2016 Greg McDonald

[autocoupler]

Had a quick look thru yesterday, couldn't see any improvement in the listing of major pre decimal varieties, which is disappointing. Good to get the book though, first one for a few years.

[ausproofs]

I received my book yesterday.

I agree with Auto about the pre decimal coins.

[ausjack]

Don't agree with him AP it will only go to his head :whistle2:  

[Greg McDonald]

Hi Auto,

Here's your big chance.  If you look at page 99 you see the following statement just under the info about the Royal Visit Florin.  It reads

WE WANT TO EXPAND THIS SECTION OF OUR BOOK


With each edition we endeavour to improve established areas of collecting as well as introducing the latest issues and new finds. In the next edition we are planning a complete overhaul of the predecimal silver and bronze series from 1910 to 1964. In particular we want to include information and scans of overdates and die varieties to complement the attention to detail you'll find in the sovereign & half sovereign section. If you wish to patricipate, please contact me on

               >gregmcdonaldpublishing@gmail.com<

[ausproofs]

Don't agree with him AP it will only go to his head :whistle2:  

Good to see you are back mate... obviously temp is going up :yahoo:

Back to the topic, I always try to more and more information about the pre decimal coins.. so any avenue to get my knowledge improved is a good one.

[robbiegal]

Hi Auto,

Here's your big chance.  If you look at page 99 you see the following statement just under the info about the Royal Visit Florin.  It reads

WE WANT TO EXPAND THIS SECTION OF OUR BOOK


With each edition we endeavour to improve established areas of collecting as well as introducing the latest issues and new finds. In the next edition we are planning a complete overhaul of the predecimal silver and bronze series from 1910 to 1964. In particular we want to include information and scans of overdates and die varieties to complement the attention to detail you'll find in the sovereign & half sovereign section. If you wish to patricipate, please contact me on

               >gregmcdonaldpublishing@gmail.com<

It's a pocket guide not an encyclopedia
I fear the books capacity as everyone has their prefered "variety" - those passions are evident here. Variety markets vary considerably too.

I look forward to having my pocket book that i always carry in my handbag to shows, coin shops and when i go interstate. If its gets too big
It wilk be too heavy for a jacket pocket or ladies handbag
Surely the ladies here would agree?

[autocoupler]

Don't agree with him AP it will only go to his head :whistle2:  

Welcome back from hibernation AJ The birds are chirping

Hi Auto,

Here's your big chance.  If you look at page 99 you see the following statement just under the info about the Royal Visit Florin.  It reads

WE WANT TO EXPAND THIS SECTION OF OUR BOOK
              >gregmcdonaldpublishing@gmail.com<

Hi Greg, Must admit I didn't see that, so still a work in progress :good: Happy to help if I can :d_training:

[nealeffendi]

Hi Auto,

Here's your big chance.  If you look at page 99 you see the following statement just under the info about the Royal Visit Florin.  It reads

WE WANT TO EXPAND THIS SECTION OF OUR BOOK


With each edition we endeavour to improve established areas of collecting as well as introducing the latest issues and new finds. In the next edition we are planning a complete overhaul of the predecimal silver and bronze series from 1910 to 1964. In particular we want to include information and scans of overdates and die varieties to complement the attention to detail you'll find in the sovereign & half sovereign section. If you wish to patricipate, please contact me on

               >gregmcdonaldpublishing@gmail.com<

It's a pocket guide not an encyclopedia
I fear the books capacity as everyone has their prefered "variety" - those passions are evident here. Variety markets vary considerably too.

I look forward to having my pocket book that i always carry in my handbag to shows, coin shops and when i go interstate. If its gets too big
It wilk be too heavy for a jacket pocket or ladies handbag
Surely the ladies here would agree?

I agree about it needing to be pocket sized with just the basic info on die pairs and date varieties for the pre decimals. The book will get too big, too heavy and too expensive ($100+) to go beyond that. There are specialized books available such as Briggs for those of us hard core variety collectors and they are impracticable to carry around in our pockets.

[Bigfellani5]

I have 2 issues with varieties.

The first is a variety vs error argument. Imho the book should include varieties such as die pairings and die differences such as wide dates, over dates etc. In other words include characteristics that are present when the first coin is struck with a die. It should avoid errors such as die cracks and filled dies and cuds etc that may appear on a coin at some point after striking occurs because of wear on a die or the die failing or some other cause.

Second, nowhere is there a reliable source of both rarity and value (together) of varieties. The fact that they do not appear in a main stream book pretty well means the average collector (or novice collector) is not aware and therefore does not collect varieties. Upshot of this is if a dealer is not asked for something they won't search for it meaning it is not sold. Many varieties collectors will say the fun is in the searching....correct. Other will say say the fun is in the buying....also correct. I never got asked for 1919 or 1920 dot above the top scroll coins till they appeared in maccas and renniks so I rarely searched for them. Once they appeared in a catalogue a market was created. Same can be said with first and last decimal paper notes.

To me a reliable source of values for varieties is needed to expand the hobby.

Now for a novel idea. 2 books. Book one includes basic info such as basic predecimal, decimal, banknotes....book could be say 100 pages and sells for $20 ( or whatever) and is handbag/ coat pocket friendly.. Then there is the comprehensive catalogue which includes everything targeted at the hard core collector.

Better still make the book into a PDF that I can carry on my phone (so sorry to open the can of worms again).

[ausproofs]

I am with Bigfellani here, only thing I would say is for pre decimals collectors like me, over 80% book is not useful. I am a hard core pre decimal collector. May be more details about the pre dec coins would help me. In saying that I am most probably expecting something Greg's book is not meant to cover. I am not too fussed about the prices (google can help there very easily).

It could well be there are books that goes in to lot more details about pennies and florins. If I find detailed book such as that, I will pay $100++ to get it. Also it doesn't have to be pocket size too.

As always my 1 cent worth...

[Basil]

I have 2 issues with varieties.

....... It should avoid errors such as die cracks and filled dies and cuds etc that may appear on a coin at some point after striking occurs because of wear on a die or the die failing or some other cause.

Second, nowhere is there a reliable source of both rarity and value (together) of varieties. The fact that they do not appear in a main stream book pretty well means the average collector (or novice collector) is not aware and therefore does not collect varieties.

Better still make the book into a PDF that I can carry on my phone (so sorry to open the can of worms again).

Agree 100% with your Post,unless its a major Mint error the die cracks,cuds etc are a novelty only for specialist collectors.

Ín 2017 a Digital copy is needed to carry on a phone or laptop,if Greg doesn't do it some one else will,its only a matter of time.

[nealeffendi]

I am with Bigfellani here, only thing I would say is for pre decimals collectors like me, over 80% book is not useful. I am a hard core pre decimal collector. May be more details about the pre dec coins would help me. In saying that I am most probably expecting something Greg's book is not meant to cover. I am not too fussed about the prices (google can help there very easily).

It could well be there are books that goes in to lot more details about pennies and florins. If I find detailed book such as that, I will pay $100++ to get it. Also it doesn't have to be pocket size too.

As always my 1 cent worth...

If you are hard core pre decimal then Briggs is the best there is. Each volume is $100+. Not taking anything away from Gregs pocketbook as they are 2 different segments of the market and I have both on my shelf. I doubt Greg has the time to cover what Briggs does and even if he did he wouldn't have the necessary access to the thousands of specimens needed for the tome. Even Briggs misses many of the major die cracks and some of the minor date varieties but I understand he is working on an even bigger book (probably cost even more than most collectors can afford so I'll be eating noodles for weeks when those volumes come out).

[ausproofs]

Thanks Neal, as always very helpful.

[trout]

The Vast majority of collectors are Not "Into" errors and varieties and Greg's book covers 99.99% of what they are looking for.
Like Neil said, If you want a detailed book on varieties and errors they are available and to expect all that extra information to be added to Greg"s Pocket book is ridicules.

[autocoupler]

I really don't see what all the fuss is about, who cares about the how's, why's and wherefores? A pocket book is not supposed to carry all the technical and historical detail anyway, and irrespective of whether collectors are inclined towards pre decimal, decimal, banknotes or whatever, if that kind of detail is required we go to the specialist publications to find it.

The fact that our most historically important major varieties don't appear in the listings is evidence enough for why many casual prospective interested collectors would be unaware of their existence. In the case of Australian Pennies, if there is just one entry in the listings for 1921-1922-1924-1927-1929-1930-1931-1942I-1943I-1952A-1953M-1955Y.-1956Y.-1957Y. who would be aware that each of these dates include many of our most rare die combinations?
 
I think it is important that collectors at any point of sourcing material have access to a quick reference guide that encompasses all of our coinage, which I think is what Greg has tried to do. At the moment, any person whether experienced or novice who may be at a coin show for example, would find it difficult to access certain information relating to die combinations for instance, without prior research or knowledge.
 
Ironically, other than what's listed above, a few major varieties already exist in the penny listings, supported by a separate abbreviated information page. For example, pages 74 and 75 of Greg's book provide detail required to identify various mint marks, as well as differentiate the origin of some dies. The listings pages themselves already have mint identifiers included such as H-I-Y-PL-K.G-A. etc.
In order to support the additional major varieties, all that needs to happen is for a minute amount of detail to be added to the supporting information pages, as well as relevant letter codes on the listings page.

If we look at those identified above, it just means another 14 entries, that's not pages by the way, just single lines. But, there's always a but, it may be thought that a few old favorites be also included, even though not strictly major varieties, these may only increase the total extra entries to about 25 lines.
 
Let's keep it simple. :ok: