Ashwin

Modern Commemorative Coins from Chinese Mints. Arrived just before Christmas. I am diversifying into future potential large markets, like China and India. Can't afford the sought-after ancient / old Chinese coins. Indian ancients are attractive, but it is a closed market, i.e. local laws do not allow anything over 100 years old to leave the country.

Modern Commemorative Coins from Chinese Mints. Arrived just before Christmas. I am diversifying into future potential large markets, like China and India. Can't afford the sought-after ancient / old Chinese coins. Indian ancients are attractive, but it is a closed market, i.e. local laws do not allow anything over 100 years old to leave the country.

Modern Commemorative Coins from Chinese Mints. Arrived just before Christmas. I am diversifying into future potential large markets, like China and India. Can't afford the sought-after ancient / old Chinese coins. Indian ancients are attractive, but it is a closed market, i.e. local laws do not allow anything over 100 years old to leave the country.

I see both sides of the coin ( excuse the pun ) but dont begrudge those who spend big striking it big.
All the big companies play games and create artificial rarities year after year and we keep lining up 🤷‍♂️

so after showing my sister, my previous great engravers coins and showed her the Gothic crown, she fell in love with the design and decided to do aRoyal Mint account and buy one. I told her what she had to do on release date. * Note: She has only few coins (mostly presents from me) to her collection. So she got in the queue and she had very low number and managed to grab a gold coin 😎 . (Yes thats the first coin she bought from Royal Mint 😭). I guess its newbies luck. Anyways , my question is, will she be offered the next gold coin of the set by the mint? Or does she need to contact them? Or is it offered only to mint marquee members?
 

I wish good luck to all the members for tomorrow 
After I have successfully fulfilled my order of course 😃

 
 
 

If I can land another 2oz silver I'll be more than happy. Anything else is a bonus 😉.

Very fast delivery from The Britannia coin company.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3922613
For the obverse impression Our effigy with the inscription “· ELIZABETH II · D · G · REG · F · D · 500 POUNDS ·” and the date of the year, and for the reverse a portrait of Henry VII with the inscription “HENRIC VII DI GRA REX AGL Z”. The coin shall have a grained edge.’

So this seems to be based on the first Sovereign of 1489.  This was what the Henry VII Sovereign of 1489 looked like.

 
Of course the 1989 Sovereign was based on this “enthroned portrait” too, but it depicted QE II on the throne.
I wonder if this means the Royal Mint will be bringing back an entire series of coins based on the old Sovereigns, Angels, Nobles etc. That would be a terrific series to collect and could very well rival the Great Engravers series.
Denominations:
- 5 Oz gold and silver Proof
- 2 Oz gold and silver Proof
- 10 Oz piedfort gold and silver Proof

I just hope they don't go down the same road as the Royal Canadian Mint when it comes to commemoratives. The RCM releases so many different items I think its become hard to take them seriously which is a shame since some of the releases are very, very nice. The Royal Mint with its history really needs to hang on to its image of perceived quality and heritage. It would be a shame to see that reduced to the production of trinket items purely to pad out the balance sheets.
As I'm sure all of us who have bought coins from the RM and sent them back will agree they really need to focus on their quality before anything else. Again I think their history and heritage means they have a good reputation throughout the world however that won't last if people keep having bad experiences.

Anything about them removing the dust from the capsules before putting proofs in them?

Insights into what customers can expect from the Royal Mint in the near future. After listening to the recording, here is my summary and initial impressions. What do you think?
People are using less physical coins, more cashless transactions RM’s circulating currency arm, which was the mainstay of their business, is growing smaller (less profitable) RM is growing/exploring opportunities in other areas, e.g. commemorative coins, visitor/tourist attraction, gold recycling  from e-waste, precious metals. A new offer scheduled to be launched in Dec 2021. RM is committed at preserving the 'Britishness' of their products, while expanding D&I (Diversity & Inclusion) offers and themes (dinosaurs, movies, storybook characters) which attract kids/young collectors Focus on reducing their carbon footprint, increasing use of renewables, optimizing product packaging Anticipate increase in international ventures / tie-ups For me as a newbie coin collector/investor, this is what I think I can expect from RM.
more commemorative coins with varying themes to appeal to a wider customer base. So I have to be more selective in picking potential ‘winners’ eco-packaging will potentially be introduced. Good for the environment, but expect a much simplified 'box' (see example from the Royal Australian Mint) new offers in the RM pipeline, e.g. enhanced collector services, auctions, international collaborations

Insights into what customers can expect from the Royal Mint in the near future. After listening to the recording, here is my summary and initial impressions. What do you think?
People are using less physical coins, more cashless transactions RM’s circulating currency arm, which was the mainstay of their business, is growing smaller (less profitable) RM is growing/exploring opportunities in other areas, e.g. commemorative coins, visitor/tourist attraction, gold recycling  from e-waste, precious metals. A new offer scheduled to be launched in Dec 2021. RM is committed at preserving the 'Britishness' of their products, while expanding D&I (Diversity & Inclusion) offers and themes (dinosaurs, movies, storybook characters) which attract kids/young collectors Focus on reducing their carbon footprint, increasing use of renewables, optimizing product packaging Anticipate increase in international ventures / tie-ups For me as a newbie coin collector/investor, this is what I think I can expect from RM.
more commemorative coins with varying themes to appeal to a wider customer base. So I have to be more selective in picking potential ‘winners’ eco-packaging will potentially be introduced. Good for the environment, but expect a much simplified 'box' (see example from the Royal Australian Mint) new offers in the RM pipeline, e.g. enhanced collector services, auctions, international collaborations

Whilst we are waiting for the Royal Mint to issue the 2021 Gothic Crown, I thought it would be nice to show the 1847 alongside the Alderney. Also gives me an opportunity to very proudly confirm I have finally managed to get a Gothic Crown. Probably just in time before the prices go crazy.
What do you guys think of the effort from Alderney? I think they did well. The only real difference is the alignment and I wonder if the Royal Mint will follow the 1847 or Alderney in that respect?
 

Never had a silver foil, but i think this one is a must have. 35gr fine silver, it's huge and looks really good
 

My goodness that Boromir is worse than Frodo
Dreadful.

It is almost universally agreed that gold sovereigns, together with multiples and fractions would look better yellow by adding some silver to the alloy, rather than the modern coppery red colour created by using only copper in the alloy, and no silver.
I have frequently commented on it, and produced XRF alloy analysis as evidence that there was always silver in older sovereigns, and that the absence of silver, producing red gold coins is a recent (since about 1957) aberration.
There are many threads on TSF which mention this, and also infomation and blog pages on the Chards website.
On Thursday 23rd September, I wrote an e-mail to Anne Jessop and two other members of the Royal Mint management team, stating the case for adding silver, and doing so as early as in the anticipated 2022 Royal Coat of Arms sovereigns.
I was pleasantly surprised to get a response as early as the next day, but it was only from one of the recipients letting me know they had forwarded it to a more appropriate member of their team. Following that, I had been expecting a substantive response shortly afterwards, even if it was to say "no", or "thanks". It has been almost three weeks now, and a thought just occurred to me, that the delay and absence of response may just be because I have hit a proverbial nail on the head, and that they are about to issue yellow gold sovereigns with some silver content, in which case, they would not wish to pre-empt their embargo or announcement. Or perhaps they are mulling over my suggestion...
Any bets?

Early on in my stacking journey the best advise I had was ''know your exit strategy before buying something'' and that is really something to take into consideration. Gold and silver will always sell at a price, the question is only if you are happy with the price for which it sells. So in terms of purchases, if you are planning to hold for a considerable period of time (10+ years I'd say), it really doesn't matter that much what you buy as long as you enjoy it.

Now I've been dabbling a bit in buying silver/gold, and than trading off one of the two in favour of the other. In that regard, the higher liquidity the better, so sticking with popular bullion coins (Brits, Krugs, (half)sov's) is the way to go in my opinion. I've also bought a few  premium / collectable pieces for ''investment' purposes and I found it incredibly hard to shift them when I tried, despite some of these coins being absolutely amazing! But it taught me a good lesson about considering my purchases better. These have now been added to the long term stack and I'll figure out what to do with them in the years to come.

Bottom line really:

1) Know your exit strategy before buying
2) Short term buys - popular coins that are highly liquid
3) Long term buys - basically buy whatever you fancy 
4) Enjoy the hobby either way.

 

I’ve received the first part of my order today.
These coins are absolutely stunning in the hand and the design is amazing. 
Yes it is different from the QB’s but still just as visually powerful, the panthers face almost snarls as you move it in the light. 
 
A final close up inspection is needed but first impressions of owning these are an almost Great Engravers level of joy. 
 

Yeah I've a modest amount I can liquidate tomorrow if needs be but that's all locked away and hardly ever looked at if at all. Personally I need shiny stuff and new interests to keep my enthusiasm going and my taste changes every few years. I try and keep things interesting or what's the actual point of collecting.some things stay some go and a bit gets traded here and there and worst case scenario if the collection is a total flop then what have I actually lost?? A few pound and a bit of time and energy collecting?? We loose money and time every day (unless you are completely self sustainable) but that's life I guess and all part of the each individuals journey. Best wishes.

ok my silver ones haven't arrived yet but the 1oz Gold has... Stunning
 

Grading process can be so long but patience pays off and I am happy with a nice PF 70 QB Griffin
 

 
 
Now joins the Dragon... while waiting for the Completer to come back

 

Limited Series vs Infinity Series (Sovereigns, Chinese Pandas, US Eagles, historic coins, etc.). I was lucky (and cheated) when I snagged the 2021 10-coin QB 1/4oz gold, very unexpectedly. Then further luck with the 1oz Gold QB Completer (icing on the QB cake). I’ve signed up for Tudor Beasts 1oz gold series, in a neat RM case, I hope. Beginning to wonder if ‘selected’ Limited Series are a viable investment option. Worse case (with much luck) I’ll be able to hand down a neat completed wooden box filled with beautiful coins to my children. Sovereigns and historic coins (to me) are a deeply personal relationship, never ending but always loved and admired. Thoughts?

As long as it's not a Tony the tiger effort from a cereal packet (follow the cutting lines to make your own lol) you could infact be on to something. 

Limited Series vs Infinity Series (Sovereigns, Chinese Pandas, US Eagles, historic coins, etc.). I was lucky (and cheated) when I snagged the 2021 10-coin QB 1/4oz gold, very unexpectedly. Then further luck with the 1oz Gold QB Completer (icing on the QB cake). I’ve signed up for Tudor Beasts 1oz gold series, in a neat RM case, I hope. Beginning to wonder if ‘selected’ Limited Series are a viable investment option. Worse case (with much luck) I’ll be able to hand down a neat completed wooden box filled with beautiful coins to my children. Sovereigns and historic coins (to me) are a deeply personal relationship, never ending but always loved and admired. Thoughts?