RDHC

Spot on (no pun intended).

https://www.livemint.com/market/commodities/gold-rates-today-at-life-time-high-after-budget-2023-proposal-buy-or-hold-1167523821837 The Indian market for gold is getting quite excited, and that's a large market. But I would imagine that the main driver of the current rise in price is the expectation of a soft landing for US interest rates.

You might like to compare your coin with its exact 1920 counterpart currently to be found on the MA-Shops website where it is advertised by the highly reputable firm of Kuenker. Looking at the two, it seems to me that the numerals in the date on yours are not quite right and that it lacks the detail found in the inner ear of the guy as shown on the Kuenker coin. There is also an apparent problem in that yours has an 'A' for its mintmark, whereas the other has a 'B', doubtless for Bogota. The only other mint in Colombia that I know of was at Popoyan in the Spanish imperial hey-day. There is a moderately large city called Armenia but it is nowhere near the size of Bogota, so it presumably did not merit its own mint, especially as it is not very far away from the capital. I'm sorry to raise these doubts. I hope I can be proved wrong.

Well, you probably would because it's Harrington and Byrne's latest unmissable offer. Fresh from my door mat, so to speak (and maybe from yours, too) comes an invitation to buy ('Post free', mark you) the 2022 'Queen Elizabeth Memorial Gold Proof Sovereign', which is stated to be 'Sold out at the Mint', for only - wait for it - £1199. They do not burden you with any extra useful information, such as the fact that Chards, for example, will sell you exactly the same coin for £680. Indeed, for not much more than £1199 you could acquire this as a 'Piedfort' sovereign with twice as much gold in it. As H and B say, 'SEND NO MONEY NOW' (or ever?)

Thank you very much for this video. You can't fault the work of these skilled craftsmen, whatever may be said about the other aspects of the Mint.

A few more details that look dodgy. The 'P' for Perth is slightly too much to the left of the hoof above it (our left), compared to the 1923 Perth sovereign shown on the Bullion by Post website, and its font is different, too. And there are suspicious lines outlining the horse's lower body and front legs.

You may well be right, but at best it would be a one-off gain for existing holders of gold, and longer-term, if my belief in the benefits of a free trade and low tax economy are correct (please see my other, recent post on this subject, above), any tax on gold sales or purchases would not be to the ultimate advantage of those that choose to invest in gold. Never mind the bureaucratic burden of having to fill in forms, make VAT returns, etc. for smaller investors, who, even if they don't qualify for VAT now, might well be susceptible in future if the current VAT exemption limit were lowered. And, without wishing to be alarmist, I expect you all know that the levying of VAT is controlled by HMRC, and that HM's Revenue was deliberately beefed up some years ago by splicing HM's Customs onto it, and that Customs Officers have the unique power to enter and search anyone's property without a warrant. (I am led to believe that Customs Officers could, if they wished, with impunity dismantle your car, even down to the smallest component parts of its engine, and, wherever it happened to be, simply leave you to reassemble it piece by piece, as though it were still on the factory floor, with or without the manufacturer's manual to guide you during the process, even if they found nothing illegal during the search/dismantling process.) In other words, personally I would not welcome the return of VAT for gold sales/purchases.

O.K. But any tax - especially if at the fairly high rate of 20% - is likely to make the market in anything more depressed, sluggish, and uncertain. That's the whole logic of free trade. I'm only a historian by training and profession, but, like many others then and since, I am impressed, for example, by the beneficial effects of the reduction in customs duties that was begun by Sir Robert Peel as Prime Minister of the great reforming government of the 1840s. Indeed, Victorian government itself benefited because the overall British economy improved so much that it could pay overall more in tax, even at reduced levels for any particular tax, than hitherto. It's the same argument that is used by many informed commentators to contend that the increasing amounts raised by stamp duty on property sales ultimately have a malign effect on the economy as a whole. Or, to take an example perhaps closer to the hearts of some of us on this forum, what have been the results of Coin Cabinet's imposition of a 6% surcharge on the purchasers at its auctions? I have not closely studied the prices in question, but I have the impression that they have not improved for the vendor. I am of course open to correction on this point.

I don't quite understand this. Surely if gold became subject to, say, 20% VAT on every sale, that would mean that the purchaser would probably require up to 20% off the purchase price - unless he could be certain of an equivalent compensating gain in pretty quick time? Please enlighten me; I'm doubtless being very stupid here.

I don't think that I will lose too much sleep over this chart. You can find a pattern in anything (e.g. tea leaves or chickens' entrails) and try to extrapolate the future from it. I am much more interested in what strikes me as a sober and balanced assessment of what drives the price of gold to be found at forbes.com for 09/09/2022, titled 'what investors miss about the price of gold and where we stand today'. I am not allowed, apparently, to copy and paste the piece, but I expect it can be quite easily found by others. The main argument in it is that there is no simple explanation of what drives the price, there is usually more than one determinant involved, and the price can move in a contrary fashion. Forbes is probably not everyone's favourite, but it does not obviously have an interest one way or the other in the price of gold, and it makes no grand predictions, though it certainly is not a doomsday article. You may find it slightly reassuring.

There is also a piece in today's Daily Telegraph in the 'Questor' investment section that is favourable to gold as a hedge against inflation, especially as interest rates are likely to decline in the months ahead.

I think you are right about the coarse lettering. See a comparison of exactly this bar on fakebullion.com. Also, apparently, the blister is slightly too big all round.

I would be a bit careful if you use push-fit capsules as some are rather sloppy in their fit and could spill the coin, whilst others are a bit too tight, so you strain to open them and overdo it so that, again, the coin could end upon the/a hard floor. Sorry I can't be specific about makes. The screw Mint ones are expensive but excellent.

But where?

Isn't the Royal Mint equally guilty of issuing endless commemoratives of royal and non-royal events for some years now, rather like some countries used to issue endless postage stamps, presumably for profit (e.g. Hungary in the 1950s and 1960s)?

What an extraordinary tale. Fascinating reading. Thank you.

I can't resist quoting this, I 'm afraid, because it seems so apposite: the late 16th century French writer and, in his own modest way, philosopher, Michel de Montaigne wrote in one of his Essays , 'Even on the highest throne in the world, we are still sitting on our own bottom.'

Or some of the rest of us, I'm afraid. (I am slightly older than HM).

I think it may sometimes depend on how difficult it is to acquire a coin with a design (or whatever) that you especially want. For me, the various proof gold Britannias over the last 40 years or so would be a case in point. Starting rather late at this game, I don't think I could have acquired the 2001 and 2005 one ounce examples without shelling out for graded coins; non-graded ones simply were not available. I remain very happy with my acquisitions, both at reasonable prices, one from a dealer (deep cameo 69) and one through this forum (deep cameo 70).

This is doubtless true, but in a thousand years will there be any machines capable of reading them (leaving aside the even more awkward question of whether there will be any humans left to be interested in reading them)?

I hope your son comes out alright, but I'm afraid that for me this collapse is another sign that crypto currencies are built on not much more than thin/hot air. I really don't trust anything intangible. I used to be the archivist to a venerable institution that had ancient estates, in some cases with title deeds on parchment going back to the twelfth or eleventh centuries. These deeds had survived extremely well within oak chests and thick stone walls. So, I'm rather sceptical about all things digital and electronic. By the way, even paper will survive very well so long as it pre-dates the 1860s (roughly), when acid became commonly used to bleach it.

Apparently it was 'Goldilocks' employment figures in the US i.e. enough employment for the good of the economy but not so much as to provoke fears of more inflation and cause the Fed to raise interest rates - for the time being. Probably a brief surge in the price.

Yes, not my favourite either. I agree that the helmet would look better with a hinged visor (never mind the plume), it lacks the trident, and the abstract waves are not entirely convincing. A brave attempt, but the 2001 is considerably more successful as a modern approach (though I know that that year's design is slightly retro i.e. somewhat 'Art Deco', if I have got my period styles correct). My personal favourite is the 2005 proof design with the peaceful, contemplative Britannia (also, dare I say it, apparently rather an attractive lady). Of course the first Philip Nathan, the 1987 Britannia, thankfully still not superseded, is absolutely peerless. But I digress.

I must admit I was thinking of the slopes that end with some kind of ramp!

Entirely agree about Meghan, but I suspect that Philip Nathan, being an artist with obvious taste, would not have considered her, especially for a profile as her nose looks like a ski slope, to my eyes anyway. Good point. I had vaguely wondered about that angle.