Searching for the Best Proof Silver Coin on the Interwebs

[timsk]

I have a birthday coming up and my wife asked me what coin I'd like (or contribution towards one) as a gift. As she's a National Trust volunteer at Greenway, Agatha Christie's house just down the road from us here in beautiful south Devon, I had the idea of the perfect gift from her to me. Do you see where I'm going with this?

Now, she knows even less about coins than I do (I'm a newbie), so I set about finding a few links to point her in the right direction. After a lot of trawling, I hit upon this:

2020 Silver Piedfort Proof £2 coin "Agatha Christie" NGC Graded PF69 Ultra Cameo

On the face of it, it's a quality coin at a good price. However, note that it comes without a case or CoA. I'm puzzled: who goes to the trouble of grading a coin and then sells it without including the box and CoA? Does it matter, or does the NGC grading trump whatever value the box and CoA have? By way of contrast, I've found this coin:

Agatha Christie 2020 UK £2 Silver Proof Piedfort Coin, Limited Edition 800

Yes, it's £15.00 more, but it includes the case and CoA.

So, my question to the collective wisdom of TSF is this: which of the two coins is the best bet and why? It's worth noting, I think, that the cheaper graded coin comes with free P&P, while the more expensive coin comes with an additional £7.50 P&P.

Any thoughts and insights about which is best or, alternatively, if there's an even better option besides these two - please share!

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by timsk

[Petra]

18 minutes ago, timsk said:

I have a birthday coming up and my wife asked me what coin I'd like (or contribution towards one) as a gift. As she's a National Trust volunteer at Greenway, Agatha Christie's house just down the road from us here in beautiful south Devon, I had the idea of the perfect gift from her to me. Do you see where I'm going with this?

Now, she knows even less about coins than I do (I'm a newbie), so I set about finding a few links to point her in the right direction. After a lot of trawling, I hit upon this:

2020 Silver Piedfort Proof £2 coin "Agatha Christie" NGC Graded PF69 Ultra Cameo

On the face of it, it's a quality coin at a good price. However, note that it comes without a case or CoA. I'm puzzled: who goes to the trouble of grading a coin and then sells it without including the box and CoA? Does it matter, or does the NGC grading trump whatever value the box and CoA have? By way of contrast, I've found this coin:

Agatha Christie 2020 UK £2 Silver Proof Piedfort Coin, Limited Edition 800

Yes, it's £15.00 more, but it includes the case and CoA.

So, my question to the collective wisdom of TSF is this: which of the two coins is the best bet and why? It's worth noting, I think, that the cheaper graded coin comes with free P&P, while the more expensive coin comes with an additional £7.50 P&P.

Any thoughts and insights about which is best or, alternatively, if there's an even better option besides these two - please share!

 

 

 

There’s lots on here like that. Mostly because the coin is from a set. You could say, what’s the point of a box if the coin is trapped in a slab?

[StackemHigh]

I would pop a wee ad on the buy and sell listings and see what happens there!

[LawrenceChard]

3 hours ago, timsk said:

I have a birthday coming up and my wife asked me what coin I'd like (or contribution towards one) as a gift. As she's a National Trust volunteer at Greenway, Agatha Christie's house just down the road from us here in beautiful south Devon, I had the idea of the perfect gift from her to me. Do you see where I'm going with this?

Now, she knows even less about coins than I do (I'm a newbie), so I set about finding a few links to point her in the right direction. After a lot of trawling, I hit upon this:

2020 Silver Piedfort Proof £2 coin "Agatha Christie" NGC Graded PF69 Ultra Cameo

On the face of it, it's a quality coin at a good price. However, note that it comes without a case or CoA. I'm puzzled: who goes to the trouble of grading a coin and then sells it without including the box and CoA? Does it matter, or does the NGC grading trump whatever value the box and CoA have? By way of contrast, I've found this coin:

Agatha Christie 2020 UK £2 Silver Proof Piedfort Coin, Limited Edition 800

Yes, it's £15.00 more, but it includes the case and CoA.

So, my question to the collective wisdom of TSF is this: which of the two coins is the best bet and why? It's worth noting, I think, that the cheaper graded coin comes with free P&P, while the more expensive coin comes with an additional £7.50 P&P.

Any thoughts and insights about which is best or, alternatively, if there's an even better option besides these two - please share!

One of the worst places to buy coins is from ebay, unless you really know what you are doing, and even then you might hit problems.

There are many horror stories about scams by buyers and sellers.

Ebay also charge selling fees, so most sellers add the fees to the price they want to get.

😎

 

[TeaTime]

It's all down to personal choice - is the original box important to you ? In my case the answer would be yes because a) the NGC slabs are prone to scratches and it is expensive to get re-slabbed and b) the potential re-sale value is reduced without the original packaging. Examples of this are all over Ebay where empty coin boxes are up for sale from anywhere between £15 & £75 🙄 This may also explain why there is no COA/box with the slabbed coin, it may well be for sale elsewhere !

 

 

[LawrenceChard]

4 hours ago, TeaTime said:

It's all down to personal choice - is the original box important to you ? In my case the answer would be yes because a) the NGC slabs are prone to scratches and it is expensive to get re-slabbed and b) the potential re-sale value is reduced without the original packaging. Examples of this are all over Ebay where empty coin boxes are up for sale from anywhere between £15 & £75 🙄 This may also explain why there is no COA/box with the slabbed coin, it may well be for sale elsewhere !

I was also informed that if you send coins to NGC for slabbing with boxes and certs, they do not return them. Seems they advise /stipulate that you package them "au nature". 

😎

[stefffana]

If it is for a birthday, another idea can be this coin:

https://atkinsonsbullion.com/silver/silver-coins/1oz-silver-coins/2022-australian-happy-birthday-1oz-silver-proof-co.

Or I would think about the birth year of the receiver and I would try to find a silver proof from that special year.😊

If you want to be only Agatha Christie coin, my advice is to pay a little extra and to buy the coin in "as new" condition, with box and certificate. Will look better as a gift, I am 100% sure.

Give us an update, please, after your final decision.

[TheShinyStuff]

It's down to what you personally prefer. The slabbed PF69 will never really be worth much more than a nice example in its box with CoA, so unless you prefer the aesthetic of it I'd definitely choose the 'raw' one.

I don't own any slabbed coins, I like them they way they were intended to be, but for rare/exceptional type coins I see why some would prefer slabbed. I don't think this coin really warrants being slabbed. But that's only my opinion, others will disagree...

Let us know what you end up doing!

[timsk]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I noted with interest that only TheShinyStuff directly answered my question about which of the two coins I linked to in my OP is the best bet. This reminded me of a story told to me back in the 80s in person by Admiral Sir James Eberle who, given his senior naval rank, was often asked to provide a reference for someone applying for a job, loan or whatever. The rule of thumb - back then at least - was never to say anything negative about the person one is writing the reference for - only ever say something positive. One time, Sir James had to write a reference for someone about whom he had particularly low regard and absolutely nothing positive to say. His reference went like this:

 

To whom it may concern,

Reference for Joe Blogs

Yours faithfully,

Admiral Sir James Eberle.

 

True story! Applying this logic to the Agatha Christie coin, reading between the lines, the consensus view is that I'd be nuts to buy it from either source! Having given it further thought, I don't especially like the design and I'm trying to limit my focus when buying silver proofs to 2 oz coins and piedfort crowns. Adding a £2 coin into the mix isn't part of the game plan. I liked to idea of the coin simply because of our connection to Agatha Christie - but I've since concluded that that's not a good metric to use when buying expensive pieces of silver. So, my decision is to scrap that idea altogether and, instead, my wife's birthday present to me is a year's subscription to TSF as a Silver Member. Needless to say, I'm delighted with my gift!

👍

Edited November 20, 2022 by timsk
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