mr1030

Another great purchase from @whuamai a BU Mexican aztec 5onza pieora de tizoc. I already had the proof version and it's nice to complete the set 😁

An 1880 Sydney mint shield reverse sovereign. A true piece of history in hand.
A relatively nice example of a Sydney, Australian minted shield sovereign.
Victoria young head shield sovereigns are, in my opinion, one of the best designs.
But what also happened in 1880…. it wasn’t just the year this sovereign was minted.
 




 
1880 was an eventful year, aside from being the year this sovereign was minted, let’s go back in time.
January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia.
February 24 – The SS Columbia, which will be the first outside usage of Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulb, is launched at the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works of John Roach & Sons in Chester, Pennsylvania.
March 31 – Wabash, Indiana becomes the first electrically lit city in the world.
April 18 – 1880 United Kingdom general election: William Ewart Gladstone defeats Benjamin Disraeli, to become Prime Ministerfor the second time.
April 27 – The Royal University of Ireland is founded by charter, allowing the Catholic University of Ireland to re-form as University College Dublin.
May 2 – After having her lights installed by Edison's personnel, the SS Columbia is lit up for the first time at the foot of Wall Street, in New York City.
June 28 – Australian police capture bank robber Ned Kelly, after a gun battle at Glenrowan, Victoria.
August 14 – Cologne Cathedral is completed, after construction began in 1248, 632 years earlier.
August 24 – The SS Columbia completes her maiden voyage, arriving without incident in Portland, Oregon, after a stopover in San Francisco.
August 26 – Competing circus owners P. T. Barnum and James A. Bailey sign a contract in Bridgeport, Connecticut to create the Barnum & Bailey Circus. In 1907, the circus will merge forces with another competitor, the Ringling Brothers Circus.
October – The Blizzard of 1880 begins in North America.
October 1 – German company Munich Re is founded in Munich.
November 4 – The first cash register is patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.
November 11 – Australian bushranger and bank robber Ned Kelly is hanged in Melbourne.
December 30 – The Transvaal becomes a republic, and Paul Kruger becomes its first president. (We’ve all seen this man many times on the forum.)
The above ‘events’ are taken from Wikipedia.
With any old coin, we really are holding history in our hands.

Just 5 cheap ounces for me

I think the 2oz silver hasn’t got a patch on the quality 3D detail in the original medal. … though when put together with the gold it does look better, as does the 1oz silver. 
 
And more importantly surprise surprise I may not have to send any damaged coins back to the Royal Mint!! 
 

HENRY II of France Shield 2 oz Silver Stacker South Korea ....
THE DETAILS ARE FANTASTIC ❤❤ 

Some nice shiny 2012 sovereigns from ATS

Limited edition Bunker Bullion 2oz round😎

Fast becoming my favourite coins.

Wow! Received… off to storage.
Now just to source the other one! 
 

I’ll be keeping the Sixpence but not sure about the William Crown.

Better in Gold...but Still No Walk on the Beach   As far as the Royal Mint One Pound coin designs go, the "Nations of the Crown" has to rate as staggeringly average and is soundly thrashed into a cocked hat by its predecessor, the exquisite 2016 "Last Round Pound", designed by Gregory Cameron. After six years of this incessant tedium it is impossible to fathom why the RM has not managed to update this tired and uninspired numismatic anachronism. That being said, the design does look somewhat better lend itself to bi-coloured gold that it does to a silver/gold combo. Surprisingly, an uncomfortably high number of 2,142 "collectors" deemed this coin worthy of purchase upon release, making it the second highest mintage of all gold proof decimal pounds. More fool them.    Presumably buyers were unaware that the new shape heralded a latter-day coin-clipping exercise by the RM, with the missing "corners" accounting for a 10% reduction in gold content. Which was nice.   As with my silver £1 collection, this dodecagonal usurper will be the final coin in my (currently incomplete) set.   Excellent service from Louise at @CoinsOfTheRealmAuctions. Highly recommended.

So this is a dream piece for me. Gold spartan was a big help to me when I started and I've been following his work for a long time, so to finally get one of his pieces is so damn cool..
2022-09-02-180301382.mp4

Received this little rocket from @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer
Stunning vintage Perth mint 0.5oz button to go with my Perth mint 7.74 gram reef nugget in its Perth mint case 
£1 for scale 
unreal together! When you see the colour it'd amazes me how the Royal mint can get it so wrong with their rose gold sovs 
 
 

Had a couple of great deliveries today.
First up....  Little John courtesy of @FFposh. Splendid coin to finish up my myths and legends set. 
Next up.... A couple of splendid examples from @gji25. A 2018 ASE and a 2018 maple. Two more towards the end goal. 
thanks to both for making a not so great day feel a whole lot better. 

Picked up a Proof Silver Eagle on 'the bay'.
Didn't come in a presentation box so was a nice deal. Hoping to get @GoldDiggerDave to send it for grading, but theres a little mark on the field where someones tried to clean it? Fingers crossed that Dave can work his magic.
Apart from that, its a lovely example.


In other news..........
Added a couple more Proof Britannias to the collection.
 

First deal with @silverseller and I couldn't be more pleased. All coins accounted for and passing on the Sigma (both sides). Thank you for another tube of 2020's these look pristine

So....... this just happened!
still not too sure how but hey, I’m gonna not try to over think it!
My first 1oz Gold piece so it had to be a 2022 and had to be a Brit. 
Many thanks to @QuantumStackerfor starting me off on my 1oz journey! 

2004 Gold Proof £1 Forth Railway Bridge   A TSF "lurker" who wishes to remain anonymous arranged delivery of this pristine example from the days when the Royal Mint had a fully functioning Quality Control department. A welcome addition to my Gold Proof Pound Coin collection.   With an actual mintage of 2,618 (of the 3,000 limit) this was the first gold decimal pound coin to be issued individually, the 2002 Three Lions having appeared in the Golden Jubilee gold set.   Two auric bridges - 2005 and 2006 - still elude me.  "DMs are open".

Recently put this collection of 'nearly' all the Sovereign obverse/portraits since 1817 on 'Today I want to show.....' and thought it worth repeating on this topic.  Obviously this can be expanded to include all the mints/specials/date-runs etc Anything more ambitious is likely to be 'Mission Impossible!' Early sovereigns are going to be more expensive now, but this group is still achievable in the short to medium term (finance permitting) It may take a few years - but hey, whats the rush?! The 1997 was my very first sovereign.🤗

So I've pretty much given up on every monarch. So set my sights a little lower. Aiming for hammered from York mint now.
 
First up Henry VIII half groat

It looks like we got round to photographing our 1952 South Africa (tercentenary) coin set:

In its box:

Now I'm wondering how many we have!
😎

Oh, and here is a roll of the 1371 / 1952 Moroccan 50 Francs:

All nice and minty!
* Mints often used to roll coins, and these look like they were hand-rolled (sounds like a tobacco product).
No plastic tubes in those days!
😎

Picked these 2 up the up the other day, though have been mis-listed when sold at auction seems… hmmm… will have to go back? 😢 … that’s meant to be a 5oz 3 graces in picture. 🧐 … both rated as PR69s.

Nearly all the basic Sovereign Portrait/Obverses!  Missing are :- 1855/56  'Australia' by James Wyon, and 2016 Butler, I think that's all.
NB:  1st Row: 1817, 1824, 1829, 1832, 1871 (Shield),1883(G&D)
        2nd Row: 1870 ('Australia'),1887, 1901, 1908, 1911C, 1931SA-'Small-head'
        3rd Row: 1958, 1979, 1997(Proof), 1989(Proof), 2002, 2017.
 

The Gillick portrait is recently topical on 'Gold' but decided to put a more detailed obverse here. Instead of the smaller sovereign, this one is on the 1970 Half-Crown (BU) and looks pretty good for a 52 year old coin!