Swampy

My top Seven coins from my collection 
1.  1937 King George VI 5 Pound Sovereign
2.  2017 Onza Libertad Proof
3.  2017 Pistrucci 200th Anniversary Bu SOTD Sovereign
4.  1911 King George V Silver Proof Florin
5.  1989 Proof 5 Pound 500th Anniversary Sovereign 
6.  2005 Proof 5 Pound Sovereign Timothy Noad Design 
7.  1974 Isle of Man Proof 5 Pound Sovereign 

Five year's on and still going strong with another five pound soon to be released. Will we have another in 2026, the big 100 ? 

It appears there may be a few Gillick fans here so I thought I'd share this.
Gillick's effigy first appeared on coinage in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth states in 1953.
 
To celebrate the four effigies of the Queen that have appeared on Canadian coinage since her coronation, the RCM produced a four coin, 4x9s quarter ounce Maple series kicking off with the Gillick in 2014.

Lovely coin. Hope to have one in my collection one day

My favourite coin 😍 ; 1885 Sydney Shield 
 

A lovely 1878 Sydney shield back sovereign. Bought this one right here on the Silverforum! 

A 1924 Pretoria sovereign in PCGS MS62. A key date, with a mintage of just 2,660 pieces. (By comparison, the 1916 Canadian sovereign has a mintage of 6,111 pieces.)

My tiny collection
 

Not really rare but not to many in this grade its my favourite sovereign by far 

yeah but does it have a privy mark!

Nice piece, the '37 is one of my top as well, though mine is a little lower grade...PR63
Now, if we could include double-sovereigns...

AU55 1879

I’ve always been drawn to Sovs because of the history aspect... but the 1/4 Oz Brits are lovely.  

You could always go for a quintuple sovereign... 

I buy sovereigns and 1oz Brits 
Had a 2021 1 Oz Brit arrive today, lovely coin.  I'm expecting a couple of 2021 sovereigns in the next few days.  
If my purchase in the month is small, I tend to stick with Sovereigns.  But I will buy the larger 1 Oz coins a few times a year also.
I think having variety helps also, not only from a sales point but also keeps me interested.
I intend to drop a few 1/4 ounce Brits into the mix also, when my dealer has stock.
What are people's general thoughts on the % premium they are willing to pay for gold?  What's the max premium you would pay for generic stuff?

Quality post thank you @Pete, lots to take away.

1. It's all about margin over spot i.e. what you pay for your coin(s).
The margin over spot is quite variable to check carefully before buying and remember that 22 ct gold is not the same as 24 ct in your spot calculations.
2. When selling you can expect a price from any main dealer at spot less a couple of percent according to gold content
This is irrespective of the coin  - sovereign, Britannia, Krugerrand etc - it's pretty much all about the 999 gold.
3. The advantage of smaller value coins like sovereigns ( or even half sovereigns ) is you can always sell them privately if you need to raise some cash without unloading your full ounce coin.
4. There is something nice about a full ounce Britannia.
If your first experience of a gold coin is a sovereign or half sovereign you might be a little disappointed when seeing it's size.
You might even get the two confused and many people make the mistake when holding a full sovereign for the first time believing it to be a half sovereign so watch out.
5. If you have the option of buying a 24ct Britannia rather than the 22ct Britannia, choose the 24 ct as if selling back to a dealer, you will usually get a slightly higher price.
There is also the mental satisfaction in holding pure gold rather than 91.6% pure.
6. My first gold purchase was a 999.9% 50g bar which I was proud to show friends at the time.
7. Whether you choose sovereigns over 1 ounce gold coins the fluctuations in daily prices of gold will soon wash away any small differences in differential price so buy what you like and where you feel you are getting the best deal.

Haha very true, off to McDonald's drive through shortly to pick up some lunch for the kids - there's goodbye to that premium saving! 😆 Those Lunars look awesome. Ox should be out soon, if not already.

Three things:
 
One
I would go for a Gillick Sov (1957 - 1968).  They are to my eye at least, an attractive coin and can be bought as close to spot as any new Sovereign.
There are sometimes a few pricing peculiarities - just ignore that and go for coins that are close to spot (i.e. 1966 Sovs sometimes to be priced higher than other Gillicks - which makes no sense - the same often happens at Auction)
For me, bullion Sovs past around 2000 look deeply unattractive because of their colour and indistinct and mushy strike.
 
Two
Think about spreading out your purchases - google cost price averaging if you haven't heard of it.
 
Three
Enjoy owning whatever you buy - you are in a fairly exclusive club.  I started off stacking a long time ago, but developed an appreciation for collecting very specific coins.
 
Best
Dicker

1859 Gold Sovereign, Ansell variety.

 

This one, the 1923 South African proof sovereign with a mintage of 655 coins. 

Which do you prefer, the frosted BU or the proof?

Had one of these bad boys come through the letter box today, just in case I come across any when the boot sales open. the 3 way test seems to work spot on.