papi1980

I struck my own sovereign at the mint. It was an amazing experience, getting to cherry pick your own blank from a tray full of them, actually getting to clean the dies yourself, blowing off the dies and the blank, striking it, taking it out to inspect it and then seeing the phenomenal transformation compared with the blanks still on the tray. I was expecting to be "just striking a coin" but it somehow felt so much more than that, especially as it was the 2022 proof sovereign. I suspect it would feel different if that was your job and you had to make a thousand a day!
Incidentally, it's quite possibly the best way to ensure getting a perfect quality proof coin. The silver proof Britannia two-pound coin I also struck had a tiny issue so it was cast aside to be scrapped, the die was cleaned again, and the new one was perfect.

4 half sovs with shield reverse and some 22 sovs

I'd be very worried about rust marks on gold coins!
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Just recently, I got asked for an opinion on this:
Another Suspect Gold Sovereign - 1925-S Sydney Mint

Reverse, above, looks quite good.

The obverse has a few suspicious features.

Niton XRF test looks within range
913+4 = 917, so that's OK
Anybody notice anything else?
What about that weight? 7.9964 grams.
And before anyone asks for a serration count:

120
I just know someone is going to ask how many on a normal 1925-S!
What do you think?
Answers on a £20 note please!
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I think the combination of 1) rising prices and 2) stagnated economic growth will eventually result is stagflation environment (very similar to the 70s). Stagflation is the best time for gold….better than property, stocks, or even commodities, at least historically. This is because gold has been considered a safe heaven for a very long time and all CB hold a minimum reserve in gold (not oil, wheat or crypto) 
There is a current reduction in liquidity (money is plugged away from stock markets, VC funds etc and pulled into hard assets). 95% of population react in stagflation by cutting spending to pay for food, power, maintain lifestyle, while the wealthier focus on the alternative assets they are comfortable (property, commodities, PM). So people start to get interested in gold, silver  
At the same time, the Money masters are benefitting from gold price volatility and are shorting the paper gold to make some money, but some big whales (some sovereign nations are hoovering the physical gold to counteract the US). Then you add the interest rates and FED. So Gold price in my view is not a one sided equation and they have different forces that affect it. My bet is that physical always beats paper  especially in stagflation, so hold tight and enjoy the ride. 

2016 proof sovereign thanks to @Chrisplym a very nice example.

I can wait for people to start collecting sovereigns by die number and serration combinations. 1865, die number 32 with 108 serrations, did you know the same coin type with 111 serrations is extremely rare?
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I think the combination of 1) rising prices and 2) stagnated economic growth will eventually result is stagflation environment (very similar to the 70s). Stagflation is the best time for gold….better than property, stocks, or even commodities, at least historically. This is because gold has been considered a safe heaven for a very long time and all CB hold a minimum reserve in gold (not oil, wheat or crypto) 
There is a current reduction in liquidity (money is plugged away from stock markets, VC funds etc and pulled into hard assets). 95% of population react in stagflation by cutting spending to pay for food, power, maintain lifestyle, while the wealthier focus on the alternative assets they are comfortable (property, commodities, PM). So people start to get interested in gold, silver  
At the same time, the Money masters are benefitting from gold price volatility and are shorting the paper gold to make some money, but some big whales (some sovereign nations are hoovering the physical gold to counteract the US). Then you add the interest rates and FED. So Gold price in my view is not a one sided equation and they have different forces that affect it. My bet is that physical always beats paper  especially in stagflation, so hold tight and enjoy the ride. 

I think the combination of 1) rising prices and 2) stagnated economic growth will eventually result is stagflation environment (very similar to the 70s). Stagflation is the best time for gold….better than property, stocks, or even commodities, at least historically. This is because gold has been considered a safe heaven for a very long time and all CB hold a minimum reserve in gold (not oil, wheat or crypto) 
There is a current reduction in liquidity (money is plugged away from stock markets, VC funds etc and pulled into hard assets). 95% of population react in stagflation by cutting spending to pay for food, power, maintain lifestyle, while the wealthier focus on the alternative assets they are comfortable (property, commodities, PM). So people start to get interested in gold, silver  
At the same time, the Money masters are benefitting from gold price volatility and are shorting the paper gold to make some money, but some big whales (some sovereign nations are hoovering the physical gold to counteract the US). Then you add the interest rates and FED. So Gold price in my view is not a one sided equation and they have different forces that affect it. My bet is that physical always beats paper  especially in stagflation, so hold tight and enjoy the ride. 

Much appreciated Lawrence! I’m actually working on a project for AI photo editing where the camera is counting on behalf of the human (various use case, primarily in pharma, precise manufacturing)
I just wanted to see if that would make sense…apparently serrations do matter in ‘sniffing’ fakes:) 
I will keep you posted of that project…might be quite interesting…
 

Much appreciated Lawrence! I’m actually working on a project for AI photo editing where the camera is counting on behalf of the human (various use case, primarily in pharma, precise manufacturing)
I just wanted to see if that would make sense…apparently serrations do matter in ‘sniffing’ fakes:) 
I will keep you posted of that project…might be quite interesting…
 

On 4th May 2022, when the US Fed raised its interest rate to 1.0%, my thoughts were:
While it was not a big rise, it showed a shift in thinking.
When US rates go up, the dollar usually strengthens and gold weakens.
This is because it becomes more attractive to hold dollars, and gold pays no dividends.
Also the pound, and many other currencies weaken against the dollar.
Combine the two movements, and it could be neutral for gold measured in pounds sterling.
But, of course, it was then likely that the UK would increase interest rates to match at 1.0%, as it did the next day, 5th May 2022.
This should strengthen the pound, and weaken gold.
I posted an internal Teams note to that effect, although I did not expect to see big swings.
Gold had been between £1485 and £1495, and shortly after the rate rises, it was trading around £1515, peaking at around £1540, so it looks like I got it wrong, and I still don't understand why, except...
The rate rises were stated to be to help protect against inflation, which most of us expected to be over 10%, especially in view of huge increases in energy costs, and disruptions to food production such as Ukrainian grain, not to mention transport diffculties. Also wars tend to be inflationary.
Inflation means the value of fiat currencies drops wen measured against hard assets like...
... Gold!
My Teams note did also mention that gold should win in the longer term, so what has actually happened?
I already said it went up straight after I said it would go down, then it started to go down over the following weeks after I said it should start going up. Currently around £1465, although we bought some at below £1460 yesterday.
So far, I have been wrong twice out of two times, so this is perhaps a good reason not to listen to my views, however there is a simple principle which has stood me in good stead for decades, which is buy on the dips, and sell on the spikes. Even this can work out wrong, because you have to choose your timing, or random factors can interfere, changing your "luck".
We actually buy and sell gold most days, but we can usually choose to buy more or less than we need, and vice versa. 
Where does this leave my gold price advice and thoughts?
Over the next few months or years, we will suffer inflation, and this should increase the value of precious metals relative to most currencies, and weaken most currencies relative to precious metals.
As a result, our current view is to keep our gold holdings topped up.
Similar thoughts apply to silver and platinum of course.
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Better pics of the Jubilee half sov and the 1989 £2

A great looking half sovereign proof. Fully boxed, COA and cheaper than a bullion half!

Non modo ... sed etiam (not only ... but also):
Having done the 1925-L serrations count shot, with a genuine coin side by side, he has also done the same with a 1931-SA:

Bingo, the genuine coin has 110 serrations, while the fake has only 108!
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By popular demand:

Fake = 108, genuine = 107!
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2022 RAM - Beauty, Rich & Rare - Great Barrier Reef  domed
 






2022 Niue - Predators  - Tiger & Komodo Gilded

2022 Congo - World's Wildlife  - The Bear

Today I received this beautiful rarity courtesy of @SVcollector.
An 1894 Bulgarian 20 Leva (20 Franc, LMU equivalent - 0.1867AGW). 100,000 of these pieces produced at the Kremnica, Slovakia mint (one of the oldest existing mints in the world - it has produced coins continuously since the 1300s).
A very, very nice specimen of eastern European gold coinage that is difficult and expensive to locate in AU or above.
 
 

You did well to get decent photos.
If you think 1911 was a one-off for "hollow necks", think again:

This was a 1912-P Perth Mint hollow neck, obverse above, and:

Reverse of 1912-P Perth Mint hollow neck sovereign, with 124 serrations.
This is fun!
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A Spear head of 15 Shield Backs (1843 - 1881)   + 2 G&Ds 1883/85. These are my favourite sovereign types! 
 

Following @Britannia47 s theme

Snap!  Yes, my colour is a bit off...

They refer to naked short: 
Naked short selling involves the short selling of shares that do not exist. Normally, the investor must first borrow shares before selling short
 
When you short an asset you bet that the asset will go down and you borrow the shares beforehand so you can. If you are shorting and you are right, you then close the share (return the shares) but receive the previous / higher value (hence the difference)
you and I (average Joes) will never be allowed to have naked shorts (shorts without borrowing before hand) but the banks are allowed to do that. 
in LBMA and Comex naked shorting is the practice, not the exeption
Do you remember the GameStop short squeeze? Some big boys were shorting (naked) and some people decided to buy the available shares at the same time, leaving a naked short without any shares to borrow and close it
so imagine, you have borrowed 1bn$ GameStop, naked shorting with the hope to drop the price and close it next day; someone buys all available shares and you can’t close the short; you are left with paying day by day the fees for borrowing which go higher every day since the price increases; at one point your borrower will ask you to cover the shirt and you might get bust 
…but in metals, it is believed that JP owns more silver than anyone else (physical) …good luck messing  with their naked shorts 
and in nickel, we saw a couple of months ago, how a naked short-et was allowed to walk away when the price sky rocketed…and froze the market…
you now can tell me if that is a fair market..:) 
hope that helps:) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gillick - no contest.
Just as a young head Victoria is more attractive than a Jubilee head.