Category Archives: Ebay

A Meeting with History

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I thought I’d managed to sort out the “featured page” problem, but it was still there when I switched on tonight. I think I’ve fixed it now.

I’ve also fixed the small font problem. I must have adjusted it to 50% at some point when I was jabbing viciously and swearing at the slow-loading netbook. It’s now back to full size and I can read it.

This does not, of course, mean that it is worth reading.

Today I put a jital up for sale – a coin I’d never even heard of before.

It’s a small billon coin of Genghis Khan, minted shortly after 1200. Billon is an alloy of copper and silver. The Romans used it. Henry VII also used it, but he used it so that he could use some of the silver for financing his extravagant existence. His tampering with the coinage was so bad that it became known as the Great Debasement.

Meanwhile, I’m still slightly suspicious about the identification of the design as an elephant, It appears to have pointy ears, for one thing…

eBay, Bulldogs and Royal Visits

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I found out about how to unpin the post I mentioned previously. It didn’t take much in the end, I looked at the page as I was getting ready for a new post, saw it was marked “sticky” and prodded a few random buttons until it cleared.

I’m feeling quite tech savvy now,

Today’s main project was writing up a collection of prize medals belonging to a dog breeder who appears to have had a good deal of success in France in 1924 and 1925.

If you want a test of your creative writing skills try writing up a pile of dog prize medals in an attractive yet accurate way. They are lovely medals, but they are a real test of writing skill.

I’m also working on a drop-down menu for Royal Visit medallions. These used to be quite popular before the Great War. These are some of the better ones.

 

Royal Visit to Derby 1906
Royal Visit to Derby 1906

This is for the Royal Visit to Derby in 1906

 

 

Opening of Kew Bridge
Opening of Kew Bridge

 

This is for the opening of Kew Bridge in 1903

A Successful Day

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We did a few parcels.

We bought a lot of stuff in, including a few medals.

I put a few bits on eBay including an enamelled coin, and photographed another ready for Thursday. I’m having a day off tomorrow, though the weather is looking pretty dire.

Enamelled William IV Half-crown 1836

Enamelled William IV Half-crown 1836

Returning home, I found I’d passed my blood test, and don’t have another test until June. (This is more to do with Bank Holidays than the result – they can be very flexible when it suits them. They think I’m too stupid to notice as I’m (a) old and (b) not medically qualified – but I do notice.

Then we did laundry.

Number One Son cooked tea.

I checked eBay. The enamelled coin has sold already.

USA Enammelled Trade Dollar 1873 - sold already!

USA Enammelled Trade Dollar 1873 – sold already!

Interesting day.

Unfortunately I just discovered that I left my camera at work, so no photos today.

(As you can see – I have added photos since writing).

 

My Latest Acquisition

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This came through the post today. It’s nice to know the post is still working, as I am still waiting for a parcel from two weeks ago.

It’s an RAF Eagle made from perspex (or lucite or plexiglass if you prefer). This is typical WW2 work – they didn’t have any perspex in the Great War. Well, I’m fairly sure they didn’t. It was first developed in the nineteenth century but seems to have been commercially available from the 1930s.

Traditionally it’s always said to be from aircraft windows, and it’s true that it is mainly made up in ways that reflect its use by the RAF. Apart from the availability of perspex there was also access to workshops. It’s a myth that “trench art” was made in the trenches. When you examine the facts you’ll see a lot was made after the war and made by people with access to decent tools. And, of course, when you look at eBay, you can see that a lot of it looks like it has been made in the last ten years.

I’ll photograph a few more pieces later.

RAF Eagle Sweetheart WW2

RAF Eagle Sweetheart WW2

A Very Short Post and a Very Long Day

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There was only one parcel to pack this morning. It was one of the postcards I’d put up for sale yesterday. To be honest, it wasn’t our strongest retail performance.

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I then added a selection of boring coins to our eBay shop.

Around 11 am I finished my sandwiches.

Around 1 pm I lost the will to live.

Around 2 pm I woke up and realised I had fallen asleep whilst sitting up with my eyes open.

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Brimstone Butterfly on Coin
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Some days seem longer than others…

An eBay story

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We had someone write to us this morning asking if we knew where his coins were.

Ordered 1st April, enquired on 14th, so he was patient.

It took me fifteen minutes to cross-reference and check his order. According to the Royal Mail site we posted the package on the 2nd April and it was delivered on 3rd – signed for by someone called Cooper, which was not the customer’s name.

I told him that, provided him with the tracking code and twenty minutes later he was back on apologising – seems the parcel was taken in by the post room (he had it sent to work) and they hadn’t told him.

Job done, fifteen minutes wasted.

After that I did parcels, then put up some postcards for sale.

Not very exciting, but demanding enough to prevent me to thinking about more interesting things.

Picturegoer Postcards

Picturegoer Postcards

The Flying Scotsman

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I spent a lot of the day loading a set of Flying Scotsman medallions. They are interesting things – five in silver and one in 9 carat gold. Technically they are three sets, but we’ve put them all together to get them all away at the same time.

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The six medallions

The pads in the box are actually black but the camera sometimes does strange things. And the boxes are square.

The story of the Flying Scotsman is full of interest, with World Records, grand obsessions and a host of sub-plots. If you follow the link in the first line you will get a good idea of the adventures it has had.

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A piece of Flying Scotsman in the middle of a silver medallion – if you read what was replaced in the pre-2016 refit you will appreciate how many spare bits they had.

The gold medal is a very pleasant medal, though it does lack a piece of the original train. A few months ago we had some silver coins with pieces of copper from HMS Victory. It’s not a new idea, somewhere in the house I have a medal cast from the lead of Selby Abbey roof. After the 1906 fire they made the medallions and sold them in aid of the rebuilding. (Readers from the USA may be interested to note the picture of the Washington family coat of arms if they follow this link).

You can also learn a lot about marketing if you study the way these things are sold.

 

Sir Nigel Gresley
Flying Scotsman in current configuration

It was an interesting afternoon. I was tempted to write more about it on eBay, but I’m paid to sell, not to write. It’s here if you want to read more.

A Difficult Day

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There were 21 parcels to pack this morning according to eBay, but in reality there were only 15 because six of the orders had come in on Saturday afternoon and we’d already packed them.

Fifteen is still enough.

When I arrived, via a blood test and McDonald’s, there was a telephone van outside the shop but he drove off as I unlocked. I went in, set everything going, and settled down to do the questions. There were five questions, one of which didn’t merit an answer. I wasn’t able to answer the other four so that was soon done.

Then I listed the items that needed packing, reached for the first one and started to pack. I pressed the button to find the address, and the internet died.

When the boss arrived ten minutes later I was busy switching off, restarting and prodding the reset button with a paperclip. And muttering.

He revealed that there was a telephone engineer outside again. On enquiring about our service, we were told he couldn’t possibly be to blame as he didn’t know which wire was ours.

Neither of us found this terribly convincing as any idiot with a tool box is capable of causing disruption, regardless of knowledge.

We struggled through the next hour using the boss’s phone and an unsecured BT account we found whilst searching.. It was slow and tedious.

Then, as if by magic, the internet returned. We looked out of the door and found that the telephone engineer had gone.

That’s a coincidence isn’t it?

Despite this we managed to get all the parcels packed and despatched. We also managed to serve a rush of customers, who started coming in as soon as the internet flickered back to life. It was almost as if they knew we had things to catch up on.

At least I didn’t have time to be bored.

In the afternoon I got rid of four bags of books, coughed a lot at the dust and got told off by Julia.

It’s been a difficult day.

The picture is a Great Tit in the Mencap Garden. There were several about with nesting material in their beaks when I was down on Friday. As usual, I couldn’t get a decent shot so this one, with no nesting material, will have to do. I’m going to try again tomorrow.

Dullness Personified

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This morning we only had two parcels to do, which didn’t take long. In the afternoon we had four more sales. I suspect some people were bunking off and using the office computer for eBay instead of work.

The rest of the day was taken up with refilling drop down menus (which can be tricky if you let your mind drift), sorting coin covers (as in First Day Covers with coins on, not covers for coins) and drinking coffee.

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It wasn’t the most interesting day I’ve ever had.

As you look at the pictures of First Day Covers, and your eyes glaze over, you may understand my view.

There was a letter from the Anticoagulant Service when I got home – I have passed yesterday’s blood test and as a reward I now have three weeks until the next test.

A busy evening followed, as I began work on my talk for the Numismatic Society.

I’m sure the enthusiasm will wear off soon…

Now I’m off to pick No2 Son up from work – he had a late shift today. It’s misleadingly named as the night shift is, of course, much later.

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I’m not sure how long I can sustain this level of excitement.

I would say “be still, my beating heart”, but considering the dire warnings I keep getting from the Anticoagulant Service this might be tempting fate.

Not the Worst Day I’ve Had

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It’s been a lovely Spring day today, I’m told. I didn’t see much of it until 4.00. It was pleasant enough, but slightly frustrating to have spent the rest of it in a room with no windows.

The day was mainly quiet, as the customers had better things to do. This was unfortunate as it gave the boss time to think about making improvements to the stock control system. There are just three problems – they weren’t improvements, there is no control and we don’t have a system.

One of the jobs I ended up with was adding four items to a pre-existing list. Seemed simple enough but took half an hour and a re-write. I will say no more.

There was a bit of excitement late on when two auctions ended. We had a trench art love token made from an Indian rupee, stamped “Mesopotamia”, “Alice” and “1918”.

 

It’s a bit crude, but I’m not sure I could do any better. I’m sure Alice appreciated it. I hope the maker got home uninjured. Don’t be fooled by the photo, it’s only about an inch and a quarter across in real life.

The other item was a silk handkerchief brought home by a member of the 8th Army. It’s a bit of a relic, and it’s falling apart, but several people obviously appreciated it as a piece of history.

The central arch on the handkerchief is Marble Arch, or the Arch of the Philaeni, a symbol of Italy’s growing power in North Africa. It appears on many photographs from the time and even on a medal. Eventually, it was demolished by the Gaddafi regime in 1973.

It might not have been the best of days I’ve had at work, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. I’ve had days that involved freezing temperatures and tons of poultry manure so a day messing about with a computer is like a luxury spa break to me.