Trial of the Pyx 2021 release

[foinikas]

So today was the ghost/sneaky release of Trial of the Pyx. I logged in late but managed to buy a silver 50years of 50p that i was planning to buy at some point. 
Are these coins more collectible and of higher value than the normal coins?
Should i get the coin graded or leave it in the blister? (Assuming that the order will not be cancelled)

Are the mintages always so low?

7-10 pcs?

Edited October 13, 2021 by foinikas

[BackyardBullion]

With the Trial of the Pyx they always have some extra coins minted from the batches they make of a certain release. 

It is why you might see "limited edition mintage 6000" & "Maximum coin mintage 6010" The extra 10 go to the Trial.

So these usually are very rare items in the sense only a small number go through it. 

But, are they collectable and worth the premium? I kind of feel no to be honest. 

[Aran]

I bought a Trial of the Pyx Victoria 200th anniversary £5 Proof Au from the RM (for a hefty premium, £3300 was the price). It came with spectacular packaging and glossy photos, but the coin itself was a disappointment. More grubby fingerprints and scratches than I expected (might be a good idea for the RM to provide some gloves to the handlers if they want to market these coins!). Although a highly sought after coin, I couldn’t bear to look at the handling marks through a cheap plastic bubble (which had crease marks and scratches itself). So I sold it (at a loss).

[BackyardBullion]

38 minutes ago, Aran said:

I bought a Trial of the Pyx Victoria 200th anniversary £5 Proof Au from the RM (for a hefty premium, £3300 was the price). It came with spectacular packaging and glossy photos, but the coin itself was a disappointment. More grubby fingerprints and scratches than I expected (might be a good idea for the RM to provide some gloves to the handlers if they want to market these coins!). Although a highly sought after coin, I couldn’t bear to look at the handling marks through a cheap plastic bubble (which had crease marks and scratches itself). So I sold it (at a loss).

This is the whole point of the coins - they are handled they are examined in a big group setting, it is not about care of the coins it is about making sure they are all measured exactly and tested too. 

I think of it as a novel idea to own one, if money was no object I would get one just for the novelty. 

As an investment, no I think this is a big miss. 

[MintCollectionsImports]

Thanks for starting the thread, I have some questions too. 

The Trial of the Pyx proof coins don't seem to have any documentation or proof they are Trial of the Pyx besides your receipt? Is that correct? No special COA or packaging or coin markings? - minus what sounds to be markings from abuse

@BackyardBullion thanks for the investor advice, sounds about right.

[Aran]

1 hour ago, BackyardBullion said:

This is the whole point of the coins - they are handled they are examined in a big group setting, it is not about care of the coins it is about making sure they are all measured exactly and tested too. 

I think of it as a novel idea to own one, if money was no object I would get one just for the novelty. 

As an investment, no I think this is a big miss. 

The point that the coins are handled is of course obvious. However it may not be quite so obvious to our fellow forum members just how ‘roughly’ handled they can be (assuming that my coin was a typical example). Suffice it to say that any novelty value that I might have felt for the coin very soon wore off!

However each to their own…..

@MintCollectionsImportsThe coin comes encased in a soft plastic bubble, sealed in a double sided piece of flexible cardboard marked ‘Trial of the Pyx’.

I have seen NGC encapsulating (not grading) the complete package as above in an oversized holder.

[paulmerton]

3 hours ago, MintCollectionsImports said:

Thanks for starting the thread, I have some questions too. 

The Trial of the Pyx proof coins don't seem to have any documentation or proof they are Trial of the Pyx besides your receipt? Is that correct? No special COA or packaging or coin markings? - minus what sounds to be markings from abuse

@BackyardBullion thanks for the investor advice, sounds about right.

As well as the blister packaging, they should also come in a big fancy folder that includes information about the trial process and a piece of paper saying how many coins were returned. Not sure what the boxed ones are like.

[SilverJacks]

42 minutes ago, paulmerton said:

As well as the blister packaging, they should also come in a big fancy folder that includes information about the trial process and a piece of paper saying how many coins were returned. Not sure what the boxed ones are like.

I was wondering what seperates the boxed ones from the rest. 

[SilverJacks]

I guess if we're not happy with our orders then we will still have the 14 day returns option?

I'm feeling quite happy about my order tbh. I've had the despatch email so will find out tomorrow

[MintCollectionsImports]

6 hours ago, SilverJacks said:

I guess if we're not happy with our orders then we will still have the 14 day returns option?

I'm feeling quite happy about my order tbh. I've had the despatch email so will find out tomorrow

We’ll you are not alone. I ended up getting just a single 1 oz Queen Beast coin in blister pack labeled with Trial docs. Figured not too $ to get some exposure to this line. It does not sound like the boxes come with any distinguishing call outs except extra handling

[westminstrel]

These coins do come with a large A4 size brochure (about 20+ pages) about the Trial of the Pyx ceremony.

You also get a printed page of the “verdict”.

And of course a separate COA stating it is a proof or bullion or whatever coin and the limitation (only 6 or only 10).

All of it comes in a cardboard folder.

The coin itself is encapsulated in a plastic credit card sized holder which fits in a paper cutout slot in the cardboard folder.

For larger coins, I think it is not feasible to encapsulate them so they come in a box with a different type of COA.

I have also seen graded Trial of the Pyx coins by NGC. the holder description clearly states this.

It is a nice little package but I’ve only ever seen these sell at a loss unfortunately. And the eBay listings of previous years that are priced over the original cost have been lingering there for some years now.

My personal opinion is if you like the coin and the idea of holding one that went though this ceremony, get it for your own pleasure. It is almost guaranteed to sell at a loss, so if that’s your drive for buying it, you’ll more likely than not be disappointed.

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by westminstrel

[LawrenceChard]

On 13/10/2021 at 13:09, foinikas said:

So today was the ghost/sneaky release of Trial of the Pyx. I logged in late but managed to buy a silver 50years of 50p that i was planning to buy at some point. 
Are these coins more collectible and of higher value than the normal coins?
Should i get the coin graded or leave it in the blister? (Assuming that the order will not be cancelled)

Are the mintages always so low?

7-10 pcs?

 

 

On 13/10/2021 at 14:03, BackyardBullion said:

With the Trial of the Pyx they always have some extra coins minted from the batches they make of a certain release. 

It is why you might see "limited edition mintage 6000" & "Maximum coin mintage 6010" The extra 10 go to the Trial.

So these usually are very rare items in the sense only a small number go through it. 

But, are they collectable and worth the premium? I kind of feel no to be honest. 

 

On 13/10/2021 at 14:28, Aran said:

I bought a Trial of the Pyx Victoria 200th anniversary £5 Proof Au from the RM (for a hefty premium, £3300 was the price). It came with spectacular packaging and glossy photos, but the coin itself was a disappointment. More grubby fingerprints and scratches than I expected (might be a good idea for the RM to provide some gloves to the handlers if they want to market these coins!). Although a highly sought after coin, I couldn’t bear to look at the handling marks through a cheap plastic bubble (which had crease marks and scratches itself). So I sold it (at a loss).

 

On 13/10/2021 at 15:08, BackyardBullion said:

This is the whole point of the coins - they are handled they are examined in a big group setting, it is not about care of the coins it is about making sure they are all measured exactly and tested too. 

I think of it as a novel idea to own one, if money was no object I would get one just for the novelty. 

As an investment, no I think this is a big miss. 

 

On 13/10/2021 at 16:08, MintCollectionsImports said:

Thanks for starting the thread, I have some questions too. 

The Trial of the Pyx proof coins don't seem to have any documentation or proof they are Trial of the Pyx besides your receipt? Is that correct? No special COA or packaging or coin markings? - minus what sounds to be markings from abuse

@BackyardBullion thanks for the investor advice, sounds about right.

 

On 13/10/2021 at 16:40, Aran said:

The point that the coins are handled is of course obvious. However it may not be quite so obvious to our fellow forum members just how ‘roughly’ handled they can be (assuming that my coin was a typical example). Suffice it to say that any novelty value that I might have felt for the coin very soon wore off!

However each to their own…..

@MintCollectionsImportsThe coin comes encased in a soft plastic bubble, sealed in a double sided piece of flexible cardboard marked ‘Trial of the Pyx’.

I have seen NGC encapsulating (not grading) the complete package as above in an oversized holder.

 

7 hours ago, westminstrel said:

These coins do come with a large A4 size brochure (about 20+ pages) about the Trial of the Pyx ceremony.

You also get a printed page of the “verdict”.

And of course a separate COA stating it is a proof or bullion or whatever coin and the limitation (only 6 or only 10).

All of it comes in a cardboard folder.

The coin itself is encapsulated in a plastic credit card sized holder which fits in a paper cutout slot in the cardboard folder.

For larger coins, I think it is not feasible to encapsulate them so they come in a box with a different type of COA.

I have also seen graded Trial of the Pyx coins by NGC. the holder description clearly states this.

It is a nice little package but I’ve only ever seen these sell at a loss unfortunately. And the eBay listings of previous years that are priced over the original cost have been lingering there for some years now.

My personal opinion is if you like the coin and the idea of holding one that went though this ceremony, get it for your own pleasure. It is almost guaranteed to sell at a loss, so if that’s your drive for buying it, you’ll more likely than not be disappointed.

 

In addition to fingerprints and scuffs from handling, it would not be surprising if there were scrapes and drillings made for assay purposes, but...

... perhaps the Royal Mint should make this clear in its advertising and product descriptions. 🙂