Sovereigns of the British Empire and 1965 Price Guide

[dicker]

I bought “Sovereigns of the British Empire” by JJ Cullimore Allen.  Hard to find in nice condition with the insert that accompanied it in 1965, plus dust jacket in good condition.

I thought it might be interesting to share the Sovereign Price guide from 1965.

Best

Dicker

[dicker]

Note the Canadian Mint Sov Prices!

[Foster88]

Thanks for sharing.

George III 1817 sovereigns ‘from £5’, that’s crazy to think of those prices but I suppose £5 was considered a lot in 1965.

Did you notice the exchange rate, £1 - $2.80 USD.

[Booky586]

If I could go back in time I'd....

enter Vernon's and Littlewoods football pools then....

buy all the rare sovereigns with the winnings! 😀

[dicker]

Yes cracking FX rate!

[Olivard]

27 minutes ago, Foster88 said:

Thanks for sharing.

George III 1817 sovereigns ‘from £5’, that’s crazy to think of those prices but I suppose £5 was considered a lot in 1965.

Did you notice the exchange rate, £1 - $2.80 USD.

The purchasing power of £5 in 1965 is £123.87 today according to officialdata.org

[modofantasma]

I've got some of the Seabys catalogues from various years which have price guides in too. It does seem laughable but you could buy a country estate with hundreds of acres in the 60s for what is now just over a tube of bullion sovs

[Petra]

1 hour ago, modofantasma said:

I've got some of the Seabys catalogues from various years which have price guides in too. It does seem laughable but you could buy a country estate with hundreds of acres in the 60s for what is now just over a tube of bullion sovs

Who do you think had that money though! I know what my dad was earning and he certainly wasn’t earning enough to waste on old coins or anything like!

[modofantasma]

7 minutes ago, Petra said:

Who do you think had that money though! I know what my dad was earning and he certainly wasn’t earning enough to waste on old coins or anything like!

I'm not suggesting people did that was part of my point. We look at prices of coins from 60 years ago and think we could have just bought them all 🤣 

[Spyder]

From that list 

1908c £100

1913c £100

1923sa £100

1841 £50

1937 £50

What coin is worth the most today?

Edited August 30, 2023 by Spyder

[Stuntman]

Either the 1841 or the 1908C I suspect.

[Spyder]

14 minutes ago, Stuntman said:

Either the 1841 or the 1908C I suspect.

It seems you are correct 1841 with a mintage of over 124k are worth about £15k and 1908c with mintage of only 633 are worth about £8k.

1923sa with a very low mintage of only 406 is worth about £7k.

Edited August 30, 2023 by Spyder

[Olivard]

10 hours ago, Petra said:

Who do you think had that money though! I know what my dad was earning and he certainly wasn’t earning enough to waste on old coins or anything like!

To put it in context. In 1965 the single person's pension was £4 a week and £6.10/- for a married couple.

[Sovhead]

On 30/08/2023 at 18:19, dicker said:

Dicker

 

On 30/08/2023 at 22:21, Spyder said:

It seems you are correct 1841 with a mintage of over 124k are worth about £15k and 1908c with mintage of only 633 are worth about £8k.

1923sa with a very low mintage of only 406 is worth about £7k.

The shield back strikes again.

[SidS]

Hmm Old Heads were cheaper than Jubilees, I'm not sure that's the case now.

Anyone got an 1841? I'll pay you £50 for it, I can even pay in currency that was legal tender in 1965 if you so wish. A few fivers, some pound notes and a fair smattering of cupro-nickel shrapnel. Any takers?

😁

Edited September 23, 2023 by SidS

[pricha]

There were restrictions to owning gold in the mid 1960s . The numismatic value had to be higher than the bullion value.  So filling you boots with cheap Gillicks probably wasn't an option . 

[Bratnia]

On 30/08/2023 at 18:30, Foster88 said:

Thanks for sharing.

George III 1817 sovereigns ‘from £5’, that’s crazy to think of those prices but I suppose £5 was considered a lot in 1965.

Did you notice the exchange rate, £1 - $2.80 USD.

1965 and London Metal market price of gold £12 10s (£12.5) per troy ounce $35.13/ounce

Near-as £3 gold bullion value per Sovereign.

George V Sovereigns were the last that actually circulated, so the £4 lowest price in that list likely more reflects bullion value i.e. worn/scratched, but that's still a 33% market up relative to spot gold at the time!

[Bratnia]

1966 UK and gold was restricted, you could only hold a small amount, weren't permitted to import/export it. That remained in effect until 1979 when the restriction was lifted. Over those 15 years gold annualized 22.5% whilst inflation annualised 10.6%. Even if you paid a 33% premium above spot for gold, and sold at spot 15 years later, you still outpaced inflation by over 5%/year.

Warren Buffett is known for his dislike of gold

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman letter 1979 ...

Quote

One friendly but sharp-eyed commentator on Berkshire has pointed out that our book value at the end of 1964 would have bought about one-half ounce of gold and, fifteen years later, after we have plowed back all earnings along with much blood, sweat and tears, the book value produced will buy about the same half ounce.  A similar comparison could be drawn with Middle Eastern oil.  The rub has been that government has been exceptionally able in printing money and creating promises, but is unable to print gold or create oil.

Adding to that ...

BRK share price at the end of 1999 would have bought a similar amount of gold as the BRK share price would have bought twenty-one years later at the end of 2020, after having ploughed back all earnings along with much blood, sweat and tears.

[Chronos]

On 30/08/2023 at 20:30, Foster88 said:

Did you notice the exchange rate, £1 - $2.80 USD.

That's nothing compared to this:

1965: 1 £=12,2 CHF

2023: 1 £=1,11 CHF

[Silverlocks]

On 30/08/2023 at 19:30, Foster88 said:

Thanks for sharing.

George III 1817 sovereigns ‘from £5’, that’s crazy to think of those prices but I suppose £5 was considered a lot in 1965.

Did you notice the exchange rate, £1 - $2.80 USD.

I remember @LawrenceChard on a video talking about this at one point.  As I recall, in 1963, he would normally sell a sov for about £4, or £5 for a less common one.  Apparently he had many punters who would shell out nearly as much on a rare penny or other coin, but wouldn't touch gold, often with replies along the lines of "We're working men, not millionaires."

[Silverlocks]

On 31/08/2023 at 07:59, Olivard said:

To put it in context. In 1965 the single person's pension was £4 a week and £6.10/- for a married couple.

I'd be ever so happy if I could pull a pension of one sov a week.