Epictetus

36 minutes ago, James32 said:

So I measured two sovereigns..

1907 22.01mm

1957 22mm

Safe to say you're okay, remember all quoted sizes online are just a close approximation, slightly smaller is a good sign, if the coin measured above the stated size, then I'd be more worried. 

Thanks for your answer. 
I just bought a caliper so I don’t have much experience testing coins.
I would expect less diameter, specially in older coins, due to wear but not more, however I don’t know what is the “allowed” threshold when considering to buy a coin or not. 0.04 and 0.01 doesn’t seem like a lot. In my coin the difference is 0.15 and I’m not sure if that’s a big difference or not. 
if you were buying to an user instead to a shop would it be acceptable 0.15 difference? 

In the future I want to buy to other users and the problem is I don’t really know how a fake looks like in terms of size, weight and how far from the given measures it can differ. 

Hi Everyone, I’m a bit confused since I had always thought that all sovereigns were standard 22.05mm diameter. 

I bought one Sovereign 1910 (Melbourne Mint) in Atkinsons and I’ve got the following measurements:

Diameter: 22.2mm 

Width: 1.5mm

Weight: 7.98g

Specific G. Test= 7.98/between 0.44 and 0.46 = 18.13 / 17.34.

Everything seems to be right except for the 22.2mm diameter, I’m sure it’s legit since I bought in a reputable shop but I can’t find any information in Numista about this coin 22.2mm. All entries say it should be 22.05mm. 

I’m wondering if I’ll find some problems in the future when I want to sell it and the new buyer sees 22.2mm diameter. 

If I had an entry of this coin I could let him know in advance.

Any help about this? This is a pic of the coin.

Thank you

I would like to buy 50 Florins George V 50% 

Thanks

19 hours ago, Jimbo7136 said:

You could always use a remailing service.

 

I have one in the UK for a dealer who won't ship outside the UK to get me pre-decimal silver to the US. They place the order and it gets mailed to them in the UK, they repackage it and ship via UPS tom me in the states.

 

Could be one in Malta that would send to you in the UK.

In theory you would still have to pay import taxes when buying from outside, but idk how serious they get checking parcels content. 

I also wonder what are the minting figures of those £2 coins, I tend to see a lot more designs of those than the 50p ones 

I collect only the 50p just for fun, I don’t expect them to go up in price. I haven’t bought any yet but saw on eBay many fakes Kew Gardens, maybe I will in the future as a gap filler.

I would like to buy 50 George V Florin

thank you 

In my experience, Pre 1947 are sold at spot, not over. That’s the main reason I buy them. 

Edit

I would like to buy 50 Florins George V

20 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

 

 

While most of the imitation coins on AliExpress do have "copy" on the images, they do not have it  stamped on the actual items.

Most of them can be detected using a magnet, as most of them contain iron.

We bought some imitaion coins via AliExpress. Most arrived OK, but one package (the biggest one) arrived empty, probably due to very poor packaging. The seller rather dishonourably refused to replace them, and AliExpress' feedback and "safety" guarantees are worse than useless, being dishonest and fraudulent propaganda. Apparently, this is normal business practice in China.

😎

In this case, the one that has been shared here is made of cupronickel, if they had put more effort on the design maybe using a mold from an original one the copy would have been very good, undetectable for many people without expensive testing tools, don’t you think? 
it would have passed ping test and magnetic test. 

27 minutes ago, TeaTime said:

The coins on A/E do not have 'copy' stamped on them. However, most of them are obvious counterfeits once in hand  (for some reason the Chinese can't get European eyes right) 🥴

Now that you mention it’s hilarious, I always thought they would use an original coin to make a mold so at least the shapes would be the same. 

25 minutes ago, CollectForFun said:

Not to discourage you from collecting, but you mean this one?

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005001891695673.html

Those ones you can buy them at spot price, testing the silver content should be enough. Also it has written on it “Copy” 😂

I understand the market is full of fakes, that’s why I want to know opinions about this kind of investment to those who are more experienced.

btw Ali express will never stop impressing me 😂. I wonder if when you buy them they really have the word “copy” on the coin or it’s just for the image. 

It’s been a couple of years that I have been stacking bullion, I started getting different coin designs but as it was getting too expensive due to those crazy premiums I end up just purchasing britanias, philarmonics or whatever was cheaper in the store, and this was making it quite boring.

However, recently I came across with pre 1947 coins and I’m loving them so much that I decided to start my own collection; at least one of each coin  from each King/Queen of the United Kingdom in a decent condition. 
Soon I realised I would find some restrictions; some of the coins are very expensive and I won’t make the whole collection. 
What are your recommendations when buying this pieces?

1. eBay seems to have more, before buying I check the seller rating and I only buy from the best rated ones to avoid fake ones. I believe there are only fake ones in between the most expensive ones, so far I don’t think nobody is going to fake a George VI half crown. 
 

2. I’m not planing to sell them, but what do you think about this kind of investment? Spending £200 on a “George V wreath crown” seems a bit too much, and in case I wanted to sell it I don’t know how liquid it would be because I am not a shop or a dealer. Not sure how many people would buy this kind of expensive coins from a particular. 

Also, I love the history behind the coins themselves; how long a worker had to work to get them, what was the purchase power of them, the price of the food… Do you know where I can read about it? Any reliable book or website? 
 

To end up the thread I show you some of my coins from the ongoing collection. From Queen Victoria I’ll get one of each head. And soon I’ll start with Edward VII.

Thank You

On 22/05/2022 at 11:47, Nowhereman said:

What ever you can afford to lose. I've gone for a core of RM bullion because it's capital gains tax free but also some interesting bars and coins from around the world that I like personally, a few proof coins but I'm not convinced they are worth the premium. 

I have gone for some historical coins as well from around the world from small roman silver coins to victorian crowns. To hold these coins feeds the imagination as to who held/earned them ,what they have bought, where they have been.

 I think my favorite pieces though are my silver art cast pieces that are displayed on around my house. They are quite unassuming until you pick them up, feel the weight and really look at them.

Your stack can and should be more than just a hedge against inflation and once you have a comfy amount I would recommend making it a bit more personal. 

Historically an  ounce of silver was the value of 10 days labour I think and more recently in Venezuela an ounce of silver could feed a family for a month.

A bit of gold and platinum is a good idea as well as it weighs less and takes up less room.

Personally I have put about half my savings into PM'S as an insurance against quantative easing and inflation of the Fiat system. 

Oh! you just mention a topic that I love and I want to keep learning; the "value" of historical coins back then. I recently started my historical coin collection, I'm collecting coins from each king/queen in the united kingdom, I have George V, George VI, Victoria, (I believe I won't make it for Edward VIII) and I don't know how far I will be able to get.

I've been researching about the value of the different coins, how much a worker would get a month in 1890, how much was the price of food, what could you buy with a crown... for example. it is what you said, not just silver, it feeds the imagination as to who earn them and what was bought with it.

I would love to know if there are books about it or where I can get reliable information.

It happens to my that all the gold I buy has to be 24 Carat; yellow and shiny. 
I would love to get sovereigns but I don’t like the fact that they are brown and they are not pure gold.