How much is a certificate worth....?

[HighlandTiger]

Just spotted this auction on Ebay

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-ROYAL-MINT-BRITANNIA-GOLD-PROOF-4-COIN-SET-BOX-CERTIFICATE-NUMBER-001-/400414920764?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item5d3a96d03c

 

A 4 coin Gold Britannia proof set with certificate number 0001, It's currently sitting at £5130.64.

 

You can get a similar set from HGM at 5% over spot for £1495. 

 

So that little bit of paper with those four little numbers is worth £3635. More than two and a half times the value of the gold in the box.

 

 

Well I suppose that's collectors for you.........   

[Keithoil]

Or to look at it another way that £5130 at today's gold price £763 would get you around 6.7 oz of gold!!!

[Pete]

There is no guarantee that the coins were the first off the press either so you are indeed paying a hefty price for a certificate.

[silversword]

Is collecting is a form of mental illness? On this evidence, yes it is.

[Kman]

A listing price doesn't mean much does it? 

[Danny-boy]

A listing price doesn't mean much does it?

Agreed, it means absolutely nothing.

There are many, many people on eBay with BIN's that are hugely inflated. Fair play if it works out for them, but it is a punt at best.

[motorbikez]

It isn't even an auction its just a buy it now, meaningless.

[Carpe Diem]

The fact that the previous two declined offers for that were in Feb 2014 and March 2013 is a sign that maybe it's an ambitious price and will struggle to get shot of it for 5k.

 

Could someone explain to me how desirable a COA is and when one is not included, whether it detracts massively from a collecting standpoint.  An example was a 1989 proof full sov I saw that went for £628 the other week.  In today's market that was a very good buy for someone but, although in what looked like an original 1989 box it did not include the COA, so I was wondering whether being able to sell on at a later date might be more difficult without that.

 

I appreciate it's subjective, maybe people just want the coin for that price, but to pay £628 without the COA seemed a punt when for a few hundred extra you could get it.

[motorbikez]

To answer the OPs question I would as a collector  very little , they are nice to have as part of the package of box case etc, but the coin/coins are the real purpose of the purchase.I personally would not pay anything extra for a cert. 

[HighlandTiger]

I would always prefer to have a coin with a certificate rather than without one. There will always be buyers who will pay over the odds for something with all its original "packaging".

 

The question is, how much extra can you achieve from those little scraps of paper...

[Danny-boy]

Having watched eBay very closely for a good while now, it seems COA's don't make a huge difference.

Like MB said, most people want the coin not the ancillaries.

There will, of course, be a select few that will not want "the coin" without the COA, and that's understandable.

[motorbikez]

I would always prefer to have a coin with a certificate rather than without one. 

 

You are right I am the same, but if you are hunting down a very rare coin for your collection and you get the opportunity to buy that coin whether it has a cert or not is neither here or there,you are just grateful you have found that elusive coin and can buy it.

 

I have been lucky with my  2oz Lunar collection and everyone has a cert,but I recently aquired the very elusive tiger and would have willingly paid the same price for one without a cert.

[zmurrro]

I just do not understand how can sombeody ''lose'' COA if it ever was issued with the coin - if I paid for the premium coin, I would take good care of it

[Pete]

There are empty proof sovereign boxes regularly coming up for sale on the Bay, some with COAs but mostly without.

3 and 4 coin sets were frequently broken up ( when gold was higher priced ) and sold separately.

There is no guarantee that a boxed coin with a COA is the original coin nowadays.

More than likely it is but not 100% of the time.

If the coin is FDC or in very good condition, would anyone ever know - of course not ?

[Pipers]

That statement Pete has made must put shivers down the proof collectors spines   

[daz]

Also If they can make pretty good fake coins surely the easy part is faking a cert to go with it