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Some (normal size) gold, and some more big silver. Thanks to @goluckystayhappy for the Buffalo, and @Charverdude for the Double Sovereign, the 10oz Brit and the 10oz Lion. (Conflicted about the sov, since the plastic in the card is very poor, especially for photos, but removing it from the card is also wrong. Ah well.)

Central Florida new member.

received my latest chess pieces from @BackyardBullionthis morning, gorgeous and takes me nearer to the halfway point :)and im well pleased at being ahead of schedule sp added pictures of where I am now on the board

Arrived this morning. What a splendid bar, lovely texture and a nice chunky piece of silver. I didn't realise that Silver stacking meant Backyard Bullion Stacking when I started this collecting lark....😁. Thanks as ever to @BackyardBullionand @ChrisSilver and all others (including presumably Mrs BYB) for organising and producing these series of bars and rounds.

All the above advices are very pertinent. But... Facts: 1. You have paid £438 for this coin. 2. Your coin is genuine , having a melting value today of £338 and a guaranteed resale value of £348 (3%premium is acceptable, having in mind box and COA). This sovereign is still looking undamaged in my eyes. 3. The seller is offering you £50 refund, reducing your loss to only £40. If I'd be in your position, I would keep the coin, being my first sovereign for education and sentimental purposes, as a remembrance of my greenhorn mistake, accepting the loss. This loss will be absorbed in next few years by average costs and increasing in spot. For sure will not hurt too much. This coin, being abused already, I would use it for experiments, to see with my eyes and to learn about removing flakes, fingerprints, dirt. I would try light acids from lemons, vinegar, alcohols, acetone, light touches of wet cotton, to see if I can make it looking better. Maybe the result will be outstanding, who knows? If the coin will look much better, I would buy a pre-owned RM capsule from Ebay and this first sovereign from my collection will have already a good story . All the best! Stefan.

2022 Fiji - Jurassic World Dominion 2022 Niue - Sonic the Hedgehog 2022 Germania Beasts – Fenrir

The camera is a mirrorless Canon R5 (its overkill perhaps, but its my new baby!). I'm using a 100mm macro lens stopped down to f16. Its lit with 2 cheap led panels, the one in the left of the pic is the main light pointing at about 45 degrees from the top right of the coin. The light nearest the camera is a fill to reduce some of the shadows. The thing in the middle is an ikea lamp shade. It works like a light tent and softens the light as well as removing reflections. I shoot at a slight angle otherwise the lens will reflect in the ever so shiny coins and you'll get lots of black patches on the raised details. The coin is cut out in Photoshop and put on a white background. For silver coins i like to desaturate a little for a more mono look.

Received this lovely 2013 Queen’s Coronation 60th Anniversary Silver Proof Crown Set today, I already have the Piedfort Set so a nice complementry addition. The Royal Arms Reverse design is by James Butler and in Silver Proof, the Gillick, Machin and Maklouf Obverses look fantastic- less can be said of the Rank- Broadley 4th Portait.

Hi everybody. I'm fairly new to silver collecting and stacking (actually didn't realise that stacking was a thing, if i'm honest). I probably have about 50oz silver, so relatively small time at the moment. I thought that the best way to create a stack would be to collect, for instance, all years of Britannia bullion and then Maple etc etc. but i'm open to good deal if i see one. I'd like to add silver bar at some point, but i find coins more interesting tbh. One question though, whats the general consensus on collectable silver coins, such as the Royal Mint Music Legends or Beatrix Potter? Are they an investment, as they obviosly carry a larger premium. Anyway, i'm looking forward to sitting back later and having a proper read through the posts and maybe even joining in a thread or 2. Hope you all have a prosperous day Dave

I visited the Royal Mint with my eldest and participated in the tour (I pressed the button to strike my BU 50p and everything). It was overall a worthwhile visit (especially as the tickets were gifted to us 😉) and I noted something interesting during our wanderings around the exhibition part after the tour. There was a display with a George III sovereign alongside a young head Victoria sovereign, the title card reading 'metal composition and colour' or something to that effect. The info card invited the viewer to note the colour difference between the two and how one was more yellow golden than the other because of the small difference in silver content between the coins. There was no mention of the composition of modern sovereigns and their lack of silver. When I had asked our very young tour guide (who had memorised her script very well) about silver in modern sovereigns versus the older examples (asked during the tour before I had seen the above ) she replied by saying that she knew what I was on about but that metal composition of Royal Mint coins was "a secret" and that they "don't tell us about that stuff". Interesting? Maybe. Maybe not. As an aside I was taken aback at some of the poor examples used in the displays. I appreciate a coin with a few miles on it but some of them were pretty bad...there was a cartwheel penny that could have been a bronze blank there was so little detail left 🤣 Despite my moaning I thoroughly enjoyed the time there. The buildings could be nicer though, maybe they should ship the old stonework over from London...?

Thanks for sharing. Not just the colour but the quality of the strike also is vastly different. Older sovereigns seeming to have a much higher standard of quality of strike, IMO.

Here's a comparison photo of an 1817 George III, an 1843 Young Head, and an 2017. The 1817 contained about equal amounts of silver and copper at 4.5% which makes it the yellowest of all our sovereigns. The 1843 is slightly less so with about 0.8% silver + copper but still looks good IMO. However the modern 2017 bullion sovereign looks appalling, with what we believe to be 8.33% copper making it rose or red gold. As you can see it is far different in colour from the first sovereign. The RM seems reluctant to tell you exactly what the alloy is, or as you intimated, simply don't know. As long as there is 22 carats of gold what does it matter?!! I could go on but won't...... ! Must get round to doing the tour myself. 🙂

As well as my underwhelming Royal Beasts Proof, i also got this humble 2022 Britannia Proof. I think i may well be a collector of proofs from now on! ☺️

I am from Slovakia and started adding silver to my portfolio this year. I am a total new and mostly interested in 1 oz silver coins for the best prize available

Wonder Woman arrived today to join the boys! Nice to fill the gaps in the series. Reminds me of collecting comic books when I was younger. Might get on the Marvel series 😁

Some more cheap scrap in the pile

Those are remarkably good photos! 😎

I can't remember the year, or the gold weight involved, but about 20 years ago, we did a £250,000 deal with someone from the music and entertainment business. We supplied a mixture of gold sovereigns, bars, and Krugerrands. If I could recall the year, and approximate month, I could work out an estimated gold weight, but: Assuming gold was about £250 per ounce, that would be about 1,000 ounces, worth approximately £1.5 million worth today. It is possible that gold was only £200, or even less, in which case, it might have been 1,200 to 1,250 ounces, worth about £1.8 million today. Someone recently bought about 1.5 tonnes of 1,000 ounce silver bars, for delivery outside the UK, so VAT exempt or zero rated. On other occasions, we have bought 1,000 Krugerrands. Batches of 1,000 sovereigns used to be quite a frequent occurrence, even or especially back in the 1960's. I have only included transaction with private individuals, not trade deals. Whatever you do, don't mention the 44 kilos of gold I once brought "home" as hand luggage. 😎

From the description (Halfmoon, Crown, Carrot) I believe it's a spoon from the German Bremer Silberwarenfabrik AG (BSF). The third mark should be a lying torch. 800 / 1000 silver, Halbmond, Krone, Fackel 800 / 1000 silver, I believe somewhere between 1900 and 1930. Hope this helps, LunarStack

For what it's worth, the photographs are not great but I think the box is genuine and certificate looks good, and the coin could very well be too. Really would only be guessing without better pics or the coin in hand. If weight diameter and thickness are within range,then you are probably OK based on the year of issue( some older ones could be genuine gold but fake sovereigns) You're scales are likely not accurate enough to be honest, so you're only option is to take to a dealer/high end Jewelers for testing.. Honestly if I was in your position, I'd return coin for refund as you didn't receive a 10/10 coin, what you received is a coin that's been handled more times than Jordan's chest, unless the finger prints are your's?? You have 30 days to return, even though you left positive feedback 👀 lesson 1 has been learned 👍 only leave feedback when happy. You're heart will never be in the purchase now so best to get out of the situation whilst you can.

Sovereigns can be had for similar premiums to 1 oz coins, so you get fractional gold that's very liquid for the same cost over spot as a 1 oz. I only ever entertain buying 1/4 or 1/10 oz coins when it's a deal not to be sniffed at, in general the premiums don't warrant it. The same goes for 1/2 oz coins. I would guess at the 1/4 and 1/10 oz coins being popular for people who like to collect a series, make a date run or have a limited budget for stacking so buy small regularly. Regardless of premium it's an accessible price point for such things. A 1/2 oz is that much more gold to pay for. So a 1/2 oz falls into a weird place; too much for incremental stacking or for collectors of certain designs and too high in premium for those hauling weight when compared to 1 oz or sovereign coins. Maybe?

On point advice from the members above. Many of us have been in the boat of buying a coin with insufficient knowledge/research, it's the lessons we learn that are important. You have eBay's purchasing guarantee, I personally would use it. The seller has dropped their guard and offered a partial refund, although this isn't an acknowledgement that they agree with you it may help if you need to involve eBay themselves. Before that I would send a message to the buyer stating it's not as described and would only be worth the same as a bullion sovereign (spot plus a couple of percent), therefore you would like a full refund. This is what I would do personally, your path is your choice obviously. The chance of a proof issue from this period being fake is slim, although anything is possible, so you do have small lump of gold in your hand. It's just not worth the collectible proof premium.

It is really not uncommon to see proof sovereigns in this condition the good news the fogging and the flakes in the fields can be removed or reduced, I have had some very good results with this, can't do anything with the scratches in the fields on both sides of the coin which are the biggest detractor. The back spot looks like a foreign body on the coin. With the light scratches and overall appearance this should have been sold as a sovereign with issues, grade c, something like that, unfortunately it looks like someone charging top dollar for a problematic coin, unless their sight is impaired they know it's a problematic coin. Even £50 refund is not enough if you like the coin then £70-80 is more like it taking the coin from £430 to around £350-£360. You would be be unlikely to even get spot for this £332 at a pawn broker or dealer. Stay away from Ebay mate you will get your finger burnt, also if you are taking the coin out of the capsule to handle, take photo's weight, measure than stay away from proof coins as you are extremely likely to cause damage to your own coin, stick with bullion sovereigns. picture below is removal of flakes and foreign bodies on a proof 1/4oz Krugerrand , can't do anything with contact marks.

Since most of us are always wondering what the next Royal Mint release is going to be, I spent some time scouring the Gazette and came up with this list. It’s not the best and may not be comprehensive, but I will fill in the dates as and when we get information from any of our sources (either share here or PM me if you have inside info but don’t wish to be named; I won’t out you!) If any of the mods wish to update with release dates, that’s fine too. I have tried to exclude the ones that have already been released - but as I don’t follow some of the less popular ones (like Winnie the Pooh) I may have listed some of these. If so, let me know and I will update the post to delete them. ——————————— UPCOMING RELEASES ——————————— 50p range - Kanga and Roo Monday 22 August 2022 at 9 am BST Source: Royal Mint email https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4090073 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4041841 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3945266 Harry Potter DESIGN REVEAL: Thursday, 8 September 2022, at 7 pm GMT Source: Royal Mint (https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/harry-potter) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4083338 2022 Piedfort Sovereign August (Source: Several dealers taking preorders) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4016568 2022 £5 BU Sovereign August (Source: Several dealers taking preorders) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3988969 British Monarchs - Edward VII September (Source: Royal Mint website when series was first announced) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3988967 Tudor Beasts - Bull of Clarence https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4063637 Tudor Beasts - Yale of Beaufort https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4016564 Discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4114737 50p range - 100 Years of BBC https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4090073 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4041841 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3945266 City Views - Rome https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4083339 £2 range - Innovation in Science - Edward Jenner - JRR Tolkien - Flying Scotsman https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4083336 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4041837 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3945268 Myths and Legends - King Arthur https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4063639 The Mayflower / US-UK Special Relation https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4063638 2022 “Yellow Gold” 24 carat Sixpence Source: Speculation based on similar 2021 sixpence (https://www.royalmint.com/gifts/by-occasion/christmas/2021-christmas-six-pence-yellow-gold-proof) 2023 Year of the Rabbit https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4041839 2023 New £1 https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/a-new-1-coin-for-2023-ryi/ 2023 Proof Sovereign No specific gazette entry. ——————————— PAST RELEASES ——————————— British Monarchs - George I Monday, 25 July 2022 (Source: Royal Mint email) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3988967 Alexander Graham Bell Thursday, 28 July 2022 (Source: Royal Mint email) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3892791 Winnie the Pooh - Kanga and Roo Monday, 1 August 2022 (Source: Royal Mint email) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3945266 The Queen’s Reign - Commonwealth of Nations Thursday, 11 August 2022 (Source: Royal Mint email) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4041840

2022 One Kilo Silver Sleepy Koala by Perth Mint in Western Australia I have yet to see the actual coin, but I like the design, although looking at it does make me feel a little drowsy. Has the panda dropped off to sleep, and is it just about to drop off the branch? Either way, I feel like I need a coffee to wake me up! 😎

Yes, indeed. I think some of the answer lies in higher relief or depth of engraving. Also old-fashioned mechanical pantographic reducing machines were, and still possibly are, better than modern laser scanners combined with however the RM engrave modern dies. 😎

I was convinced you got your delivery by mule...

Whether they were overpriced is rather subjective, a matter of opinion. The original purchasers were undoubtedly happy (ish) with the cost price, but typically the secondary market prices for coins like this are much lower than new prices. Just be happy you waited, although you still paid about 2 - 3 times intrinsic value. Definitely don't sit on them. This might damage or discolour the packaging, and may also cause or exacerbate haemorrhoids. They are also unlikely to hatch out into fifty pences! 😎

The coin has been tested by Chards and the results are all within tolerance, thankfully there are no surprises. It's a little bit over spec on gold content and weight, I'll take that as a bonus! Thank you all, especially @LawrenceChard and @GoldDiggerDave, for you assistance and advice.

I see what you did there.. 😂 "Koalas sleep for 22 hours per day. The rest of their time is spent eating and wandering around aimlessly looking for a mate. When they don't find one, they'll eventually give up and go back to sleep." It's hard routine being a fearsome drop bear!

A regular monthly delivery to Blackpool...

Nicely covered above. It is an “impaired” proof (it will always be a proof coin as defined by the strike) and for my money worth spot plus a couple of percent - so bullion value. It might conserve well if sent to someone like @GoldDiggerDave but that more expense and it may not end as you would hope. Send it back would be my advice. Best Dicker

The best of British. A 1775 Guinea

I think it’s based on premiums too. I take from your comment that you prefer a party with four rather than two. 😆 The more the merrier. I think it’s part or mostly the premiums and part psychological buying half of something. I quite like 1/10 oz gold coins, I can still see the date but fear the day is coming soon that I’ll have to put glasses on to see them. I’d rather have a half sovereign instead. I really can’t understand 1/20 oz coins really.

Yep!

Ahoj! (not Hola) Be wary of people welcoming you aboard, as a lot of TSF members have boating accidents. Dávajte si pozor na ľudí, ktorí vás vítajú na palube, pretože veľa členov TSF má na lodi nehody. (If that's wrong, blame Google Translate)! 😎

Although I bet you look more striking that George I, he looks like Richard Nixon in a wig.

Welcome to the forum 👍

Hola

Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride!

Welcome to the forum!

Hi Dave, Welcome to the forum! Already sitting at over a kilo of silver is no mean feat. ''Small time'' or not, that's definitely a symptom of the stackers bug. Good luck kicking that habit General consensus on collectable silver coins is... mainly opinion! In my opinion, the absolute majority of the time they are not worth it as an investment. For every collectable that increases in value, there'll be dozens of examples that dropped against their original RRP at the time of sale. So as in investment probably not. However, if you absolutely love the coin and enjoy it... then it may absolutely be the right buy for you! I'm sure a lot of the UK folks can give you better insights on the RM collectables as that's not a world that I am currently involved in. Few things to often keep in mind when making your purchases (or at least I do) : - Ask yourself why you are buying. Is it for your own collection? Is it with the intent to sell for a profit (investment) or hold for longer term before selling? - Do you know how and where to sell according to your strategy? Do you know how to sell if you were forced to due to life circumstances? Silver and gold are great, but push comes to shove, don't necessarily cover your bills if you'd had to do so urgently. When it comes to stacking, it helped me to put in some boundaries for my purchases to keep aligned with my stacking goal. When it comes to collecting I am more liberal in terms of the prices I pay for coins; I am personally OK with ''over paying'' a few %'s for pieces that I add to my long term collection; I have no intention of selling them anytime soon, so for me that doesn't matter too much. Sometimes I buy coins with the purpose of re-selling or trading in the future. When that's the case, price is important. It can be hard sometimes to make the right calls and I have made plenty of mistakes in that sense. I tend to see that as me paying for a lesson I'd argue that stacking and collecting is quite a personal journey, in the sense that objectives and opportunities are different per person. As long as you are enjoying what you are doing and are able to add to your stack/collection in a debt-free manner, you are (in my opinion) always on the right track. Have a prosperous day yourself! All the best, Alex

It's a valid topic to raise. I have a 1/2 oz krugerrand which I am fond of, but I do feel like in the future I'd prefer to get 2 x 1/4 oz over 1 x 1/2 oz. In terms of premiums I don't think it makes that much of a difference between 1/4 and 1/2. What does make a big difference is the liquidity of the two. I do believe it easier to sell 1/4 oz than it is to sell 1/2 oz. Is probably true. In my native language we have a saying that's something like '' too big for the napkin, too small for the tablecloth '', which I'll liberally translate into ''too expensive for smaller stackers, not interesting enough for bigger stackers''. I'd also say that it's kinda also a supply thing; you'll find series of coins in 1/10 and 1/4 very often, intricate / interesting designs. However, 1/2 usually just comes in the form of bullion or slightly more premium but not extraordinary type series (lunar years, Panda's,), which I presume also limits the interest of collectors in these fractions. That's just my opinion. Be all and end all, it's nice to have at least one of the 1/2 oz's for perspective.

Actually I paid a bit more - £440. but that was for the whole set in 1997!😄 Apologies, I paid £660! - got mixed up with my 1994 Panda set! I should keep better records.

It looks real, just very abused. It's value un-conserved would be reduced to that of its bullion equivalent though so you have over-paid quite considerably at £430. Sounds like the seller knew what he was doing but you still have the right to request a return. If he refuses you can open a case. It may be negatively impacted by the fact you gave feedback but eBay does tend to support the buyer more often. If you do return make sure you send SD and not just recorded.

Could do with some better pictures. Some of the obverse also perhaps? Nothing immediately jumps out at me that is screaming fake. The dark spot on the horses neck looks to be just some of the frosting missing, which isn’t unheard of or particularly suspicious for the Royal Mint. Other positives are that the COA, capsule and box (from what i can see) all look Royal Mint genuine issue for the given year. The coin is as you say clearly tarnished, but this can probably be resolved should you wish. If it was sold as a “10/10 proof” and you’re not happy with its condition you probably ought to think about sending it back, unless you can’t find one for a similar price from another source. Welcome to the forum.

It’s very unusual to find and acquire such a nice example. 1551 Edward VI Sixpence, mm Tun GVF- with an exceptional portrait of the young boy king. This issue is very often plagued with creases and worn. This is the inaugural Sixpence issue, and I’m pleased to add such a nice example into my collection.