Three graces coin

[richatthecroft]

2 minutes ago, Chrisplym said:

Lovely looking coin! Did you open the capsule and remove the dust/particles?

Bet your not as willing with your duster around the house 😆 

Nobody got any work to do today?
 

No wonder the country is in such a mess 😂 

[creative]

5 minutes ago, Chrisplym said:

Lovely looking coin! Did you open the capsule and remove the dust/particles?

No, I wouldn’t risk it. If I do send it to be graded, it will be in the capsule.

[creative]

5 minutes ago, richatthecroft said:

Bet your not as willing with your duster around the house 😆 

Nobody got any work to do today?
 

No wonder the country is in such a mess 😂 

😂 I’m furloughed this week

[LawrenceChard]

40 minutes ago, richatthecroft said:

Thanks for your efforts Lawrence- I think it is standard practice of the Mint to ask a first time buyer of an expensive item to be asked to complete the purchase by bank transfer- which is fair enough for the potential scenario's you have cited above.  

The point is however, not the request for this payment method, but not listening to the Customer and providing assurance that the coin would be held for him until funds were available to him to send over.  Their response was, 'tough, re-send the payment and pay £10k for our £5k coin, or risk losing it altogether', albeit said to him in a polite way.

I think when the dust settles, I will encourage my Son to talk to them, and let them know not only about the inconvenience caused, but ask them to consider the wider implications- the importance of Customer Service.   This should have been a very happy and feel good purchase for him, it was his first foray into high premium coin purchasing, and if he didn't have my support he might well have had to throw the towel in as he couldn't have mustered another £5k to complete the purchase, and have walked away from this and any future purchases from the RM with a sour taste in his mouth.  

Buying a non-essential item like a lump of premium Gold or Silver is not just about getting the item, its about the whole experience which makes the purchase satisfying and the relationship with the business can be cemented for many, many years- you will of course know this Lawrence, but I wonder why the RM don't get it?   

It reminds me of when I used to work for an old fashioned Butcher business, my boss was a charismatic, straight to the point Yorkshireman, and did business face to face, paid cash and shook hands on the deal and never went back on his word, but expected the same in return.  

I remember going with him to a Car Dealership forecourt to buy two Vans as we were expanding the wholesale side of the business- he already had a fleet of 8.  He walked onto the forecourt which was adorned with balloons and sales signage, and waited patiently whilst kicking the tyres on one of the Vans he wished to purchase.  

No one came to attend to us, the sales team of four men in suits sipping fizzy wine with a handful of 'customers' in a small marquee.  My boss beckoned one of them over and he very reluctantly obliged and asked, 'can I help'- my boss asked to take the Van for a test drive and the response was 'I can't bring a Van onto the Forecourt, its the new Toyota Corolla Launch Day'.  My boss turned on his heels, and bid him good- day.   Subsequently, we travelled to a garage across town, he bought one Van there and then in cash and asked them to deliver the two vans by the end of the week when he would pay for the other.  A few months later he traded in 4 of his other Vans with the same dealer.

It pays to listen to your customers needs.  

 

I completely agree.

Playing devil's advocate though, it requires effort, training, and education, to get anyone to use good judgement. At the same time, the organisation needs to have a policy and standard operating procedures. 

On this occasion, the RM C.S. should have been willing and able to check with a manager, and help to find a sensible solution. Even if this had only been a £250 silver version, this should not have been too much to ask.

There is also a balance problem between efficiency and providing a high level of service. We @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer are aware of this. For example, we might have someone spending £100K on gold bullion, who might expect a "Harrods" level of service, but we might only be making a 1% or 2% margin on the deal, always with the timing risk of fluctuations while the deal in in progress, and the real risk we could make a loss on it. We would be happy to provide a "Harrods" level of serice if we were getting 5% or 10% out of it!

With the Royal Mint, as a state sponsored monopoly, it does not have much competition, can set its own prices and margins, and therefore should strive to give an exemplary level of service.

BTW, if or when he thinks about selling it, we would be interested. 🙂

 

[Alz111]

I’m not sure if there’s a different thread regarding grading but what to members do in regards to grading send the coins directly to ngc in London or via a third party 

[Kman]

Came with capsule loose just sitting on top rather than on 👌

Feared scratched, was convinced there were two

 

But I put it next to a small desk fan and things blew off phew, can't see any real problems now

Not the best picture but you can see the  debris is gone in comparison (marks on capsule)

 

 

[Cornishfarmer]

What do people think?

[richatthecroft]

9 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

Playing devil's advocate though, it requires effort, training, and education, to get anyone to use good judgement. At the same time, the organisation needs to have a policy and standard operating procedures. 

On this occasion, the RM C.S. should have been willing and able to check with a manager, and help to find a sensible solution. Even if this had only been a £250 silver version, this should not have been too much to ask.

 

10 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

There is also a balance problem between efficiency and providing a high level of service. We @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer are aware of this. For example, we might have someone spending £100K on gold bullion, who might expect a "Harrods" level of service, but we might only be making a 1% or 2% margin on the deal, always with the timing risk of fluctuations while the deal in in progress, and the real risk we could make a loss on it. We would be happy to provide a "Harrods" level of serice if we were getting 5% or 10% out of it!

I absolutely agree with you on these points...there are plenty of threads disparaging dealers for not providing the Harrods service for low margin coins, I can see both sides of the argument- I guess for someone new to the game and making a large bullion purchase they would think a 4 figure transaction would deserve all the attention in the world from start to finish, but the reality is on the flip side, margins can be extremely tight for you guys.

14 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

With the Royal Mint, as a state sponsored monopoly, it does not have much competition, can set its own prices and margins, and therefore should strive to give an exemplary level of service.

And this is the difference- large margins, exemplary service should be assured.  

 

16 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

BTW, if or when he thinks about selling it, we would be interested. 🙂

 

I'll let him know of your interest Lawrence, thank you- He's only in his early 20's, and I'm very proud that he has managed to save up like he has done to make an investment like this😃.  

When I was in my twenties I'd spent all my money on Beer, Shags and Fags, I still waste cash on the Beer and Fags, not so much bothered about the Shags these days....😂 

[sovereignsteve]

28 minutes ago, Alz111 said:

I’m not sure if there’s a different thread regarding grading but what to members do in regards to grading send the coins directly to ngc in London or via a third party 

@AndrewSL76 and myself are shortly going to post a how to guide for self grading

[Rll1288]

10 minutes ago, Cornishfarmer said:

What do people think?

If you don't think its right.. call the RM and send them pictures.. Can't really see but on my one you can clearly see it has three scratch marks

[Alz111]

1 minute ago, sovereignsteve said:

@AndrewSL76 and myself are shortly going to post a how to guide for self grading

Thanks mate 

[Nicola]

1 hour ago, GoldenGriffin said:

Relaxing Harp Music, Calming Music, Relaxation Music, Meditation Music, Instrumental Music, ☯3346 - YouTube

Listen and relax while you wait for your coins 😃

Still waiting !! Tracking says it arrived at my local depot at 3.14am. Not out for delivery. May have to wait until tomorrow 😬

[terakris]

45 minutes ago, Kman said:

Came with capsule loose just sitting on top rather than on 👌

Feared scratched, was convinced there were two

But I put it next to a small desk fan and things blew off phew, can't see any real problems now

Not the best picture but you can see the  debris is gone in comparison (marks on capsule)

 

 

What this? Hopefully more dust and not a ding?

[AndrewSL76]

I have just bought shares in compressed air. I have a feeling people will be getting some to make their 3Gs PR/PF70 perfect!!

 

[BackyardBullion]

Just now, AndrewSL76 said:

I have just bought shares in compressed air. I have a feeling people will be getting some to make their 3Gs PR/PF70 perfect!!

 

I would just be so paranoid about opening the capsule and more dust getting on the coin though!

Having a dust free room in a regular house is basically impossible and I would fear I would just make it worse if I tried to get rid of this little spec on my coin

[AndrewSL76]

1 minute ago, BackyardBullion said:

I would just be so paranoid about opening the capsule and more dust getting on the coin though!

Having a dust free room in a regular house is basically impossible and I would fear I would just make it worse if I tried to get rid of this little spec on my coin

Of course. You can send ‘as is’ to the graders and they will return the capsule for a small fee. Only worth doing if you intend on selling the whole deal (box etc.) or perhaps cracking the coin out of the slab if the grade was not what you anticipated and you want a second go! 

[BackyardBullion]

Just now, AndrewSL76 said:

Of course. You can send ‘as is’ to the graders and they will return the capsule for a small fee. Only worth doing if you intend on selling the whole deal (box etc.) or perhaps cracking the coin out of the slab if the grade was not what you anticipated and you want a second go! 

Presumably conservation would be required to get something like this dust particle off the coin and that would help its grading? Or does surface dust like this make no difference to a grade?

[GoldenGriffin]

1 hour ago, pricha said:

Check your tracking number. Is it at the local office. Tracked items are sent out all day , not just with the regular postperson. 

Thanks, but sadly, I didn't manage to get anything on the 10 minute (or so) window of opportunity, so I'm not waiting for any post - I'm just trying to help those in dire straits, or in need of some comfort in their run-up to delivery 😅

[Disentme]

Process upto arrival has been all good. Like others eagerly anticipating the arrival and on the other hand praying QA served its purpose... 

Happy to have it though 😊 

[damok666]

Mine’s arrived. Looks absolutely fantastic. 

[AndrewSL76]

7 minutes ago, BackyardBullion said:

Presumably conservation would be required to get something like this dust particle off the coin and that would help its grading? Or does surface dust like this make no difference to a grade?

You can submit for grading for this, but I suspect they would not charge you for it. All conservation submissions are processed where the experts believe it will make a difference. I mentioned earlier that I submitted a half Sov with a juicy finger print for conservation and they returned me a PR70DCAM with only the grading fee taken. Perhaps I got lucky!!

Just to note if you have multiple coins to grade, you will need a form for each process and type of coin etc. Each form has a handling fee (NGC) so bear in mind these additional costs......

[BackyardBullion]

1 minute ago, AndrewSL76 said:

You can submit for grading for this, but I suspect they would not charge you for it. All conservation submissions are processed where the experts believe it will make a difference. I mentioned earlier that I submitted a half Sov with a juicy finger print for conservation and they returned me a PR70DCAM with only the grading fee taken. Perhaps I got lucky!!

Just to note if you have multiple coins to grade, you will need a form for each process and type of coin etc. Each form has a handling fee (NGC) so bear in mind these additional costs......

I have a feeling your knowledge will be invaluable to me (and many others) over the next few days/weeks!

[AndrewSL76]

11 minutes ago, BackyardBullion said:

Presumably conservation would be required to get something like this dust particle off the coin and that would help its grading? Or does surface dust like this make no difference to a grade?

Just to add, that some coins come back from the graders with surface dust that they did not have when the coin was sent!! I should have said this earlier...........it can be a bit frustrating!

[GoldenGriffin]

8 minutes ago, AndrewSL76 said:

Just to add, that some coins come back from the graders with surface dust that they did not have when the coin was sent!!

So the all important question here then is, did those coins with dust on them come back as a 70?

[NewCoins]

Have to say I feel a little deflated.

The capsule was loose so when pulling the capsule out to take a good look it came open. Looks to be a few marks on the coin, but could be dust due to aforementioned loose cap.