Lion of England Proof quality issue

[wuforn]

Evening all,

 

I am new to collecting silver and gold and have recently bought my first bullion gold and silver. 
 

While searching various sites i came across the Tudor beast range and as i liked the design, I have decided to collect these and I ordered the 1oz silver proof. I received my first coin today, the lion of England and I must say the quality is terrible! There are black marks on the tail and claws which looks like some type of dye. 
 

This is not something I would have expected from a proof coin. I didn’t order directly from royal mint, i ordered from crawley coins.

I have requested to return the coin.

To be honest, I’m surprised that this coin passed quality control, surely the coin should have been first checked by royal mint and secondly by Crawley coins.

Is this a regular thing to come across with proof coins? 
 

i have attached pictures of the 2 largest marks but there are smaller marks which are hard to photograph.

[James32]

Unfortunately more and more proof coins are coming with defects, not acceptable and you have done right to request a return.

The Royal Mint are releasing new coins every other week, impossible to send out 1000s of perfect coins monthly, something needs to change for the better soon.

 

I don't think it's dye on your coin though, abrasion is more likely the culprit. 

[TeaTime]

Last night i pulled out my RM proof sets (from 2000-2015) and had a really good look at the coins. These sets are encapsulated in the original packaging and the coins are as-issued. I found defects in every set ranging from breaks in the frosting to micro scratches and even small divots in the field.

This is not a new phenomenon - RM proof coins have always had defects. QC has never been much of a priority and older collectors are aware of this.

If you read the waffle about proof coins on the RM's website (which includes '...After striking, each coin is inspected for imperfections...' ) it doesn't actually say that imperfect coins are discarded - just that they are inspected 😁.

If the breaks in the frosting stop you enjoying the coin then you need to send it back. Just remember that the term 'proof' is pretty meaningless when it comes to perceived quality - it literally is a description of how the coin has been made.   

 

[paulmerton]

After waiting a few months, I've just got my replacement Lion of England two-coin set (the first one had all sorts of problems on both coins).  I was told the delay was because although the replacement was ready ages ago, it was still waiting for someone to check it for problems before it was sent out.

I'm not sure how long they spent checking them over the past few months, as the new set has these unsightly blotches on the frosted coin. I've seen frosted bullion coins with better quality than this!