paulmerton

I heard cinnamon is better for cleaning coins.

This is excellent advice, but I was super-prepared (it happens!) and used a photographic sensor cleaning blower instead of my own lung-juice. Some types of compressed air might be a bit risky too, as they could scatter teeny particles of lubricant from the can or compressor.

It was easy

Okay, I mentally prepared myself for the unboxing, and oh my! I'd been keeping the delivery box upright ever since I got it, but upon opening it I discovered the 3-coin set was actually upside down in the delivery box the whole time Thankfully no coins had escaped, but the set had a MASSIVE black bit on the middle of the quarter sovereign. Thankfully on closer inspection it turned out to be a bit of the black foam ring that had broken free, but it wasn't budging on its own and I had to get out the finger condoms and a small screwdriver to tease the ring out and blow it (don't...) before all was good. With that sorted, I'm glad all three coins are perfect. So onto the final box... All good!

I find that hard to believe, but on the other hand there must be more to it than just the logistics of shipping them - e.g. I ordered a non-Sovereign coin yesterday and it arrived today, so no problems there. 🤯

When you've reached your goals, there's also the 1/20 oz and 1/40 oz proofs

And 1/10oz silver!

I also have some individual items (but not orders) that are completely missing from my closed and open orders, but the orders are showing the correct total amount including the invisible items. If that makes sense I still can't work out why I've got 4 parcels. I will find out later as I like saving up my disappointment for later in the day. Maybe they've preemptively sent me some spare coins to save some hassle, haha!

I've just received 4 separate parcels from them royal mint. I was not expecting this and I can't think what they're all for?!

I found it quite concerning when I first used it, back when they were still ironing out the bugs and the post men and women weren't too familiar with it themselves. For starters, they don't give you a physical receipt, which I found a bit scary, so you have to hope they scan it properly and that it's reflected online. The second time I ever used it, I handed over a small parcel and it got scanned and taken away. I then got an email a few minutes later confirming it had been delivered! Lo and behold, the tracking did indeed show it had been delivered. Thankfully it did actually arrive at its intended destination a couple of days later but I was starting to worry!

I don't know if this is of any use for you, but I used this when my post office was inaccessible: https://send.royalmail.com/collect/youritems They will also collect Special Delivery items from your doorstep, but they add a day to the delivery guarantee when it's collected this way. Looks like it costs 60p per item now but it was free when I tried it.

A frivolous purchase for the Christmas tree! I wasn't expecting it to come in a star-shaped capsule, so that's nice.

Thanks for that suggestion - after a few more phone calls and callbacks trying to get hold of a manager, it sounds like things are finally on track - or at least, it sounds a bit more promising this time! I will be returning it again and a manager has taken proper ownership of it this time, saying she will even repackage the coin herself if she has to! I was also asked if there were any silver proof coins I was looking for next (I assumed they were then going to offer to send me one for free to make up for this mess), but the only ones I have on my radar aren't released until next year. So I was offered the choice of "any silver proof coin" for free. I said I'd have a think about it, but without any further qualification I was starting to daydream a little....

Glitch! You can use this to avoid the £5+ delivery charge on the discounted commemorative coins. Add a £1.50 coin capsule from the bullion section of the site and you'll get free delivery on the whole of your commemorative order. The capsules are counted as bullion items because of the section they're in (so you get the free postage), but they are fulfilled via the normal retail part of the site rather than requiring an investment account.

Sorry, I should have said mosh pit

All that really means is, "I don't want to have to deal with this".

That's a pretty unpleasant surprise. Did it manage to survive the disco unscathed?

The Royal Mint is currently giving free delivery on all bullion orders, no minimum spend.

Only £6.40 though! No harm in having both

Nooo, those are for looking at other people's coins

And that short clip I posted the other day was taken on a £14 microscope thing I still love the look of the mirrored surface up this close. Video: kden2.mp4

I also have this adjustable one, which I find useful if you want to change the focal point (e.g. for oggling raised coins in capsules without having to float the loupe in mid air) https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015MS8QIM

I feel so prepared, already having one of these Apparently they are the same model as the ones used by US Immigration.

That's what I thought. Where did anyone say the photo was of the bullion version?

Mine is perfect in my eyes. And in my loupe! There are imperfections galore if you go in any further, but that's all part of the charm. I could look at it close-up all day. Looking at them that closely, I would say only my Quarter Sovereign has something annoying on it (a subtle mark a bit like on the edge of byb's five-sovereign, but less pronounced). I see what you did there