kimchi

If it's a modern silver coin from the royal mint you almost have to expect it developing milk spots at some point.

on presale at https://www.europeanmint.com/2022-1oz-australia-silver-scorpion-bu-coin/
 
 

Does it still have the vouchers...😄

1996 Royal Mint Silver Proof Collection   In 1996 the Royal Mint released its first set of British silver proof coins, consisting of the coins from 1p to £1. Although a genuinely uninspiring precursor to some stunning future silver sets, this seven coin set is memorable only for its magnificently retro crushed velvet presentation box. When issued the lucky purchaser received a voucher entitling them to a free curry in the nearest flock wallpapered curry house and a complimentary prawn cocktail at any Beefeater steakhouse.   Which was nice.

I know an elderly lady who is fleeced by Harrington & Byrne every few months buying over priced stuff. She is an intelligent person and has certainly has all her faculties . I've tried to explain, but she won't take notice of a simple uneducated lad like me 😉 . Each to their own. 

But doesn't come close to the Dandy or the Beano.....

No, not at all, in the past I've looked at 2 other 'minting/sales' companies doing a very similar exercise/s, their numbers and dividends were very also very healthy, to say the least.

Well, they are not the only ones, at least the RM belongs to the treasury, so the money goes back into the 'system'.
My issue with H&B would be the same as @Britannia47 - they are misleading, I suspect, the older, Telegraph type readers who think they are investing for children and family.
But the kicker is, in their last accounts, the directors took dividends and created share value to the tune of £1.8 million, which by most standards maybe rather a lot, some may say excessive, given their business model.

And that surprises you???? 🤔🤔

The Royal Mint could have used his portrait.  If they are going to "celebrate" someone, they might as well make an effort.

It looks like someone was given an 1hr to come up with the design...😴

Thanks @dicker I'd forgotten who Babbage was, all I saw was a terrible, lazy design...
Realising who he was and what he did - wow - what an absolutely colossal failure by the Mint

Thanks @dicker I'd forgotten who Babbage was, all I saw was a terrible, lazy design...
Realising who he was and what he did - wow - what an absolutely colossal failure by the Mint

With wonderful schematics of the Difference Engine captured in books (see below) I think a more interesting design could have been derived!
Mind you, with so many issues being churned out, perhaps they didn't have the time.....
Best
Dicker

It's a cabbage?

Tony Robinson* bought 3!
 
 
* He gets upset if you call him Baldrick

Did someone say...

I looked at 8.46am and the website was not queuing and so I assumed there were no releases today!  I guess that is what you call marketing in this day and age.

It's a cabbage?

It's a cabbage?

I understand you already have the coin, so what could possibly happen if you don't pay their invoice? I assume that usually they don't deliver the package before they receive your payment, so it seems odd in your case that they request the payment afterwards, no?

Hi @BackyardBullion
I recently went through a similar experience to this.
In summary, I purchased gold coins from Germany (delivered via UPS) and gold coins from Belgium (delivered via Fedex) and both couriers initially invoiced me for VAT.
Dealing with UPS was quite straightforward, in that they provided an Investment Gold Declaration form upon request, which once submitted together with an EORI Number, resulted in the fees being immediately waived.
I assumed (perhaps naively) that I could do the same for Fedex and prepared the same documentation in advance.
They, however, would simply not entertain this and refused to release the package until the invoice was paid in full prior to delivery, in spite of several attempts to reason with them over the fact that as investment-grade gold coins, there was no VAT to be paid.
In the end, I paid up in order to have the coins delivered, rather than shipped back to the seller.
I then submitted a claim for reimbursement via the following website:
www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-repayment-or-remission-of-import-duties-c285-chief
The form I completed was the C285 (CDS version), which I believe will also apply to you.
Apparently, it can take up to 4 weeks to receive reimbursement, so I’m actually still waiting for mine, having only submitted my application 2 weeks ago.
What became apparent from this experience is that there are actually no standardised procedures in place.
As @Jamesdmentioned, the courier companies are effectively doing whatever they want, and seem to have become far more brazen since Brexit, in this regard.
What's worse is that Fedex won't even inform you that you can reclaim VAT from HMRC on investment-grade gold coins after initially paying it, and have no formal process in place to facilitate this. It seems they simply don't care.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
Regards,
@NeutronJack
 
 
 

Coming up to 50 different chibis and got to get them all..lol.
Some are nice and profitable like Darth Vader and The Child, all come in a limited mintage of 2000 but they are also very prone to fakes, especially the child but you can be safer if you look carefully at the coins holding case, there are little tabs of the white plastic holding each coin in the holder, the fakes don't have that and when you look at the advertising they loophole the description saying it was from an estate etc but its a fake silver plated junk copy...the quality of the coin shows up much better on legit coins....here are some of my collection which allwere bought from the new zealand mint.
They release new coins at 4 per month and you can buy the months release in one go guaranteeing the same number coin of the 2000 but you can get a number under 200 if you pay for the premium coin which comes in a plastic holder with the description on the holder which holds the entire box and coin.
Some have been graded and sellfor about 150% and more then the standard cost....some of the coins are selling for under the retail price and some well over on fleabay,right now new zealand is under lock down so buying now might delay shipping but they are good with delivery as I've bought from them every month for ages and had no problems.

I emailed the Royal Mint Museum again and brought up the topic of pickling once more. Here's what they replied:
»I have been in contact with the relevant department and I have been informed that although the pickling process has changed over time, this change wouldn’t massively alter the colour of the coin.  Therefore the colour change will be predominantly from the improved metal refining techniques which has reduced the amount of silver present in the coin.  

The colour of the sovereign can also depend on whether it is a bullion or a proof coin.  About 10 years ago we stopped making the blanks for gold sovereigns internally in the Mint, and instead began sourcing them from a company in Madrid.  For bullion coins we would strike them straight out the pack as it were, with no alterations being made to the metal.  For proof coins however, we would burn the surface of the coin to give it a more shiny appearance. 

All of these factors could contribute to the changing colour of the sovereign over time, but as you can imagine the process for making the coins is very extensive and technical and it often depends on each individual coin.  It can be concluded though that the metal refining techniques would be the key reason for the main change in colour of the gold sovereign.«

It's up to you if it's worth it for you as @HerefordBullyun said
Thanks for posting, I don't always look in the Premium Section but I usually take a look in here