Sovereign or 1/4 oz Britannia ?

[PaddyCakes]

Hello I'm relatively new new to gold and I was wondering which was better to purchase as I can't afford to outright by 1oz of gold at a time. I like the history of the Sovereign but its only 22kt over a 999 purity coin.  A  1/4 oz Britannia or a Sovereign are both around my price range and I would appreciate other peoples opinions.

[Jvw]

2 hours ago, PaddyCakes said:

Hello I'm relatively new new to gold and I was wondering which was better to purchase as I can't afford to outright by 1oz of gold at a time. I like the history of the Sovereign but its only 22kt over a 999 purity coin.  A  1/4 oz Britannia or a Sovereign are both around my price range and I would appreciate other peoples opinions.

Welcome to the forum, and it will be Sovereigns for me anytime tbh. They are beautiful, full of history (depending on years), have many varieties of collecting (Years, dates, countries, periods, rarities etc etc) and are fairly cheap over spot. 

[Chorlton]

Sovereigns are widely available making them easy to buy or sell from bullion to the highly collectible. Not being 100% gold is the same as they have been since 1817 so not a recent change !

[dicker]

Many people ask this question - it is a good one.

For my money, Sovereigns every time because of their liquidity and low premiums over spot.  
 

Best

Dicker

[Thelonerangershorse]

Both equally good, just find the lowest premium over spot, (usually in the sales section here, rather than a dealer)

[Roy]

Neither.

Save up for the next 2oz 'Great Engraver' release.

[KevjustKev]

Sov's for the most part, but don't turn down a 1/4 if the price is right. 

[Pete]

My recommendation is to buy 2 brand new sovereigns i.e. the 2021 issue.
These are terrific coins, especially in undamaged condition and some dealers will ship for free.
You should be able to buy for 5% over spot.
The quarter Brit is a nice coin but only consider if the premium is 5% or less, usually not so back to the sovereigns.

[PaddyCakes]

 

Thank you for the advice everyone one its greatly appreciated 

9 hours ago, Jvw said:

Welcome to the forum, and it will be Sovereigns for me anytime tbh. They are beautiful, full of history (depending on years), have many varieties of collecting (Years, dates, countries, periods, rarities etc etc) and are fairly cheap over spot. 

7 hours ago, Chorlton said:

Sovereigns are widely available making them easy to buy or sell from bullion to the highly collectible. Not being 100% gold is the same as they have been since 1817 so not a recent change !

6 hours ago, dicker said:

Many people ask this question - it is a good one.

For my money, Sovereigns every time because of their liquidity and low premiums over spot.  
 

Best

Dicker

6 hours ago, Thelonerangershorse said:

Both equally good, just find the lowest premium over spot, (usually in the sales section here, rather than a dealer)

4 hours ago, Pete said:

My recommendation is to buy 2 brand new sovereigns i.e. the 2021 issue.
These are terrific coins, especially in undamaged condition and some dealers will ship for free.
You should be able to buy for 5% over spot.
The quarter Brit is a nice coin but only consider if the premium is 5% or less, usually not so back to the sovereigns.

5 hours ago, tallthinkev said:

Sov's for the most part, but don't turn down a 1/4 if the price is right. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PaddyCakes]

6 hours ago, Roy said:

Neither.

Save up for the next 2oz 'Great Engraver' release.

I assume you you are referencing the 2oz silver ,the 2oz gold is way out of my reach   I do have some funds set aside for the next 2oz silver one. But trying to add some gold to my little collection in the mean time.

[Touvex]

 

11 hours ago, Roy said:

Neither.

Save up for the next 2oz 'Great Engraver' release.

 

Do you know when this will be out? so gutted i got in the PM game late and missed the first two - were they sold out within minutes on RM website?

[27carrots]

The first two were Nov 19 and Feb 21 so I'd have money ready by Nov 21 if I was trying to get one.

[Robda1986]

Not a massive fan of the Britannia coin so would be sovs or gold standard 1/4 oz 

[Coolsmp]

Sovereigns all the way!!!!!!!

[Smiler999]

Try a Double Sovereign, thats a beautiful lump when in your hand

[stefffana]

Welcome to this friendly community!

The best option in my opinion is to buy every month one sovereign and try to be consistent in your plan. This lovely coin is one of the most recognized in the world, easy to buy 5% low premium, very easy to sell 1-2% premium. If you can, put them in capsules and keep them in untouched condition if you are buying brand new from dealer. Will be in perfect condition even after 30 years.

1/4oz are lovely, but you can not find them with low premium, and when you are trying to sell, you will not recover this premium.

Cheers!

Stefan.

[RustyShackleford]

If, like me, you'd never seen a sovereign before - be prepared to be a bit disappointed.  They are tiny and that horrid colour you see in the pics of the new coins is the colour you'll get.

Oddly popular though, so a sensible investment for easy resale.  Just not a coin I can enjoy owning.

[pricha]

5 minutes ago, RustyShackleford said:

If, like me, you'd never seen a sovereign before - be prepared to be a bit disappointed.  They are tiny and that horrid colour you see in the pics of the new coins is the colour you'll get.

Oddly popular though, so a sensible investment for easy resale.  Just not a coin I can enjoy owning.

Each to their own . I got rid of all my other coins to collect solely Sovereigns . They are historical . In an age where our history is slowly been destroyed i love them .  Britannia's look nice but are just gold to me, and at quite a premium.     

[Pete]

40 minutes ago, RustyShackleford said:

If, like me, you'd never seen a sovereign before - be prepared to be a bit disappointed.  They are tiny and that horrid colour you see in the pics of the new coins is the colour you'll get.

Oddly popular though, so a sensible investment for easy resale.  Just not a coin I can enjoy owning.

The colour does vary.
The earlier sovereigns were a lovely yellow gold but some of the newer ones are more like highly polished copper.
The latest 2021 are somewhere in between but leaning to the nicer yellow gold.
As for size it's what you pay and all relative - I like the sovereign and also the half sovereign but I know what you mean when you can hold a one ounce coin in your hand.

[TutoredSoup232]

I worked out yesterday that the Britannia is usually around £3-5 more per oz (Britannia priced at 364 and sovereign at 308). This depends on the website you buy from however the the difference is quite large, I compared the prices on Sharps Pixley. 

The Britannia I worked out would be roughly 327 if it were priced similarly to the sovereign. I don't think this is a massive concern as you should get the same premium going in as coming out but if you want to spend less per oz then I would say the Sovereign is better.

I quite like the colour of the new sovereigns. Its different and looks like rose gold, adds a bit variety. Also sovereigns seem to be more liquid, they sell faster than the Britannias here. Or at least they have every time I've looked into them. Also they are typically 5-6% premium above spot which is the premium currently reserved for 1oz gold coins. So if you want a low premium without 1oz gold coin prices then the sovereign is going to be your coin. The higher premium of the Britannia might be better reserved for purchasing a limited edition/special release/collectors coin which may increase with time and hold/grow its premium. The Britannia at the end of the day is considered regular bullion as is the sovereign. And "just bullion" should have a low "just bullion" premium.

I think owning a few is a good idea, although I wish they had a better design or at least changed it up a bit, the Britannia design is much nicer. Then again you get what you pay for: a coin with a low premium and solid reputation but isn't necessarily very attractive 

[RustyShackleford]

I like the design but on the bullion coin it isn't terribly well defined, on the proof coins it looks great but of course then you are paying premium price for the pleasure.

[theylivewesleep27]

I personally prefer Britannia's, they are a lovely bright yellow gold colour and they are bigger and heavier and nicer to hold. Sovereigns are tiny and have less gold content in them, i'm not a fan of them. Yes Britannia's have higher premium but i guess you get what you pay for, a nicer coin.

[Shep]

33 minutes ago, theylivewesleep27 said:

Sovereigns are tiny and have less gold content in them, i'm not a fan of them. Yes Britannia's have higher premium but i guess you get what you pay for, a nicer coin.

You’ll have the Silver Forum Sovereign Squad throwing a fit with comments like that 😂

[theylivewesleep27]

7 minutes ago, Shep said:

You’ll have the Silver Forum Sovereign Squad throwing a fit with comments like that 😂

Britannia's are better. Fight me.

[Smiler999]

To be honest ladies Kangaroo coins are much nicer lol