coinsandmedals

You can also download her dissertation at the designated University of Birmingham webpage. 

While on the topic, Sue Tungate just published a new book on Matthew Boulton and the Soho Mint. This is no doubt a commercialized version of her dissertation work, but interesting nonetheless. 

3 hours ago, RWB said:

Also check: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/562548

Thank you for the heads up! I was able to download folders 1-6 and the Mitchell-Boulton correspondence with no issues.

20 minutes ago, RWB said:

I completed the last two folders this evening. They should be posted Wednesday.

Thank you for the time and effort! I look forward to reading them. 

Awesome, I’ll find my way to it tonight! 

Your edits certainty made things a bit easier to see. The original images were entirely too small to discern any useful details. Thank you for taking the time to edit the images. When do you think the updated files will be available at NNP? I want to download your enhanced files to replace the older version. 

20 minutes ago, rocket23 said:

yeah for a kia lug nut.....

Well, I didn't expect to see this today! Looking over recent auction archives, I believe your piece likely exceeds the $10,000 cap for the express tier. I imagine you will need to submit this under the “WalkThrough” tier. This will cost $150 +$10 (handling fee) + shipping to and from. That said, if your piece is genuine, it is well worth the ~$200 to get it graded. In so far as the submission form, you need to mark “MS”, not “PF”. I would put a decent declared value on the form as well. In so far as shipping, I would send this USPS registered mail with plenty of insurance (assuming you are in the US). I would genuinely like to see how this process plays out for you, so please follow up once you get it back from NGC. 

1 hour ago, RWB said:

Loon on the NNP. They have thousands of old and "newer" catalogs n their free database.

That was the first placed I looked. I was honestly surprised by the lack of results. 

I know this is a longshot, but does anyone happen to have a copy of the November (8th and 9th) 1968 Colony Coin Co auction catalog? A “Colony Coin Co” still exists in Newtonville Massachusetts, but I am unsure if it is the same company. I have searched online with little luck, and this is a last-ditch effort. I have a couple of coins that have retained their original auction slips, and I was hoping to see if the auctioneer provided any information beyond what I already know. Any assistance would be much appreciated! 

The first two questions are tough to answer. I cannot help but think of the English industrial revolution and the proliferation of token coinage, which became very popular with contemporary collectors. So popular that counterfeiters began producing varieties and concoctions designed to dupe unsuspecting collectors! Monarchs were not the only people driving these markets. Plus, several well-known contemporary collectors of Soho pieces did not sit on the throne, such as Sarah Sophia Banks, the Duke of Portland, Samuel Birchall, and of course James Watt Jr.

I find your last question most intriguing. I think the answer is going to depend on how you operationalize “coin collecting”. Is this activity constricted to the upper echelons, or would collecting from pocket change also count? If the former, I would say no as most people lack the resources to acquire such material. If the latter, then I would argue yes as most people would have little issue setting back change as part of a collection. One needs to look no further than the state quarter or the ATB series to see that in action. Of course, this answer is also based on my observations within WEIRD (Western, European, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) countries. I imagine the answer would change if we considered other countries that do not fall neatly within at least one of the general confines described above. Any serious contemplation of the topic brings to mind many potential confounds that would need to be addressed before the question could be answered in a meaningful way.

32 minutes ago, Hoghead515 said:

Reading into it some more it looks like he was having a very hard time fulfilling his contract with the 300 tons of copper coinage he promised Congress. Also I guess Jarvis never accounted for all the government copper. The author is kinda making him out to be a shady character. He's saying some of that copper may have been used to strike some Connecticut coppers. 

Rightfully so, Jarvis was a sketchy character. In part, the only reason Jarvis secured the contract for the Fugio coppers was because he bribed Colonel William Duer with an obscene amount of money ($10,000 if I remember correctly). Not surprisingly, he was granted the contract, and Duer allowed him access to a large amount of government owned copper to strike the Fugio pieces. Instead, the copper was mostly used to strike the Connecticut copper coinage as it was lighter weight than what was specified for the Fugio pieces, which translated into more profit for Jarvis. that is not to say that he did not strike Fugio coppers. He did, but they were underweight compared to the government's specifications, and the amount received did not account for the full amount of copper provided by the government. I am sure there is much more to the story, but this what I remember off the top of my head. I am confident that @RWB can elaborate further. 

As always, I appreciate the information.

10 minutes ago, RWB said:

Readers should also refer to Dr.Richard Doty's book, The Soho Mint & the Industrialization of Money. (Dr. Doty was the late Curator of Numismatics at the Smithsonian, and a friend.)

This is one of my favorite numismatic reads, and I can not recommend it enough! I rarely have time to read a book for an extended period, but this book demanded my attention. There are many other good books on the subject that I would be happy to recommend; however, none compare to his work. From what I can gather, the book only tells a small portion of what he learned from the Soho archives, so you can only imagine what a conversation with him would have been like! 

10 hours ago, RWB said:

NARA RG-104 Entry 2 "Boulton letters"

I am ashamed to admit that I haven’t had the chance to look this over yet. Communication between the US and Matthew Robinson Boulton continued well after Matthew Boulton’s death in 1809. It will be interesting to see if the file differentiates between the two authors.  

I have not purchased anything from Katz, but I routinely buy from European auction houses, and I have had no issues so far. Shipping times vary widely in normal circumstances, and COVID seems to have introduced even more variation. Some auction houses opt for FedEx overnight deliveries, while others only offer registered international mail. Standard registered international mail is usually estimated to take about 3-4 weeks, but from my experience it is closer to 2-3 weeks once in the system. So long as your package does not get caught up at the ISC in New York, you should be good to go. Oddly enough, most of my international packages have made it to the United States within a few days, but it takes at least a week for them to then make their way through customs and into my mailbox.

I am also having the same issue. 

20 hours ago, RWB said:

...and any good teacher/professor knows how to detect ghost-written material...and also how to assign an "F" to the paper.

Don’t forget the academic misconduct report! This is the least enjoyable part of the job, but it is essential to maintain the university's integrity. I’ve processed some whoppers lately. My favorites are the ones that argue to justify their misconduct. 

On 1/1/2021 at 11:20 AM, MarkFeld said:

To my knowledge, crossover submissions at higher grades than the current grade are not accepted by NGC and PCGS.

This was my understanding as well, but it appears PCGS has started to do so. I take issue with this but that is a topic for another thread. 

34 minutes ago, zadok said:

....custom registry sets, at least from my personal experience, are mostly like the proverbial government mule or forgotten stepchild, seldom visited and even less appreciated.....i know mine are rarely viewed, most of the views are my own....sort of out of sight out of mind....for the most part custom sets are for your own satisfaction and pleasure....they do provide great reference sources if they are well done and well documented....it mostly comes down to subject matter, if its something where there is decent interest you get decent visitation if its a very shallow interest community then shallow visitation and appreciation....

Your point is undoubtedly true, and one of my sets, "Change for a gold pistole?" is an excellent example. It has only garnered 202 views since 8/15/2019. My other set, "Social elitism: As told by the history of English copper 1694-1807" has been viewed 467 times since 8/20/2019, but I am sure the honor it received from NGC last year boosted those numbers. The set in question "What comes next? You've been freed. Do you know how hard it is to lead?" has received a bit more attention with 684 views since 8/15/2019. Of course, there is no telling how many of those "views" are from me clicking on them, so using this as a metric for interest is of little help. Surprisingly several members have reached out to me in the past to comment on one or more of these sets. This is a rare occurrence, but it means a ton when a fellow collector takes the time to share their thoughts. There are some truly exceptional custom sets here worthy of more attention. I wonder if NGC plans to migrate the custom sets to the new registry page in the future, which might bring more attention to them.

Last year I spent a fair amount of time building three custom registry sets with the intent to update the historical write-up in each as I discovered new information. Unfortunately, given the dumpster fire that this year has been, I only found the time to update one of the three sets. Throughout this year, I have gleaned a ton of new knowledge from digital archives, articles, books, and conversations with several more knowledgeable numismatists. I have done my best to condense and incorporate this new information within the set, but there is always something new to learn. This particular registry set is significant to me as it represents the core of my collecting interests, but my primary purpose for building it was for others to enjoy it. With that in mind, I would like to see what others think and solicit suggestions for improvement. I am not fishing for compliments, but I would like to get a feel for what other collectors (both experienced and new) find useful and maybe learn a thing or two from some of the more knowledgeable collectors that frequent this forum. If you have the time and are interested, I would greatly appreciate your input!

Here is the set description:

Although my ambition is to build a complete collection of the Soho Mint pieces, this would be an unrealistic goal. Instead, my goal is to accumulate a representative sample of Soho pieces that depict the height of artistic and scientific ingenuity of the era. In completing this goal, I hope to bring knowledge to those interested by providing detailed pictures and accurate descriptions. A great deal of numismatic history remains to be explored by those unfamiliar, and what better way to learn than by looking at a selection of handpicked specimens?

Here is the link to the set : https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/wcm/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=27859

These are the types of coins and medals currently contained within this set. 

*****If this is against forum rules, I apologize and request that the thread be deleted.*****

Very cool. Thank you for sharing! 

@Just Bob I just found another eBay seller (numisvlora) with multiple counterfeits listed along with well-circulated/damaged genuine coins. The English counterfeits are easy enough to identify (almost comical), but I did not have the time to look through the 9,721 items they have listed. 

Here is the link to their shop: https://www.ebay.com/usr/numisvlora

Here are some item numbers that you can look up:

124484822719

124485664040

274253614980

@Greenstang this one is my personal favorite. It can be yours for $199.75!