Thanks Royal Mint

[Cscratchy]

Just received a batch of 1oz 2021 silver Britannias and one had a blemish. Oh and yes the edges of the rim were, as others stated uneven and felt unfinished.

[Stackermatic]

Yeah biggest problem with bullion coins is they ship in tubes. So blemishes are very common - or worse yet, scuffs and scratches. These coins aren't really numismatics, but of course we prefer having the best looking bullion we can find. Americans are spoilt with their "LCS" Local Coin Shops I wish I could pop down the road to see coins before I buy them. Ah well.

[HillWalkerDundee]

@Stackermatic.

Do you think that local coin shops would take off in the UK or ROI?

Even our local pawn and jewellery shops who buy and sell PMs dont ever seem busy.

[Stackermatic]

Not sure, doesn't seem to be as big as in the US. It is a concern when one wants to sell - only selling route seems to be online.

[TutoredSoup232]

I'd return it if I were you, the RM are far too lackadaisical with their quality control. 

[Stu]

It’s a  Royal Mint product and it bullion, most folk know the quality they are likely to expect, sad though that is. I would suggest you buy an encapsulated coin from  Perth Mint or similar if buying bullion and want quality.

[TommyTwoShots]

I went to a silver shop in my town, the shopkeeper stated ‘there is no point to silver bullion, it is certainly not a thing in the uk’ He isn’t wrong, very few here invest in physical metal.

[TutoredSoup232]

I reckon its got something to do with our lack of exposure to precious metals. Don't really find it in the ground here. No one's going on any expeditions to Surrey to find gold or silver. Also our coins have been worthless for a long time aside from the coppers and the ones with silver aren't our regular legal tender anymore. Plus that stupid VAT on precious metals. 

[Stackermatic]

2 hours ago, TutoredSoup232 said:

I reckon its got something to do with our lack of exposure to precious metals. Don't really find it in the ground here. No one's going on any expeditions to Surrey to find gold or silver. Also our coins have been worthless for a long time aside from the coppers and the ones with silver aren't our regular legal tender anymore. Plus that stupid VAT on precious metals. 

In Ireland it's worse - all gold found automatically belongs to the state. I so wish I could buy a little claim like they do in the US and spend weekends prospecting and sleeping under the stars  

[TutoredSoup232]

22 minutes ago, Stackermatic said:

In Ireland it's worse - all gold found automatically belongs to the state. I so wish I could buy a little claim like they do in the US and spend weekends prospecting and sleeping under the stars  

I think they have the same rule here, wouldn't give it to them if I found any though. Thieving b*stards 

[TommyTwoShots]

Belongs to the ‘crown’ in the uk. Good luck getting me to hand over anything at all lol

[Mrpound]

Your all right! It’s a shame I can’t go to a local shop and look at coins or bullion and talk to a human-being about them, it would add a lot more enjoyment to the hobby

[Cscratchy]

Sadly it's bullion as stated, bought 10 and 1 had a blemish, been fortunate, first one I've had in over a year of purchasing. I prefer RM or RMC coins, though I do have a stack of US coins (inheritance), won't buy Aussie or Swiss. Local shops would be great but doesn't seem to be a thing on this side of the pond, unless you are in London or able to checkout the coin fairs. At least I didn't have to pay VAT as we ares still part of the European Market here. Finally a benefit for us, loads of sellers on Ebay won't ship here from England or GB.

[WillJ]

I wanted to see if anyone is getting worse 2021 Britannias from the Royal Mint recently.  I've averaged about 3/4 marked coins per tube since August 2020.  Recently I received a tube in which 18 were marked, many were a real mess, deep marks and scratches including one with a small chunk out the front.  I got the tube replaced by the dealer and the replacement tube has arrived with pretty much every coin in the tube marked, many that are a real mess.  Think I'm done with Britannias for a while.

[TutoredSoup232]

Yes, not britannias specifically, but I've had to return almost everything they've been sending out. Dents, dings, scratches, weird marks, my last robin hood coin looked like someone had been trying to chop down his branch. A BU coin had marks on the back which looked like it had been scraped across something like a file before being packaged. They even had the cheek to put the QC sticker in the box. 

Their excuse is "well its just bullion quality". Whenever I've checked what "bullion quality" means its always related to strike and the finish and not big dents straight from the mint. No other mint seems to think that bullion quality means "as little care as possible" 

[WillJ]

Thank you for sharing that.  Like you say for me I've also got those kinds of marks.  Not just that almost every coin in the tube has a mark but all the marks are worse, like they've been scraped across something.  I found this quote recently, perhaps it fits with other people's experience as well:

"Incompetence or Ignorance?

In the opinion of our director, Lawrence Chard, the Royal Mint produces and sells the poorest quality bullion and proof coins of any of the world's mints, yet generally seeks to get the highest price for them. Other mints manage to pack bullion coins without putting fingerprints on them and check if they are up to bullion standard.

We think they are smugly sitting on and abusing their monopoly of the UK market, especially considering British coins, being sterling, are exempt from capital gains tax. Such things should be an embarrassment for the Mint, especially when compared to the quality of bullion coins from other world mints. But given the Mint seem to have little interest in coins in general and are content to ride off the back of their 800-year old ‘reputation’, we are not surprised that such incidents occur."

https://www.chards.co.uk/blog/royal-mint-quality-control/919

[StackemHigh]

I'm glad that it is not just me that has been disenfranchised by the royal mint.  I completely refuse to buy anything from them now.

I still buy old sovereigns from dealers mind as i stack them!

[TutoredSoup232]

Its a shame as they're our sovereign mint and trying to get other stuff isn't as easy right now. Also the CGT exemption. 

Maybe we could kidnap the Australian mint workers and bring them back here?