'Royal Arms' silver bullion coin

[FourNinesFine]

I suspect this will be a quick one...

I discovered the Royal Arms 1oz silver bullion coin yesterday. I don't think I've ever seen mention of it on the forum and I hadn't come it across it when browsing the dealers websites to date.

So upon finding it on the Royal Mint site, I thought, "ooh, this must be new". But it isn't. It's in its 4th year. So I'm left pondering... what's it for?

From what I can see, it fills precisely the same niche as the Britannia - namely, a sovereign bullion coin. Other than design it's identical to the Britannia in every other way.

• 38.61mm
• .999 fine silver (could do with an extra nine for me!)
• 1ozt
• £2 denomination

It's clearly not a limited edition as it's had multiple mintings now. So, is it simply to add choice to the market? And is there anything that makes it more or less collectable / stackable than the Britannia (it is slightly more expensive).

Thanks,

 

FNF.

[TheShinyStuff]

Nope. Its not special, like you said just an alternative, like the Valiant, to Brits. I wouldn't pay any more than I would for a Brit. The big 10 ouncers are nice though.

[FourNinesFine]

20 minutes ago, TheShinyStuff said:

Nope. Its not special, like you said just an alternative, like the Valiant, to Brits. I wouldn't pay any more than I would for a Brit. The big 10 ouncers are nice though.

That's what I thought.  It is pretty, sure enough.

And it's forced me to confront an existential question. Do I prefer a unicoorn, or a lady in a robe?  Tough call.

[paulmerton]

1 hour ago, FourNinesFine said:

It's clearly not a limited edition as it's had multiple mintings now.

This year's coin is a limited edition run of 100,000. The gold version is is only 5,000.

Semantic wiggle-room aside, Britannias have no limit.

 

[FourNinesFine]

Ah, thanks for that Paul. 

[TheShinyStuff]

1 hour ago, paulmerton said:

This year's coin is a limited edition run of 100,000.

 

 Always makes me laugh a bit, as if 100,000 isn't plenty...

25 years old Brits with half that mintage still go for normal money more or less.

[paulmerton]

8 minutes ago, TheShinyStuff said:

 Always makes me laugh a bit, as if 100,000 isn't plenty...

25 years old Brits with half that mintage still go for normal money more or less.

I can see the appeal of the gold one with a 5,000 limit though. But maybe not any time soon as the price of gold is just silly at the moment

There's also the 1/10oz gold version which looks cute, but no indication of any limits.

[LawrenceChard]

2 hours ago, FourNinesFine said:

I suspect this will be a quick one...

I discovered the Royal Arms 1oz silver bullion coin yesterday. I don't think I've ever seen mention of it on the forum and I hadn't come it across it when browsing the dealers websites to date.

So upon finding it on the Royal Mint site, I thought, "ooh, this must be new". But it isn't. It's in its 4th year. So I'm left pondering... what's it for?

From what I can see, it fills precisely the same niche as the Britannia - namely, a sovereign bullion coin. Other than design it's identical to the Britannia in every other way.

• 38.61mm
• .999 fine silver (could do with an extra nine for me!)
• 1ozt
• £2 denomination

It's clearly not a limited edition as it's had multiple mintings now. So, is it simply to add choice to the market? And is there anything that makes it more or less collectable / stackable than the Britannia (it is slightly more expensive).

Thanks,

FNF.

"what's it for?"

It's for:

Giving the RM a chance to get a slight extra premium for a bullion coin.

Creating extra bullion coins sales by adding an extra product, for stackers, collectors, etc, as opposed to bullion investors.

Giving distributors / dealers some element of exclusivity, to boost their own sales / market share / margins.

Appealing to people who like low(ish) issue limits.

What else have I omitted?

Apart from the fact that a well-known Blackpool Coin and Bullion Dealer has sold out of the 2021, and is waiting for a striking, or further striking, of the 2022.

😎

 

[FourNinesFine]

8 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

Apart from the fact that a well-known Blackpool Coin and Bullion Dealer has sold out of the 2021, and is waiting for a striking, or further striking, of the 2022.

😎

 

This would lend itself to the thought that a 'first striking' would be more desirable. Is that a thing? And if so, how are later 'strikings' denoted / differentiated?

[LawrenceChard]

2 minutes ago, FourNinesFine said:

This would lend itself to the thought that a 'first striking' would be more desirable. Is that a thing? And if so, how are later 'strikings' denoted / differentiated?

Don't get me started about so-called "First Strikings"!

"First strike is a marketing term used by third party coin grading services which refers to coins which were struck first by a mint. The U.S. Mint maintains that there is no widely accepted and standardized numismatic industry definition of First Strike coins. Several coin grading companies have decided that a "first strike" coin is one that shipped from the mint in the first month of the new minting.

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_strike_(coinage)

I will include the rest of the page text:

"No U.S. Mint First Strike Program
The U.S. Mint has stated that they do not keep track of which coins were struck first. The mint has dates on the packaging for the coins, however they also state that the shipping dates do not reveal exactly when the coins were struck.

Lawsuit
In 2006 a Miami lawyer filed a 10 million dollar lawsuit in a Miami court, alleging the "First Strike" label is deceptive. The lawsuit was filed against the two coin grading companies: Numismatic Guaranty Corp., (NGC) based in Sarasota, Fla., and Professional Coin Grading Service, (PCGS) of Newport Beach, California.

In 2007 NGC settled the lawsuit by paying money to collectors and the attorneys. They also designated 447,500 dollars for consumer education.

Marketing
The lawsuit revealed that the designation of "First strike" is essentially a successful marketing tool. There is essentially no way to know when a coin was struck. While PCGS retains the use of the term, NGC has changed their designation from "first strike" to a more accurate description: "Early Release"."

In other words, it's a marketing gimmick intended to fool suckers into paying extra thinking that they might be getting something better or different.

You  might want to read more of my thoughts here:

https://taxfreegold.co.uk/firststrike.html

And somewhere I wrote about millennium year 2000 "First Strike" bullion sovereigns being marketed way back in the day.

😎

[FourNinesFine]

As ever @LawrenceChard, you are the oracle.

NGC should have changed the 'First Strike' designation to 'Extra Virgin'. The Olive Oil people have had thousands out of me that way!

Edited April 22, 2022 by FourNinesFine

[LemmyMcGregor]

11 minutes ago, FourNinesFine said:

As ever @LawrenceChard, you are the oracle.

NGC should have changed the 'First Strike' designation to 'Extra Virgin'. The Olive Oil people have had thousands out of me that way!

To be fair, in the case of olive oil there is plenty of difference in between the various types. I might be new to coins, but I grew up in Tuscany, I have family that makes wine and oil and I used to work as a pizza chef, I think I know this subject better 🤠

When it comes to adding oil to a dish, say adding it to a salad or on top of a pizza or pasta after it has been cooked, we only use extra virgin olive oil as you can appreciate the taste better, any quality lower than that is normally reserved for frying. Try making home made mayo with good extra virgin olive oil, tastes nothing like the rapeseed rubbish that you find in shops.

[LawrenceChard]

47 minutes ago, FourNinesFine said:

As ever @LawrenceChard, you are the oracle.

NGC should have changed the 'First Strike' designation to 'Extra Virgin'. The Olive Oil people have had thousands out of me that way!

Yes, whenever olive oil is discussed, I am always tempted to enquire about an extra virgin. It is probably very simple but clever marketing.

😎

[goldmember44]

2 hours ago, paulmerton said:

I can see the appeal of the gold one with a 5,000 limit though. But maybe not any time soon as the price of gold is just silly at the moment

There's also the 1/10oz gold version which looks cute, but no indication of any limits.

Yeah the 1/10oz gold came out in 2020 the first time. None last year, it's making a reappearance this year. I still have a 2020 coin in my collection. Very nice.

[Stuntman]

The 10 oz silver bullion version is indeed very nice.  As someone who buys silver items as a collector rather than a stacker, I would recommend avoiding having to choose between 'the unicorn and the lady in a robe' and aim to acquire both.  And perhaps also adding old George and the dragon.  The 2018 version of the 10 oz Valiant in particular.

 

Gratuitous picture below - 3 x 10 oz coins, 2 x 10 oz bars, 1 oz Una & The Lion bar, and a 50p for scale:

[FourNinesFine]

Adding that 50p was actually very helpful. What a lovely collection. 

Unfortunately, being of Welsh heritage, I'm philosophically opposed to any depictions of a slain dragon. (The white one notwithstanding). 😉

As for picking up both the others... well that's just solid advice, for which I thank you.

[Guest]

On 22/04/2022 at 18:36, FourNinesFine said:

Unfortunately, being of Welsh heritage, I'm philosophically opposed to any depictions of a slain dragon. (The white one notwithstanding). 😉

As for picking up both the others... well that's just solid advice, for which I thank you.

I guess you need a colorized version to confirm that the dragon is not red 😀