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All I need to do now is exterminate someone. Pass on my regards to the team. Cake

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http://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/bt-set-to-win-government-contract-to-serve-as-court-bailiff-10049222.html How worrying is this? Who hasn't got/had a bt phone- they have all the addresses!!

No you ain't

Hello CB. You were always one of the best HSBC stalwarts- well done.

Either that or you have a leak. Which is a major problem- so calling 0800 111 999 might be in order.

That reminds me of a woman I knew a very long time ago that complained when someone dug a trench along the road outside her house as it stopped the well she had in her garden- which of course meant that she didn't pay any water rates. It turned out that her "well" was being fed by a leak from the water main that also ran down the road- southwest water then billed her for the water that she had been using and not paying for. Sometimes it's better to keep your gob shut I suppose.

we have had a "token" currency since the reign of George III, when the coins were minted with a precious metal content that was lower than the face value. Hen VIII had a go at that too- in the end his "silver" coins had so much copper in them that it soon wore through. The shillings (testoons) had a full face portrait, and the nose became a copper colour, hence his knickname "old coppernose"

the new generation of fakes sound the same and are the same colour as they are made from the same alloy.

of course it depends on what head the coin has, the latest one terminates in a point that points downward to nearly exactly the bottom of the coin.

I always keep an eye out for fake pounds (I'm a bit of a numismatist) and had noticed that finally someone had started to remove them from circulation. At one time, several years ago, if I had 4 or 5 pound coins in my pocket, one would be fake. The poorer copies are not difficult to spot if you know what you are looking for. the obverse (the face side) is often a bit "soapy" looking, ie the detail isn't quite right. The difference is really quite easy to see when compared with a real coin. They mix up obverse and reverse types, mating the reverse design with the wrong date. However, as these coins have started to disappear, I noticed one in my change that was really rather good. I'm not sure what technology they are now using, but the quality of the dies (the metal "stamps" that make the coin) was very good indeed, resulting in a coin that on the face of it was virtually indistinguishable from the original. However, they still made some of the old mistakes. 1) only coins that are very very worn start to lose the edge milling- the words (decus et tutamen or whatever) are usually very deep. If a coin looks fairly new and has poor edge milling (very faint or uneven), then its likely to be a fake. If words are very faint, again be suspicious. Very often the fakers will go for a "bridge" design coin as the edge design is a couple of wavy lines which is easier to copy- however even these tend to have a poor edge design. 2) real pound coins always have perfect die alignment, meaning that the obverse and reverse line up perfectly. Fake coins don't. hold the coin looking at the queen, with the point of the bust at 6 o'clock. this is the bottom of the coin. rotate the coin in your fingers through 180 degrees with your fingers exactly at the top and bottom. A fake coin will not have a reverse that lines up with the other side, and so the reverse will be on an angle. 3) the size. If you have good eyesight, you will notice that if you compare a real one for a fake, the fake is often, (but not always) ever so slightly bigger. check your pound coins, see if you have a dodgy one in your purse or pocket. don't accept them from shops- and they often get passed out at night in pubs and clubs. where do the profits from making and passing on these coins go? Difficult to say but you can bet your bottom pound coin that its not to a children's ward or hospice bed.

Heavens no! Bah humbug isn't just for Christmas!

B A H H U M B U G!

I hate that song. It's cheerful and happy.

Hello!

Better than I have been.

Hello my love. Keeping well?

Charley. The prodigy.

Just popped my head around the door- great newsletter about credit unions. Thanks! Hello all Crusher.

If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem

Do not try, do. Do or do not. There is no try.

It's a line from the film "the fifth element" I was hoping to stir a cheeky thread of one-liners from assorted sci-if films of the past. But it crashed and burned