LawrenceChard

Did you ever get round to working out what percentage premium your preferred dealer was asking? Do they show the % premium on their site? If not, why not? Did you know some dealers make life easy by showing selling premiums on their site, especially on gold? Did you end up buying it? 😎

Thank you for those kind words, I'll keep trying. Yes, it is a nice looking sovereign, helped by a good photo. Take a bow @SemolinaPilchard! 😎

This was my search string: 1996 manx gold fifth crown coin 1/5th isle of man drake golden hind with the most relevant (IMO) words on the left, I then added more words. I would also have included a full textual description in your topic / thread. I failed to find much more than you, although did you search through numista? So many mints, and coin marketing companies have been churning out new issue coins for the past quarter century, that it is not surprising that they cannot all be found easily. There would originally have been a certificate or other info with it, which someone has probably discarded. You could buy a printed catalogue such as Krause Coins of the World, but these are not cheap, and even they will have omitted some coins. Free online catalogues such as Numista are good, but compiled by enthusiastic amateurs, and are probably under-funded. 😎

I presume you did a Google search. What text did you use? 😎

2022 British Monarchs George I 2022 UK 1 One Ounce Silver Proof Coin Photos = #1 This latest coin in the British Monarchs series does look good. I have seen plenty or George I silver coins, and do like the portrait, and it looks even better in a larger size: The obverse: Boxed: ... and the Certificate: What could possibly be better? Certificate number 1 for the 5 ounce silver version! And of course the bigger coin looks even better then the 1 or 2 ounce versions. 😎

"Lascivious" Now there's a word you don't hear very often when describing coins. 😎

My / our comprehensive analysis of gold sovereigns alloy content is well overdue. Some Gillick sovereigns do have some silver in their alloy, which explains why they are a nicer colour. For example: While the gold figure is slightly high at 918 instead of 917 or 916, the silver content at 4 ppt (0.4%) is also slightly high, I would have expected about 3ppt. A sample 1958 sovereign: ...and the obverse: I do wish someone at the Royal Mint would look at TSF from time to time! 😎

Proof and bullion sovereigns are going to look different of course. Lighting also makes a difference. In photography, proof gold often looks dark brown, while bullion sovereigns look a more natural colour. I have never made a major mental effort to work out why, but I am sure there is someone out there who could provide clear scientific reasons. Cameras also capture and process images differently, so it can get even more complicated. Your observations are interesting though! 😎

Can Free Postage Cheat You Out of the Best Deal? https://www.chards.co.uk/blog/free-postage/26/4947 Is 'Free Postage' Really Free? In most cases, no! 😎

Yes, I realise you were having some fun, and why not? In my main "Advice" guide, I try to distinguish between investing, and stacking or collecting. All are good, but each needs a slightly different approach. I suspect your question about " free postage???" is intended to be ever so slightly provocative! 😎

Thanks. Some of that is because it costs relatively more to mint silver coins than gold coins, in terms of percentage premium over intrinsic. So if it cost $1 to mint a $20 intrinsic one ounce silver coin, that's already 5% before any profit. If it costs double, $2 to mint a $1760 one ounce gold coin, that's only 1.14% before any profit. Shipping also cost relatively more for silver than gold. 😎

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xo80hR-QfQ When you buy older gold sovereigns, you get some silver thrown in for free! Silver is far better than copper any day! 😎

You might find something suitable here: https://www.chards.co.uk/products/platinum If not, you can always ask for notification if / when available. 🙂

"JP Morgan? Third time?" I take no notice. "I buy my silver without VAT." Good, but see 😎

I / we (Chards) did buy silver at around £15.50; probably about 10,000 or 15,000 ounces, and I think we should have bought about 5,000 ounces more at the time. I don't agree about the market manipulation. Sure it may happen to small extents, but I think a lot of the noise about it is made by silver "bulls" to try to manipulate the market upwards. There is also a lot of "conspiracy theory" stuff around. While much of it may be based on a grain of truth, this gets exaggerated out of all proportion. Don't worry about all this stuff, just keep buying (silver), although because of its VAT exempt status, investment gold is a better prospect for anyone who wants to take physical delivery. 😎

You are welcome to like or prefer the copper coloured sovereigns, we are all different and all entitled to our own opinions. You are also right that I am old fashioned about some things. I like gold to look like gold, not copper. It is sensible to avoid paying VAT on silver if possible, but most UK secondary market prices are no much lower than new VAT inclusive ones; in fact, sometimes they are more. As you know, there are alternatives, such as buying for overseas storage, "paper" silver. Available at a well-known Blackpool coin and bullion dealer. We get lots of quite sensible people who do buy new silver coins (and bars) in investment volumes, mainly because there is insufficient secondary market supply to meet demand, but we do also advise that it is better and more efficient to invest in physical gold than physical silver. https://www.chards.co.uk/blog/advice-guide-for-uk-bullion-investors/1041 When it comes to small quantity purchases, even with VAT, many silver coins are still good value. 😎

No, not at all, in fact if every new sovereign contained 0.3% silver, it would be a great way of buying / investing in silver while legally avoiding VAT! 😎

Never stopped! 😎

Most coins, bullion, precious metal, deals are made via website, telephone, or other mail order. Any particular reason you want the Baird bar, rather than 1/10 ounce of platinum in some other form? 😎

Have you tried Bairds? 😎

I do like silver. In fact, I like silver so much that I think the Royal Mint should add some to every gold sovereign, and they would look much better! 😎

I was tempted at the time to respond: Don't ask questions, just buy it! Of course, hindsight is wonderful, but right now it is £16.37 after being as high as £16.73 One week ago, it was as low as £15.33 Next time, don't ask, just buy! 😎

I just happened to chance on this post again today, and thought of a different way to explain, based on your "most famous" comment. Does Donald Trump need to wear a tee shirt saying "I am Donald Trump"? Ignoring the fact that he is such an egotist that he might do, there would be little or no point. He must currently be one of the most recognisable people in the world. Anyone who did not recognise him would probably read the tee shirt, and say "Who is Donald Trump?" anyway. 😎

I just found other photos of this same coin. The scratches on the obverse are annoying, but c'est la vie: Taken with our Canon MP-E 65mm f2.8 1-5x Macro Lens. The reverse: ... and another shot of the obverse: Despite being an ugly coin because of the scratches, the doubled date numerals are interesting. 😎

I used to just sort it out of £100 bank sacks, although most of it was pre'47! 😎