Newish Member From Western Canada

Hi All;

I have been a member since late last year but never introduced myself. I grew up in the UK and moved to Canada as a teen, currently living on the West Coast of Canada. My interest in the hobby began at an early age when my grandfather gave me an UNC UK Sovereign from my birth year. (I still have it...)

Over the years, I have been attracted to larger sized coins and have a number of UK crowns from Poor through FDC and a complete set of Canadian Circulating Dollars (except for SB 1966, the impossible 1911 and an incredibly elusive 1952 Arnprior... does this really exist?) though I have not pursued all of the varieties of coin/medal alignment or multiple HPs.

My interest in bigger coins led me to NCLT where after an inital period of eagerness, I have found myself disappointed in the approach of the various mints in flooding the market with product. Under Queen Elizabeth's reign until 1990, The Royal Mint issued only 7 crowns (5/- & 25p). They issued 6 different crowns in 2014 alone all targeted at collectors. The RCM is no better with high mintages and high bullion value multiples on pricing.

While I really like some of the NCLT issues, I am finding myself drawn back to big circulating coins... Crowns, Double Florins, Canadian Dollars and I have just started looking at Morgans...

I have found the wealth of experience and knowledge on this forum to be vast and the contributors very generous and helpful in adding to the various threads and answering questions.

I am looking forward to continuing to learn and enjoy this forum and possibly even contribute when I feel that I can add value.