2014 Mule Sovereign - anyone know how many of these error coins were minted?

[CoinStruck]

In 2014 the Royal Mint produced a 2014 sovereign with the St George & Dragon with a proof finish however the Queens portrait on the obverse was minted to a BU standard (see photos below of one of these recently bought by a friend). Hence it is referred to as the 2014 “mule” sovereign. 

Just wondering if anyone has an idea of how many of these error coins were minted? 

PCGS have graded 17 of them and NGC 3. 

 

[Gordon]

They are not error coins. They are the brilliant uncirculated coins miss graded by ngc and pcgs. I have the 2014 double brilliant uncirculated sovereign coin with the frosting on the st gorge side only and i sent it to numistacker for grading and he had to return it back to them 3 or 4 times as they kept putting it down as a pf70 instead of ms70 i have the coa that says its a brilliant uncirculated coin but ngc have it down as a proof. Send a 2014 brilliant uncirculated sovereign to ngc and it will come back as a pf not a ms coin

[1817Karl]

6 minutes ago, Gordon said:

They are not error coins. They are the brilliant uncirculated coins miss graded by ngc and pcgs. I have the 2014 double brilliant uncirculated sovereign coin with the frosting on the st gorge side only and i sent it to numistacker for grading and he had to return it back to them 3 or 4 times as they kept putting it down as a pf70 instead of ms70 i have the coa that says its a brilliant uncirculated coin but ngc have it down as a proof. Send a 2014 brilliant uncirculated sovereign to ngc and it will come back as a pf not a ms coin

I'd have to disagree here... They are either an error proof or error Brilliant Uncirculated coin, therefore a mule in any case. The Reverse is a proof finish and the Obverse is a Brilliant Uncirculated finish. Its debatable which error it is, but and error it is. Obviously in my humble opinion!

[Gordon]

They are brilliant uncirculated coins with the frosting on one side only (As the royal mint intended them to be) I have sent more than one of these coins for grading and they always come back as PF coins

[Gordon]

[1817Karl]

Brilliant Uncirculated coins don't have a true frosted finish...

https://www.1817.co.uk/buy-or-sell-gold-sovereigns-by-type.html#/

As per the attached video from the RM.  

[GoldStatue]

I noticed these for sale on thelondoncoincompany.com and it said there was an "Issue Limit: 3,263 Worldwide", I'm not sure how many of those have the error but I thought that was the worst case scenario.

These coins peaked my interest as a newbie, I'm guessing the £2.5k and £3k they're up for sale for on those websites doesn't represent any value as I saw an auction price of £900.

How would you price those types of coins? Are they worth buying for squirreling away for 30 years time?

[Gordon]

Brilliant Uncirculated coins don't have a true frosted finish...

https://www.1817.co.uk/buy-or-sell-gold-sovereigns-by-type.html#/

As per the attached video from the RM.

Thats correct as when i have had a 2014 proof sovereign next to one you can tell that its not as frosty but ngc must struggle to see the difference as they did the same with the 2017 sotd sovereign calling that a proof at first 

[westminstrel]

4 hours ago, GoldStatue said:

I noticed these for sale on thelondoncoincompany.com and it said there was an "Issue Limit: 3,263 Worldwide", I'm not sure how many of those have the error but I thought that was the worst case scenario.

These coins peaked my interest as a newbie, I'm guessing the £2.5k and £3k they're up for sale for on those websites doesn't represent any value as I saw an auction price of £900.

How would you price those types of coins? Are they worth buying for squirreling away for 30 years time?

Slightly tangential to the original intent of this topic... but since you mentioned thelondoncoincompany, I have to say that their coins are almost always highly overpriced.  I don’t think those prices are an accurate indication of a coin’s true value.

[Booky586]

One of these has just sold on the forum at a very good price. Marsh/Hill doesn't list it in "The Gold Sovereign" and I've been searching the internet for more information but there isn't much to gather. What I did notice was nearly everything I found was related to the mule version compared to the normal version. Is it possible that all of the 2014 Brilliant Uncirculated issued coins are actually mule versions?

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has a 2014 Brilliant Uncirculated coin (the box version with CoA) and whether they have a normal version or the mule version.

[GoldDiggerDave]

2 minutes ago, Booky586 said:

One of these has just sold on the forum at a very good price. Marsh/Hill doesn't list it in "The Gold Sovereign" and I've been searching the internet for more information but there isn't much to gather. What I did notice was nearly everything I found was related to the mule version compared to the normal version. Is it possible that all of the 2014 Brilliant Uncirculated issued coins are actually mule versions?

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has a 2014 Brilliant Uncirculated coin (the box version with CoA) and whether they have a normal version or the mule version.

I have one of the 2014 mules and a proof 2014 they make a great comparison. 

[GoldDiggerDave]

1000 BU 2014 were sold,  it's likely most were minted with a currency obverse, the 1/2 2014 were made with the same mistake and also some 2015 BU's.

Cheers

Dave

[1817Karl]

These are indeed error coins! They are found in Half, Full, Double and Quintuple types for 2014. The reverses are struck with Proof dies and the obverse Brilliant Uncirculated dies. They are found in single Brilliant Uncirculated presentation boxes and Proof Sets! I addressed these specific error coins with Gordon Summers - Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint and he recalls the issues they had in 2014 with these coins. He was Chief Engraver during this time period. 

Edited November 24, 2021 by 1817Karl

[Booky586]

1 hour ago, GoldDiggerDave said:

2014 were made with the same mistake and also some 2015 BU's.

And also 2016...

So it seems that some of the Brilliant Uncirculated coins for 2014, 2015 and 2016 have been minted using one half of a proof die. Once a mistake, twice a coincidence but three times is surely deliberate. Thinking out aloud, the cynic in me says the Royal Mint just couldn't be bothered making "Brilliant Uncirculated" dies for 2014 (or even 2015 and 16), lets just use a spare proof reverse and bullion obverse we have lying around.... 😃

Does anyone out there have a 2014, 2015 or 2016 Brilliant Uncirculated coin (the box version with CoA) and is it a normal version (Brilliant Uncirculated both sides) or are they all mule versions?

[Booky586]

1 hour ago, GoldDiggerDave said:

1000 BU 2014 were sold,  it's likely most were minted with a currency obverse, the 1/2 2014 were made with the same mistake and also some 2015 BU's.

Cheers

Dave

Thanks Dave. Do you have a link for the clip above? It looks like its possibly the Royal mint but I can't find it. I ask because a photo above shows one with a CoA numbered 1118.

Edited November 24, 2021 by Booky586

[GoldDiggerDave]

7 minutes ago, Booky586 said:

Thanks Dave. Do you have a link for the clip above? It looks like its possibly the Royal mint but I can't find it.

https://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/mintage-figures/2014-dated-uk-commemorative-coin-sales/