Is this bullion or numismatic. Your thoughts ?

[KevinFlynn]

54 minutes ago, Oldun said:

Got an acquaintance who needs help looki g through 100 sovereigns that an old lady was left by her husband...along with an estate far far more valuable.....it will be fun to look through them and help her to not get ripped off by dealers or self professed middlemen just looking out for themselves......bought several rather expensive books recently out of my own pocket to help her and learn more about things myself...

Any chance of asking her to be allowed to post pics of "the stack"?

[Oldun]

Haven’t seen it myself yet and am not likely to unless mt acquaintance actually needs my assistnace...will check in on him next week to see.

[rivellis]

I've learned a lot on this discourse. I think that the point of what is "numismatic" is in the eye of the beholder. An expert has their definition obviously, and they should have an opinion that is "currency." After all, it may be their serious hobby or business. Some newcomer to SOV collecting might have a more fluid idea of what numismatic means. My main business (some would call it hobby) is bookselling. There are similarities in the two topics of coins/books. As a dealer, anything less than a first printing of James Joyce's Dubliners with dust jacket would constitute something less than the "original." How many of these examples exist? One. Therefore a market exists to satisfy (hopefully) the demand for the title. Some  lesser examples have gained price because the ideal is impossible to obtain. I have sold copies of "lessers" to many people who treasure them. To me, though, it would always be a lesser. In regards to your SOV, if it were in my collection, I would treat it as a numismatic coin---and this is despite the fact that I know there is a very tangible point where it's only value would be as a "common."

[Oldun]

That is a great post. Thank you.

[Britannia47]

The actual mintage was 3,737,065 which sounds a lot, but how many off those are still around? However it’s true that the 1832 is more available (Marsh 17) for the 2nd bust as shown. My 1832 Sov. Is a 17A (1st bust) which is also embedded in those mintage figures and much rarer - about 1 in 10 ( Marsh rated R6) There’s an article in Dec 18 Coin News by Clive King which clarifies all this.

Cheers

[Britannia47]

Sorry, wrong thread!!

[Seasider]

On ‎31‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 13:22, KevinFlynn said:

Got an acquaintance who needs help looki g through 100 sovereigns that an old lady was left by her husband...along with an estate far far more valuable.....it will be fun to look through them and help her to not get ripped off by dealers or self professed middlemen just looking out for themselves......bought several rather expensive books recently out of my own pocket to help her and learn more about things myself...

I seem to recall someone on here ( Numistacker ?) helping someone out like this - including getting some of the coins graded and selling some of them on ebay or on this forum.

It sounds like a great opportunity to study lots of coins without having to buy them yourself.  You never know you may find a gem.

[Oldun]

Indeed...no word from the fellow yet, so I am not holding my breath but it did push me into buying myself a late xmas prezzie for myself.....the Marsh book on sovereigns.

[silenceissilver]

For me, numismatic means it once circulated as money more than the condition. Thus there are no modern numismatic coins and if it is old enough to have circulated as money but has a 70 grade, it can't really have circulated, so it's not numismatic, for me. Obviously you want a decent condition but it's the (his)story that makes it numismatic. If there is no story of changing hands, of tragedies and fulfilled hopes, unknown to us but a bit ingrained in the coin in the form of scratches, it's just a soul less piece of bullion precious metal. If you do follow the high grade approach - how far would you go - is a rare Roman coin in a clearly recognisable condition not numismatic?

[shortstack68]

9 hours ago, Oldun said:

Indeed...no word from the fellow yet, so I am not holding my breath but it did push me into buying myself a late xmas prezzie for myself.....the Marsh book on sovereigns.

You can never go wrong with a book on the subject that you collect.