Can't PM you as your quota is full.  Can you PM me with address details and I'll post everything off.  Don't worry about postage - I'll take care of that - happy to help another collector.

I don't post very often, and I hope the following does not contravene any forum rules.

Many years ago I corresponded regularly with Ray Dobson, one of the founding members of Nuphil.  This correspondence resulted in an article I wrote for CAB which outlined the origins of Nuphil and listed most, if not all, of their issues.  I have now discontinued collecting, but I still have some of the material that Ray provided as a basis for the article.  I would be happy to pass this on to a collector interested in this company and their issues.  The material comprises photocopies of many of the covers, descriptions of the issues and copies of some of the original Nuphil newsletters in a fairly mixed presentation.  I don't want any reimbursement for this documentation, but I would be grateful if the recipient could meet the postage costs.  These costs shouldn't be too great as the bulk of the material is in A4 format and could probably be posted as a large letter.

I am assuming that a PM would be the way to go, and I guess the first off the rank will get the lot.  Let me know if you are interested.

You're quite right.  On examination, there is no rim differentiation.  So either it is a weaker strike that hasn't pushed the metal out to properly form the rim, or it is a different die.  I seem to recall someone (emu666?) mentioning this bevelled rim with regard to a possible weaker strike on another coin but can't remember which one.

Sorry - should have mentioned that.  They are $2 coins.  However, the text being closer to the rim might just be a slightly off-centre strike and not a different die.  I'll check my other coins and see if this is repeated anywhere.

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I have eight UNC 1999 $2. Six show the text further from the rim and two have closer text.  This is the second example of the closer text that I have.  You can see that it has the same rim configuration as the other closer text coin.  As mentioned before - whether these are from a different die, or whether the variation is caused by the minting process is a moot point.

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These are two of my coins.  The coin with the text closer to the rim appears to have a sloping edge to the rim itself.  Whether this is characteristic of the coins with the closer text or whether it the result of the minting process is uncertain.  It is definitely the rim and not a shadow.

You can say that again.  I am one of those collectors who have just given up.  I will be keeping a single set of all the circulation-only coins in UNC and the rest are going to eBay.  In fact, I have a couple of collections on there already.  The number of issues each year has simply put coin collecting out of the reach of my pocket, and I'm moving on.

Thanks for that - quite depressing!  Must be a very early model in great condition - and with a famous provenance perhaps.  If they're all going to be that price I may have to reassess things.  But I'm hoping that there may be models out there that don't command such a high price - I guess I'll just have to wait and hope for the best.

Not sure whether this is allowed - someone jump on me if I have broken any rules.  However, since this is a non-numismatic area, I am hoping it will be OK.

I am interested in obtaining a Gibson F style mandolin - doesn't matter how old it is as long as it is not in pieces.  However, it must be a Gibson.  I would like to make an exchange for coins.  I have uncirculated collections of all Australian decimal denominations up to 2012 (excluding only the most valuable coins such as the 2000 mule and the 1966 wavy 2).   There may be some other omissions but, should this go any further, I can make a comprehensive list for a prospective 'swapper'.

I am prepared to offer all these collections - ie, 1c to $2 as a straight swap for the right instrument.  The acceptable instrument will need to have a corresponding value to the coins offered. However, I would be happy to negotiate to achieve a deal satisfactory to both seller and buyer. To expand a bit...... Some of the earlier 1c and 2c years are a bit toned, but most are in great shape.  They include UNC 1968 issues.  I also have most if not all of the 5c die variations, all the 20c and 50c issues  (including the 2005 50c from the Heritage PNC and a very nice 50c incuse), the mint-marked dollars up to 2012 - or close to it - as well as the NCLT issues. I have all the $2 coins to date including the coloured and mint-marked issues.  All coins have been taken from rolls or mint sets unless they were only issued into circulation.  And if this was the case, I have tried to acquire the best possible examples.

If anyone is interested in pursuing this further, please send a PM (private message) or reply in this thread.

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, but these orange coins are now on sale at the mint eShop.

Anyone seen these in circulation?  Rang the RAM about the 2015 dated issue of the 2014 coin and they said that it had been put into circulation as of January this year.  I would have thought that many more would have surfaced if this were the case, but all I'm seeing are one or two at inflated prices on eBay.  Either the information is incorrect or it is a very low mintage.  Any ideas?

PM sent

Probably my eyes - it did seem that way from the photos I took.  In any case, the differences make for an interesting collection.  I have still to sight a large/low 1985 or a small/high 1987 - not sure whether these variations even exist.  I did see a mention of the high 1987 some time ago, but no direct evidence to verify it to date.

I have seen that, but I'm still not sure it fully explains the difference in size. If you compare the distance of the spikes from the bottom on the two reverses, and them compare the distance of the spikes from the top, there seems to be a discrepancy.  The difference between the gaps at the top seems to be a lot smaller that the difference between the gaps at the bottom.  Small on left, large on right.

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Thought people might be interested in this.  I've been looking for one of these for two years without success.  They are quite scarce - perhaps even rare - as most were the small echidna reverse.  Finally found one - slabbed and MS67.  I know there are more available as I have spoken to the seller.  It seems he must have slabbed a complete roll of the large echidna reverses as he had others available.  If you're interested in obtaining one, just do a search for PCGS 1984 5c and see what turns up.  Make sure you check that the picture is the actual coin as sometimes a generic image is used.  I have no connection with the seller at all - just wanted to make the information available.

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It's 'Knight'' (Harold M Knight)