TeaTime

As a collector i would love the market to become weaker - less demand means lower prices. As a speculator i would love the market to become stronger - more profit if i sell. Humans are a funny lot and i don't believe anyone can predict what will be popular in a few years. As for having the Monarchs portrait on a coin - for most people it's just a handy way to date a piece - the reverse design is usually where the appeal lies.

For most people the use of cheques stopped around the time Paypal became available.... As a teen with a cheque book i found it quite astounding that i was able to write a cheque out to 'Cash', walk in to my bank, and walk out with money. It was like winning the Pools (no lottery in those days). Until the County Court summons arrived 😕

I've just received an email from RM that payment for my set of Britannia's (ordered 4 months ago) has been stopped by my bank. They are asking for a different card even though i purchased coins from them last week with the original card. I'm now considering just ignoring the email and going without the Brits because by the time all this is sorted i'll probably end up with your returned set 🙄

Buying 'gold' at under spot from Ebay would put most people on red alert. Posting it back with no insurance leaves me struggling to sympathise... I hope it all works out for you OP - if nothing else, it's a lesson learnt.

I collect enamelled coins and even purchased a kiln and supplies in an effort to tart-up some cheap damaged examples. The work involved is incredibly exacting and laborious. Not helped due to some of the original colours used now being considered dangerous (and unavailable). Needless to say (after giving up) i have a lot of admiration for those who had the patience and skill to do it. Looking into the double-sided coins it turns out that the trick was to use coloured glass with a higher temperature melting point on one side before enamelling the other. Failure to do so would result in the enamel on the bottom face of the coin running out when placed (upside down) in the kiln. The difference in melting temperature was relatively small so controlling it was paramount. I suspect that the colours used had some bearing on the flow temperature - as certain colours got banned from use then the technique gradually became unachievable. Probably.

The phrase 'weak striking' is essentially a term to describe either when a die is getting near the end of it's life and detail starts to be lost, due to a decrease in the pressure used whilst striking, or general die wear. When detail has been lost to only a small defined area it is more probable that either the die has been comprised with foreign material or the damage is post-production. (Or even a hollow planchet). I suspect a seller would term it a weak strike whilst the buyer would call it damage 😁 C'est la vie.

Simplest answer - dip it in something like Goddards Silver Dip. If it disappears then it's toning - if it doesn't then it's damage. Admittedly it could be both knowing RM quality control. I've often wondered why a lot of silver proof coins will tone in such a way. Logically you'd expect it to be more evenly distributed. Dicker could be on to something - perhaps the tone first appears on areas that have micro abrasions or defects introduced as part of the minting process..

In contrast to the last opinion i think that it is natural toning. I have a few RM silver proof coins that exhibit the same toning - all of them have never been handled.

I'm not a fan of coloured coins. And these examples are part of the reason why - they look bloody awful. Seriously - i could have done a better job of colouring between the lines after 8 pints and a port & brandy to finish off the night. Someone needs to point out that they really need to perfect minting plain silver proofs before attempting another process to go wrong.

It looks like the area in question has been flattened either during or post production. Imagine dropping something like a ball-bearing on to the coin and you would expect to see damage very similar to what is showing. Alternatively a bit of swarf on the die could be the cause. I can't see a weak strike producing such a localised defect and would expect it to show over more of the coin..

Blimey - in an effort to gain knowledge i Googled 'selling counterfeit currency' and was surprised that there are websites selling counterfeit banknotes including blurbs such as .... 'amazing quality and 100% authenticity is guaranteed'..... which seems a bit odd. Authentic counterfeit currency 🤔. I think the simplest answer to the question 'why do people buy silver plated coins' is that the buyer has every intention of passing on the 'coin' as genuine at some point. I don't believe there are that many people around who are buying a counterfeit because they are too stupid to realise it..

Don't worry OP - you're not alone in this. The RM are ruddy clueless to issue the three graces bars in packaging following the Una bars being released in 'cling film'. I fully expect the next release to be housed in something completely different again. (unless, of course, they have a cunning plan to release matching empty packaging at some point in the future - for a small fee) ? Personally i have re-housed my Una bars in hard capsules and am girding my loins to do the same with the three graces. Any product in the original packaging will sell quicker than loose product - whether the packaging will carry a premium is yet to be determined but, historically, it does make a difference in re-sale prices. I bought a bar for my own pleasure which i will re-house. Anyone who has bought bars to eventually re-sell would be advised to leave them as is.

Last night i pulled out my RM proof sets (from 2000-2015) and had a really good look at the coins. These sets are encapsulated in the original packaging and the coins are as-issued. I found defects in every set ranging from breaks in the frosting to micro scratches and even small divots in the field. This is not a new phenomenon - RM proof coins have always had defects. QC has never been much of a priority and older collectors are aware of this. If you read the waffle about proof coins on the RM's website (which includes '...After striking, each coin is inspected for imperfections...' ) it doesn't actually say that imperfect coins are discarded - just that they are inspected 😁. If the breaks in the frosting stop you enjoying the coin then you need to send it back. Just remember that the term 'proof' is pretty meaningless when it comes to perceived quality - it literally is a description of how the coin has been made.

....I don’t believe in selling it for what I bought it for because then it’s not an investment... That's because they aren't an investment - at best they are a speculation. Historically RM silver proof coins are overpriced and drop in value from the moment they are purchased. Anyone who has spent five minutes looking on Ebay (other auction sites are available) can see that. I would hazard that 80% of proof product from the RM eventually get re-sold at a loss. The few exceptions are low mintage popular coins that sell-out quickly - and even then, prices tend to stabilise after the initial frenzy. All you can do is hope that the series takes off around issue 6 or 7 creating a demand. Selling at exactly the right time is the key.

Issue limits + number of collectors will dictate the potential for profit. The 2022 proof sovereign was a very generous issue probably greatly surpassing the number of genuine collectors. Speculators will dictate if this turns into a money maker or not. All it takes is for public perception to be manipulated into believing 7.3g of gold formed into a disc in 2022 is the next best thing... Very long term - who knows ? Maybe when coinage has become obsolete then another generation of collectors will be crying out for shiny metal discs. Alternatively they may view all coins a bit like we now view shells 😁

Pop them in a bag with a boiled egg..... You'll soon know if a coin has silver in it ! If the tarnish then comes off with a dunk in silver dip you can be confident it's not a cupro-nickel variant.

Can't help but notice that, whilst silver & gold live spot prices are pretty much consistent amongst dealers, platinum seems to have a huge variance on this site. As i'm typing, the TSF banner is showing £756 / ounce whilst the other major dealers are showing £820- £825. Is there a reason for this ?

I sometimes wonder if the collectability of the £20 coin featuring George and the dragon (released by the RM) has been held back by the 'legal tender' debacle. It's a handsome lump of silver and, personally, i like them - and always considered them as silver sovereigns .

£100 fiat in 2002 would have the equivalent buying power of approximately £179 today. £100 invested in gold in 2002, worth £750 today, would convert back to approx £400 in 2002 buying power. So gold has done remarkably well in those examples - the issue though is, has gold hit it's peak and is it worth investing in at the current high prices ? Any investors have to ask themselves - what's driving the large rise in gold value and can it / will it last long term. Personally i don't believe so. Maybe in 10 years when gold has hit £5k an ounce i'll be crying in to my cheap supermarket beer and cursing the day i put all my money into Royal Mail barcoded stamps. 😬

The price of gold has doubled in the last 6 years and i don't believe todays prices are sustainable or good value for long-term investment. Comparing the massive recent upturn in gold prices to food inflation is disingenuous and, quite frankly, myopic. Gold is something of a 'panic' commodity and typically trends upwards when uncertainty and fear are the prevailing mood....

Silver will tone - or tarnish - in contact with air pollutants (sulphur compounds, cigarette smoke, chlorine, etc). Sometimes the tarnish can occur where a coin has been touched with greasy/sweaty fingers too (naturally occurring acids). It looks like either you are seeing finger marks from when the coins were placed in a capsule or the capsules are not air-tight ( i could be wrong but it looks like the tarnish is occurring around the capsule cut-outs). The good news is that it's perfectly natural and easily removed (should you wish) by a 3 second dip in tarnish remover (Goddards silver dip).

I've stopped buying generic silver coins/rounds/bars apart from those that keep a date-run going or those which i believe have a good chance of becoming popular in a few years. I would switch to generic gold but it only seems like yesterday that i was buying sovereigns for £60 a pop. I can't get over the relatively rapid increase in gold and i see little value in purchasing at circa £1400-£1500 an ounce.. .. That leaves me with buying silver proof coins at around intrinsic values - which there are, surprisingly, quite a few of around. Bottom line is buying silver or gold from a dealer just doesn't work for me at the moment 😶

The coins on A/E do not have 'copy' stamped on them. However, most of them are obvious counterfeits once in hand (for some reason the Chinese can't get European eyes right) 🥴

The only problem i see with the bugger bars is that it may highlight the lack of detail on the faces. This may be a case of smaller is better 😬

Got one !!!!!!!