AppleZippoandMetronome

I completely agree - and in my view is a very sane perspective.  
With the sale of 'Collectors universe' (Parent company of PCGS) I think that grading will be pushed harder which will not help the problem.....the investors will want to drive growth of the business, which will mean more grading and people chasing grades and not looking at the coins.
Best
Dicker

I think grading in the volumes its happening makes this sort of behaviour inevitable. In every collecting market collectors generally want the best examples of what is out there. Grading sets out a very clear scale with a very clear pursuit for everyone - that 70. If its not perfect, if its not the best example, if its not that 70 then people don't want it. So you get a distortion of values...  70s selling for more than they're likely honestly worth and 69s going for under. Ungraded do better because there is still a chance they could be a 70...
I've said it once and I'll say it again...  I really don't like grading. I really wish it had been left as a tool for authentication as opposed to what it has become. I've been collecting various things for more than 20 years now and slowly as grading entered each market it seemed to do more harm than good. People inevitably default to purchasing and pursuing the grade instead of the coin/other collectable. The coin almost comes secondary to the grade in many cases as people rid themselves of examples that didn't quite reach that 70. Its a shame.

I think grading in the volumes its happening makes this sort of behaviour inevitable. In every collecting market collectors generally want the best examples of what is out there. Grading sets out a very clear scale with a very clear pursuit for everyone - that 70. If its not perfect, if its not the best example, if its not that 70 then people don't want it. So you get a distortion of values...  70s selling for more than they're likely honestly worth and 69s going for under. Ungraded do better because there is still a chance they could be a 70...
I've said it once and I'll say it again...  I really don't like grading. I really wish it had been left as a tool for authentication as opposed to what it has become. I've been collecting various things for more than 20 years now and slowly as grading entered each market it seemed to do more harm than good. People inevitably default to purchasing and pursuing the grade instead of the coin/other collectable. The coin almost comes secondary to the grade in many cases as people rid themselves of examples that didn't quite reach that 70. Its a shame.

I think grading in the volumes its happening makes this sort of behaviour inevitable. In every collecting market collectors generally want the best examples of what is out there. Grading sets out a very clear scale with a very clear pursuit for everyone - that 70. If its not perfect, if its not the best example, if its not that 70 then people don't want it. So you get a distortion of values...  70s selling for more than they're likely honestly worth and 69s going for under. Ungraded do better because there is still a chance they could be a 70...
I've said it once and I'll say it again...  I really don't like grading. I really wish it had been left as a tool for authentication as opposed to what it has become. I've been collecting various things for more than 20 years now and slowly as grading entered each market it seemed to do more harm than good. People inevitably default to purchasing and pursuing the grade instead of the coin/other collectable. The coin almost comes secondary to the grade in many cases as people rid themselves of examples that didn't quite reach that 70. Its a shame.

I think grading in the volumes its happening makes this sort of behaviour inevitable. In every collecting market collectors generally want the best examples of what is out there. Grading sets out a very clear scale with a very clear pursuit for everyone - that 70. If its not perfect, if its not the best example, if its not that 70 then people don't want it. So you get a distortion of values...  70s selling for more than they're likely honestly worth and 69s going for under. Ungraded do better because there is still a chance they could be a 70...
I've said it once and I'll say it again...  I really don't like grading. I really wish it had been left as a tool for authentication as opposed to what it has become. I've been collecting various things for more than 20 years now and slowly as grading entered each market it seemed to do more harm than good. People inevitably default to purchasing and pursuing the grade instead of the coin/other collectable. The coin almost comes secondary to the grade in many cases as people rid themselves of examples that didn't quite reach that 70. Its a shame.

I think grading in the volumes its happening makes this sort of behaviour inevitable. In every collecting market collectors generally want the best examples of what is out there. Grading sets out a very clear scale with a very clear pursuit for everyone - that 70. If its not perfect, if its not the best example, if its not that 70 then people don't want it. So you get a distortion of values...  70s selling for more than they're likely honestly worth and 69s going for under. Ungraded do better because there is still a chance they could be a 70...
I've said it once and I'll say it again...  I really don't like grading. I really wish it had been left as a tool for authentication as opposed to what it has become. I've been collecting various things for more than 20 years now and slowly as grading entered each market it seemed to do more harm than good. People inevitably default to purchasing and pursuing the grade instead of the coin/other collectable. The coin almost comes secondary to the grade in many cases as people rid themselves of examples that didn't quite reach that 70. Its a shame.

The implication that even in the midst of a hyper inflation crisis event you could continue living exactly as you are now if only you have enough silver and gold is hilarious to me.
The main uses I can think of for silver and gold in that type of situation would be using it to relocate elsewhere and/or hanging on to it and using it at the other end of the crisis to start over. If you plan on sticking around through the crisis you better be thinking of more pressing needs than deluding yourself into thinking you'd be able to maintain your current standard of living.

The thing is... borders aren't impenetrable and for the right amount of money people smuggling is big business. Its happening all over the world more so now than ever. Even Canada hasn't been immune once those routes were recognised for exploitation - Roxham Road from New York state into Quebec is stated to have had 50000 illegal entries between 2017 - 2019. We see it here in the UK in the form of people getting on boats, rafts, etc to cross the English Channel. You really don't need to look far these days to see stories of this sort of thing unfolding.
It isn't without its risks and wouldn't be my first choice but if things got bad enough I'd be happy to be holding something valuable that could be used to find me a route out of the country.

Although this video does not relate primarily to coins, or coin grading, it should be of considerable importance and interest to most coin or bullion investors, collectors, slabbers, stackers, and even conspiracy theorists.
Exposing FRAUD And DECEPTION In The Retro Video Game Market
 
It was posted by Karl Jobst, and has been discussed and linked on Reddit.
      "My scathing review of the current retro video game bubble is out! These people don't care about video games, they just care about taking your money" I will not attempt to describe it in full detail, but it involves or mentions:
Mark Haspell and Deniz Kahn of Wata Games 
PWCC
Tulipmania
The Great Coin Bubble of the 80's
PCGS
RSE Archive LLC Rally RD
Eric Naierman
Merrill Lynch
NCI
Heritage Capital Corps.
James Halperin
Certified Rare Coin Galleries (CRCG)
Ebay
The press and media in general for helping to promote and distribute propaganda issued by the interested parties.
So, while I do not expect many TSF members to be Retro Video Game collectors or "investors", I think this video is educational and worth watching.
 
 

Hi All
Just mailed the the RCM and will let you know if I get a response on the above question!
Best
Dicker

I am going to email the mint too Thank You
I am going to email the mint too Thank You

My guess would be the pandemic happened and threw a spanner into their works. Just a guess but like other mints they did shut down for a while last year and had trouble producing their normal bullion range including bars due to shortages. I can only imagine this caused them to shelve the series and they just haven't gotten back around to it yet.
Its a shame as I quite liked a number of the 2oz coins they produced around that time. I too was looking forward to what came next in the series as well as any other individual one offs they made. Perhaps it might be worth sending them an email. If they get enough interest it might spur them on.

Never say never. I picked up some 1g gold bars from CPM last year because they were £1 or £2 over spot price at the time. I very much agree the premium of fractionals normally makes them stupidly overpriced but exceptions come up from time to time.

As for these bars... its a great idea but they are generally silly over priced. I was given a strip of the silver ones some time back and broke them into individuals which was easy to do. Again I think its a great concept and could have its uses but the price point definitely means its more a novely than anything actually useful.
Edit - I thought it worth adding that the RCM did a bullion product a couple years ago called the MapleFlex which was the same principal but the 2oz bar split down into various sized fractionals. I liked this idea more as it provided more flexibility when breaking down the bar but unfortunately like the Valcambi ones it was grossly over priced. I managed to get one for a deal at near spot price but generally they were selling at the time for silly money considering what they were.

Never say never. I picked up some 1g gold bars from CPM last year because they were £1 or £2 over spot price at the time. I very much agree the premium of fractionals normally makes them stupidly overpriced but exceptions come up from time to time.

As for these bars... its a great idea but they are generally silly over priced. I was given a strip of the silver ones some time back and broke them into individuals which was easy to do. Again I think its a great concept and could have its uses but the price point definitely means its more a novely than anything actually useful.
Edit - I thought it worth adding that the RCM did a bullion product a couple years ago called the MapleFlex which was the same principal but the 2oz bar split down into various sized fractionals. I liked this idea more as it provided more flexibility when breaking down the bar but unfortunately like the Valcambi ones it was grossly over priced. I managed to get one for a deal at near spot price but generally they were selling at the time for silly money considering what they were.

Three lovely 10oz Magnificent Maples - 2017 - 2019. These coins are really lovely with such deep detail that hopefully comes through in these pics

For the past month, my gut feelings have been that the supply and delivery situation for popular UK gold and silver products has been easing, and edging towards normality.
For most of the last 15 to 18 months, there has been big demand for investment bullion products worldwide.
In the UK, this has naturally been particularly strong for British CGT exempt coins, such as gold sovereigns, gold Britannias, and silver Britannias, with demand also overflowing into gold and silver bars.
Any secondary market coins we bought in this period have sold out within hours or days. Naturally, many investors prefer these because of lower premiums, which has increased demand for new, fresh from the mint, products.
In the past month, we have received significant deliveries of 2021 gold sovereigns, gold Britannias, and silver Britannias.
We now have spare physical stock of 2021 silver Britannias, having received more than a tonne in the last few weeks, with more in the pipellne.
2021 gold sovereigns we have had spare physical stock for about 2 out of the past 4 weeks, with more due in soon.
2021 gold Britannias. Again, we have had a number of large deliveries, but not quite enough to fill all existing orders. This should also change by mid August.

This was just one of our recent silver Britannia deliveries (the monster boxes, not Mandi).
TSF stackers might be interested to know that there is often, but not always, slowdown in hot weather and holidays.
In combination with more readily available stock, this may mean slightly lower premiums on some of these coins over the next month.
 

The releases for the two coins were very different. Una was released with no real fan fare and took a couple days to sell out. 3G was released to the largest demand I think there has been for a RM release I've been around for. As a result of this the Una's I suspect were largely picked up by collectors and disappeared into those collections with few examples coming to the secondary market. In contrast I suspect the vast majority of 3G were bought by people hoping to cash in the way a select few managed with the Una. At the moment you're just seeing the result of that. When you have a coin that was bought up primarily to be flipped once those go to market in the numbers they have there is only one way the price is going to head. It is possible the price will increase over time as the current surplus is bought up but we've yet to find a bottom price (actually saw a PF70 sell for £1500 on a FB group earlier) so there is a ways to go down yet before any rise happens. 

Another issue the 3G coin faces is dilution. The mintage was higher and I'm sure the RM minted more varities (sizes) of it. There were also other mints that put out really high quality versions. While I expect the RM version will be the definitive version you'll always have some people who will now settle for one of the others so that takes away from the pool of people who might have been after a RM version lessening the demand. I really don't imagine the 3G will ever be as valuable as the Una is.

This is a great question. I got back into silver in late 2017 because it seemed like it was way too good a deal. I bought what I could over the 2+ years it remained that way and really backed up the truck back in March 2020 on that last dip. I've only really bought a few pieces since then though focusing instead on gold with its lower premiums. From time to time I look at what coins are selling for and think I could really cash out. Pretty much everything I have could be sold comfortably for double what I paid. Yet...  I haven't sold a single thing.
Silver still looks good to me. Long term it definitely looks a lot better to me than the £s and $s in my bank accounts. The silver feels safe in a world where increasingly make believe nonsense is selling for more and more. I don't know where things are headed but those physical assets that I can hold give me comfort. It doesn't seem like a time to get rid of any of them.

This is a great question. I got back into silver in late 2017 because it seemed like it was way too good a deal. I bought what I could over the 2+ years it remained that way and really backed up the truck back in March 2020 on that last dip. I've only really bought a few pieces since then though focusing instead on gold with its lower premiums. From time to time I look at what coins are selling for and think I could really cash out. Pretty much everything I have could be sold comfortably for double what I paid. Yet...  I haven't sold a single thing.
Silver still looks good to me. Long term it definitely looks a lot better to me than the £s and $s in my bank accounts. The silver feels safe in a world where increasingly make believe nonsense is selling for more and more. I don't know where things are headed but those physical assets that I can hold give me comfort. It doesn't seem like a time to get rid of any of them.

Hi All
I have seen a number of people here and elsewhere thinking of giving up with silver. 
Firstly, I am not any sort of expert or guru.  I just have had a good think about silver. 
I have a not inconsiderable stack of silver, collected over the last five or so years.  My stack is varied and ranges from English Hammered through to QB’s. 
Personally, I have stopped stacking silver, and have shifted focus on to buying non proof interesting coins - like Morgan’s, George Shillings etc.  Coins that I enjoy owning.
Will I be selling my silver stack - no!  Not at all.
For me, it a long term bet and I want to keep the coins that I have collected.
Everyone has their own ideas and strategies but for me, I will be keeping my silver stack and selectively adding interesting coins rather than bulk purchases.
If I was starting again, I would still buy silver but from private buyers on the forum.
Would be interested in hearing other folks thoughts.
Best
Dicker

 

This is a great question. I got back into silver in late 2017 because it seemed like it was way too good a deal. I bought what I could over the 2+ years it remained that way and really backed up the truck back in March 2020 on that last dip. I've only really bought a few pieces since then though focusing instead on gold with its lower premiums. From time to time I look at what coins are selling for and think I could really cash out. Pretty much everything I have could be sold comfortably for double what I paid. Yet...  I haven't sold a single thing.
Silver still looks good to me. Long term it definitely looks a lot better to me than the £s and $s in my bank accounts. The silver feels safe in a world where increasingly make believe nonsense is selling for more and more. I don't know where things are headed but those physical assets that I can hold give me comfort. It doesn't seem like a time to get rid of any of them.

The implication that even in the midst of a hyper inflation crisis event you could continue living exactly as you are now if only you have enough silver and gold is hilarious to me.
The main uses I can think of for silver and gold in that type of situation would be using it to relocate elsewhere and/or hanging on to it and using it at the other end of the crisis to start over. If you plan on sticking around through the crisis you better be thinking of more pressing needs than deluding yourself into thinking you'd be able to maintain your current standard of living.

I'm no expert but it looks to me like one was struck with a die that was a lot less used than the other. I would bet that would be enough to explain away the slight variance in shade.

This one I feel isn't worth the quality lottery

This one I feel isn't worth the quality lottery