Shinus73

The 'Ounce' is a bit busy for my liking, much prefer the understated Crown for the Crown. The SOTD with crowned portrait is surely a must have?

2013 was the first year of the mass production of Britannias (millions of the 999 versions vs roughly 100,000 of the old 958 versions). The mint didn’t finalise their design / production of tubes until the second half of 2013, so the coins from early in the year were provided in the sheets. I remember this specifically because I had to return two sheets of 20 from the very early runs to a dealer in Germany, which were of the most appalling quality. They were covered in dings, scratches and gouges. The replacements from later in the year, came in tubes. The tubes from 2013 (and possibly 2014) also contained only 20 coins, rather than the 25 the current tubes hold. Your coins look like they are from a run between the disastrous early run and the adoption of the tube.

It’s a hippocampus, lots of varying images.

I could be wrong, but I suspect webbed front feet are a better bet for pulling mythical carriages under water.

'The figure of the seahorse was important in Ancient Greek mythology, and it was the half-equine half-aquatic ‘Hippocampus’ that pulled the chariot of Poseidon, God of the Sea. This monstrous creature combined an equine head (from the Greek ‘hippo’ or horse) with a serpent, fish, or seahorse-like tail (‘campus’ meaning sea monster). The Hippocampus featured on coins of the Roman empire, meaning Jonathan’s design, just like Britannia, is rooted in both ancient history and modern times.'

Yes, I want the platinum and gold 1/4 oz, but won't pay either of those prices.

It's very low for a 1 oz silver proof from the Royal Mint, that size has a lot of collectors, although the additional 2500 non-privy versions dilute the exclusivity a bit.

I think this sneaked up on people.

Still waiting for my 1 and 2 oz silver George coins from July! Actually, not anymore as I picked up graded versions in the secondary market, so have cancelled.

Two coins again then - they're not daft are they?

I wouldn’t base any purchase decisions on a price target of $700 from KWN. I read the same articles in 2010-11, before coming to my senses.

Yes, but then it’s a reasonably faithful rendition of a portrait from his reign, as it’s supposed to be.

Quick and painless, a first.

Image taken from eBay

This is the image doing the rounds.

I just stick the whole thing on the outside - it's always worked.

Not a bad deal for the new Foursquare. Foursquare ECS 2010 Rum Bundle – Tipples of Manchester (tipples-of-manchester.myshopify.com)

Yes, you are right to return them. The dirty / spotted surface has been very prevalent on proofs recently. Not good enough, but they seem happy to have them returned and have to make more. Bizarre business model.

Loving the Monarchs series.

A few recent Foursquare purchases, mostly independents.

No 1/4 oz platinum as far as I can remember.

If these coins and sets were a good purchase a month ago, why is it any different now? I agree that the delays are unacceptably long, but patience is a virtue. If anything, given the number of cancellations being mentioned, they’re an even better buy than they were.

Painful to let this pass as an avid collector of Nectar points but couldn't find anything I wanted. Had my eye on a specific proof set, but somebody snapped it up before the 'power hour'.

I do both of these things. If you’re ultimate aim is to maximise your returns, regardless of timescale, it’s clearly the way to go.

My approach to silver and gold has evolved over the years. I started out as a stacker of the cheapest possible bullion (coins mostly) and was initially entirely disinterested in proof coins. I now mostly stack / collect graded proof 1/4 oz gold, sovereigns etc, although my silver purchases still include a lot of 10 oz bars and junk silver. Some observations for graded coins (in the UK): Stick to Royal Mint coins, despite the frequent problems - many people will fawn over your lovely Libertads, but nobody will pay what you want for them. Never pay RRP for proof gold 1/4 oz coins from the Mint - wait a couple of years and you will pick up the same coin (graded) for significantly less. Always pay RRP for special design Sovereigns from the Mint - wait a couple of years and you will pick up the same coin (graded) for significantly more. Silver - unless you get a PF70, the best you will do is get your money back. Stop buying and grading proof silver coins (this is a message I really should listen to, but won’t).