Royal Mint Expertise - Another Cockup!

[LawrenceChard]

3 hours ago, MonkeysUncle said:

Nothing surprises me with RM.

They can't communicate, they can't control quality, they have next to no idea of product availability. I wonder if their vaulted storage is actually secure - if it is then it's probably the only thing they're doing right! That's if a padlocked garden shed can be termed a vault!

I guess you don't know about this:

2. The Committee, on the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, took evidence from the Royal Mint and the Treasury on:

• the deteriorating financial performance of the Royal Mint in recent years;

• the control weaknesses that gave rise to thefts of banknotes from the Royal Mint in 1997 and 2001;

• the allegations of improper payments by the Royal Mint; and

• the applicability of 'Crown immunity' to the Royal Mint.

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmpubacc/588/58803.htm

I have mentioned the banknote thefts on one of our websites previously, but can't find it quickly.

I will suggest @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer add a blog about it.😎

P.S. I guess their vault is now quite secure.

[dicker]

Wow I did not!

I do remember reading an article in the Telegraph a long time ago (I think I mentioned her previously) where a lot of blank £1 coins started turning up in vending machines in Wales.  From what I can recall, there was a large number of blanks were made and for whatever reason then “dumped” by the RM.  It didn’t take people long to realise that they would of course work in vending machines.  I think this was very late eighties or early 90’s.  Most amusing. 

[dicker]

Having said that, the Perth Mint has a patch record on theft, starting with the Mickleburgs in the 70’s and there have been a couple of other (clumsy) thefts in the last few years!

[LawrenceChard]

1 hour ago, dicker said:

Wow I did not!

I do remember reading an article in the Telegraph a long time ago (I think I mentioned her previously) where a lot of blank £1 coins started turning up in vending machines in Wales.  From what I can recall, there was a large number of blanks were made and for whatever reason then “dumped” by the RM.  It didn’t take people long to realise that they would of course work in vending machines.  I think this was very late eighties or early 90’s.  Most amusing. 

It would be nice to have one of the blanks.

Somewhere we have what I believe is a gold sovereign blank! 😎

[dicker]

6 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

 

Somewhere we have what I believe is a gold sovereign blank! 😎

Now that IS interesting.....  May I ask if this slipped through the RM quality control checks?

[LawrenceChard]

6 minutes ago, dicker said:

Now that IS interesting.....  May I ask if this slipped through the RM quality control checks?

I don''t know anything more about it. I ought to find it, and at least do a Niton XRF test, which might indicate a date period. I suspect it will be an old one, with about 3 to 4 ppt of silver.

[dicker]

I have posted this chaps site here before - some interesting items such as the below.

I think I have seen a blank sovereign here too but cannot locate it.

https://minterrornews.com/discoveries-7-10-05-sovereign_pair.html

 

[Zhorro]

How about a 139kg sterling silver Christmas Tree decoration for £95 ?  Sadly they seem to have sold out!

[Happypanda88]

I think the RM Webmaster has been busy helping out at the RM Goods Returns Department !!

So no time for his own control checks. 😁

 

[LawrenceChard]

On 11/09/2021 at 16:50, LawrenceChard said:

I received a marketing e-mail from the Royal Mint today with the title "Latest Acquisitions - Newly sourced Coins from Collector Services"

The first of these was a

1931 South Africa Sovereign in VF+ for £540.

Nothing particularly remarkable about that, except for the high price, which is standard, and unsurprising, at least to most members of TSF

I thougth I would take a look at some of the other 3 items they were proudly trumpeting, but I got no further than the second item:

1893-1901 Victoria Old/Veiled Head Crown - London  in Fine condition priced at £47.

Again nothing too spectacular there. Being slightly pedantic, I could point out that the old head portrait was only used on crowns from 1893 to 1900 inclusive, so the inclusion of 1901 is somewhat questionable, a fairly common newbie mistake typical of many coin marketing companies with little or no numismatic knowledge or expertise. I will ignore the price.

Awaiting Stock

This was slightly amusing considering the e-mail header proclaims "newly sourced", but perhaps they had such great demand that they sold out!

Now, after the build-up, I will give you all a chance at spotting the big boob:

... and just to help, I will include the text:

1893-1901 Victoria Old/Veiled Head Crown - London
Fine+ Condition
Price:£47.00

Rated 0 out of 5
Original sterling silver Victorian crown expertly sourced by The Royal Mint
In a minimum of Fine plus quality
Obverse features the Veiled Head portrait by Sir Thomas Brock
Reverse features Saint George slaying the Dragon by Benedetto Pistrucci
Read the full description
Awaiting Stock

PRODUCT CODE: HISVVC

The Remarkable Woman who defined the Nineteenth Century.

The young Victoria inherited the throne in 1837 at the age of 18. Her reign would last for more than 63 years, a Victorian-era characterised by unprecedented change and progress. As queen and empress, Queen Victoria saw the British Empire spread far and wide, and when she died in 1901, almost a quarter of the world’s population used coins that bore her portrait.

Her final portrait, by Thomas Brock RA, was introduced in 1893 and shows us a dignified and veiled queen. This coinage portrait would be her last and was struck until Queen Victoria’s death in 1901.

SPECIFICATION
SPECIFICATION    VALUE
DENOMINATION    Crown
ALLOY    .925 Sterling Silver
WEIGHT    28.28 g
DIAMETER    38.61mm
REVERSE DESIGNER    Benedetto Pistrucci
 

Spotted it yet?

Answers on a postcard...

😎

 

 

 

On 11/09/2021 at 17:18, dicker said:

@ZhorroFull set price £10. Should be £60

@LawrenceChardIts a Jubilee Head!

 

On 11/09/2021 at 19:39, LawrenceChard said:

Correct, and in case nobody at the RM has the same encyclopaedic knowledge of Victorian coins, it is dated 1891, so that should have given someone in Llantrisant a clue! 😎

 

On 11/09/2021 at 20:58, LawrenceChard said:

What about the leadership?

 

On 15/09/2021 at 14:30, LawrenceChard said:

It has still not changed!

 

On 20/09/2021 at 14:54, LawrenceChard said:

Still unchanged!

If the error remains long enough, will it become part ot the RM 1100 year tradition?

 

On 22/09/2021 at 19:47, MonkeysUncle said:

I think the Welsh are all hiding at home scared of the lurgy. Or possibly just scared of hard work? The DVLA disease could have spread easterly...

And in the meantime the sheep are running the show. Baa!

 

On 22/09/2021 at 21:51, LawrenceChard said:

Another week, and it's still uncorrected!

 

On 29/09/2021 at 22:05, LawrenceChard said:

No change! 😎

 

On 07/10/2021 at 14:03, LawrenceChard said:

We are now into October, and still nobody at the RM has noticed the error!

Still unchanged!

Hard to believe!