TeaTime

I'm not a fan of gilded coins - It's nicely done apart from the decision to gild the edge rather than to the kookaburra on both sides. Seems as if they got bored half way through.

I'd keep them. . . It was a sad day for me (and my wallet) when changing a fiver in the shop left you with a pocket full of change. A reminder of times when cash ruled. Uncirculated are worth around £3-£5 each. Consecutive numbers may add a couple of quid to the value.

Keep in mind that silver buyers often catagorise silver coins sold as scrap into 999, 958, 925, 800 etc. fineness. Some silver items can fall between those standards and will, generally, be classed as the next fineness down.

I've found (being a newbie) that there appears to be a lot of duplication of threads within threads lately. Anyone else noticed this ? (sorry)

I've toned some coins before with a weak, hot, liver of sulphur solution and they have come out with a perfectly even golden tone similar to yours. I'm going to throw two guesses into the mix; 1) the coins have reacted to something in the plastic combined with heat 2) the coins are still silver, it's the plastic that has discoloured !

It's uninspiring. I would go so far as to say it's awful - i really hate the hashtag. Still, it's for charity so that's all right. It also is being advertised in the typical way that all non UK coins are. Artfully diplayed to obscure the country of issue (a pet peeve of mine) in order to decieve 'patriotic' purchasers. Pffff.

It's a first year of issue and the one ounce 1997 coin carries a hefty premium - I've seen the one ounces for sale at well over £100. As these get older they can only get rarer - yes, people do actually handle them, i've seen many scuffed / scratched examples..... Bloody hell, i'm talking myself into buying one !

As far as i am aware all but a very few fractional Britannias have come from the proof sets - the 1997 one tenth being one of those exceptions - so the price is reflecting the numismatic value rather than any intrinsic worth. There are often bargains to be had though from people who only want the one ounce proof and sell off the rest of the set (half ounce / quarter ounce / tenth ounce etc) cheaply. The mint have issued a couple of sets of half ounce (£1 face value) historically. I bought the 10th, 20th and 40th ounce set of Britannias for the first year of issue (2014). The 20th ounce coins were first issued in 2013.

I sold a lot of silver during the last peak - i was advertising generic 1oz rounds on Ebay at £39 in the 'buy it now' format (previously having bought ASE, Brits etc at £5-£6 each).. (I was also buying sovereigns at £60, but that's another story) They were selling within seconds of me listing them - i don't think there will be a problem in shifting silver if the price increases. Most people see a bandwagon and are more than willing to shell out cash to jump on it.

Women... Sexy women. And coats of arms of course. Saying that my favourite coins right now are the Australian Wedge Tailed Eagles, not a bad design amongst them (yet) !

I like this and was tempted to buy a few until i saw the price. 8 grams of silver for £29 is a bit too much of a mark-up for me. I'm also doubtful of the term 'proof' used in the advertising - they're either BU or the advertising agency needs to employ a better photographer ! .....Hopefully i can get some when they start selling on the secondary market for bullion value

I recently sold a 'Kew Gardens' 50p and a 'Blue Peter' 50p on Ebay. Forget how much for, probably a couple of hundred pounds... Neither of them are what i would call rare but i took advantage of the current desire for collecting £2 and 50p. I'm confident that prices for modern circulating coins will plummet eventually once the collecting fad peters out (yes, intentional joke). Sell them now is my advice. 'Rare' coins historically have not become so until a long time after originally minted when very few of them were kept in good condition. Nowadays virtually all low mintage (and a lot of high mintage) coins are put aside. They'll never become genuinely rare as long as people keep hold of them. I believe that right now it is only speculators who are keeping the price of modern coins high and that wont last when demand eventually declines.

Probably best to change your initial post from 'most of them are 18th century' to 'most of them are 20th century'.... Saves a lot of disappointment to casual browsers !!

Don't quote me on this but i'm sure i read, somewhere in my numismatic days, that the mint experimented with various alloys in the 50% silver era. The 50% silver / 40% copper / 10% other (manganese et al) ratio was played around with... Maybe one day someone decided to throw an ingot or two of iron in the smelter !