sovereignsteve

I would agree with most others here. Hairlines are common on even high graded coins of this type. Most will be caused by die or planchet polishing as its not really feasible that parallel lines in the field could be caused by movement in the box felt. Any caused by wiping should be visible over the high points in the right light.

The 1903-O coin was very rare before the 1962 payout, when a large number of mint state coins were released, sending prices plummeting. @Junior 's estimates suggest that 287,000 coins of this year and mint survive whereas the Red Book estimates that 171,000 - 307,000 coins exist in mint state. So pretty good agreement then😊

Excellent advice. In fact this publication does give estimated numbers of survivors in various grades. It would be instructive to compare your figures with the ones given in this book @Junior edit. Just remembered that the numbers given in the Red Book only relate to estimates of those in mint state (MS60 and above). Therefore a good comparison would be for a year with a high proportion of high grades, maybe one of the years that were paid out in the 1962 Treasury release.

Yes, I think this sort of this was pointed out in the thread I mentioned.

shame they didn't use a 5 instead of the S

In the case of the 2016 half sovereign, you will also know who the seller was. That may be very revealing😉

A while ago there was a thread about this very issue, or it may have been part of another. IIRC Russell seemed to have a lot of knowledge about this; I think he mentioned a certain auction platform that many auction houses used that did allow the seller to bid on their items. I believe he also said that this practice is allowed and rife on certain international auctions and in fact is specifically allowed in the T&C of some British auctioneers. My memory could well be a bit suspect on this matter so please, nobody take this as accurate unless or until someone can find the thread in question.

Are you aware of any differences/pro and cons between this and the Sigma?

I haven't seen anyone admitting to doing it but there is absolutely no doubt it goes on extensively, both on ebay and on traditional auctions. The problem could be easily solved if the software used by these auctioneers didn't allow it and it was banned by the companies themselves. Another way would be for auctioneers such as the CC to allow reserves which they seem reluctant to do. I don't really have a problem with sellers bidding on their own coins up to their "reserve" and paying the commission if they inadvertently win the auction, except for the fact it puts on record a false sale, thus inflating the prices for people referencing past sales.

@ady Is this the site@ https://www.sigma-verifiers.com/sk/ As it's not in english, can you confirm the lower price figure is ex-vat and this is what you will pay ordering from the UK? 20% vat would be payable on entry to UK?

Think there is evidence of a broken serif there, unless my eyes deceive me😁

Are you even allowed out of the house over there?😉

You're talking stacking gold I presume so the difference in the alloy shouldn't matter. Assuming the old brit designs mirror the 1oz silver ones, I would go for the older ones to add a bit of interest.

Ignore me, I can see now I got the wrong of the stick with this thread.

70 grade?