Ashwin

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?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder for these - but I think this is a very good release for the first in the series.
Considering most of the regular Queens Beasts gold proofs took a week to sell out usually the fact that the gold proofs have not sold out in 2.5 hours does not concern me.
I would be concerned if I was an eBay flipper trying to cash in on some mad hype, but I'm not.
This series has a great potential for both a financial return on its investment as well as a big tick in the box for collectability which is why I bought them and why I plan to hold them for a good long while.
Who knows, in 5 years we might have series 3, the king's beasts if Queenie isn't with us anymore.
Also, elephant in the room, if Queenie dies before this set is complete then there will be an interesting design decision for the series to change monarch halfway through.
Lots going in this coins favour and if all that is against it is that the design isn't stunning then so be it. 
Remember, the Queen's Beasts had some really not great looking beasts too. Not every coin can be as sexy as the lion or Griffin - but I can guarantee that some of the coins in this series will be.
Just my 2¢ - anyone that has bought and changes their mind can always return to the royal mint too, these coins are different to bullion and can be returned as per consumer rights.

@Robda1986 Your answer to @papabearxxx is ill-considered and plain wrong on a number of points:
If you are going to post a comment about a fellow TSF member, particularly if it is critical, it would be good practice, and courteous, to tag them in to the post.
There is nothing wrong with expressing an opinion about paying more to buy coins which are in stock. This is a matter of personal choice and preference. At least we offer a choice. As you know, our website is perfectly clear, up-front, and transparent. We clearly state whether coins are "In Stock" or "Orderable". We also offer "Pre-Orderable" for new products where we are waiting for release or delivery, or to be notified when the item is back in stock.
I strongly disagree that there are "alot (sic) nicer companies to deal with". Most of our customers think we are very nice to deal with. You then mention three UK dealers by name. Although I agree that ATS are nice to deal with, I disagree with you about the other two. If you really want to know some of the reasons why, I could tell you.
Your comments "I won't touch the company your (sic) thinking about with a barge poll (sic)" and "heck I'd rather take my chance with ebay" are offensive, misleading, and almost certainly defamatory. You clearly intend to cause the O.P. and other readers to think badly about our company, and to cause us reputational damage and loss. Your words carry an innuendo or implication that we are dishonest, unethical, bad, nasty, or that there is some other good reason to avoid us. Your comparison with ebay is odious. While there are some decent sellers and buyers on ebay, the site is rife with crooks, fraudsters, dodgy dealers, misleading descriptions, fakes, and the company itself appears to tolerate all of these, while publishing propaganda to the contrary.
If you had included a link to the 11 page thread "Do i cut my losses?" with 259 replies, which you started in February this year, readers could form their own opinion about my company, and also about you.
For convenience, I include a link here: 
Although you did not name us in you original post, I would have preferred it if you had done so. Others members asked questions, and it became obvious to many who you were referring to. My usual advice is to provide as much information as possible, and if you think someone is doing something bad, then have the courage to name and shame them as appropriate.
I would encourage anyone with time to spare, to read the thread, however I would like to make the following observations, some of which are addressed in the thread, others not:
In your original post, you were not completely truthful or honest when mentioning our e-mail. Perhaps you would care to publish it so readers can see for themselves.
You competely skip over and omit the fact that before you could proceed with the order, you were presented with a big, unmissable pop-up banner, which informed you that the coins were not in stock, and there could be an indefinite delay. We made it impossible to proceed with the deal unless you positively selected one of the choices. you never explained why you ignored the clear warning on the banner, and elected to proceed with the deal. There were also two further alerts before you could complete checkout and make payment. We do this because we do not want anyone deciding to buy from us unless they fully understand and accept the situation, we would prefer they bought elsewhere. 
As stated above, you were not completely honest when mentioning our e-mail.
We also make it clear that bullion deals are not subject to unilateral cancellation. This is standard practice. If this was not so, nobody in their right mind would offer competitive prices on any bullion products or similar purchases.
Most sensible, reasonable, ethical people realise and understand this. You however, presumably because gold prices had dropped slightly, decided you wanted to abort the transaction, renege on our agreement, and agitate for a refund. You also wrote about trying to get a chargeback on your card payment. This is greedy, opportunistic, and unethical behaviour. If gold prices had increased meanwhile, you would quite rightly be annoyed and disappointed if we had unilaterally sought to annul the contract between us. What is right for one party to the transaction is right for the other party. From experience, we are aware that there are a small minority of people with very low ethical standards, who will try to renegotiate deals, dishonestly request chargebacks, abuse social media, including forums like this, leave unfair and unwarranted negative feedback and low scores on review sites, possibly in an attempt to blackmail traders into refunds, compensation, or simply to spite them even though the traders may be blameless, and the real villains are the dishonest and unethical customers.
I believe you eventually sold the coins back to us, which in my opinion was not the most sensible choice. I think you said you bought some from elsewhere, BbP?, who had them in stock. You did not specify what type, date or grade you bought, and what price/premium you paid. It is almost certain that you would have been better off sticking with the original deal. I can tell you that you would have received your coins a month or two ago.
You have the advantage that you use a semi-anonymous avatar, so you can easily post unfair comments without much risk. This anonymity is largely behind much of the cowardly bullying and trolling which occurs on social media. You will notice that I post here, as on other sites, using my own name.
I could demand that you remove your comment, together with any other similar defamatory comments you have made, from this site and elsewhere. As I have quoted and included your response to this thread, this would only be partially effective. I therefore srongly suggest that you add an edit to your original response admitting that you were out-of-order, retracting your insinuations, and apologising for your slurs against Chards. If you do so, it may help to demonstrate that you are not totally irresponsible. If you choose not to do so, everyone can draw their own conclusions.
Meanwhile, I reserve all our rights against you in respect of the defamation.
I have tagged @ChrisSilver in to this post, as I believe he will not wish to see his site used for slanging matches, and quite rightly so, however I believe that it is only right that I take this opportunity to defend our company's , and my own, reputation, against inaccurate comments aimed at causing reputational damage.
 

The 3rd coin in the Magic of Gold (from the Austrian Mint) series is here - Gold of the Incas.
This is my favorite series so far... I love it! 

I take it this person who is not on the forum is planning on going as a tourist not living there? if they live in PH they can probably work out where to sell or buy gold themselves so ill assume we are talking about a visitor?
 Although I am currently back in the UK for Business . I have lived in the Philippines for the last 15 years both in Manila and in Laguna province in the south of Luzon and I am also married to a Filipina. As I have said before on this forum I buy and sell fair amounts of Gold in Asia, Australia and West Africa so feel I can offer some advice.
Firstly I wouldn't generally recommend anyone who doesn't live and or work in PH  trying to sell or buy large amounts of Gold in the Philippines. Other than purchasing Jewellery from a big international Mall in Manila. PH is a country were most people can lay their hands on a firearm very quickly and little respect for the law is shown generally. Street crime is rife and people get shot over a bog standard mugging. let alone a gold deal gone bad!. another piece of advice don't walk around showing off expensive gold chains or even a decent watch on the streets it just marks you out as suitable to mug!
so what type of Gold does this person want to sell / buy?
Coins.
Modern bullion, is almost unavailable legitimately in PH and to my knowledge? there are no main stream bullion dealers even in the Central business district of Makati in Manila. Most people in PH wanting to buy bullion will fly across to Singapore or Hong Kong or buy gold vaulted outside the country.
You do see the odd seller of older silver and possibly Gold? collectable coins and notes issued in PH knocking around on street corners etc occasionally but most of the stuff they are selling will be tat and or fake .
Bars.
The simple advice if somebody offers to sell you a Gold bar in PH it is fake end of. 
There are a lot of fake bars knocking around usually advertised on social media like FB marketplace etc .or maybe offered up to an outsider sitting in a bar etc by a helpful local. I have heard of instances where even local law enforcement officers have been trying to sell off fake bars. Also plenty of the fake gold bars are offered up as lost Japanese loot from WWII which somebody has just found out in the forest, which of course they are not.
Jewellery
Obviously the bigger shopping malls like the Mall of Asia and SM north Edsa in Manila will carry all the big international brands, just as in any other country but the gold is no cheaper than anywhere else and in some cases much more expensive than for instance Thailand. 
Duty Free at Manila Airport. there are a few big brands selling Jewellery at the airport duty free for good prices and you can also access the Duty free shop coming Inbound through Manila airport after passing through immigration, as well as outbound.
There are a few slightly more dodgy small scale jewellery sellers operating from stalls in parts of manila that sell gold at a good price but they tend to be in areas rougher than a badgers ar**  that your average tourist wouldn't usually be in, although somebody living in manila and able to speak Tagalog might be prepared to risk selling to or buying from such sellers?. These sellers flog off second-hand jewellery purchased by overseas Filipino workers brought back home and then sold for cash in PH. Returning locals get heavily taxed on any cash brought back to PH earnt working abroad, hence they will buy and wear lots of gold when coming back home then sell it on to the local dealers. But be aware that these type of sellers will more than likely also be handling locally stolen jewellery.
One decent seller that springs to mind that I have purchased some nice chains from before at good prices is a small stall alongside the post office counter on the second floor of Victory Mall just off of Monumento in Caloocan city Manila.
If selling gold in PH one of these small scale dealers would probably be the best avenue for selling for cash.
On a side note in most malls here there are Silver Jewellers selling superbly made silver Jewellery at very very cheap prices obviously aimed at the local market and this silver is usually very good Quality & value.
Raw Gold.
The Philippines is awash with raw gold mined illegally by all and sundry. it is available In the form of Gold dust, Gold Flakes, Nuggets and amalgamate anywhere there are illegal miners operating in the country, which in short is most provinces.
The average person should not get involved with trying to buy any raw goId in the Philippines. It is mined illegally and it is illegal to export out of the country, The penalties for smuggling it out of the country are very high. The illegal mining in Ph is controlled by organised armed criminal gangs and unless you want to be staring down the wrong end of a loaded gun with no money and no gold don't try and buy any of this stuff as a visitor to PH
regards 
DB
 

Sod the complete 10 coin sets, they suck in comparison to this beauty!
 

Queen's Beasts Silver Proof Set Photos:

Black Bull with Spots

White Greyhound with Spots

Griffin with Globs

Unicorn with Ulcers

Falcon with Flashes
Five substandard out of 5 so far, balance to follow...

Fixed it for them:

“What are Proof coins?
Proof coins from any other Mint are the highest quality commemorative coins. Their sharpness, detail and finish are unrivalled, making them perfect for collectors looking for highest levels of craftsmanship and detail. Here at the Royal Mint, we try but we accept that sometimes we fail.
The dies used to strike our Proof coins are hand-finished by Dave, our prison release apprentice, to ensure that some imperfections are removed. Blanks are forced into the coin press by screwdriver before being struck up to one time, at a lower speed and with less pressure than other finishes, to preserve the finer details of the design, but mainly so that Dave can keep up.
After striking, each coin is briefly inspected for perfections by Sandra in accounts. Sandra can’t wear gloves as she has long glued on nails. Hence the odd finger print. The dies are then cleaned with hair between each coin to ensure that marks and perfections are caused during striking.
As a result of Dave and Sandra’s efforts, no more than 4 Proof coins can be struck within an hour. Proof dies are also regularly damaged to maintain the low quality of the finish. Each Proof die will strike over fifteen coins before it has to be polished with the wire wool. Because of these efforts, we can only guarantee a 68 if you send off for grading. However, if you pay extra for conservation, they should be able to remove Sandra’s finger prints.”

A Fake 1897-L London Mint  Half Sovereign

Obverse
Actually looks worse in the photo than to the naked eye.

Reverse

Niton XRF Analysis

We practiced taking photos and scans many ways over the years, but have found a camera phone, and the S7 is not the latest phone and has nothing special. If you take the photo in the right light and get the coin in focus the amount of pixels available should let you cut the coin out quite adequately. 
I suggest give it a practice and see what you can get, I am all about getting the job done and showing you don't need thousands of pounds or dollars worth of equipment.
Here is another taken on the very same 2016 Samsung S7 edge :

 
 

I logged in yestarday morning to check if “Alice in Wonderland” coin is being released. Not that i was planning to buy one, but out of curiosity to see the design and mintages (and who knows? Maybe i will love the design and buy one 😊).
i saw the queue screen and then the picture of the queen beasts set..
when the waiting was over i was number 300ish in the queue which loaded almost instantly and when i got in the site i couldnt see anything..
so i went to the coffee shop next door and got myself a coffee and while waiting for my coffee i checked on my phone the RM website again and i saw the sets!
i felt the rush going through my veins to my brain. The sets looked amazing and had to have them to finish my QB collection! 
i blew up my bank account again but i managed to grab both silver sets. Gold set was too expensive for me.
When i finished purchaseing both sets i checked in the QB section and was totally suprised to see that the 2oz proof completer was up for sale and they still had some left so i managed to get one of those too.
i was extremely lucky and happy.
cant wait to receive my coins! This is one of the best series worldwide for me! Hope everyone who got one enjoy them and everyone who did not better luck next time .

Yes, max mintage 260, 250 limited sets. Photo attached
@westminstrel asked to see an example, attached, they are incredibly beautiful.
the set is let down by a few having copper spot and two of them being marked, I will be exchanging though. 
I also got the 2oz silver, frankly the mint should be embarrassed. Like others have said, the majority of mine (7coins I think) are milky so going back, tempted to just refund on them