Canberra Florins

[trout]

God knows what we may have been doing to our health by rubbing the mercury on with bare fingers!

Especially when you used them to scoff you ill gotten lollies :laugh2:

[robbiegal]

We used to rub pennies and halfpennies with illicitly obtained mercury and pass them off as florins and shillings.
God knows what we may have been doing to our health by rubbing the mercury on with bare fingers! :shok:

does the mercury make the copper turn silver?
i have pulled plenty of silver looking pennies and halfpennies from lots
am i getting poisoned?

apparently the halfpenny when coloured silver could be passed off at the pub as a shilling - king side up on the bar

[Cougar]

Saw this on eBay, an interesting interpretation.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Enamelled-Australia-1927-KGV-One-Florin-Parliament-House-Very-Nice-/272375396580?hash=item3f6ad6b8e4:g:blYAAOSwAPlXhXt3

[trout]

Enamelling coins used to be quite popular and this one has been done rather well.
I just wish that they would use low grade coins for this instead of using coins like this one that would have been a nice example before being enamelled :dash1:

[Basil]

I'll throw this up while things are quiet,a bit puzzled with this grade,NGC MS65,seems to have normal bruising on Crown part of Mace,Bin/Bag marks on Obverse.What am i missing or are PCGS tougher graders?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/232101636259?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[trout]

The coin looks MS65 to me, I have seen PCGS MS66 coins with similar bruising .
Apart from some tiny nicks on the fields of both the obverse and reverse the fields look to be nice and clear, To make MS65 the lustre would have to be rather good.

[Basil]

The coin looks MS65 to me, I have seen PCGS MS66 coins with similar bruising .

OK,i've long given up trying to grade Coins but i have a feeling a few old Coin Dealers would be turning in the grave with the current system.

[trout]

The coin looks MS65 to me, I have seen PCGS MS66 coins with similar bruising .

OK,i've long given up trying to grade Coins but i have a feeling a few old Coin Dealers would be turning in the grave with the current system.

I imagine they would be, Because now selling cleaned and overgraded coins has become too difficult because of the acceptance of TPG graded coins and that they have to now compete with accurately graded coins instead of being able to just put a BS grade on a coin and sell it:good:

[Basil]

There were many genuine honest Dealers out there when i was growing up but most were 80% Stamps with Coins as a sideline.Just a jungle now with the fakes and plastic boxed Coin grades being taken as gospel.

[trout]

I personally don't take the grades on the slabs as "Gospel" I always have a good look at the coin and try to make my own assessment of the coin.
That being said TPG's DO make mistakes But not at the same rate that dealers do with Raw coins.
For myself personally I would take a grade given by NGC/PCGS far more favourably than a grade a coin is given by a dealer :ok:

[Goldseeker]

When these type of coins are graded, is the browning/toning of the coin come into play or not.

I can see that it is a nicely minted coin but that browning toning would turn me off.

[Basil]

I'm not certain with the USA Pro. Graders but the early Oz. ones in the 1990's took all that into account.Black spots,bag/bin/reeding etc. all affected the final grade. I try to stay away from offering opinions on Grades but i've seen a few Slabs on Ebay recently that are puzzling,to me at least.

[trout]

When these type of coins are graded, is the browning/toning of the coin come into play or not.

I can see that it is a nicely minted coin but that browning toning would turn me off.

This is probably why MS67 is the highest grade that has been achieved so far for the Canberra Florins.
As far as the toning goes , These Stirling Silver coins are now nearly 90 years old and unless the coin has been stored in a perfect vacuum they will tone to some extent over the years.
Some collectors don't like toned coins and some do, I happen to be in the "Like it" camp

[Basil]

I liked naturally toned pre-decimal Coins,bit of dirt/muck also adds character IMO,alarm bells ring if a Coin isn't toned esp. Silver.The problem with old Silver is some toning looks like a dogs breakfast and must affect collectability and value,other natural Silver toning looks stunning after decades in storeage and must increase its grading score.

[Unicorn]

Gee I wish I still had my 1927 that I bought off IS Wright in 1988. It was described in the auction as FDC and was blast white. Positively beautiful, unfortunately events in 1992 resulted in it going to a Sydney dealer at a loss (to me) at the time (along with my beautiful 34/35 and unc C & R $20). Ahhh the memories.