Stuntman

The George III head used on the sovereigns is much less scary than the 'Bull Head' used on the halfcrowns of 1816 and 1817:

Even King George himself hated this one, and it only lasted 2 years before being replaced on the coinage by the lovely example on @richatthecroft's utterly droolsome 1817 sov!

And that Harry & Meghan coin?  Just no...

^^^ Indeed.  The plain edge is much rarer 🙂

The London Coins website is always useful for comparative images and recent auction sale prices:

https://www.londoncoins.co.uk/?page=Pastresults&searchterm=Gothic+Crown+1847&category=9&searchtype=1

I don't think any of my gold coins are ugly, because they are made from gold!  Even the modern sovereigns...

In terms of the design, the ugliest UK coin (in my opinion) that I have kept is probably the 1965 Churchill Crown.  I don't think many people like this coin.  It doesn't actually feature in what I consider to be my proper collection.

Some of the recent 50p coins issued for circulation probably run it close - for example some of the Paddington Bear or Beatrix Potter designs.   Just my opinion though - others love them!

Like many of you, I would be interested to see what's being offered but I have no intention of bidding.

Fat be it for us to suggest that your fingers are far 😉

46 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

In my opinion and experience, it's better to name the dealer / seller. There are a number of good reasons for this.

Sometimes this can answer the question.

The only downside is that someone might jump in and buy it while you are getting opinions.

😎

 

I agree with this.  Perhaps a good course of action would be to contact the dealer to reserve the coin, while you discuss it with the dealer in more detail.  Alternatively, ask if you can have the coin on approval or at the very least be able to return it within a period of time (provided you post it using a secure method of delivery and fully insured).  

A reputable dealer should be able to offer you this kind of service, especially given the likely purchase price..

Good luck with your decision 🙂

5 hours ago, CosmikDebris said:

1847, does it have an edge inscription reading Undecimo or Septimo or is it plain? Amazing coin by the way!

As an 1847, it should have Undecimo on the edge.

Almost certainly not a proof, just a well-struck example.

As others have said, the price is very strong for what is essentially quite a common coin of that type.  If it was an 1827 or 1829, it would be a different story.

I'd grade it at EF to GEF and I'm not sure whether it has been cleaned.  Anyway, as TeaTime has said earlier, book price for an UNC version is £200 and I wouldn't pay £200 for this particular coin.

1826 shillings are relatively easy to find in high grades, I don't think you'd do well with it from an 'investment' point of view if that's important to you.

I have an 1829 example of this type but in lower, circulated grade.  It has had some life, I wonder whose hands it passed through and what it bought...

I don't see any obvious red flags for this coin based on the photos and the toning.  I don't think it's been cleaned either.  

I have seen quite a few of these coins in the flesh at coin fairs but I am not an expert on gothic crowns and I don't have one myself.  

If genuine it's an absolute belter and I would expect it to cost well over £4k from a dealer.

I also think the coin 'looks right' in your photos.  If it was mine and given that the weight checks out, I probably wouldn't worry about it being genuine, but then again I wouldn't buy one of these on eBay.

I am a buyer of gold at today's prices and I have just added to my ISA ETF holding.

I've also added to my silver and platinum ETF holdings in my SIPP today.

But these are relatively small amounts in terms of how much PM I already hold.  In particular, I'm still looking to add while gold is below £1350 and Platinum is below £750.  And with silver below £17 I have also added some more of that!

If there was a coin that I wanted to buy today, I would be a buyer of physical gold too.

Basically though, work out your own plan and then try and stick to those decisions.

Nice job, @Heirlooms - cracking collection of gold Britannias you have there.  I am envious!

I'm buying more in my SIPP, using iShares Physical Platinum ETF (SPLT).

The George IV halfcrowns are my favourite of that period.  If you had a nice example of all 3 reverse designs minted during his reign I think that would give you a lot of pleasure.

I have 1821, 1823, 1828 and 1829 examples in decent-ish grades and they are among the last predecimal coins that I would ever sell.  The 1821 in particular!

I really like UK predecimal silver coins, but personally I wouldn't - unless I particularly needed to own an example of that shilling with that date.

You can get an 1826 (more common) shilling of that design in better grade for the same, or less, money.  

Alternatively - if you want a type example of that shiiling, pay a little bit more for an 1826 in nicer condition - or perhaps buy an 1827 or 1829 in similar grade to that eBay 1826, which would probably hold its value better from a scarcity point of view.  

But if you like it, and given that it's 'only' £20 - buy it, and enjoy being its custodian 😃

I'm not really a sovereign collector, but for my £50k I would buy a good type example of every head, monarch and mint from 1817 to the present day. 

So probably an 1817, an 1821 Laureate Head, a George IV Bare Head, a nice William IV example (perhaps my favourite bullion sovereign design), a Victoria young head shieldback, a Jubilee Head and a Veiled Head, an Edward VII example and a George V example - plus an example of all the branch mints for Victoria, Edward VII and George V.

I would then add an Elizabeth II Gillick head, and then bullion examples from 2000 onwards to include the 2002, 2005, 2012 and 2017 offerings.

And if I had money left still, I'd add BU examples of the 1989 quintuple and then 2017, 2002, 2012 and 2005 in that order.

That would do me very nicely.

Bars are not exempt from CGT, but unless you have a lot of value tied up in bars you are unlikely to need to worry about CGT.  And if you are having to worry about CGT, you will have made a lot of profit from holding your bars!

In answer to the question: the Britannia bar is a lovely thing, and bigger than you might expect because it's thinner than a 1 oz gold coin.  And the blister packaging is actually very well done.  I wasn't expecting to like the bars, but after buying a 1 oz Una gold bar earlier this year, I ordered a 1 oz Britannia bar on the day that the Una bar was delivered.

Having these two bars in amongst a collection of otherwise gold coins is lovely for variety.  I probably won't add many (or any) more, though.

Gratuitous photo:

A 1989 Quintuple Sovereign in BU (not Proof) specification would make my year, never mind day!

I'm looking for a capsule for my 10 oz Una & The Lion silver bar, so if @BiteSizeTrader still has any left, I would love to order one from you please!

Well that's NOT funny - they had darn well better make some more. 

I've been working all day and some of the evening and would have bought one right now if they were available on that link!

It doesn't say that they are limited mintage - and I want one!

Damn you, Royal Mint...

In the meantime, be good boys and girls and release the 10 oz bullion version and let me buy one.

@Allgoldcoins - Assuming that it's a special reverse design for the Platinum Jubilee - if you're able to get hold of the 2022 BU Quintuple Sovereign next year and can do it cheaper than the RM price, I will place a pre-order with you now!

Love the 10 oz size too.  My two coins and two bars so far:

^^ The Britannia sits very well in your collection above 😀

Hopefully the RM will release the QB completer in 10 oz silver bullion form soon as well.

10 minutes ago, pricha said:

They do have a security feature, that's the radial lines in the background.   Do the mint send them out in a capsule ? 

These coins will definitely come in a capsule as standard.

Those radial lines were introduced to the Britannia design in 2017.