Sovereign type recommendations for a beginner in these fascinating coins

[Scootermuppet]

Hi all, as the title says, wanting to dip my toe in the Sovereign waters, but pretty bewildered with all the possibilities!

I do like the looks of anything pre-decimal - think it's the colour - but not averse to a later one if it has a bit of interest...🤔

Gillicks look nice too, and have the added draw of my birth year being in the run 😁

And as a beginner, is it worth looking at the more sought after ones? What about graded? ...or am I trying to run before I can walk? 😂

Mainly looking to use as a form of savings / wealth preservation, but always nice to have things you like while you're doing that IMHO.

Looking forward to hearing all your opinions 👍

Cheers,

Bob

[Leonmarsh]

Can't beat victoria young heads IMO eapecially shield backs 

[darkninja1985]

Hey,

I've just started out on the sov hunt too, I'm going to start out with collecting the different heads and see where that takes me lol

[darkninja1985]

There's already a topic on a sovereign book worth checking out

[Scootermuppet]

4 minutes ago, darkninja1985 said:

There's already a topic on a sovereign book worth checking out

Already have my eye on that book... ☺️👍

[Roy]

You could build some nice mini-collections without going too numismatic.

Portrait collection: Victoria, the Kings and Elizabeth. Go one step further and collect all the different portraits of each monarch (I started with Victoria for cost reasons).

Monarch collection: All the Edward VII years, all the George V years and perhaps all the Gillicks? One at a time. Victoria will be a challenge.

Mintmark collection: One coin from all the different mints. George V is best.

The war years 1914-1918.

Monarch mint mark collection: One coin from each mint for each monarch.

Special reverse collection: Moderns 1989-2017 are always popular. 

SOTD specials.

There will be more 

 

[xthomasx]

When I finally decided to invest in gold sovereigns, I went to a major gold dealer here, taking a big wad of fiat with me.

They gave me one each of 'all' sovereign types - 3x Victoria, Edward VII, George V, 3x QE (i.e. no pre-Victoria, no shield back, no George VI, no 1983-2000 QE), so I had something to get aquainted with.

That was for starters; today I have around 150 different sovereigns.

 

[Scootermuppet]

1 hour ago, xthomasx said:

When I finally decided to invest in gold sovereigns, I went to a major gold dealer here, taking a big wad of fiat with me.

They gave me one each of 'all' sovereign types - 3x Victoria, Edward VII, George V, 3x QE (i.e. no pre-Victoria, no shield back, no George VI, no 1983-2000 QE), so I had something to get aquainted with.

That was for starters; today I have around 150 different sovereigns.

 

I'll be strictly a one at a time buyer! 😂

Bob

[Foster88]

3 hours ago, Roy said:

You could build some nice mini-collections without going too numismatic.

Portrait collection: Victoria, the Kings and Elizabeth. Go one step further and collect all the different portraits of each monarch (I started with Victoria for cost reasons).

Monarch collection: All the Edward VII years, all the George V years and perhaps all the Gillicks? One at a time. Victoria will be a challenge.

Mintmark collection: One coin from all the different mints. George V is best.

The war years 1914-1918.

Monarch mint mark collection: One coin from each mint for each monarch.

Special reverse collection: Moderns 1989-2017 are always popular. 

SOTD specials.

There will be more 

 

This is very good advice from @Roy

The possibilities of collections with sovereigns is that there are also of possibilities. Like you I was in the dark about sovereigns just three years ago.

Having been on this forum I've learned alot and most of the sovereigns I've bought have been from other forum members.

Most of my sovereigns are George V, particularly the different mints. I think the only mint sovereign I haven't got is a 1918 India mint but 1918 is the only year that will fill this gap as they were only minted in this year.

The focus of my collection at the moment is all of the George V, small head variety sovereigns from 1929 - 1932, there are 10 in total and I need 3 more to complete the collection.

My best advice would be to buy the best quality coins that you can afford. Bullion sovereigns are great too, but I've just started to look more for numismatic value also. But this all depends on which way you want to go with your collection of if you are buying them just for their gold content.

Victoria shield sovereigns are always popular and a great place to start with their varieties, die numbers and errors.

[Scootermuppet]

Loving the replies so far! - Thank you all ☺️ - @Leonmarsh - surprised there are so many types “without going too numismatic” 😳 - guess I was guilty of just thinking “a sovereign is a sovereign”... Are Gillicks considered numismatic? guessing it depends on condition & scarcity?

@Foster88 - Hadn’t considered Victoria Shield sovereigns 🤔 don’t they command a bit of a premium? Or is that over generalising?

I’ve gathered from reading some posts that if I’m just concerned with ‘value’ then just go with “Best Value” Sovereigns that dealers advertise- are there different types of these? Or does it depend on what the dealers have in stock? And do many forum members put these kind of sovereigns up for sale, or is that more a ‘dealer’ thing?

<sigh> So many sovereigns- so little time (& cash! 🤭😂) Is there such a thing as an ‘ideal First Sovereign’ ?

Thanks again for your insights,

Bob

[Leonmarsh]

For me you can get bullion sovs but then I look at them I want a nice example 

My strategy has been to get a nice example of each monarch 

[Seasider]

44 minutes ago, Scootermuppet said:

Is there such a thing as an ‘ideal First Sovereign’ ?

Go for one from your birth year.  It will at least have some personal significance for you.

[Foster88]

@Scootermuppet this is a great resource, I’ve learned a lot about sovereigns from reading the knowledge base on this website. I think the owner of this site is even on the forum.

https://www.allgoldcoins.co.uk/pages/knowledge-base

[SidS]

Vicky shield sovereigns are lovely but they do have a premium.

My first sovereign was a Vicky jubilee. Always like jubilee head coins of any sort, they seem to be more Victorian than the other Victorian coins, if that makes any sense?

[Allgoldcoins]

11 minutes ago, Foster88 said:

@Scootermuppet this is a great resource, I’ve learned a lot about sovereigns from reading the knowledge base on this website. I think the owner of this site is even on the forum.

https://www.allgoldcoins.co.uk/pages/knowledge-base

He certainly is, thank you for the plug 😊

 

[dicker]

Hi,

I have been on the same journey.  
 

As a start, for a well defined and with a reasonable premium over spot, I would opt for a Gillick.  The G&D is particularly well defined in my opinion.  Many are also in very good condition given that they were not a circulation issue. The likes of Baird often have Gillicks in stock and when I have bought, many of those I have purchased are in MS60 or above condition.  If you are stacking watch out for the 1959 it is the lowest mintage and commands a premium over other Gillicks   

I would avoid the modern bullion Sovereigns - 2000 onwards which, in my opinion are poorly defined and overly shiny.

Shield’s are my favourite by a long way but you may want to look at some in the hand before investing, these generally have a fairly chunky premium.  

Best

Dicker
 

 

[Booky586]

 

Chards website has some useful information for new starters, but you may have advanced from this level and it's not sovereign specific: https://www.chards.co.uk/blog/precious-metals-information-and-advice-for-newbies/1008

I'm with @dicker regarding Gillicks too, you could find a very nice one for a relatively low premium. Then may be use it as a starting point for a collection, @Roy has listed a few good ideas.

Careful though, collecting sovereigns can get VERY addictive!

[Foster88]

3 hours ago, Allgoldcoins said:

He certainly is, thank you for the plug 😊

 

There’s no need to thank me, I’m glad I could mention your website here.

I’ve learned a lot from your Knowledge Base and I use it often to read about a particular sovereign variety.

[Allgoldcoins]

2 minutes ago, Foster88 said:

There’s no need to thank me, I’m glad I could mention your website here.

I’ve learned a lot from your Knowledge Base and I use it often to read about a particular sovereign variety.

Your welcome, I have just finished posting in another thread, more research to do :

 

 

[Foster88]

3 hours ago, dicker said:

Hi,

I have been on the same journey.  
 

As a start, for a well defined and with a reasonable premium over spot, I would opt for a Gillick.  The G&D is particularly well defined in my opinion.  Many are also in very good condition given that they were not a circulation issue. The likes of Baird often have Gillicks in stock and when I have bought, many of those I have purchased are in MS60 or above condition.  If you are stacking watch out for the 1959 it is the lowest mintage and commands a premium over other Gillicks   

I would avoid the modern bullion Sovereigns - 2000 onwards which, in my opinion are poorly defined and overly shiny.

Shield’s are my favourite by a long way but you may want to look at some in the hand before investing, these generally have a fairly chunky premium.  

Best

Dicker
 

 

The Gillicks are very nice indeed. They also have that nice ‘yellow’ gold colour, much like it’s natural colour. The modern sovereigns have a ‘copper’ tint of colour to them.

The Gillick date run is the next collection I’m looking to start after my George V small head variety collection. Which oddly I haven’t come across anyone else, well not on this forum collecting these. I don’t know why I started this. 😬

Well I sort of do, it started with a 1930 M mint sovereign for 20% over spot during lockdown last year and so the collection began.

I just need to save for the 1929 M mint and the 1931 M mint.

My only bit of advice to @Scootermuppet would be to research whatever collection be it date run or variety or mint collection BEFORE jumping in. I did this to discover the 1929 M and 1931 M which are going to set me back over £1,000+ each but I’m determined to finish the collection.

Although having said this, some of the best collections start purely by chance. So buy what you like but most importantly, like what you buy.

I wish you the best of luck.

Edited June 22, 2021 by Foster88

[Scootermuppet]

4 hours ago, dicker said:

As a start, for a well defined and with a reasonable premium over spot, I would opt for a Gillick.

 

4 hours ago, Seasider said:

Go for one from your birth year.  It will at least have some personal significance for you.

Think I may have found the one to go for 😁

Thankfully, won't be looking for a 1959 Gillick! (Not for the first one anyway 😉)

Thanks all for your words of wisdom - my wallet will end up hating me though, I'm sure...😂

Time to compose a 'Wanted' post ☺️

Bob

[Foster88]

5 hours ago, Seasider said:

Go for one from your birth year.  It will at least have some personal significance for you.

I feel sorry for the poor sods born in 1940’s then. 😆

[Foster88]

17 hours ago, Scootermuppet said:

 

Think I may have found the one to go for 😁

Thankfully, won't be looking for a 1959 Gillick! (Not for the first one anyway 😉)

Thanks all for your words of wisdom - my wallet will end up hating me though, I'm sure...😂

Time to compose a 'Wanted' post ☺️

Bob

The first sovereign I bought was a 2018 bullion sovereign. I felt I wanted to mark my collection with the year I started and since then I’ve bought every year.

Are they the modern Sovereigns my favourite sovereigns? No.

But my 2018 sovereign in all it’s ‘copper’ colour glory, is, as I’d like to hope, one that I will i’ll always keep. For me it’s where my collection started.

The thing with modern bullion sovereigns is that we don’t get to know the mintage numbers for a few years. Perhaps @LawrenceChard may be able to shed some light on this.

No, he doesn’t work for Royal Mint, but he does own Chards in ‘sunny’ Blackpool.

Modern Sovereigns are ok and this is just where I started my collection, in fact I bought a 2018 and two random sovereigns from Hatton Garden which was a 1897 M mint and a 1965 Gillick sovereign.

None of the three above have started a new collection for me personally despite being my first three Sovereigns, but I intend to do the Gillicks next.

Edited June 23, 2021 by Foster88

[darkninja1985]

What year did they introduce this copper colour style sov? I prefer the old colour personally

[Seasider]

10 hours ago, Foster88 said:

I feel sorry for the poor sods born in 1940’s then. 😆

Yes they weren't making sovereigns the year I was born either.😢