stataman

Proof coins if bought at the right price are quite a good way to protect yourself should the price of gold/silver drop. They tend to hold their value as they have lower mintages and are collectibles. But you have to sell them privately to get the premiums you would expect/want. Bullion gold is good for quick liquidation with a dealer.

Proof coins if bought at the right price are quite a good way to protect yourself should the price of gold/silver drop. They tend to hold their value as they have lower mintages and are collectibles. But you have to sell them privately to get the premiums you would expect/want. Bullion gold is good for quick liquidation with a dealer.

Proof coins if bought at the right price are quite a good way to protect yourself should the price of gold/silver drop. They tend to hold their value as they have lower mintages and are collectibles. But you have to sell them privately to get the premiums you would expect/want. Bullion gold is good for quick liquidation with a dealer.

1884M in UNC grade

Sure, but it will affect supply chains.
😎

The prices may go up, but they can still be bought anywhere else in the world once sold by the Russians.. to India or China…

@RDHC I use an ultrasonic tank for the 1/2 sovereign and a few other process I’m working to perfect the process.  I can only presume it’s very similar to the conservation process the grading companies use. 
 
I’ll doing a my very toned silver proof £1 set soon I’ll pop up a few pictures. 

Also have a proof sovereign with finger prints so wi be removing that soon. 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Just some before and after pictures,  did this 1/2 1913 today,  it's revealed a few copper spots that I will remove and show you the results if it's successful .
The coin still has a decent amount of original lustre. 
 

Why are there hairs there? Looks like the grader used the coin as a mirror to shave his beard 😄

Gold is classed as Chemically inert which means that this won't happen to the gold, however sovereign's for example are 22/24 parts gold ,so the other 2/24 parts can react,
which is why you sometimes see small red patches on gold coins, which is a reaction with these 2 parts per 24.Redness is more than likely Copper.
The Silver reacts more readily when in contact with other elements, so the reaction with the Sulphur in the rubber band is more extreme.
 
                   2AG  (Silver) +  S  (Sulphur) = Ag2S 
 
The Ag2s(Silver Sulphide)is black which is more noticeable, however this can be reversed with something that is more hungry for the Sulphur,
which is Aluminium, so to reverse, with foil gives you a reaction,
                     3 Ag2S  (Silver Sulphide) 
  +
  2 Al  (Aluminium)
   =
     6 Ag  (Silver)
  +
Al2s3  (Aluminium Sulphide)
The bicarb being the catalyst, plus salt and water to create the ion exchange, however if it is not rinsed off properly, can leave a residue that looks like milk spots.
Milk spots are different,(this is what I think happens, mostly likely just a total load of _____)
When blanks, have not been cleaned before minting, the cleanser dries on the surface, and once the coin has been minted, this is then bonded to the first few layers of the
Silver at a Molecular level through pressure and heat,
which means that it has now become part of the surface and the coin itself, so to remove this the only way is to damage these layers of the coin. 
Both these problems could be easily avoided by NGC and the Mints by just taking a little more care when examining/producing coins.        
                          

Had my first experience of shoddy Royal Mail service and shocking 'tactics' today. I guess it's something I should be on the guard for more and more?
According to the tracking info, I "refused delivery".  And they had proof.  My signature.
 

Looks absolutely legit. Nothing to worry about here. That's how I've been signing my name for years.
There's not even a single '9' in that signature... never mind four of 'em!
😡

Why are there hairs there? Looks like the grader used the coin as a mirror to shave his beard 😄

Why are there hairs there? Looks like the grader used the coin as a mirror to shave his beard 😄

Is it possibly a Royal Mint quality control issue? The metal seems to be reacting with something whereas in the past it never did. After all it doesn't seem to be reported to be happening with other silver coins??

Is it possibly a Royal Mint quality control issue? The metal seems to be reacting with something whereas in the past it never did. After all it doesn't seem to be reported to be happening with other silver coins??

Why are there hairs there? Looks like the grader used the coin as a mirror to shave his beard 😄

Why are there hairs there? Looks like the grader used the coin as a mirror to shave his beard 😄

Always send Fedex or UPS for higher value international parcels. Royal Mail special delivery good for UK.

Topically, the manual includes the following warning on the last page:
Use with caution:
It is not our recommendation or intention for the Precious Metal Verifier (PMV) to be the sole means for identification of counterfeit coins and bars. Our measurement of a material’s electrical characteristic (resistivity or conductivity) is necessary, but not by itself sufficient for such a purpose.
We recommend that you check the item being measured against its specified weight, and size along with the resistivity measurement. You should use your normal visual checks of the material as well.
Other materials have the same resistivity as pure gold, and as such can look like gold on the PMV. These materials will be less dense than gold, so they will be larger or weigh less than the specified value. If you check material that looks good on the PMV, but has the wrong weight or dimensions, then you should not accept the material as consistent with the correct metal.
Do not try to use the PMV to determine what a material is. The PMV will only provide the electrical characteristic (resistivity or conductivity) of the metal, not the atomic structure. Correct use is to have an expectation of the material type (gold, silver, platinum, etc.), and alloy content (22K, coin silver, sterling, .999 pure, etc.), and to verify that the material being tested is consistent with your expectation.
Used in this way, the PMV is a great asset in avoiding counterfeit products.
 
And another interesting bit from the technical white paper:
The PMV tests a metals resistivity. Gold has a higher resistivity than copper, but lower than zinc or tin. So, unlike silver, there are combinations of alloys that can have the same resistivity as gold.
When readings are uncertain, be advised to measure the items thickness and diameter. Weigh the sample and make sure the weight and dimension match the expected value. If a counterfeit sample matches the resistivity of gold, its weight and/or dimensions will usually be off by more than a factor of two.
Tungsten has practically the same specific gravity as gold, this means that for a given volume tungsten and gold can have the same weight. Gold bars have been counterfeited by covering tungsten under a gold clad surface. This was a main reason for the development of the PMV Bullion wand. Most tungsten samples, within the depth limit of the sensor used, will be rejected by the PMV as they have a much higher resistivity than gold.

Cheeky 😛
I actually had over a week to download the manual in PDF format and read it before the device had even made its way to the UK.

If you sat and read the instruction book before playing with machine then you need help 🤣🤣

This is also in the instruction book if anyone reads the whole thing  

There is also another way to use the sigma, not that ive ever found the need.
https://youtu.be/ltTnCOeqtY4

I guess I'm not too worried about verifying old crowns. My main fear is modern 999/9999 silver and gold bars and the sigma should be good at that it seems. 

Aside from the caveat I just pointed out.  It can be fooled, but in conjunction with other tests you'd be hard to fool.