Tag Archives: Ebay

A Few Loose Ends

The Queen Elizabeth medallion I used to illustrate yesterday’s post had sold by the time I got to work.

Elizabeth I Souvenir Medallion

This is the magic of eBay.

We had another seven parcels to pack, and, in the morning, a crowd of customers. For the second day in a row we were delayed in our parcel packing by actual people coming into the shop. Though we couldn’t do without eBay customers, it’s always nice to have people to talk to.

In the afternoon the rush subsided and we had time to add a few more medallions to our eBay shop.

The medallion in the Featured Image commemorates Sir Christopher Wren and features part of his memorial inscription around the edge, though the original is in Latin – LECTOR SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE. I’ve always had an uneasy relationship with Latin – I’d like to be good at it, as it’s always been the sign of an accomplished gentleman, but apart from showing off and reading gravestones I’m not sure how much use it is.

Magistrates’ Court Medallion

Magistrates’ Court Medallion – Mansfield

Magistrates’ Court Medallion – Nottingham

The two bronze medallions have a common obverse and two different reverses for the opening of the new magistrates’ courts in Nottingham and Mansfield.

According to the date on them, they are now 23 years old. I remember when they were made. It was quite a big event at the time – new Nottinghamshire commemorative medallions. It’s strange how time passes.

Another 30 Minute Post

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Once again the evening has been squandered with tea and biscuits and curry and poor quality TV. I regret the waste of time, when I have so many things to do, and I hadn’t planned on such a relaxing evening, but it’s been pleasant enough. The only problem is that I have to write a post in 30 minutes before taking Number Two Son to work.

If that seems familiar I can only apologise. I tried to write earlier but couldn’t find the enthusiasm.

Plans for the coming week include finishing the book I’m reading about William Dampier, reviewing a couple of other books and sending some more haibun off. The theory is that if I keep sending them off I will be forced to keep writing and improving. It seems sensible, but time will tell.

I’m also preparing a section of my collection for sale on eBay. It’s the part of my collection that I accumulated because it was cheap or included in lots with things I actually wanted. As such I really ought to call it my “collection” or my accumulation. When I’ve sold it I’m going to use it to buy more things. That’s the nice thing about collecting – you get to buy things for yourself on a constant basis.

It’s the Numismatic Society meeting on Monday. It’s comforting to get out and meet people with the same sorts of personality defects I have. I say “people”, but I mean middle-aged men. There is only one female member that I know of, and very few people under fifty.

And that’s it. Time’s up. I will now fill out the “Categories and Tags” and post for today. Only three days to go…

More of the Same…

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We only had three sales overnight, which was either a disappointment or an opportunity, depending on your view. We used the time to put more items on eBay. I’m gradually working my way through the box of oddments we’ve been building up.

The competition for most fatuous question of the year is hotting up already, but “How much is a Charles Dickens £2 coin worth?” has set the bar fairly high. The clue is in the question. It’s worth £2. That’s how money works.

Charles Dickens

Picture taken from Change Checker, a great resource for information on modern coins.

It seems that the enquirer hadn’t seen one before and, fuelled by newspaper and internet reports, was hoping it would be rare and valuable. The truth is that so many people are looking for “rare” coins that they all get taken out of circulation and nobody ever does see them. However, there were a number on eBay at up to £3,745 so you can’t blame people for thinking they are valuable.

There were 8,190,000 minted, so I’m guessing they aren’t really rare.

I’m sure there will be a couple more contenders before the end of the year.

I’ve been reading The Spring Journey to the Saxon Shore. It’s the pioneering British haibun and it’s very good. It’s now on my “to review” list. First I’m going to read it again. It was £7 from the author but £13.45 from Amazon. Guess where I bought my copy from.

I see we already have three sales on eBay, including something I loaded today. That should keep me occupied for the first half hour.

And now, as midnight draws close, it’s time to go. See you all tomorrow.

Doughnuts and Dad’s Army

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It’s been a positive end to the day, in a number of ways. My finger, for instance, has continued to improve and the pain has gone. It’s still stiff but that’s just the penalty you pay for growing old.

We had a couple of customers in who I have known for years, and it was good to catch up, even though I have seen them both in the last week. Let’s be honest, I was just chatting rather than working.

On the other side of the day, I’ve still done enough of the boring stuff to ensure that I’m seeing coin sets when I close my eyes.

We sold four of them overnight, so it’s paying off.

The rest of the day, I fear, would be very boring if described in detail. We packed parcels, sold coins, bought nothing and ate doughnuts (provided by one of the customers). I don’t mind a boring day if it includes doughnuts.

Finally, as I sit and write, I note that the new editor, whilst having no automatic word count, does allow me to access all my photos. The cynic in me suggests that the previous trouble may well have been linked to the preparations for the “improvements”.

And so, as the day draws to an end, with a couple of interesting rugby results and a classic black and white episode of Dad’s Army, it’s time to reflect on the way that an unpromising start can often lead to better things.

In this case it leads to some archive photos.

Dull Day, Declining…

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The morning was grey and the journey to work was uneventful. There were just three parcels to pack, and I had them done before the others turned up. One modern silver coin, one 1990’s proof set and one modern medallion – hardly the stuff that gets my pulse racing.

Related image

Then I started sorting brass threepenny bits from the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The oldest ones (1953) are only a few years older than I am and the newest (1967) are considerably younger. To make things worse, the dates aren’t very easy to read. We currently have 87 complete year sets and a sorting tray full of coins – apart from 1958. We’re short of them. When making up year sets there’s always at least one year that slows things down.

After that I had a few coins and medallions to list on eBay and that was that.

You know when you have a day that makes your heart sing and makes the whole world look brighter? This was the opposite.

Fortunately it means that tomorrow is likely to be an improvement.

100 Posts 100 Days

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Nose to the grindstone today!

Parcels, putting stuff on eBay, putting more stuff on eBay then packing more parcels. A day of symmetry if nothing else.

Fortunately I’d recharged my soul in advance – sitting in the garden with Julia for 20 minutes before setting off for the shop.

I’m setting myself some 100 day challenges, and the first one is to write 100 posts in 100 days. If I manage that, I may try to write 100 good posts in 100 days. The two things, as I’ve said before, are not necessarily the same thing.

I may post again later, but for now I’ll content myself with making sure I’ve posted today.

Randomness & Remembering

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We had seventeen packages to send before lunch yesterday. One consisted of 200 coins, which needed sorting before packing. It was hard work, particularly when besieged by phonecalls from people with “rare” and “valuable” coins, and a couple of people with “urgent” telephone orders.

It was very tempting, but I behaved in a a cheery and professional manner and nobody was advised to go away and stop bothering me.

Then we went to Sheffield to clear Number Two son’s room. It was hot and traffic on the M1 was slow.

On the way back we stopped at a service station to empty my aging bladder. I treated Julia to a drink and a pastry while we were there, and handed over the equivalent of an hour and a half’s work for two coffees and two lemon tarts. Food for thought…

In the evening I pottered about on the internet. I was doing some research on medals when I found a picture of an avuncular old cove who, with the addition of a beard would very much resemble a whisky-drinking Santa Claus.

Brigadier Peter Young DSO MC

War hero, raconteur, historian, author and founder of the Sealed Knot, it’s Brigadier Peter Young DSO, MC & 2 bars.

The photograph appears several times on the internet so I’m hoping nobody is going to mind me using it.

They don’t make them like him any more.

That led on to the Sealed Knot Book of Remembrance, which, in turn, led to a maudlin half hour of reading and remembering.

I didn’t feel like writing much after that so I turned to writing doggerel for the daily post. I’m trying to become more regular in my habits.

While the Cat is away…

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It was all going so well…

I dropped Julia off at work, parked right outside the shop, found all the stock for eBay parcels on my first attempt and had everything ready for the post by the time Eddie turned up. The Boss was at the York Coin Fair today so I was then able to relax.

I wrote a reply to an email that had arrived overnight, and then kept my fingers crossed. Then I wrote another email, demanding action from someone who was being slow with a parcel.

Finally, I composed a message to KFC in my head. I had to administer a touch of firmness to them earlier in the week after a rather disorganised meal on Sunday. We ordered four things – they were only able to supply one. Not good enough, I told them.

Their, reasonably quick, reply agreed with me, told me that training would be administered and told me they looked forward to seeing me again soon.

Why would I go back soon after the meal I just had (a very different one from the one we had ordered)? The staff were disorganised, the manager was ranting and the bins were overflowing. And it was not as if they were busy. It was a far cry from the last meal I enjoyed there.

After reading their reply, I was left with the distinct impression that they were taking the mickey.

The last laugh is with me, of course. I will stop eating KFC, will save money, lose weight and, in all probability, be better off without them.

As I was savouring my imaginary victory my mobile rang with the reply from the first email. It was a positive reply, which was good.

I then put some things on eBay, served customers, unwillingly stayed an hour late to serve another customer, went back at 7.00 the see another customer (by arrangement – he’s a market trader who needed stock but had been unable to get down sooner).

Now, after refreshment, I’m off to pick up Number Two son from work. It’s cheaper than paying for the bus.

Fun with Stamps

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We get offered a lot of stamps in the shop, and turn most of them down. The stamp market is such that there is no real call for First Day Covers, schoolboy collections or, indeed, most stamps we are offered. We even turned away a Penny Black the other day. As you can see from the link – they printed 68,808,000 of them and many used examples were saved. They were hand cut from unperforated sheets and only ones that have been well cut, with four even margins, are really worth anything. They frequently sell for under £30 on eBay, with several under £20. It’s not much for a cultural icon. (On the other hand, Stanley Gibbons have a nice one for sale at £250,000. Well, I assume it’s nice for quarter of a million.)

Heavily stamped envelope

The ones we buy are the Presentation Packs. We then break them up and use them on parcels. As long as they are priced in decimal currency you can still use them. You can even use the ones priced in 1/2p denominations even though we stopped using the 1/2p coin in 1984.

It can take a while sorting all these stamps and working out the postage, as you can see from the accompanying pictures. It’s good for your mental arithmetic, if nothing else.

Bluebells and Winnie the Pooh

A very orange stamp

The first perforated stamps were Penny Reds. They were originally issued to replace Penny Blacks in 1841, and continued until 1879. In the beginning they needed cutting like the Penny Black but in 1854 they were issued perforated for ease of use.

1854 – we couldn’t run an efficient army nursing service but we could perforate stamps…

Bins, boxes and barbecues

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We only sold four lots over the weekend. Two of them sold on Saturday afternoon, after the Post Office closed, so we packed them before we left. Two sold on Sunday. Then, as we looked at the small pile of post someone bought another lot.

Five parcels.

I think we might have to postpone plans to buy a new box of teabags.

Meanwhile, I just had a phone call from Malta. Apparently the weather was great at East Midland Airport, glorious over France, lovely over the Alps, grey over Italy and murky in Malta.

It’s a lovely evening in Nottingham. Nice and bright and warm and I didn’t need to queue up, sit on an aeroplane or defy nature to get here. I just sat on a chair.

It’s also, according to the photograph Julia just sent, dark in Malta. You’ll have to take my word for it as I’m struggling to download the photo. It seems to have plenty of water and reflected lights in it so I’m sure you’ll love it if I manage to download it.

Julia left me a packet of Mr Kipling Cherry Bakewells. It was waiting for me when I returned home and helped ease the pain of parting. Unfortunately I can’t provide you with a picture of that either. I suppose I ought to be ashamed of myself.

I had ham sandwiches for lunch. I also had ham sandwiches for tea. At the moment I’m debating having ham sandwiches for supper. I like ham sandwiches, and cooking for one keeps the shopping simpler. I’m considering what to buy for tomorrow. If I buy a piece of gammon I can cook it and use it to make ham sandwiches for the next few days.

So far I’ve only used white cobs and Branston pickle. I have multi-seed bread and a choice of mustard or tomato relish available, so I’ve barely scraped the surface of the variety of choices available in the world of ham sandwiches.

I may even consider salad.

If ham sandwiches start to lose their appeal, and I don’t see why they would, I have a reserve stock of cheese.

It’s fairly clear from this that the difference between a normal man and a recluse with a ham fixation is only a few hours. That, I suppose, is why it’s good for men to get married.

Today’s pictures are some I took in the Mencap garden last week. The theme is recycled waste bins, boxes and barbcues. That gives me an idea for a title…

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Life after the Care Farm