Kookaburracollector

17 minutes ago, ilovesilverireallydo said:

HGM Angel here  not pristine but happy to have it.

If you ever see another 1896, and it has the Torch engravers mark (not fasces,axe) then buy it...it’s worth double!

@Nick1368 could you go back to bed please 😂 

45 minutes ago, HighlandTiger said:

Well I can't say that this 1/2 sov from eBay wasn't well packaged.

What’s in the blue box?..looks like an open packet of prophylactics!!

Just love that Skanderbeg...a hard coin to find no doubt!

6 hours ago, mopa32100 said:

That's a pretty comprehensive list from @sixgunI've got about half of them and some of the others from the monetary union including 20 lira from the Vatican. At risk of being shunned by other forum members I'd say they were more interesting than Sovereigns 

You won’t get shunned by me for saying what you have said....

2 hours ago, augur said:

Early 20 Bolivares date run

1879-80 Monnaie de Bruxelles, 1886-88 Casa de Moneda Caracas 

Now that is a fine group of coins...and an interesting display of the different colours gold can be...a story for another day I hope 😂..

I thought that was illegal?

Good spot sir, but the reserves are pretty low...If they bid above the reserve then I would be worried...

Anyone in Devon this weekend?..A few LMU coins for sale on Saturday..see lots 256+....

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/michael-j-bowman/catalogue-id-srmicha10047/lot-ecdb0fde-586d-444f-8c6d-aa4d00d5fd90?utm_source=auction-alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=auction-alert&utm_content=lot-image-link

One of the lots..

1 hour ago, Murph said:

A lot of dealers don’t even mention the type let alone the date.  If they have a number in stock they probably won’t appreciate phone calls or emails asking which dates they are. 

Hi @Murph..I know what you are saying..you can feel as though you are being a pest by asking for certain coins/dates, and in my case condition..but don’t forget, they are in the business to sell, so don’t let them put you off..

When I bought my first 20 francs coins (Feb 2018) they were certainly more plentiful, and cheeper. The dealers at that time were really helpful to me..but not always at first!

I called Chards, and asked for photographs of all the roosters they had in stock (different years) and asked for the best ones to be picked out. Lizzie did this for me, and based on excellent photographs, I bought 11 coins from her ..that’s a £2100+ sale!

My next stop was Bullion By Post.. I made the same request of them, and they refused to do it. This is where things got interesting..I had spent a lot of money with them the previous year, so I raised a complaint against the customer service agent. Give them credit, the General Manager called me back to discuss my complaint...as a result of that conversation, the General Manager searched all the coins personally, photographed them and I bought 3 of him the day after. He is someone I can now call directly, and is great to deal with, but I guess this is an exceptional circumstance..over the next 8 months he repeated the process four times, and I bought a further 13 coins from them. They now sell them by individual dates and are too expensive, but for a while it worked great!

ATS Bullion - They do not have the 20 Francs coins in very often, but they are really helpful. They kept an email from me for over six months, then contacted me to advise they had two coins for me...what great service.

Finally, Atkinsons...not great for 20 Francs coins, but they have always been helpful. Elizabeth has always been helpful, and I bought a date run of US Buffalos from them (over about a year) a while ago.

I wouldn’t worry about asking a dealer for what you want, the worst thing that can happen is they say no.

Hope that helps!

19 hours ago, Murph said:

I’m surprised you got them for 6% over spot as most of the coins I looked at on their site started around  10% over spot.  They have always seemed a bit more expensive than most bullion dealers to me.

Hi, just had a look round the main dealers this morning and prices do seem to be high for these. ATS are now at 10% (guess I got lucky, but it was cheeper for buying two). HGM always the cheapest (3% usually) but they don’t have any, and quality can be interesting!. BBP have them but over 20%..ouch! Chards still 25% over spot and sold out! 

If anyone sees these little critters at a good price please PM me...just need 1848, 1887,1889, 1892 and 1894 now! Cheers 🍻.

Third time lucky...!!!

The first 1879 20 francs coin I bought from France,was returned as it was junk grade!

The second 1879.....................I bought from France, is still lost in West Africa!!!

Congratulations 😃 here go to ATS Bullion, who have sourced me one, and an 1871, and they have arrived! (Anchor, not barred anchor)

I think it’s worth giving ATS Bullion a bit of a special mention here....

I have used them in the past, and their customer service has been better than ANY other dealer I have used.

The above two coins only cost about 6% over spot plus postage...for UK buyers that knocks seven bells out of the big dealers over here!

The best bit..I emailed them a ‘coins wanted list’ last year, and they kept it...! I got an email out of the blue asking if I still wanted the coins on the list, as they now have some in stock..what fantastic customer service.

I have now sent a revised list to them and a big thank you 😊.

Its not often I give a free plug to a dealer but on this occasion they deserve it..

https://www.atsbullion.com/

The little red book Monnais Francaises has arrived (unlike my 20 Francs!) and is a very good reference guide. The engraver listing is not as detailed as the one I posted earlier though, so I suspect that page might be from a later edition.

The format of the book after that, is a detailed list of all French coinage in denomination order from 1 centime upwards. The mintages of each coin by year is also provided..see example page below..

For £8.49 including postage from France 🇫🇷 it’s well worth it, if only to have lying around on a coffee table!! 😂 

A little bit of research and light reading for the evenings, with a fine bottle of Bordeaux maybe..

With my Del Boy command of French that shouldn’t be a problem!

I am hoping the book contains details of the French engravers and their marks...I came across a very poor photo on my internet travels the other day, and have a hunch it came from this book.

Depending on how extensive the list of engravers is, it might be my next collecting project...a coin from each engraver after the revolution of 1789!

Still waiting to receive the1879 20 Francs Genie I bought on 1st of March...unfortunately, Colissimo (French post) in there wisdom, appear to have sent it to Abidjan 😞 ..to save you looking it up it’s in THE IVORY COAST!!!!!

The only saving grace is the dealer if currently being very good about it, and did insure the coin 😃

2 minutes ago, ilovesilverireallydo said:

Use the google translate app, it will scan text and translate it for you

I use that facility a lot being a collector of French coins....just thinking about learning it ‘for real’ ..I can get by in Spanish, so am hoping the transition might not be too bad...I will see how the book translates and let you know.

Merci mon ami

@Gildeon I have just (10 minutes ago) ordered a nice little bit of bedtime reading...all I need to do now is learn to read French! If you would like any information out of it let me know..that said...I have bought it with very little knowledge of what it contains 😂 

@Murph Not guilty m’lord!

@TheProspector I only have the 2017 so no other Krugerrand to compare against..This coin does appear to be extremely well manufactured.

8 minutes ago, whuamai said:

I have problems photographing my coins. The quality isn't as good as I want it. I am also using a mobile phone. Thank you for showing that product and the result. I think I will order something similar.

What about the 10 Franc Roosters. Do you consider collecting them also ?

No!..I am ‘Roostered out’!

The angels are a real challenge, so will hopefully take me quite some time to source..i do enjoy the challenge.

My next collecting project might not be numismatic...I might be looking to collect original exhibition posters for a particular artist..

Jean-Michel Basquiat...