dicker

I have not (but I am usually the last to hear about this sort of issue!). I think it would make sense however given the magnitude of a 70 year reign as a monarch. The design would need to be very special for it to be meaningful. Best Dicker

Hi Ranger It is a Draped Dollar Bust. I have not seen one in person and am unfamiliar with them, so I don't have a firm view on authenticity, but the detail around the M and E on the Eagle side looks a little strange. What I have seen some while ago, is a guy on ebay selling one of these along side a load of clearly fake Morgans. Value...sorry I just don't know the market, but this is far from a common coin. The dealer I used to visit in the US who had a very considerable stock, had one in when I visited last (and that was for sale for USD3k ish). I remember because it was their most expensive dollar on sale! Best Dicker

Many thanks all. It is fascinating looking at Shield Sovereigns using a relatively inexpensive microscope. It does however prompt a lot of questions! Best Dicker

Yes there is also something going on with the 4. Looks like 4 over a partial 4. I suspect the engraver started rather too high on the 4 - but that doesn't really explain the peculiar 9! Best Dicker

Thanks all!

And this one - 1856 and looks like it might have unbarred A's Caveat - the coin is filthy the bars could be hiding in the dirt - I don't clean coins (ever) so this may have to remain a mystery!

1876..this one is more interesting to me at any rate. Not sure what is going on with the die number.....

Also....minor again, but two examples of oddities with 'M's. Both are 1856 London Shield's

Next up are is this interesting example. Both images are from 1878 Sydney Shields (each one different) Its relatively minor, but there is definitely something going on with the A (A over A?) Best Dicker

Hi All, What do you think of this date on a 1875 Sydney sovereign (Shield). To my eye, the date sizing looks a little off..... Either the 7 is somewhat larger of the 5 is somewhat smaller. Objective opinions - I am more than happy to be wrong!

Hi All, Reviving this thread because I have a question around value if anyone could help? Would anyone be able to give me an idea of price for 2018 Bullion Gold Libertads today - I have looked around but cannot find any that are for sale, so am finding it hard to judge what they would sell for. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Best Dicker

Report to ebay.

Forum would be my first option for bullion grade coins. Ebay would be my very very last option. For numismatic coins, Auction. Best Dicker

I think it’s stability means that it won’t explode in price, but will hold its value over a very long period of time.

On a day when BTC was hammered, gold rose just a little more. Almost as if to signal “I am gold, I do my own thing, I have been doing it for a few thousand years and I am just going to tick up a little to...” GBP1330

Keep tour eye out across a range of stores. Baird have recently been selling what appeared to be a large stock of 1957 and 1959 Gillicks which are the lowest mintage of that series of pre-decimal coins. Premiums were not too bad and they were in very very nice condition - to my eye, well into the MS60’s

Food for thought...

From what I have seen, free money is usually used to buy big TV’s and PS5’s

Au GBP1314 this morning Bitcoin down to USD43k. I do wonder about the elasticity of the BTC “investors” patience and if further big falls will support a rise in gold.

Most jewellers know very little about coins, and not much more about jewellery either, and I am not entirely joking. True...

Hi All Out of interest, has anyone assembled a complete collection of Kooks? I am partially there..... Best Dicker

Hi All, I thought it would be useful for to add a thread on gold / precious metal scams. There have been a few questions posted over the last year that indicate that some new forum members might be being scammed or are thinking about taking part in a "venture" that is is a scam....or worse being used to launder money. This post can be used as a 'lookup' for new members and also for forum members to flag any scams that they have seen. Forum members, please do flag up scams or any other advice that would be helpful to people. Best Dicker The "Hook" A gold scam is the same as any other scam - someone is trying to entice you into parting with your money for a product that does not exist and you will never receive.The 'hook' to catch your interest is often the prospect of making significant money by buying gold at a discount. Margins on PM's are tight and you will find that even miners in remote regions of third world countries know the price of gold! Types of Scams Financing the importation of gold - Where there is a spurious source i.e. Gold looted from from Saddam, Gadaffi, ISIS, a corrupt mine manager etc Financing the purchase and sale of gold in another country - You are invited to fund the purchase and sale of gold using a bogus tax scheme - you are supposed to get the profits when the deal is completed Buying gold dust - "left over" from a mine crusher, smelting plant etc Buying from an fraudulent online dealer - Who has just setup shop and is selling gold at a deep discount Buying from a corrupt politician / government employee - Who just happens to have access to a load of gold Tax avoidance - Funding the purchase and sale of PM's across different tax jurisdictions with you taking a cut of the profits My client wants to buy a lot of gold - Or a bullion dealer, or a refinery. This is essentially where a victim has been "won over" by a scammer and is then being used to scam others. We had an example on this forum a while ago where a member was enquiring about buying vast quantities of gold (central bank quantities) or a large refinery... I think in the end the forum member left, still thinking that we were wrong and she was had a client who wanted that quantity of gold..... Money laundering - You are used to move money around using your bank account (private or company), on the premise you are dealing gold, whereas you are moving money that comes from the proceeds of crime (mostly drugs) No one would fall for that right? Sadly people do, and more frequently than people think - especially senior citizens. Many scams are extremely elaborate, well planned and well financed, with months or years in the making. Sending a sample as a 'convincer' - To convince a victim that they are genuine, it is not unknown (but not common) for a scammer to send a sample of gold to a victim for testing. "Keep the 1/10th ounce sample, we have lots more......" More common is a video or documentary evidence of gold being tested with a piece of paper with your name on. The gold may be real or may be totally fake, but you won't know Most frequently, stock photos of gold seem to be used as part of scam - using Google Image Search or Tineye is good for searching for the picture to see if it has been used elsewhere Pushy People - Frequently scammers are pushy, with a time frame and deadline put in place to pressurise you to handover cash Scammers are not necessarily pushy, and are willing to play the long game - for example selling a victim 2oz gold at 30% under spot, then waiting for the victim to say - lets do it again with 30oz's Documentation and Websites - Are sometimes surprisingly well put together, and enough to fool a non-expert Wire Transfer - Having a BIC Code and asking for payment by SWIFT MT103 dent mean the recipient is genuine Spotting Scams Stranger danger - The majority of fraud against an individual is carried out by someone not known to them (but there are of course exceptions) Too good to be true - buying PM's significantly under spot doesn't happen - the market is too 'tight' with margins and pricing to match. (Check the Forum Sale section - you are lucky if you can buy gold for Spot!) Dubious legality - Some scams purport to be close to the law, or in breach or it in order to make money, or someone says they have found a 'loophole'. Example smuggling gold to avoid tax, claiming tax rebates on gold in another country Urban Legends - Were you hear of gold discovered and belonging to Gadaffi, Hitler, Saddam, that was left in a bank or looted only to be found by the scammer Government Involvement - The person you are dealing with purports to be a government minister, judge, central bank officer - they will not be, even in very non-democratic countries Payment by Western Union, Moneygram - these are immediate red flags. Both of these companies have implemented checks for 419 scams (sending cash to West Africa and elsewhere) but it remains essentially an anonymous way to receive funds Cash - To date, all of the scams that I have seen have involved the victim sending cash (physical or by wire) rather than precious metals, but this may not always be the case Google is your friend - Google the name of the company and the person you are dealing with - it doesn't take long to find that (or example) Judge Thomas Mensa of Ghana is in fact deceased, and not in possession of $USD20 million of gold he wants to sell to you at a discount (Mail I received last week...) Your personal information - Scammers often want your personal details ASAP The location of the scammer - From what I have seen (and I appreciate this is anecdotal) a large proportion of the gold scams originate from West Africa, and particularly from countries where 419 Fraud is common The following is a good watch and explains why people get caught out and then cannot stop funding a gold scam.