Britannia47

Just a mixed bag of sovereigns....

They are both great coins. The 'Buffalo' came out in 1986, quickly followed by the 'Britannia' in 1997. I wonder why? Difference in colour is notable. Alloy of the Eagle has 4% silver - still slightly reddish but not as bad as the RMs pinkies! Apologies was the 'Eagle' in 1986, not the Buffalo (2006)!

They are both great coins. The 'Buffalo' came out in 1986, quickly followed by the 'Britannia' in 1997. I wonder why? Difference in colour is notable. Alloy of the Eagle has 4% silver - still slightly reddish but not as bad as the RMs pinkies!

Mine has just arrived in a Harrington & Byrne pouch. within a 5 Sov holder/foam insert. Looks OK and good value for £319.

Couldn't resist another comparison photo. This time its the sovereign 200 years apart. The G&D, with sword in hand, first appeared in the reign of George IV, 1821 looking matt & golden (Lovely) Look at it today! Early Australia sovs. up until 1870 were more yellow than the RMs because they contained naturally occurring silver in the alloy. However it was important to harden the coins with some copper, after which a nice balance of silver and copper was used. To achieve this meant using the new Miller gas chlorine process to remove some of the silver. I digress. Can also recommend a visit to the Perth mint. Watch a 'gold pour' and pick up a replica of the 'Welcome Stranger' nugget 1869 in the miners camp. Also a great shop.

YES, in fact the Perth mint sovereigns use all silver as its alloy, with no copper whatsoever! (eg 2005 commemorative)

I believe there is a separate issue here other than the all copper alloy we all dislike. The RM has for many years depicted its sovereigns as extra-ordinarily 'Pink' in all its advertising/brochures/online etc. In fact It is so artificial in colour as to be embarrassing! Surely the RM can produce an image that's more accurate in colour. None of my sovereigns look this way, unless I'm going colour blind! Of course when compared side by side with an older sovereign it looks terrible' I remember the days when men were men, and sovereigns actually looked 'golden' not 'girly pink' representations.😄

Over Xmas there was the most awful Geo-Political thread in the gold section which has now literally 'disappeared' (thankfully). I was going to put this photo on as a 'commercial' between the arguments, to remind ourselves why we are here. Anyway from Mr Britannia himself I give you Silver, Gold and Platinum! and Merry Christmas.

Just keeping this thread alive over Xmas, now that those of us who have ordered a loss-leader sovereign from H&B will have to wait at least another week from 11.1.22. In the mean time, wish all on TSF a Healthy Xmas (Covid permitting) especially all you 'Stackers' who are just in it for the money! Rather than show you all some Frankincense and Myrrh, here in hypocritical style is my collectors 'Stack' of !oz + gold ranging from .900 to 99999! .

H&B are advertising today in the London Metro for the 2021 sovereign at £329 plus free delivery.

Yes, I've seen this one, and is a common product for marketing companies. 62 of these will make up 1 troy ounce! There have been other threads re these shirt-button size coins. Oddly enough it is almost identical to the Gothic engravers design, but not by the RM. This type of coin is on my 'bargepole' list! 😝

The other coin company in Poole is CPM (Coin Portfolio Management) which is a subsidiary of Westminster Collection. H&B and CPM both have addresses in Bournemouth and Poole. What a coincidence! Both have similar logos and stationery. Also there is no Mr Harrington to be found in H&Bs name. It seems to be owned by the Irish Byrne family. I wonder if ‘Harrington’ was added to the name in 2014 to make it sound more British and posh? Certainly the Mayfair address is not posh! I remember buying a silver Krugerrand from CPM (50th Anniversary.) in 2017 but only because it was cheaper than ATS, even after Lawrence had said there was no such thing as a ‘Silver’ Krugerrand! 😀

What sort of cold coin? If it’s a bullion coin then you will need to preload your bullion account with debit card or bank transfer to cover the whole cost + extra for any gold spot increase. Your account statement should pop up with any credits . For other coins just go to the shop to pay directly. Apologies if you already know this. Ordered 2 bullion QB 1/4 oz recently with no problem, so could be your browser, or the RM! Otherwise give them a call.

H&B 2022 Proof Sovereign £999 - Interest free instalments. No further comment required.

The initial advert was in the national press which suggests that they are targeting the general public not discerning members of TSF! 😃 'Loss leaders' like these are fairly typical I believe. They surely would have calculated potential losses if any, but also gains from those who might purchase additional coinage? I'm sure they are aware that many will take the sovereign and run, but may not have taken into account how obstinate Forum members can be....😠