Another Sov Question

[Lewbear]

Hi all, just a quick query for those with more knowledge on sovs than myself (probably everyone here!)

a few years ago I picked up a few "generic bullion" Sovs at the cheapest price at the time from Atkinson's bullion, think may have been around the £295 mark. I had sent to me at the time and 1876 young Victoria head full sov, (S mark for Sydney mint?). 

Long story short, i've been looking again recently and have noticed that these are going for a much higher premium than most generic Sovs. Some of the prices to be fair I've seen on Ebay so not the most trustworthy place to judge prices but have also noticed these going for more on some of the buillion sites. I don't have any intention of selling this at the moment but just wondering if its one worth putting aside from the generic sovs into the more "collectible pile". Just one of those situations where ive seen the higher premium and am thinking - hmm if its too good to be true.. it porbably is!

I know its hard to say and can change daily but would anyone had an idea of how much or a premium over spot you would ask for this (not expecting much here I Just havent got the foggiest!)

Many thanks in advanced,

Lewis

[modofantasma]

Hi.

Your photos are a little blurred but it looks a very nice coin, the young head is more desirable to many people, the detail in the hair is often what shows first signs of wear on the young head types. 

There are mintage figures on the following link. Apparently 1.6 mil of those Sydney sovs.

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/info/sovereign-mintages#Victoria

 

I bought this 1882 M for £15 over spot all in last month. It looks about as bad as possible on the photo but in person it looks very nice. 

[Britannia47]

15 minutes ago, modofantasma said:

Hi.

Your photos are a little blurred but it looks a very nice coin, the young head is more desirable to many people, the detail in the hair is often what shows first signs of wear on the young head types. 

There are mintage figures on the following link. Apparently 1.6 mil of those Sydney sovs.

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/info/sovereign-mintages#Victoria

 

I bought this 1882 M for £15 over spot all in last month. It looks about as bad as possible on the photo but in person it looks very nice. 

Don’t be hard on yourself. Your coin looks good to me!  There’s hardly any wear on the hair after all. Once you keep magnifying a sovereign it will start to look like the lunar landscape, if it’s been in circulation. What’s important as you say, is when it’s between your fingers. Don’t apologise for those customary marks etc which are expected. In fact, on second thoughts I think it’s great….😃!!

[modofantasma]

1 minute ago, Britannia47 said:

Don’t be hard on yourself. Your coin looks good to me!  There’s hardly any wear on the hair after all. Once you keep magnifying a sovereign it will start to look like the lunar landscape, if it’s been in circulation. What’s important as you say, is when it’s between your fingers. Don’t apologise for those customary marks etc which are expected. In fact, on second thoughts I think it’s great….😃!!

Thanks for the kind words. It does look stunning in hand to me. I couldn't believe it when I lit it up and macro zoomed in on it 🤣 like you say it can soon look like they kicked it down the road all the way from Melbourne

[Orpster]

1876S is rated as scarce, a very good one to get in a best value bundle, very well done.

Scarce young heads are worth an extra premium, in 'good' condition (less than F/VF) probably only a small premium of say £5-10 but rising sharply for better grades and even more so for shield varieties.  I have the same coin and also the Melbourne of the same year (also rated scarce) but I am missing the London version unfortunately which while only a common is proving quite elusive.  I don't generally sell anything rated as scarce or better unless I get a better version - and that is a rare thing indeed as young heads all seem to be getting harder to get in good grades and only seem to come up in auctions

  

[Lewbear]

Thank you all for replies and info and good to know! yes the photos are terrible! rubbish phone and no good camera, never likes to focus on close ups! probably something to do with my poor photography too though! Seems like one to put aside then so that's good news! Also very nice to know about premiums, as stated above was thinking a bit too good to be true. Seen one of these selling on bullion by post at over 600! guess they're either asking too much or must be very good condition!

[Lewbear]

Slightly better pics..

[LawrenceChard]

6 hours ago, Lewbear said:

Hi all, just a quick query for those with more knowledge on sovs than myself (probably everyone here!)

a few years ago I picked up a few "generic bullion" Sovs at the cheapest price at the time from Atkinson's bullion, think may have been around the £295 mark. I had sent to me at the time and 1876 young Victoria head full sov, (S mark for Sydney mint?). 

Long story short, i've been looking again recently and have noticed that these are going for a much higher premium than most generic Sovs. Some of the prices to be fair I've seen on Ebay so not the most trustworthy place to judge prices but have also noticed these going for more on some of the buillion sites. I don't have any intention of selling this at the moment but just wondering if its one worth putting aside from the generic sovs into the more "collectible pile". Just one of those situations where ive seen the higher premium and am thinking - hmm if its too good to be true.. it porbably is!

I know its hard to say and can change daily but would anyone had an idea of how much or a premium over spot you would ask for this (not expecting much here I Just havent got the foggiest!)

Many thanks in advanced,

Lewis

When I saw your post earlier, before anyone else had commented, I was thinking of advising:

Sell the coin and buy  a camera!

Perhaps that's a little harsh, and I see you have now posted slightly better photos.

It is not surprising that you got your coin in a "generic bullion" or "our choice" lot, you could get similar elsewhere, or you could have got worse.

There is nothing special about 1876 Victoria Young Head St. George sovereigns.

If you look here:

https://goldsovereigns.co.uk/forsalevictoriayoungheadsaintgeorge.html

You will see that most other dates have lower mintages, and the dates 1871*, 1872*, 1873*, 19874* = Mintage figure includes London Mint shield reverse sovereigns of same date.

Also digging deeper by clicking on the 1876 link:

https://goldsovereigns.co.uk/1876sovereignyhstgeorge.html

Although Sydney has lower mintages than London or Melbourne, it is not rare, or low mintage.

You don't state what prices you have seen them at elsewhere, but whenever you want to choose the monarch, portrait, date, or mint, you should expect to be asked more.

You might wish to consider:

Your original supplier offers generic bullion sovereigns currently at:

 

Pre-Owned Full Sovereign Gold Coin - Mixed Dates

"From:£363.61"

Yet for a very ordinary 1976-S

https://atkinsonsbullion.com/gold/gold-coins/sovereign-gold-coins/pre-owned-1876-sydney-mint-young-head-victorian-fu?

Total:£406.93

While BullionByPost:

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/gold-sovereign-specific-year/victoria-young-head-1871-1887/1876-gold-sovereign-victoria-young-head-s/

Are asking £634.20

At this stage, I should apologise, because your new photos are actually better than either of the above two "professionals"

Why are BBP much more expensive? They probably spend much more on Google Adwords, along with the Royal Mint. Will their coin be any better? Who knows!

Sure, go ahead and try to get a premium price for your coin, but you will be in competition with the two dealers above, some TSF members, a well-known Blackpool dealer.

If you offer it on ebay, the main winner will be ebay.

Most people buying coins on ebay know nothing about coins, but think wrongly that ebay are the cheapest source, and often buy without engaging their brains. Dealers selling on ebay generally charge more than if they were selling direct, to cover ebay fees, and the hassle it often takes.

I just noticed that you can also buy mint 2022 bullion sovereigns for only 

£368.00

High grade example of most sovereigns will command higher asking prices.

Ebay sellers often see these higher prices, and wearing their very best rose tinted glasses, think theirs is just as good, if not better, and optimistically put it on ebay. Ebay winrs every time!

I hope this helps!

😎

[LawrenceChard]

4 hours ago, Lewbear said:

Thank you all for replies and info and good to know! yes the photos are terrible! rubbish phone and no good camera, never likes to focus on close ups! probably something to do with my poor photography too though! Seems like one to put aside then so that's good news! Also very nice to know about premiums, as stated above was thinking a bit too good to be true. Seen one of these selling on bullion by post at over 600! guess they're either asking too much or must be very good condition!

There are many hints and tips about photographing coins here on TSF.

Currently there is hot competition between @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer and @DrDave!

😎

[DrDave]

4 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

There are many hints and tips about photographing coins here on TSF.

Currently there is hot competition between @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer and @DrDave!

😎

No competition. just doing my thing!! ☺️

There are 2 issues with casual coin photography.

1. Generally the light is directly above you and your phone/camera will cast a shadow just where you don't want it! So angle the coin a little (prop it up in its capsule for instance) so that when you shoot flat on to the coin you won't cast a shadow because the light source is coming from a different angle.

2. The biggest mistake is trying to fill the frame with a small coin, such as a sovereign. The lenses, even if they are labelled macro, won't allow you to get close enough to fill the frame. If you get too close then the camera won't be able to focus. Most cameras (or lens if you use a dslr)will tell you the closest focusing distance,so don't go nearer. On a phone (iPhone 13 for instance) its about 10cm, so get as close as you can and then crop it (zoom) in the software to get the coin to fill the frame. There will be some loss, but it should be sharp in focus.

Good luck

[Lewbear]

Once again, I appreciate the in depth replies and advice - both PM and photography related!

It was the bullion by post price that initially got me questioning I think but that all makes sense, a small lucky bonus then, no complaints here! 

[LawrenceChard]

11 minutes ago, DrDave said:

No competition. just doing my thing!! ☺️

There are 2 issues with casual coin photography.

1. Generally the light is directly above you and your phone/camera will cast a shadow just where you don't want it! So angle the coin a little (prop it up in its capsule for instance) so that when you shoot flat on to the coin you won't cast a shadow because the light source is coming from a different angle.

2. The biggest mistake is trying to fill the frame with a small coin, such as a sovereign. The lenses, even if they are labelled macro, won't allow you to get close enough to fill the frame. If you get too close then the camera won't be able to focus. Most cameras (or lens if you use a dslr)will tell you the closest focusing distance,so don't go nearer. On a phone (iPhone 13 for instance) its about 10cm, so get as close as you can and then crop it (zoom) in the software to get the coin to fill the frame. There will be some loss, but it should be sharp in focus.

Good luck

You may be just doing your thing, but you are exceptionally good at it, and I am not exactly renowned for dishing out compliments.

We, at @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer had to get a second Canon R5, and a Canon RF 100mm f2.8 L Macro IS USM, to try to stay ahead of the game (mainly you!).

While Doug a.k.a. @SemolinaPilchard is also excellent, we have two other (trainee) photographers who are having to work hard to reach our expected quality standards.

You may not be competing, but we are!

And there is nothing wrong with a little healthy competition.

Good, practical tips above.

😎

[DrDave]

3 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

You may be just doing your thing, but you are exceptionally good at it, and I am not exactly renowned for dishing out compliments.

We, at @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer had to get a second Canon R5, and a Canon RF 100mm f2.8 L Macro IS USM, to try to stay ahead of the game (mainly you!).

While Doug a.k.a. @SemolinaPilchard is also excellent, we have two other (trainee) photographers who are having to work hard to reach our expected quality standards.

You may not be competing, but we are!

And there is nothing wrong with a little healthy competition.

Good, practical tips above.

😎

Thats very of you to say Sir.

I can only imagine the workload that @SemolinaPilchard and his gang have from your business. I, on the other hand, see 5 coins in a day as a busy day 😜 But then again, coins are not my full time business, so i can take a little more time and do something different form the norm. 

But if its a competition you want......................😂😜

By the way, the R5 is perfect for what i do, and i'd be shooting different styles without it. The choice was a Canon R5 and macro lens, or keep the 5D and buy 5 gold Britannias! I'm happy with my choice

 

[DrDave]

Hey @Lewbear, apologies for hijacking your thread! 

Sorry

[LawrenceChard]

11 minutes ago, DrDave said:

Hey @Lewbear, apologies for hijacking your thread! 

Sorry

You gave useful photo tips.

Apologies need to go in this thread:

😎

[Lewbear]

No problems, my question has been thoroughly answered with some bonus bits!

No complaints here!

[LawrenceChard]

12 hours ago, Lewbear said:

No problems, my question has been thoroughly answered with some bonus bits!

No complaints here!

How about an argument instead...

Special offer today, 2-4-1

😎