TeaTime

Mine arrived and is ok. There are some minor scuffs, typical with RM bullion, but no dents or scratches - it came in a capsule. Mine has a slight haziness to it so i'm hoping this won't turn out to be milk spots... It's one of a very few coins that i keep going back to stare at. It really is very easy on the eye !

Mine arrived and is ok. There are some minor scuffs, typical with RM bullion, but no dents or scratches - it came in a capsule. Mine has a slight haziness to it so i'm hoping this won't turn out to be milk spots... It's one of a very few coins that i keep going back to stare at. It really is very easy on the eye !

Sorry, I'm not talking about it being scrubbed - it may well have no hairlines in the field - but it's of an age and been out of circulation for long enough that it should have clear signs of toning. The colour is too uniform for it not have had a clean - albeit not necessarily recently.
It's a nice looking coin but not good enough to be a uniform EF which would give it a book price (dealers price) of £75. The previous estimate i gave was for a sixpence because i was too lazy to read your post properly. My bad.
There's a lot of 'discretion' used in grading coins so maybe i'm just too fussy...

I saw the 1/4 oz reverse proof silver set and nearly ordered one... Then i thought about it. Why would anyone want a coin where the field is frosted but the design is polished. The whole idea of the frosted finish is to highlight the design. With them being so small and shiny i'd need a magnifying glass to see what was on them.
I'm marking this up as a hype product with the potential for a lot of disappointed buyers..

Gold-plated brass. Probably made in China.

I would grade it as AEF/GVF. It's a common coin and It's been cleaned. Guide price around £20-£30.

I mainly steer clear of proof coins nowadays. History has shown me that most of them will be readily available for a fraction of the original price within 1-2 years. There are some exceptions that i buy (The Britannia sets mainly) because without original purchasers there would be no second-hand products.
My one rule, regardless of what i buy, is that i like the product. Stick to that and potential profits end up being just one factor. It can make you feel good if something you purchase ends up being sought-after, but if you have no intention of selling it then it's more or less irrelevant.
Buy what you like and what gives you pleasure (and you can afford) and all will be right with the world !
 

I mainly steer clear of proof coins nowadays. History has shown me that most of them will be readily available for a fraction of the original price within 1-2 years. There are some exceptions that i buy (The Britannia sets mainly) because without original purchasers there would be no second-hand products.
My one rule, regardless of what i buy, is that i like the product. Stick to that and potential profits end up being just one factor. It can make you feel good if something you purchase ends up being sought-after, but if you have no intention of selling it then it's more or less irrelevant.
Buy what you like and what gives you pleasure (and you can afford) and all will be right with the world !
 

Fantastic coin, made me jealous as soon as i saw it..
The first thing that jumped out at me are the scratches in the field to the left of 'Brit...' - virtually unseen in the 'before' pic but quite obvious in the 'after'....
I like the bloom, marks and toning on older coins personally but appreciate that for some, the grade is everything.
 

eBay in many cases is a side line for a main business or a second income. When someone lists a item there is a option for best offers tab. So do I want it on or off? Personally I am never in any rush to sell and don't have the time for endless message writing so leave the tab off. The message gets through to 99% of potential buyers but the 1% seem to feel some sense of entitlement. I have a standard copy and past reply. On a platform that big not everyone can be seen as a customer, it would be exhausting. Sometimes the offer is that low it does trigger a response from me (never rude but direct). This never works because the counter offers are relentless as soon as you open dialogue. 

I bought a tube and paid £200 (with postage) for the privilege - works out at £10 a coin or 100% premium....
Why ? Because i like them and get pleasure out of owning them. Long term i will either make money on them or end up turning them in to jewellery.
(The 2006 1/10oz bullion Britannias coins sell for £12-£15 each presently)

Somewhere out there is a fake 1934 wreath crown, or more specificially a re-engraved date one.
Going back to about the 1965 to 1968 period, we used to get a regular visit, perhaps monthly, by a man from Southport called Wheeler.
He was always looking to buy wreath crowns, but only those from 1930 to 1936.
The other coins he wanted to buy included pennies from 1862 to 1868, halfpennies from 1870 to 1879, Edward halfcrowns from 1902 to 1909.
Typical coins he owned and was offering for sale included the above mentioned 1934 crown, 1869 pennies, 1871 halfpennies, and 1905 halfcrowns. These are all the key dates in their series.
It is very unusual for collectors to own all the key dates, but be looking to buy most of the common in a series, and this fact raised my suspicions. I had also noticed that some of his rare date coins looked to have have some "work" done around their dates.
Further, in the wreath crown series, he was never interested in any dated from 1927 to 1929. Similarly, he avoided 1910 halfcrowns, 1860 and 1861 pennies, which are a different variety from the 1869, and the same pattern with Victoria young head halfpennies.
We used to have a local competitor and fellow dealer called Peter Ireland, and I spoke to him about Wheeler. At first Peter seemed happy with the coins he had bought from Wheeler, but he was happy to re-check, and also to have a closer look at any subsequent coins he was offered by Wheeler.
This co-operation paid off, as on his next visit to Blackpool, Peter and I both identified highly suspicious coins in Wheeler's stock. We called the police, Wheeler confessed, was convicted and went to jail.
When he was arrested, and his home searched, there was no trace of the 1934 crown.
I called in to a Blackpool jeweller, a man called Fielding who ran Regan's jewellers, and I asked about various coins including a 1934 crown. He retreived the coin from his back room, I examined it, and could easily identify it as the same fake that Wheeler had offered to me. When I told Fielding this, he went into denial, even though I was able to tell him the name of the seller, and more details about the case. Fielding seemed clueless about the fact that I was one of two local numismatic coin dealers. I believe he subsequently sold the coin to an unsuspecting sucker, made a profit, avoided a loss, but lost any respect from me. I also informed Peter Ireland about this.
This was not the last time I have known jewellers to sell fake coins, sometimes in ignorance, sometimes in full knowledge. It is a very common occurrence.
I am still waiting for the faked 1934 crown to re-surface. If I do get to see it again, it will be very interesting when it's owner asks how and what I know about it.

I bought a tube and paid £200 (with postage) for the privilege - works out at £10 a coin or 100% premium....
Why ? Because i like them and get pleasure out of owning them. Long term i will either make money on them or end up turning them in to jewellery.
(The 2006 1/10oz bullion Britannias coins sell for £12-£15 each presently)

If you pay online through RM website it gives the option wether to display your address on the label.
You still have to enter your address so RM know who’s sent it should they have to return it to you but the receiver won’t see your address if you select not to display it.

A proof coin is like a virgin woman. Can be beautiful or ugly, skinny or fat, young or old, but is untouched. After first touch, she will remain beautiful or ugly, skinny or fat, young or old, but all her life she will never be a virgin again. 😊

Yes, the gold sixpence was in the wedding section - i have been collecting the silver since they introduced them in 2016 (hoping they become a slow burn for collectors) and jumped on the gold one as a 'first' for the Mint.
Unfortunately no payment went out from my account. It sat as 'payment pending' for about a week and then disappeared. So no bargain for me if gold increases in value between now and August. Fingers crossed the price drops 😁

Yes, the gold sixpence was in the wedding section - i have been collecting the silver since they introduced them in 2016 (hoping they become a slow burn for collectors) and jumped on the gold one as a 'first' for the Mint.
Unfortunately no payment went out from my account. It sat as 'payment pending' for about a week and then disappeared. So no bargain for me if gold increases in value between now and August. Fingers crossed the price drops 😁

Yes, the gold sixpence was in the wedding section - i have been collecting the silver since they introduced them in 2016 (hoping they become a slow burn for collectors) and jumped on the gold one as a 'first' for the Mint.
Unfortunately no payment went out from my account. It sat as 'payment pending' for about a week and then disappeared. So no bargain for me if gold increases in value between now and August. Fingers crossed the price drops 😁

I saw it and instantly ordered it, paid for it and got the confirmation email...
The next day i got an apology email stating that it is not available until August. 🙄
 

I saw it and instantly ordered it, paid for it and got the confirmation email...
The next day i got an apology email stating that it is not available until August. 🙄
 

I saw it and instantly ordered it, paid for it and got the confirmation email...
The next day i got an apology email stating that it is not available until August. 🙄
 

I saw it and instantly ordered it, paid for it and got the confirmation email...
The next day i got an apology email stating that it is not available until August. 🙄
 

Following on from my old thread where I asked if my gold coin was genuine, I finally received my Kickstarter phone-attachment microscope and have been able to delve into some of the details of the coin. All of these are genuine photos and not CGI!
First off a picture of the actual whole coin:

Here's a picture of Britannia's face:

 
And Elizabeth II on the other side:

 
Here's a nice photo which encompasses some of the security features of the coin, including the hologram where you can barely make out the trident, and also the teeny weeny text at the top middle - "DE":

 
Here's a close up of some of that tiny text:
 
 
 

 
And also a close up of that hologram:

 
I haven't exactly treated the coin with kid gloves (handling and ping tests with metal tweezers etc.), so there are some scratches and nicks evident:

 
Here's a close up of the '2' from the year 2021 written on the coin:

 
Here's a close up of part of the shield. I like the mottled effect surrounding it:

 
Here's a close up of that mottled effect background:

 
Finally, I couldn't resist zooming into the edge of the coin:

 
And a close up...

 
And zooming in again!!

 
And one last further zoom!!

All you can base future increases on is past performance. Forget all the apocalypse nonsense - who will want silver when struggling to find food ? In the event that society broke down who would you rather be friends with - someone who owns a lot of silver or a mechanic ?!
If you are lucky and in no hurry you could maybe double your investment if you buy well and sell better (just like any other product). You could, potentially make a 10x return on some numismatic silver but it just wont happen for generic...
And if i'm wrong i've always got my silver to fall back on !

Surely would be easier if they just checked them in the first place before they went out...