DukeSilver

On 15/02/2023 at 22:25, stefffana said:

Yep.

Next goal: do an auction on forum to see the real market value for a semi-natural/semi-artificial toned coin.😊

I could certainly be tempted. But I would be sad to see them go 😢

9 hours ago, Gordy said:

you can get instant deep results with mashed up boiled eggs and you can control how much you want it to colourise as you can literally see it change immediately

I tried using egg whites in a air-tight container once before. Spectacular results (like a kaleidoscope), but it had a definite artificial feel to it. I was keen to see how long it would take to get a more natural-looking result - with a bit of coaxing, of course.

Hello all!

For a while I have been trying to create a patina on a couple of silver QBs - partly because they were already tarnished, but mostly because I have always wanted to try it!

I wanted to avoid cutting corners by using Liver of Sulphur, so thought I would try a semi-natural/semi-artificial method. I did this by wrapping them in highly sulphurous paper and packing material for about 18 months, and regularly changing it every 1-2 months.

Full disclosure: I definitely cheated by 'sulphurizing' the packing material for several days prior to repacking the coins!

I am by no means an expert, but I am rather pleased with the results and thought it would be fun to show them off.

These pictures are taken under low light to show the greatest detail.

First the Dragon:

And here is the Griffin:

Under a more natural light, they have a rather impressive bronze/amber look to them:

In natural sunlight they are quite glorious to look at - almost like they are carved out of wood!

Best wishes to all

Duke

11 hours ago, Skyfiller said:

The way I look at it is 10 quid for 100 sovereigns (30k) not only looks after them, makes it easy to store and I number each capsule so I know what I paid for each one. Good value in my mind. 

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you have a direct link to that particular product on Amazon? I'm guessing you're using the case with the 25mm capsules?

5 hours ago, Richym99 said:

That would work if you are stacking Brits, Krugs or any number of other modern coins that rarely change in mintage or design from year to year. Much of their value is solely in the precious metals. 

Sovereigns are very different. Unless you know the difference in value between, for example, a 1931 Melbourne mint and a 1931 South Africa mint, you could be throwing away thousands when you sell.  As far as intrinsic value is concerned, they are both worth £301, but a good quality Melbourne can fetch upwards of £750 while the SA, identical in every way except for the letters SA may get yoh £400. 

I actually have a 1930 sovereign from the Perth mint, and a 1931 from the SA mint. I never realised they might be collectable. Perhaps I should put those two aside from the rest of my stack.

Thanks for the advice!

This has been an amazing discussion! I have learnt so much - thank you everyone for your thoughts and opinions.

I love this forum 🙂

5 minutes ago, Fadeingstar said:

Now that is a very interesting question. I think one way to look at it would be if you are a potential buyer and you had lets say 2021 sovs at the same price but one looks like it has gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and the other had lived the good life and was minty which would you be more interested in buying? As such there may be more intest in a better looking item however price is also a factor and I don't think keenly priced sov's hang around much on the forum do they?!

When it comes to coin shops/dealer I would expect that they would be paying spot value and so I would assume condition isn't as much of an issue.

That's a great point. I can only imagine the story behind some of the coins I have in my stack, though I try to remain dispassionate when buying/selling.

I guess the real question is how much would I be willing to sell a minty sovereign for when compared to a circulated one?

My thanks to everyone for the insight. A pleasure as always!

1 hour ago, Richym99 said:

I suppose it depends on how much value you assign to the them.

If you consider that, as bullon coins, they are only worth their intrinsic value, then it will matter not what condition they are in. You can put them in a carrier bag and they won't lose their value. After all, you will be selling them as scrap value for melting down.

If, however, you think that some might be worth a little more than the intrinsic value, it is worth separating them out and properly storing them. Just because you are a stacker, not a collector, presumably still means that you want to get the best possible sale price when it does come to liquidating your assets.

Personally, if I had a stash of possibly gVF-EF quality sovereigns, I would be doing everything to maintain that and avoid metal to metal contact.

I suppose that is really what I am trying to gauge here: how much does the rest of the market (i.e. would-be buyers) value unblemished coins vs slightly circulated? And would they necessarily pay premium for them?

Speaking personally, for me it is all about metal content, so grade/quality doesn't really matter - as long as they are in reasonable condition and are recognisable for what they are.

But then, my opinion doesn't really count as I won't be the one buying them.

Based on the responses, it sounds as if the average TSF member probably would place some non-trivial value on the condition of a potential bullion purchase. Does anyone know if coin/bullion shops would likely do the same?

Many thanks

Hello all!

A rather sweeping question I know, but please bear with me...

As some of the good folks on TSF may have noticed, I am a huge fan of sovereigns and I am always on the look out for a good trade. Since joining, I have been fortunate enough to accumulate a good number of 'minty' sovereigns (as Mr @LawrenceChard would call them), all of which are currently stored in plastic capsules. Unfortunately, I am beginning to find the volume taken up by the capsules themselves a little cumbersome compared to the space taken up by the bare coins.

So, my question is: is it really worth storing sovereigns in individual plastic capsules, purely for the sake of keeping them 'minty', compared to storing them in (for example) a Royal Mint sovereign tube and risking a little bit of scuffing? Would there be that much of a difference in potential resale price?

Given the choice, I would much prefer using a sovereign tube, even over individual plastic sleeves, simply for the sake of convenient storage.

Please note: I am referring to ordinary bullion coins here, not BU or proof coins. Plus, I am in no way a collector, just a plain old stacker.

As always, thank you for your time, and I wish you all a good day and good stacking!

Duke

I will say this: the day my Sigma Metalytics machine arrived, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Even though it seems like a huge investment for such a small device (which it is), I take solace in the fact that I can always be confident in my gold and silver purchases.

By the time it catches 2-3 fake sovereigns (so far, not yet) I will consider it to have paid for itself!

Plus, if you look after them, these machines tend to retain their value on the second-hand market.