richatthecroft

The easily accessible stack. 
Quite like how you can't make everything out as it's packed in so tightly, like a little treasure chest

My little stack

My full stack of casino silver strikes, these contain 16gram .999 with a brass outer rim. 

For anyone interested in these www.silverstrikers.com is a database dedicated to these. (not affiliated) 

Full stack as of today. Missing a few things still in the collection but slowly getting there.

I joined this forum a month ago with one ounce of silver...🤣

My attempt at a full stack picture

Not the greatest photo of part of my silver stack however I was keen to show off my newly acquired Britannia bars - all 13 of them. I am gradually transitioning to British coins and bars which started last month. I have strict self imposed rules on just purchasing 10oz Brit bars and whole tubes of Brits. If you see me in the trade section purchasing anything outside of these paramiters then please inform a moderator immediately  
Having said all that I am particularly keen on my kilo Monkey king coin. @BackyardBullion did a great video on this coin which I stumbled across the other day. 

Thanks so much for the offer mate but I am strictly pre 1945 coins only, I dare not open the door to later dates my wallet would take a battering lol.

MacArthur was a General in the American Army and also a Field Marshal in the Philippine Army.


A circulating coin. You're welcome to have it if you like @SILVERFINGER

2014 RAM Silver Proof "Explorers' First Sightings" -  Western "John Major" Greys    The second in the set of three "Explorers' First Sightings", this is a coin noteworthy only for its almost comprehensive lack of interest or appeal.    The engraving by imminently obscure pointillist Aaron Baggio is based on little known Henry Richter's depiction of Western Grey Kangaroos - an image which was, itself, based on a sketch by lesser-known lithographer John Gould in 1838. The litany of mediocrity is outstanding.   Although the quality of detail in the "nice enough" portrayal of Western Grey Kangaroos did continue their customary exceedingly high standards, the RAM appear to have been scraping the bottom of a barrel of coprolite deposited by the T-Roo with this numismatic also-ran.   Once again, my vote goes to the frostie over the proof. ---------------------------------

I first want to dedicate this post to my very good, patient, and understanding friend Merm, who has been a godsend since I lost my best mate last week.
I won in an auction these uncirculated and strong lustre USA Philippines silver coins.
This design of coin was released in 1937 and minted from .750 silver for all denominations, when WW2 started and the Japanese invaded the Philippines the majority of these years of coins were apparently dumped into the sea to prevent the Japanese getting their hand on precious metals or metals of any kind, therefore coins of pre 1941 date in mint condition are very rare, the seawater doing a job on them (while silver is none ferrous the metals mixed with it were not).
With the re-capture of the islands the Denver mint was contracted to make the 10 & 20 Centavos coins and the San Francisco mint the 50 Centavos coins to replace all the ones that had been lost.
Production figures of the coins I have bought that I am keeping are as below,
1944 dated, 10 Centavos, 31,592,000
1944 dated, 20 Centavos, 28,596,000
1945 dated, 50 Centavos, 18,120,000


 
 
The coins below were part of the collection but I decided to sell, as one is a duplicate (20 Centavos) and the other was made after WW2 (50 Centavos), both are full lustre, though the sun was quickly disappearing by the time I took these.
Production figure for the 1945 20 Centavos was 82,804,000
The 50 Centavos was a real dilemma for me do I keep it or not, but I have quite a lot of interest in it from collectors due to its mint condition and incredibly low mintage, I only stack pre 1945 coins but these were made in 1947 only, but they commemorated General Douglas MacArthur's retaking of the Philippines islands from the Japanese during WW2.
They were the first coins minted in the Philippines new republic and the design came in 50 Cent and 1 Peso, the 50 Centavos being minted from .750 silver and the 1 Peso of .900 silver.
The coins were struck in low relief only by the the San Francisco mint.
Production of these coins were as following,
1947 dated,  20 Centavos, 200,000
1947 dated,  1 Peso,           100,000
 

In the same week seven Queen Elizabeth II proof sovereigns came back from conservation & grading by PCGS and one (the 2013) from the Coin Cabinet auction. 

Couple more goodies arrived.  2020-W Palladium Eagle.  Pricey, but I really enjoy them.  2020-P Salt River Bay National Park 5 oz silver ATB, and a tube of 2020 Somali Elephants.

Auctioneers are lazy and extremely greedy.  
Not only do they provide poor advice to their ignorant vendors that some coins would be better sold elsewhere due to the Auction house inordinate two way commission charges- this exemplified by them frequently selling single lots of run of the mill Sovereigns- they often don't serve their vendors well, signposting the ignorant Sovereign vendor to the first Gold buying shark they see on the high street would show much more integrity. 
And then we have this type of scenario, they clearly often don't have the decency to appraise the lots they are selling.  You would like to think that with them charging huge commission rates each way, they would at least examine what they are selling or moreover, employ someone with some knowledge of what they are selling- Its an absolute scandal that they get away with this type of practice, particularly when its so obvious that those coins you received were fakes.  Indefensible.     

Auctioneers are lazy and extremely greedy.  
Not only do they provide poor advice to their ignorant vendors that some coins would be better sold elsewhere due to the Auction house inordinate two way commission charges- this exemplified by them frequently selling single lots of run of the mill Sovereigns- they often don't serve their vendors well, signposting the ignorant Sovereign vendor to the first Gold buying shark they see on the high street would show much more integrity. 
And then we have this type of scenario, they clearly often don't have the decency to appraise the lots they are selling.  You would like to think that with them charging huge commission rates each way, they would at least examine what they are selling or moreover, employ someone with some knowledge of what they are selling- Its an absolute scandal that they get away with this type of practice, particularly when its so obvious that those coins you received were fakes.  Indefensible.     

Auctioneers are lazy and extremely greedy.  
Not only do they provide poor advice to their ignorant vendors that some coins would be better sold elsewhere due to the Auction house inordinate two way commission charges- this exemplified by them frequently selling single lots of run of the mill Sovereigns- they often don't serve their vendors well, signposting the ignorant Sovereign vendor to the first Gold buying shark they see on the high street would show much more integrity. 
And then we have this type of scenario, they clearly often don't have the decency to appraise the lots they are selling.  You would like to think that with them charging huge commission rates each way, they would at least examine what they are selling or moreover, employ someone with some knowledge of what they are selling- Its an absolute scandal that they get away with this type of practice, particularly when its so obvious that those coins you received were fakes.  Indefensible.     

Auctioneers are lazy and extremely greedy.  
Not only do they provide poor advice to their ignorant vendors that some coins would be better sold elsewhere due to the Auction house inordinate two way commission charges- this exemplified by them frequently selling single lots of run of the mill Sovereigns- they often don't serve their vendors well, signposting the ignorant Sovereign vendor to the first Gold buying shark they see on the high street would show much more integrity. 
And then we have this type of scenario, they clearly often don't have the decency to appraise the lots they are selling.  You would like to think that with them charging huge commission rates each way, they would at least examine what they are selling or moreover, employ someone with some knowledge of what they are selling- Its an absolute scandal that they get away with this type of practice, particularly when its so obvious that those coins you received were fakes.  Indefensible.     

Another two bullion Sovereigns from Atkinsons arrived this morning!
 

This Sydney Olympic commemorative coin that I had to search so hard to find, was determined to get another.
Plus some Brit tubes from the very reliable @Clockpuncher

Massive shout out to @SilverMike for this beaut

Tat shop finds- nice silver magnifier and one of @GrahamDiamondGrumpy Dave cousins in Brass 😃 

 
 

So I won my first lot in a proper auction the other day and if it wasn't so funny I'd be quite angry 😂
£20 hammer price, which plus commission and postage ended up costing £41 all in! these guys are criminals, 33% buyer fees and 30% seller fees, and £10 handling charge on postage just for them posting it for you!
Anyway, thought I had bagged an absolute bargain here and had 6 pretty rare south American coins- admittedly I didn't look at the photos closely at all before bidding, just chucked in a £20 bid and won.
Coins arrived and well... as you can see they are cheap cheap chinese copies. all weighing at around 18g (real weights supposed to be between 25-30g roughly for these coins) and very magnetic.
These were bought off the saleroom from a reputable auctioneer so please be careful guys! I have protected the anonymity of the auctioneer whilst my case is still pending with them. If they do not resolve it to my satisfaction I will release their details and report them to the trading standards. They seemed to be genuinely surprised and they do not sell a lot of coins typically, however I find it strange that an auction house with supposedly master valuers cannot tell silver from cheap chinese copy....
video-1601712094.mp4

Also received these coins (not fakes!). Nice big lump of early belgian silver in a fantastic grade with with plenty of obverse detail and a 1886 maundy 4d groat. This is not something I collect so I have put it up for auction elsewhere. With a mintage of just 6,785 I have to say I am surprised at how cheap these maundy pieces go! I would have thought more people would collect them! This one has beautiful toning which isnt really captured but has a reddish/ rainbow hue to it and lovely symetrical toning.

Along with many others, I’m sure. The final Beastie. Thanks to @kneehow2018for the Griffin and @richatthecroftfor the Lion. Box also from Kneehow but originally from @AlunI suspect. 

Tat shop finds- nice silver magnifier and one of @GrahamDiamondGrumpy Dave cousins in Brass 😃