Shep

4 hours ago, Mobius said:

Those sov scales must be faulty - it weighs 8 grams and 8 grams is the weight that should tip the scale.

No sorry, again should have clarified. My digital scales show 8.0g exactly for each Sov.

26 minutes ago, Arganto said:

From the photos it looks a like a darn fine example to me. I only measure diameter and thickness with calipers as you get an accurate reading, and even then I don't worry too much if the thickness is slightly 'off' ( as per Lawrence's post). You could always try testing specific gravity, it's non damaging and easy enough to do. 

Is there a chance your sovereign balance has had a chunk chipped out of it at any point? Maybe it's not quite 100% the same as when it was made?

Yes I think the balance threw me off to be honest.

It’s seen better days and even then it’s not exactly a fool proof method is it. Probably quite unwise to let it cloud my judgment completely. 

As proved here though always good to consult the forum for a sanity check. 

Thanks all for the replies.

24 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

You omitted to mention that one is London Mint, and the other Sydney Mint.

Scales are 0.1 graduated but I should have stated they both read 8.0g.

To my embarrassment I suppose it would have helped if I’d actually realised it was a Sydney mint sovereign. Thanks for pointing that out and appreciate the reply.

4 minutes ago, modofantasma said:

Does it look noticeably different size wise if you place the genuine on top or vice versa? From your balance you're suggesting it is too large in terms of diameter but the thickness is ok?

Both too thick and too wide. One on top of the other I can’t notice a difference.

Weight wise it’s fine on the balance, it’s just the angle of the picture.

12 minutes ago, ant1882 said:

Do they both have the same ring to them? As in if you flick it up in the air.

Thanks I should have mentioned, yes they do both pass the “ping” test to my ear.

Also to mention that the strike is not misaligned.

Today I had the pleasure of that dreaded moment where you discover you’ve been potentially harbouring a stow away in your stack. Mine is an not overly fake looking (to me) 1896 Sov.

The suspected fake is on the right. On the left is an 1896 that I know to be genuine.

My rudimentary authentication methods:

It will not fit in the balance which ever way i try to fit it in there. Both coins read exactly 8g on my not so expensive or accurate scales.

In the face of my not so thorough testing methods, my question to the forum is that is there anything about my suspect Sov that jumps out to identify it as a fraud?

So is it a fake or am I putting too much faith in my sovereign balance?

Shep

11 hours ago, Jimmock said:

When to put negative feedback? I finalised a deal over 48 hours ago,asked at end of thread for their bank details and total price including S.D.,so I could immediately pay,which I think should be normal practice. Since then,I have received 2 pm's hours apart,firstly asking for what postage I wanted and secondly how I wanted to pay. I replied to both immediately,but I'm still waiting on the sellers bank details. Now I fully expect the purchase to arrive well packaged and in perfect condition,but I feel let down by overall experience,so should that justify a negative feedback,which I have never left before. 🤔🤔

I don’t really feel that justifies a negative. A negative feedback on here = destruction of the persons ability to sell anything on the forum in the future. Not really a fair punishment for tardy communication, and as previously alluded to, whilst it’s annoying for the buyer people have lives and they might have something going on.

Although it sounds you’ve had a pretty poor experience so far, if it does indeed arrive well packaged and as described surely it’s a neutral at worst? Each to their own though.

10 minutes ago, SidS said:

BBP?

 

Bullion By Post.

19 minutes ago, Sharron said:

Quick question...

Is it me or as the spot price of Gold decreases...BBP prices seem to increase? Anyone else noticed this?

 

I don’t think they increase prices as such.

Their prices do not appear to fall as quickly as they rise during large swings in the spot price. This means the relative premiums they are charging above spot seem to increase on large dips in the spot price.

A quick review of the Royal Mint VIP tour that I attended 07/09/22.

Scores on the doors - 3/5

Consisted of (in order)

- Refreshments and biscuits upon arrival.    
- A 30 min brisk presentation of the Royal Mints history.     
- A visit to the design team and a presentation from one of the designers.   
- Walkthrough / talk through of the die production rooms and processes. 
- Demonstration of die polishing.   
- Strike your own Sovereign in the PM production area (if purchased (£625)).   
- A very decent buffet lunch.    
- Visit to the circulating coin production factory + strike your own 50p (included).  
- End of the guided tour and option to view the regular Royal Mint experience exhibits.      
- Coffee and a slice of cake before you depart.

Pros

A truly great experience to meet the design team who were all incredibly humble.

Good lunch

Opportunity to strike your own Proof Silver Britannia or 2022 Proof Sovereign (at the time of writing).

Friendly tour guide.

Cons

A extremely light touch 30 mins talk by a representative of the Royal Mint museum and no opportunity to go into their area and see any numismatic rarity’s not on show to the regular punters - really disappointed with this

Now seeing as the Royal Mint claims the sovereign is their flagship coin, it was again disappointing that on the tour you do not see any precious metal coins being minted other than the one you may or may not elect to buy. I had visions that I would be seeing streams of bullion sovereigns flying out of machines into tubs. I did not see a single gold, silver or platinum coin of any kind being minted (other than my own).

I’ve never really considered myself a hard core collector but The VIP tour felt like it was aimed and pitched at a level for people who like to collect cupronickel 50ps in their change. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it just left me wanting.

Summary

The tour proved to be acceptable value for money. 

It seems in the past a visit to the Royal Mint Museum was included in the VIP tour, this is an absolute must have and really ought to reintroduced.

Not seeing a single precious metal coin being produced was pretty laughable.

I walked away happy as I have two 2022 proof sovereigns to add to my stack, had I not had these I feel I would have been severely disappointed.

46 minutes ago, GoldStatue said:

Be honest, how many times did they have to re-mint them?  😀

Nice pickup, I've always wanted to do that tour and have a look in the RM vault of coins!

Honestly, first time was a charm.

I can only assume something horrible must happen between striking them and putting them in their capsules during normal production.

Could do with some better pictures. Some of the obverse also perhaps?

Nothing immediately jumps out at me that is screaming fake. The dark spot on the horses neck looks to be just some of the frosting missing, which isn’t unheard of or particularly suspicious for the Royal Mint.

Other positives are that the COA, capsule and box (from what i can see) all look Royal Mint genuine issue for the given year. 

The coin is as you say clearly tarnished, but this can probably be resolved should you wish. If it was sold as a “10/10 proof” and you’re not happy with its condition you probably ought to think about sending it back, unless you can’t find one for a similar price from another source.

Welcome to the forum.

Time to get reporting, it’s already somehow at £185 with only an hour to go 🤯

Lots of good advice above.

My two pence:

Ditch silver it’s a false economy. Forget “rare” modern 1oz silver coins unless you like watching them milk spot and lose the horrendous premium you may have paid on them.

Buy the lowest premium CGT free gold you can find from reputable sources. 22ct/24ct is irrelevant if you’re purely stacking to fund your retirement.

See below for a perfect demonstration of the Royal Mint hype bubble beginning to burst.

Used to be big hype about Chinese Pandas a few years ago, which now seems to have died away. I don’t really see what all the fuss was about personally, they look pretty ugly to me.

20 hours ago, NewCoins said:

I am not a member of PGCS does anyone have any UK agents they can recommend?

The Coin Cabinet take PCGS submissions.

They don’t seem to advertise it particularly well but I’ve had coins graded with PCGS through them.

https://cambridgeshirecoins.com/products/2020-gold-usa-50-fifty-dollar-liberty-double-eagle

These 1oz gold eagles are now under spot at £1495 if there are any big spenders kicking about. Also 1oz Kangaroos and Maples available for the same price.

I recommend this book, it may save you some time in creating your list:

https://www.tokenpublishing.com/shop/product/8058

This following book is good for a basic history of the Sovereign, if you’re so inclined and can find it in stock anywhere:

https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/ranges/historic-coins/historic-books/a-history-of-the-sovereign-chief-coin-of-the-world-book/

Horses for courses.

If I’m buying modern proofs or SOTD sovs on the secondary market I’m only buying graded (70) ones. Couldn’t really care about the OMP if I’m honest as it’s not particularly deposit box friendly. I’m shallow as a puddle though and clearly a slave to the grading system.

If you’re looking at it from a resale angle for modern proof and SOTD sovs, I think generally speaking that getting 70 grades usually help resale value, 69 usually sells for around the same as what the raw coin would, and anything less is probably not going to be very helpful to the value of your coin. Bit of a gamble really.

If you’re asking from purely a collecting point of view then I would argue it just comes down to your personal preference.

It’s an excellent idea….if your aim was to ruin your coin.