Historic Uk Coins Topic

[Epictetus]

It’s been a couple of years that I have been stacking bullion, I started getting different coin designs but as it was getting too expensive due to those crazy premiums I end up just purchasing britanias, philarmonics or whatever was cheaper in the store, and this was making it quite boring.

However, recently I came across with pre 1947 coins and I’m loving them so much that I decided to start my own collection; at least one of each coin  from each King/Queen of the United Kingdom in a decent condition. 
Soon I realised I would find some restrictions; some of the coins are very expensive and I won’t make the whole collection. 
What are your recommendations when buying this pieces?

1. eBay seems to have more, before buying I check the seller rating and I only buy from the best rated ones to avoid fake ones. I believe there are only fake ones in between the most expensive ones, so far I don’t think nobody is going to fake a George VI half crown. 
 

2. I’m not planing to sell them, but what do you think about this kind of investment? Spending £200 on a “George V wreath crown” seems a bit too much, and in case I wanted to sell it I don’t know how liquid it would be because I am not a shop or a dealer. Not sure how many people would buy this kind of expensive coins from a particular. 

Also, I love the history behind the coins themselves; how long a worker had to work to get them, what was the purchase power of them, the price of the food… Do you know where I can read about it? Any reliable book or website? 
 

To end up the thread I show you some of my coins from the ongoing collection. From Queen Victoria I’ll get one of each head. And soon I’ll start with Edward VII.

 

Thank You

[CollectForFun]

53 minutes ago, Epictetus said:

I believe there are only fake ones in between the most expensive ones, so far I don’t think nobody is going to fake a George VI half crown. 

Not to discourage you from collecting, but you mean this one?

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005001891695673.html

[Epictetus]

25 minutes ago, CollectForFun said:

Not to discourage you from collecting, but you mean this one?

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005001891695673.html

Those ones you can buy them at spot price, testing the silver content should be enough. Also it has written on it “Copy” 😂

I understand the market is full of fakes, that’s why I want to know opinions about this kind of investment to those who are more experienced.

btw Ali express will never stop impressing me 😂. I wonder if when you buy them they really have the word “copy” on the coin or it’s just for the image. 

[TeaTime]

The coins on A/E do not have 'copy' stamped on them. However, most of them are obvious counterfeits once in hand  (for some reason the Chinese can't get European eyes right) 🥴

[TheShinyStuff]

I too really like the .500 coins, 1920/1 to 1946. I am going to do date runs on all of them from half crowns down to the little threepence. Most available at melt or a little over, some will cost a little more, but not much. To date I have most half crowns and about half the florins.

I have the 1935 & 37 crowns. But I won't be doing the wreath crowns. I just can't rationalise spending that amount of money on them. That may change I  the future, but at the minute if I am going to spend £200 on a single silver coin, it would have to be really, really special.

As an investment it will be a loser, but they won't lose money if you buy at the right price and will be a lovely collection.

I see this as a little side project alongside the other series I like that I can put together at a reasonable cost and not too much hassle.

[LawrenceChard]

3 hours ago, CollectForFun said:

Not to discourage you from collecting, but you mean this one?

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005001891695673.html

 

3 hours ago, Epictetus said:

Those ones you can buy them at spot price, testing the silver content should be enough. Also it has written on it “Copy” 😂

I understand the market is full of fakes, that’s why I want to know opinions about this kind of investment to those who are more experienced.

btw Ali express will never stop impressing me 😂. I wonder if when you buy them they really have the word “copy” on the coin or it’s just for the image. 

 

5 minutes ago, TeaTime said:

The coins on A/E do not have 'copy' stamped on them. However, most of them are obvious counterfeits once in hand  (for some reason the Chinese can't get European eyes right) 🥴

While most of the imitation coins on AliExpress do have "copy" on the images, they do not have it  stamped on the actual items.

Most of them can be detected using a magnet, as most of them contain iron.

We bought some imitaion coins via AliExpress. Most arrived OK, but one package (the biggest one) arrived empty, probably due to very poor packaging. The seller rather dishonourably refused to replace them, and AliExpress' feedback and "safety" guarantees are worse than useless, being dishonest and fraudulent propaganda. Apparently, this is normal business practice in China.

😎

[Epictetus]

27 minutes ago, TeaTime said:

The coins on A/E do not have 'copy' stamped on them. However, most of them are obvious counterfeits once in hand  (for some reason the Chinese can't get European eyes right) 🥴

Now that you mention it’s hilarious, I always thought they would use an original coin to make a mold so at least the shapes would be the same. 

[Epictetus]

20 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

 

 

While most of the imitation coins on AliExpress do have "copy" on the images, they do not have it  stamped on the actual items.

Most of them can be detected using a magnet, as most of them contain iron.

We bought some imitaion coins via AliExpress. Most arrived OK, but one package (the biggest one) arrived empty, probably due to very poor packaging. The seller rather dishonourably refused to replace them, and AliExpress' feedback and "safety" guarantees are worse than useless, being dishonest and fraudulent propaganda. Apparently, this is normal business practice in China.

😎

In this case, the one that has been shared here is made of cupronickel, if they had put more effort on the design maybe using a mold from an original one the copy would have been very good, undetectable for many people without expensive testing tools, don’t you think? 
it would have passed ping test and magnetic test. 

[Arganto]

Wreath crowns seems to sell in good time when they're for sale on the forum. If you manage to bag a really good example they always seem to do well at regular auctions (I would avoid eBay for high value silver personally, for various reasons).

Unless there's a scenario where the numismatic market collapses I don't think a wreath crown bought at a reasonable price will be a loser in the future. That said I personally only pick up silver currency pieces on the cheap. I like them to have half decent detail but that's about it. I like the later .500 coins but the earlier .925 currency have much nicer designs and feel great in hand.

 

[Bruce06]

2 hours ago, Arganto said:

Wreath crowns seems to sell in good time when they're for sale on the forum. If you manage to bag a really good example they always seem to do well at regular auctions (I would avoid eBay for high value silver personally, for various reasons).

Unless there's a scenario where the numismatic market collapses I don't think a wreath crown bought at a reasonable price will be a loser in the future. That said I personally only pick up silver currency pieces on the cheap. I like them to have half decent detail but that's about it. I like the later .500 coins but the earlier .925 currency have much nicer designs and feel great in hand.

 

Agree, as long as the wreath is not a counterfeit one n reasonably priced, i think it has a good stored value, and is quite liquid for selling in auction houses n here.  I also won't buy at ebay unless it's a trusted dealer, as there are many good fakes in the market.

[Agaumac]

https://www.thesilverforum.com/topic/54758-george-6th-crowns/?do=findComment&comment=562182

I got a lot of useful information on my personal quest for 1930,33 Wreath crowns from the link above which includes  links to dealers, books and invaluable member insights. I personally bought from the coin king on one of the links and from a forum member with no issue. Thanks once again to @TheShinyStuff, my parents now enjoy crowns from their birth years.