never have a complete collection and do i really want 30 odd or more pennies/farthings all dated 1860? Varieties can be a real pain in the backside. A few here and there can add spice to a series, a whole series with 16 or more varieties of each date, then count me out. Also the reason i moved into hammered, you can just do it by type as every coin is unique.

That is another idea i'd had, although i might rekickstart the 'centuries competion' which would need prizes. Ah now there's thought.

Fifty pages! Why do copper/bronze collectors always have to go totally nuts with the varieties. Silver collectors just record things like spelling errors, over dates and more noticable lettering/design varaiants. Minor lettering positions and sizes tends to be just classed under the blanket term of "many varieties and types abound" with no real effort to persue them further. Which i always though was a sensible option, because you have to draw the line somewhere, if you don't you'll end up classing every single coin minted of a type as a different variety, as of course they are all unique to a 150th of an inch.

That was very informative and an enjoyable read too! I look forward to more...

The UK never used a $1 bill. A £1 note maybe but i don't remember those as they were way before my time. Okay i was four when they were demonetised, the most money i ever saw when i was four was perhaps twenty pence. If i was really lucky i'd get a £1 coin.

Personally i'd replace all notes with coins, but i think that's got something to do with that time i had to chase a £20 note down the street. T'was a very blustery day that was. I've been on a mission to convert all notes to coins as fast as i get them. I regularly carry between six and thirteen £1 coins in my pocket most days. £2 are wonderful, wonderful things. I only have the one on me at present. Whilst i might like carrying around £2, £1, 50p, 20p and 10p coins by the bucket load. I absolutely hate 5p, 2p and 1p coins. I might also add, i have no wallet, don't like them they can be stolen or lost and bang goes all your money. I tend to throw mine loose in my pockets, £5 here, £3 there, another £2 in a different pocket and a couple of pence in another.

I never really liked proofs much. They'd look better with a Matt finish as Edward VII Matt Proofs of 1902, now they are nice!