Melon

Oh that is interesting, thanks! I bought it new this week so it must have sat in stock a long time, it was their last in stock and probably explains the bargain! I did a little digging when picking out my wedding ring in 2020 and was impressed by the material on paper. I think it's got a lot going for it as a ring material. But nevertheless I suspect most people (myself included) want a traditional material for a wedding ring (Gold/Platinum) which is probably why these haven't taken off more. Average buyer of course won't care less about spot price and probably won't know what Palladium is! Silver is definitely a good option too, although I imagine it would need a regular polish?

Hey - hoping someone can help me confirm the meaning of the markings on this ring, thanks. I believe the first mark (S&C) is a makers mark, which probably isn't overly important in this case. I believe the second mark shows the ring to be 95% Palladium. I believe the third mark shows the assay office was Birmingham. I have no idea what the fourth mark means. Out of interest, anyone got any pro's and con's to share with Palladium as a material for rings? Seems to me the pro's including permanent colour (no plating required like white gold), robustness (harder than gold/platinum) and price premium (generally low premium over spot price vs other metals, with platinum having significant mark-ups despite lower spot prices). The downsides appear to be tradition (gold + platinum have long standing tradition as jewellery material), availability as fewer places sell them and less jewellers can work with it for resizing etc. Any other big pro's / con's to be aware of? Ta 🙂

Thanks everyone for the good guidance. I think I know my path forward now, which is probably either keep them or sell them in batches on the forum. Mind letting me know which one worked out for you? (or I can message you direct if preferred - cheers)

Fractional gold usually does command a bit of a premium, but in my defence from the first post I've been talking about paying a premium to convert to Sovs, not trying to get a premium on the Maples!

Yes perhaps I was unclear, when I talk percentages I'm talking premium over/under spot oz-for-oz, but of course more gold = more money total. I certainly would expect to be putting more money into the equation, and I'd be expecting to pay a lot more than £800 to be honest! It seems the way dealers operate (understandably) is they'll buy your gold usually at a % under spot (I was offered 5% under spot) and they'll sell you gold at a premium (in this instance 5% over spot), which equates to a 10% cost to trade in oz-for-oz or a double bite-of-the-pie for the dealer effectively. Effectively it's no different than if two separate people made two separate transactions (one to sell and one to buy). My hope was there may be a dealer that would take a view on the transaction as a whole so-to-speak, but it doesn't sound like there is. Quite understandable given it must be a relatively rare scenario. To give a random example... if you have a games console to offload you can head to your local CEX and sell it or trade-it-in against something they have in stock. If you trade-it-in your item is worth more than if you just outright sell it. The shop effectively is willing to make less margin on the incoming new stock (less-not-none), in order to secure the margin on the outgoing stock. I've definitely overcomplicated this haven't I? Or have I spotted a gap in the market? Melon's Precious Metal Trading Exchange, coming to a high street near you 😄

Pretty much all of the above. I sold off everything but the Maples some time ago (not in a bad way and sold at a profit, as I wanted to get into a higher deposit bracket on my home for a cheap fix). Now contemplating building up again and think I might just stick to bog standard, CGT free sovs. Fair point. I was looking at a tube of mint-fresh 2021 sovs and premiums seem to be 5% on those, but perhaps I'd be better off piecing out the selling and the buying for optimum returns. I'm a lazy melon though! 😄 Not a recent one as I don't keep them nearby, but here's some eye-candy I shared previously on the forum. Looking at these, maybe I should just keep them 🤤😄

Yea, the lazy part of me doesn't want the hassle of splitting up etc... but if there's no better option then that's the fall back 👍 (or I just don't bother with this crazy scheme at all lol)

I'm thinking about converting 20 1/4oz Maples into 25 Sovereigns. Interested in whether anyone's ever done something similar and how you went about it? In an ideal world I'd swap in through a dealer, but from what I've seen I'd lose out on both ends of that deal (i.e. have to sell circa 5% under spot and pay a 5% premium on the buy). Effectively treated as two separate transactions so-to-speak, as opposed to a 'trade-in' type scenario. I'd be comfortable paying a premium on the new coins of course as I wouldn't expect this service for free, but couldn't justify losing cash on both ends of the transaction (effectively a 10% cost to convert). Does anyone know of anywhere well suited to a trade-in type scenario? The other option would be to sell the Maples privately and buy the Sovereigns afterwards. Probably the smart call financially as I imagine 1/4oz Maples would achieve a small premium over spot, but that option has it's own downsides too. Cheers all! 😄

A wise old man once said... "use your melon!" 😄 I'd guess it's one of two things. (1) A scam to get your money with no intention of ever giving you anything. (2) They intend to gamble peoples money on high risk investments for the next 2 years to try and make a big profit. If they manage to double up, they'll give people their effective return of 18% in 2 years and pocket the rest. If they don't manage to make a profit (more likely), they'll close down this pop-up company and you'll take 100% of the loss.

Starting to seriously consider picking one of these Sigma Metalytics machines up. At first the cost seemed too much relative to my stack, but on reflection I think it's something that will be a valuable tool for years to come. Leaning towards the original version currently (lower cost). I know lots of folk on the forum own these, so had a few questions that I was hoping for help with! Any interesting stories of things you've found using one of these? The original model versus the newer pro model - it seems the main difference is the measurement of size. On assumption I'm willing to do that using calipers the old fashioned way, is there any other notable benefit in one over the other? Is it really as easy to use and reliable as the YouTube videos make out? Ever had issues? My understanding is combining the Sigma test alongside a weight measurement and a dimensions check is pretty much foolproof. Will it work for small coins (e.g. half sovereign)? Will it go right the way through when testing coins up to 1oz in weight? I appreciate for chunky bars it won't go all the way through. I've seen GoldScreen have an alternative product although it's similarly priced. Is Sigma the one to go for or are there better options? Lucky number 7, last but not least - Where's the best place to buy one at a decent price? (I'm in the UK) For anyone else considering one, feel free to add your questions to the thread! Massive thanks upfront for anyone that can share some wisdom 🙂

Anyone ever observed slight size differences in sovereigns? I've just moved some from generic sized 25mm capsules to 19.5mm direct fit capsules and noticed 2 out of 10 half-sovereigns fit more snugly than the rest. All fit, but 2 fit so perfectly that they have zero movement in the capsule, unlike the others which have just enough movement to fall up and down in the closed capsule. The size is identical to my eye even when laying coins on top of each other, so we are talking about fractions of a millimetre here. Weight is good and thickness is the same. All bought from one dealer. Anyone else experienced similar? I'd never had noticed except these two don't rattle in the capsule! 🤣 (I've mixed the capsules around so it's not the capsules giving the difference in result) Example - below the 1915 is one of two snug fits, whereas the 1911 is one of the eight with slight movement. The 1915 appears more worn in, perhaps that's the cause?