Charles Dickens in B&Q

Yep, the title says it all! I found a Charles Darwin 2012 £2 coin in my change in B&Q yesterday and I must say, its is in spectacular condition - I'm not one for over-grading coins, but it is hard to find a flaw on this one even under magnification. I don't collect these coins as a primary collection, but can I recommend savouring the beautiful artwork on some of the modern £2 bimetallic coins and slipping them into a little wallet in a drawer.

The pound coin collection has to be the best way to collect an affordable and easily accomplished set of coins. For £30, one can save the whole history (1 per year) and if you want, break it down into very easily spent change! It allows for an addition in the form of collecting the various alternate designs of the latter coins. A very amateur collection for the inquisitive potential coin collector!

Lord Kitchener 2014 coin

Possibly the most striking of the new 2014 collection from the Royal Mint is the £2 coin featuring Field Marshall Lorn Kitchener. The design is draws inspiration from the iconic "Lord Kitchener wants You" poster that encouraged huge numbers of Britain's young men to join the "New Army".

http://www.royalmint.com/shop/The_100th_Anniversary_of_the_First_World_War_Outbreak_2014_UK_2_pound_Brilliant_Uncirculated_Coin

 I, for one, am looking forward to owning one of these dramatic coins!

Possibly the simplest coin collection ever

Here's an idea for the budding numismatist! Every coin collector must start somewhere and I firmly believe that plucking coins from everyday circulation is the cheapest way to get started. What could be less expensive than picking out the current year's coins from your wallet and your change? If you decide coin collecting is boring after all (more fool you!) then you can just start using them as you would have anyway.

The obvious choice for the UK coin collecting novice these days are the 2011 olympic 50p coins but how about picking these attractive shiny new coins that have probably only seen 1 or 2 hands in their near virgin life? They are definitely more attractive than your run of the mill '92 issues and if properly stored should keep their shine for years. A 2013 collection of all  circulating denominations will cost you the grand total of £3.88 - how about that for a cheap hobby? I bet you will be hooked and branching out to other ranges before you know it!

A mini glut

After my moans earlier in the week, I have managed to find a few more 2013 coins in change today. All bar one of them so far have been 10p coins though. This is probably because the 5 and 10p coins are being replaced with nickel plated steel from this year (like the 'coppers' were a few years ago). I would venture to suggest that some almost uncirculated 2012 coins in 5pand 10p denominations might be worth the amateur coin collector slipping away for posterity - they aren't going to be worth a fortune but they are the last of their kind and it's always nice to keep good examples of such coins.

The mint with no money!

I read an interesting piece on the BBC website this morning where i learnt that ironically, the royal mint does not allow its workers to use coins at work! The article is actually a very well written piece of interest for those mint-afficionados out there including a rarely allowed tour by video around the workings of the mint.

2013 UK coins

I have to say that I am starting to wonder where all the 2013 coins have got to! I am frustrated and embarrassed in equal measures that I have only found ONE 10p coin from the new years issue!

I must admit that in recent weeks, I have been very busy outside of my numismatic world and my change checking habits have been left wanting but I don't understand why there are so few around this year. Does anyone know? I have not seen any of the attractive London Underground £2 coins or the stylish pound coins released in January up here yet. Has anyone found more luck down south or, has the number of coins released just been woeful this year?

Inspiration

Everything out there tell the new coin collector what to collect, how to store it, where to find information on coins and how to look at them.

What everyone forgets to say is: ENJOY YOUR HOBBY!

Today I spent the day looking at fantastic coins like the last ever Queen Ann guinea produced in Edinburgh and a spectacular example of the George II Lima bust guinea at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Taking in the beauty of these coins thoroughly re-invigorated me to look out for my own little pieces of numismatic history. Obviously, I will never own such incredible and historic coins as these but to own your own little lower grade lower value coin of a similar era can provide a great thrill - you can reach out and touch it anytime you want! I'm not sure the curators in Edinburgh would be too pleased if you tried to touch these coins....!

A new numismatist?

I am pleased to discover that the olympic 50p collection is more sought after among the general public than I realised. Over the past 2 weeks, 2 friends have told me they are collecting them too! One of them has never collected coins before in their life but has taken a keen interest in these coins. I really think they are an excellent way for the amateur numismatist to expand their collection as it is unlikely we we will ever see such a diverse collection so easily amassed in british coinage (at least from general circulation) again. It is great fun swapping the duplicates you have with friends and colleagues who have duplicates of ones you need!

On a frustrating note, I must admit that this coin-virgin has a more complete collection of them than I do!

Boring euros and the 'E' word

Well,my opinion on the euro currency coins hasn't changed - what a dull bunch!
On the plus side, I did find my first 2013 coin on my return: a shiny new 10p coin. It really has taken a while this year to see them circulating but hopefully it will be the first in a flurry of new year coins in my change.

I also tried electrolysis on some of my very low grade Victoria and George V pennies. I would never advise anyone does this on coins which are worth anything nor that anyone who does not fully understand the reaction taking place and dangers involved attempts it but it does seem to work! I realise there will be collectors out there pulling their hair out at the roots at my very mention of the 'E' word but I like the effect it had on the low value coins I subjected to it.

A fresh set of coins

This week I will be immersed in the Euro coins rather than Her Majesty's pound sterling. They are probably the most boring set of coins in the numismatic world in my opinion but at least they are different. Its been a barren few weeks of finding new acquisitions both in circulating change and by purchase - I have found no suitable purchases in my budget recently and only a few olympic 50p coins to add to my set. I will let you all know how I get on scanning my Euro change over the coming 10 days!

Scottish Currency

The Scottish independence debate has escalated a bit recently. As a Scot, I am undecided on the best response to the referendum question but as a numismatist, I am intregued by the issue of Scotland's coinage should we become independent (I doubt we will but for the sake of arguement lets continue). It appears that today the chancellor of the exchequer has implied that Scotland would not be able to continue using the pound sterling as we know it - this raises many questions for the numismatist up here. Mainly, what will the new currency be if not the pound? Lets look at the other choices as I see them.

1.  The Euro - as a coin collector, I hope this is not the case and in the current economic climate, my gut feeling is we would not go down this route. We already have plentiful access to euro coins through holidays and from our Irish friends who bring them over - so much so that this would be nothing interesting to us. The Euro coins are spectacularly boring to collect too!
2. The Pound Scots - this is a serious option. It is beyond me to examine the complex issues involving the resurrection of a 300+ year old currency and setting an exchange rate, deciding on debt apportionment etc but it does intregue me. For example, will we have the romantic old names like Bawbee, Hardheads and Pistoles? Will Her Majesty grace the obverse of the coins? What new designs should we have? Would it even be decimal?
3. Dollars - would we even develop a brand new currency and coinage such as a Scottish Dollar and cent structure? In many ways this is the most exciting (and probably least likely!) option. Imagine the scope and potential in this concept!

And on that note, I shall leave you for tonight!

Cupronickel dollars

At the risk of sounding like a jaded and cynical old numismatist, I have to write about a friend who asked me the other day how much their "really old silver dollar coin" was worth. I must admit to being intrigued initially, however, she then informed me that it was "really old, something like 1977 or '78"!

She didn't seem too impressed when I advised her that in slightly worn condition it was probably worth a pound or 2 at best!

I do enjoy passing on my knowledge on such subjects but I must admit that it is always slightly sour pleasure when one has probably disheartened a potential new collector with honesty!

The future of coin collecting in America - a response

One blog I enjoy reading a lot is Dave Harper's 'The Buzz' and I highly recommend you take a look if you haven't found it yet. I must take issue with one paragraph he writes later in his article entitled "New coin age coming". He states that it is certain that the future will not 'be bound by' the collection of coins from circulation.

My experience is that increasingly, in the UK at least (or perhaps just in Scotland!), younger collectors ARE picking up the slightly unusual coins they find in circulation and collecting them - indeed a large part of what I write about involves this hobby. Perhaps things are different across the pond but I believe this is a point that requires more balanced thought!

He is a very knowledgeable man so please read his blogs!

A quiet week

It's been a quiet week for me numismatically. I have been away on business in England this week and had hoped to come across some patterns of Olympic 50p or £2 coins that seem to be rarer in my neck of the woods but alas - no success. I didn't even get a chance to visit any local coin shops - there are some here unlike where I live and work! I'm sure coin shops are a great place for the amateur coin collector to learn but I have yet to visit one!!!

A good week!

It's been a good week! On Wednesday, I found, in good circulated condition £2 coins of both the 'Mary Rose' and the London Olympic Handover! Yesterday, 87 lucky and I'm sure deserving pensioners received the silver Maundy coins from Her Majesty the Queen!

Amateur numismatics - the two sides of the coin

The term "Amateur Coin Collector" is a particularly difficult one to define. As I see it, it refers to those of us who collect coins but neither make a business out of it nor take it too seriously - again not defined but at least a concept!

To me there are two large subgroups of Amateur Coin Collectors. Namely the Investors and the Hobbyists.

The investor is, I'm quite sure, going to be disappointed as often as he is rewarded. The Hobbyist collects purely based on the enjoyment and interest they gain from coins.

Investing in coins is a very respectable activity and has some merits. It is however far too complex for me to write about in depth. The point of this post is to offer some support to the Hobbyist. The Hobbyist is constantly being told by fellow collectors, 'experts', textbooks and catalogues that the only coins they should be collecting are those in certain minimum grades. I disagree with this fervently - if a coin interests you and you want to collect it then it is no business of ANYONE else no matter how experience or condescending they may be whether you collect it or not! It may not fetch much if anything should you wish to sell it, but that's not the point is it!

My advice - collect what you like!

Where do I fit in? Truthfully, I do hope that one day my hard work and expenditure will at least break even should I wish to sell my collection, but I am first and foremost a proud Hobbyist!

Cyprus and the future of physical cash

For years, it has been ostensibly the considered opinion that the future of money lies in the gradual but inevitable march towards electronic and intangible money. Clearly, this is a poor omen for the amateur coin collector who usually begins his hobby career with the gathering, collecting and organising of the coins he finds in his change.

Recent events in Cyprus have raised doubts in my head whether this is quite so inevitable. Let me explain. The cypriot economy is in trouble, they must raise something in the order £5,000,000,000 in the next week or so, otherwise they will not receive the £9,000,000,000 or so in emergency funding to their banks that they so badly need in order to prevent their collapse. Despite an apparent reprieve earlier in the week, it seems again that the depositors in Cyprus' banks are going to have stump up some of their savings to contribute to this sum.

Consequently, savers have been doing their level best to withdraw as much cash as they can and reduce the amount the government can take. Even some large supermarkets are reported to be forced by their suppliers to buy in stock with physical cash - unheard of normally! Cyprus has essentially been rapidly moving towards a cash economy. One is left wondering if this is a blip or an indicator of things to come in the wider European or even world economy. If it is a sign of things to come, then as horrendous as it is for the economy at large, it should at least mean more coins are around again!

The history of money

Just updated my book review page - check it out! The main change is the addition of 'The History of Money' by Jack Weatherford - a great little read!

2013 coins circulating?

When are the 2013 coins arriving in circulation? I know some £2 tube commemarative coins have been circulating 'down south'. But where are the rest and why are there none up here? This time last year we had seen a few of the new steel clad 5 and 10p's already - this year: none!

It's quite a serious issue because for the low budget amateur, the quick plucking of new coins from circulation is one of the greatest thrills! Hopefully there will be some soon!

Coin Collecting Essentials

I've put together a list of the basic equipment I think you need to be a successful, serious, AMATEUR COIN COLLECTOR with the emphasis on amateur! On the right you will find a link to the page of the site, please feel free to write to me with any suggestions or comments: essential supplies.

More on British £5 coins

You may remember that a few weeks ago I posted about a colleague asking me about the value of her inherited £5 coins. Well, today while we were quiet and I was counting the till with another colleague, were counting the till at work, I got talking about the Olympic 50p and Victoria cross commemorative coins in the till then the Brunel £2 coin, about how I find it exciting to find these coins, though not that rare!
I don't know if she was humouring me! But she seemed to be interested - I don't think she had ever really paid attention to the coins in her hand. Next thing she asked me was "I wonder why there aren't £5 coins when there are £2 coins and no £2 notes". Good point I thought - why don't the royal mint issue circulation £5 coins these days?

What really surprised me was that she was actually shocked that there even existed £5 coins! This is not a stupid girl by any means. I have promised to bring some from my collection in to prove to her that they exist! Some of them really are works of art I think like this Henry VIII example. That's why I would recommend them as a great and reasonably affordable way for the amateur coin collector to progress from the coins they find in general circulation but still stay well within their comfort zone! Both Ebay and the Royal Mint website are great for buying these coins in mint condition and as far as I know (I stand to be corrected!) are not subject to counterfeiting on a great scale.

Sacagawea dollars

Why are the Americans not taking to these beautiful coins?!

The United States Mint has been producing some excellent new designs over the past decade or so such as the state quarter series and of course the Sacagawea dollar but for some reason unintelligible to me, the state quarters have been widely collected by, according to the US treasury webiste ~140 million people! Meanwhile, the equally attractive Sacagawea dollar wasn't even minted from 2002-2008 and again last year due to low public acceptance and demand.

Please don't misunderstand me, I like a lot of the state quarter editions too (indeed I have a small and growing collection) but I can't understand why the contemporary dollar coins have been so poorly received?
I'll concede that the first design (up to 2008) wasn't the most spectacular, but since then there have been lovely designs featuring peace pipes, arrows, horses and the lady herself planting a field.

Olympic 50p coins

I bet almost every collector up and down Britain is collecting these fun looking little coins when they find them in their change! What's puzzling me though is the fact that although the numbers of each design minted are broadly similar, there seems to be an abundance of Boccia and Handball coins up here but i have yet to come across any archery or wrestling coins for instance. It's got me wondering if there is a regional plan for where they are distributed? I'll be looking into this and I'll post a blog about it when I have done some more research.

Goal Ball edition

London tube train £2 coins

The new £2 commemorative coins featuring the London underground designs have been available in limited numbers in change to lucky travellers on the tube for about a month now but so far I haven't noticed any this far north!!

I have to say from the Royal Mint photos (below) they are certainly on my desire list!

Designed by Edwina Ellis

Designed by Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby

They are definitely more striking than the other 2013 edition of the £2 coin which commemorates the 350th anniversary of Charles II's first guinea coin. The three coins nicely contrast each other though - the underground editions are much more contemporary in appearance while it would be hard to make a grander looking edition than the photo on the Royal Mint website (below) of the Guinea edition

Designed by Anthony Smith

Consequently, I expect the former two coins will be rapidly taken out of circulation by amateur collectors while the Guinea coin might be less immediately obvious to the novice as it is far less distinctive. I'm certainly planning on collecting the set of 3 though and I think this would be a neat little collection for other amateur collectors to gather from circulation.

Death of the Penny?

The end of the penny??

Once again there seems to be talk of ditching the one penny piece in Britain. This time it has been sparked off by the Canadian mint ceasing production of their equivalent - the 1 cent. It got me thinking: initially, my reaction to this news was downbeat - after all what numismatic good can come of losing a coin type?
After some thought though, I am coming round to the idea for a couple of reasons - firstly, it is hard to think of anything we can actually buy with them. Logically if the point of currency is to make purchases and if it is impossible to buy anything for a coin anymore then it is redundant surely?
Secondly, I thought about the coin - it is pretty boring really! I know it has a long history and has survived many re-coinage programmes for centuries - but these old coins will still be there! The new ones - well, they are pretty unexciting really!
I'm sure this is going to be a controversial opinion and I would be interested to hear YOUR thoughts on it but to me at least, it kind of makes sense!

Trillion Dollar Coin Update

Some weeks ago, I wrote about an idea floated in the US about minting a $1,000,000,000,000 coin - now we know it is not going to happen (for the time being at least!).

Has this story just caused fantasies and dreams about such a unique coin? Or has it taught us anything?

I believe it has reminded us that the economy is not outwith the control of those in power and that debt does not mean the same to large sovereign nations as it does to the populus.

A Relaxing Hobby

If you have had a stressful and relentless day at work, then spending a couple of hours in your study with your coins and looking at them under magnification  can be a great way to forget about your work life and unwind (if your wife lets you get a couple of hours!) I even work with my wife!!

There is something mesmerising and entirely removed about studying your coin collection that I certainly find calming - try it!

British Five Pound Coins

I was asked today for advice by a friend. She wanted to know what to do with her collection of five pound coins (she is not a collector) that were given to her by her grandmother.

My advice to her was to keep them somewhere dry and safe and to keep them separated in the original envelopes they arrived in! Interestingly, unlike most other people who seem to think such coins are worth ludicrous amounts of money, she asked me what they were worth and when I told her she was pleasantly surprised to realise that they are probably worth more than the face value she had assumed that they would fetch!

I think I had an effect on her when talking about her coins and my coins - I even found her looking up Ebay for coins this afternoon!!! Maybe I have helped to inspire someone new to take an interest in coins!

Update on Fake Morgan Dollar

A few days ago I posted about being duped with a very authentic looking Morgan Silver Dollar that when weighed came in at 17% lighter than it should have done! Thankfully I can report that the seller has fully reimbursed me now for the purchase price PLUS postage charges (not the cost to post back to them however). I think I have been fortunate here - probably because the seller themselves had been fooled by the coin too but I do believe it serves a salutary warning to always check the basic parameters of any coins bought on Ebay. Highly collectable and valuable coins like these are more likely to be counterfeited but I always check every coin I buy now as soon as I receive it! Just for reference, a Morgan Dollar coin should weigh 26.73g (although a little less may be ok if very worn) and measure 38.1mm across. Obviously a convincing forgery might match these specifications but the vast majority will weigh 10-20% less if they are fakes as they will be made of a lower silver content alloy.

Modern pound coin collection

One of my collections just now is the series of modern £1 coins. I'm trying to complete it entirely out of circulation coins I come by in change - some of them are quite beautiful really! The Forth Bridge and Millennium Bridge issues are particularly attractive in my book. At 30 coins, it is a nice sized collection plus you can do it quite easily just out of change!

There are a few challenges though - while there are tons of 1983 (over 440 million minted) coins out there, the number of 1986, 1988 (about 7 million minted) and 1995 coins particularly are quite low.

I think this is an excellent way of beginning a collection on a budget - all you are doing is turning £30 in 30 £1 coins - so you can always break the collection up and you haven't lost any money!

Trillion Dollar Coins - Madness or Amazement?

What is the Trillion Dollar coin?

The USA, like most of the western world has a huge government debt. One way to pay it off would be to actually create more money and give it to their debtors! In America, section 'k' of the 'Denominations, specifications, and design of coins' law states :

“The Secretary may mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time”

Normally, to meet debts that are due for payment the government will borrow a bit more as bonds and use these 'loans' to pay off the older ones. The idea here (in very simple terms) is that if the secretary [of the treasury] decided to make a few of these coins, he could in effect just pop them in the government's bank account – this way there is plenty of money in their account and the cheques owed to debtors can be issued and cashed!

What is the downside?

If enough of these coins are introduced to the US economy, there is a worry that inflation will spiral out of control. Most people in the know seem to be of the opinion that as long as the government exercises restraint and only produces enough to get by (not to pay off all government debt) then this won't be too much of a problem as the federal reserve can essentially negate (or sterilise) this influx of currency by cancelling some of its reserves.

What will it look like?

One thing we know is that if such a coin is produced it has to be made of Platinum. As far as I can gather, it would have to have someone's face on it and I have gathered that it has to be someone no longer living (I can't find any cast iron proof for this). The most talked about person to adorn such a coin seems to be Ronald Reagan.

Will it happen?

From an interest point of view – I hope so! In reality, I don't think anyone really knows!

A novel approach to coin collecting!

These Indian children have started collecting coins in a very interesting way!!!
Links to BBC news article

Silver Coins of Britain

One thing I find confusing a lot of people who are new to coin collecting is the subject of Silver Coins. I thought a good idea would be to post a very brief outline of what makes a 'Silver Coin' (British coins at least).

There are a few points to make:

1. No circulation coins produced after 1946 are made of silver at all.
2. From very early (12th century) until 1920, the silver coins were struck in sterling silver (92.5% Ag). The remainder was copper.
3. From 1920 until the removal of silver completely, the 'silver coins' were composed of 50% silver. If you have ever wondered why these coins tended to tarnish slightly brown it is due to the addition of manganese at this time.

Modern 'silver' circulation issue coins ie. 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p AND even £5 coins are made of an alloy (cupro-nickel) which contains no silver at all.

There are still silver coins produced in Britain but most of these are intended from their creation for collectors.  Proof sets are generally made from sterling (92.5%) silver.

Of course, there is the silver Britannia coin (pictured to the right here) which as of 2013 is produced with very fine silver indeed (99.9% Ag) which at 1 troy Oz and today's silver prices is quite a valuable Bullion coin!

Fake Morgan Dollar from Ebay

Unfortunately, I must report that I have been duped on Ebay for the first time over a Morgan Silver Dollar! I must admit I wouldn't have noticed the forgery coin had I not weighed it however. I think this incident proves to me the importance of buying a reliable small digital scale for weighing coins. These can be picked up nowadays for a few pounds and I am certainly glad I purchased one!

A real Morgan dollar coin should weigh 26.73g. If your coin's weight differs from this by more than a gram, I would be very suspicious it is a fake as the official tolerance for a Morgan dollar's weight was 0.097g but bear in mind that worn coins will weigh as much as 0.5-1.0g less than this due to the loss of silver content. The coin I received weighed 22.17g! At 4.56g (17%) lighter, there is no doubt this coin is a fake made of a lower silver-content alloy (especially as it is in 'very good' condition).

I won't post a link to the seller of this coin, as I don't believe they knew themselves and they have offered to refund the purchase price on return of the coin. I will be posting their link if things don't work out like this however!!

The moral of this story, I think is caveat emptor (buyer beware) with Ebay coins. It also proves the value of a good digital scale to weigh your coins on as soon as you receive them.

Experiences of Ebay Coin Buying

Experiences of buying coins on Ebay

We all know Ebay and for those of us (like myself) without a local coin shop, online purchasing becomes almost compulsory for all but the simples collections from your pocket change. Ebay is certainly the biggest and widest ranging source of coins on the web. But should we use it? I have put together a list of bullet point for and against buying coins on ebay based on my own personal experience.

For

 1.       Unrivalled number of coins for sale

-          I find that at any one time there are usually between 100,000 and 200,000 listings on ebay.co.uk alone! Remember, many of these contain more than one coin each!

2.       Buyer protection

-          Ebay provides a degree of protection to buyers who are treated unfairly. I have only had to test this once so far and found it to be fairly robust.

-          Pay with PayPal and there is even more security and protection

3.       Global availability

-          Ebay certainly does open up the world to you as anyone with a computer and internet connection can add an item for sale. This potentially allows you to obtain interesting and exotic coins from place you may otherwise struggle to find.

4.       Bargains

-          Granted there are less amazing bargains out there than I anticipated (probably because there are a lot of very knowledgeable numismatists out there!) but once in a while I find a coin that has slipped through the net of eagle eyed ebay watchers!

Against

1.       Fakes

-        Unfortunately there seem to be a worrying number of forgeries out there on Ebay. There is no fool proof way to avoid them really but you can take some steps to reduce the likelihood of being duped and again Ebay does offer some degree of protection.

2.       It’s all digital!

-          The technology that allows us to physically touch things through our PC monitors has yet to be developed! There is no substitute for feeling and seeing ‘in person’ the coin you are thinking of purchasing. Without this you cannot inspect under magnification, weigh or measure the coin. I’m sure if we could, there would be a lot less forgeries on Ebay!

3.       Global availability

-          Being global isn’t all good! I have seen a fair few coins that even to my amateur eye are clearly fakes on Ebay. I have to concur with a lot of other websites’ opinions that the majority appear to originate in China – for this reason, I tend to restrict my browsing to EU or US only.

4.       Postage costs

-          Particularly for small inexpensive lots, the p&p charges add substantially to the overall cost. One way round this is to find a seller who has listed a number of lots that interest you and enquire about combined post and packing charges. Often they are able to send 6 coins for the same or similar cost as 1!

EU "Cookie Law'

Hi, you will see cookie policy pop up in the bottom left of your screen when you click onto this site for the first time - this is because of the new EU 'Cookie Law'! Being in the UK, we have to have such a warning these days even for Google Analytics!

Introduction

One of the main reasons for this blog is that most of the information out there about starting to collect coins seems to be aimed at the American collector. I do collect some US coins too but being based in the UK (and an area without any nearby coin shops), I have found a lot of the advice and information to be less helpful.

Hopefully some of my experiences will be of help to other people.

I will add more to the site over the next few days but in the mean time please have a look at the links I have included on this blog - they are all sites I personally find very useful.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog!