SOTD sovereigns

[Sc391]

Is there a source to learn the history of the SOTD program.  I’m assuming it’s a fairly recent phenomenon conceived by the RM, but I’m wondering how long and if it has any respect from sovereign collectors.  
Do the serious sovereign collectors on the forum consider it a marketing grab or is it an area worth exploring?  Do they hold their value?

If anyone can point me in the right direction for research I would appreciate it.  Thanks

[westminstrel]

Coincidentally, I’ve been working on a comprehensive compilation on the SotD Sovereigns. 😊

[richatthecroft]

Spink (2023) ‘Coins of England & The United Kingdom, Decimal Issues’ page 177 outlines all the SOTD Sovereigns- including the issue number/ actual sales. 
 

Also, the Royal Mint publishes recent Commemorative Coin sales 2004 through 2019- you can find the information here:

https://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/mintage-figures/

Edited October 30, 2023 by richatthecroft

[Olivard]

There's also a list in the Coin Yearbook 2024

[BullionBuyerUK]

https://en.everybodywiki.com/Struck-on-the-Day_Sovereign

I've used this a few times. 

[Sc391]

Thank you all for the input.  I had no idea the list was so extensive.  Some of the issues seem to be a bit of a stretch as to how they were deemed worthy of a SOTD.

You all seem to qualify as serious collectors so I guess my question is are you working on a SOTD collection or is it something to pursue occasionally (KCIII 75th, etc)?
 My collection already wanders in several directions so maybe this is one to pass on.

thanks again for the input.

[westminstrel]

5 hours ago, richatthecroft said:

Spink (2023) ‘Coins of England & The United Kingdom, Decimal Issues’ page 177 outlines all the SOTD Sovereigns- including the issue number/ actual sales. 
 

Also, the Royal Mint publishes recent Commemorative Coin sales 2004 through 2019- you can find the information here:

https://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/mintage-figures/

There’s a note against a single asterisk (*) at the bottom of the table that states (if I am reading the Cat. No. correctly) SSD4 has a prooflike reverse. However I can’t see SSD4 in the table.

Which coin is it referring to? 

[richatthecroft]

5 minutes ago, westminstrel said:

There’s a note against a single asterisk (*) at the bottom of the table that states (if I am reading the Cat. No. correctly) SSD4 has a prooflike reverse. However I can’t see SSD4 in the table.

Which coin is it referring to? 

It’s referring to ‘First Birthday of Prince George’ struck 22/07/2014.

The first column in the legend at the top of the table is titled SSD and it refers to row 4- the 4 has an asterisk next to it.

It’s a rubbish footnote- you would have thought Spink would have used their catalogue number! 

[richatthecroft]

Also, I wonder why Spink singled out the 2014 Prince George as having a Prooflike Reverse- I also know of the 2017 Pistrucci & 2018 65th Anniversary SOTD’s also have the Prooflike reverses. 

[SidS]

Wow it's been going longer than I thought, I only heard about these about 2 years ago.

[westminstrel]

5 hours ago, richatthecroft said:

It’s referring to ‘First Birthday of Prince George’ struck 22/07/2014.

The first column in the legend at the top of the table is titled SSD and it refers to row 4- the 4 has an asterisk next to it.

It’s a rubbish footnote- you would have thought Spink would have used their catalogue number! 

Aha thanks I missed that! 🙂

[GoldDiggerDave]

The 2018 George's 5ht Birthday SOTD sovereign is a proof sovereign period.    SOTD's have given the RM a headache just like BU sovereigns as they struggled for years to differentiate between the classifications.  You would think the 1100 year mint would be able to do this but its taken them about 7 years.   

When they first started minting SOTD they were just bullion coins  they they could not be identified as a SOTD without the box and COA.   They started minting them as proof coins and then some with  unmilled edges but this cause issues with mintage figures so they classed the proof SOTD as BU and they only finally got a handle on this is 2019 when they decided to make them matte and we got the digital engraved  St George.  

 

 

 

 

[westminstrel]

1 hour ago, GoldDiggerDave said:

The 2018 George's 5ht Birthday SOTD sovereign is a proof sovereign period.    SOTD's have given the RM a headache just like BU sovereigns as they struggled for years to differentiate between the classifications.  You would think the 1100 year mint would be able to do this but its taken them about 7 years.   

When they first started minting SOTD they were just bullion coins  they they could not be identified as a SOTD without the box and COA.   They started minting them as proof coins and then some with  unmilled edges but this cause issues with mintage figures so they classed the proof SOTD as BU and they only finally got a handle on this is 2019 when they decided to make them matte and we got the digital engraved  St George.  

 

 

 

 

Yes the SotD has been a bit of a hodge podge program, but they’ve seemed to have settled on a combination (plain edge and matte, sometimes with a privy) that differentiates them from from Proof and Bullion Sovereigns.

The occasions for which they are striking them, though, are sometimes questionable.

[SidS]

9 minutes ago, westminstrel said:

The occasions for which they are striking them, though, are sometimes questionable.

Will we see a Peppa Pig sovereign one day, or a deciduous leaf fall celebration sovereign? 😁

[Olivard]

22 minutes ago, SidS said:

Will we see a Peppa Pig sovereign one day, or a deciduous leaf fall celebration sovereign? 😁

Don't give them any more ideas.

[Stuntman]

20 minutes ago, SidS said:

Will we see a Peppa Pig sovereign one day, or a deciduous leaf fall celebration sovereign? 😁

I'm sycamore ideas like that for releasing sovereigns...

On a serious note - as @GoldDiggerDave points out, the 2018 Brilliant Uncirculated SOTD sovereign is of proof quality.  The same goes for the Brilliant Uncirculated quintuple sovereigns of 2017 and 2018.  I presume that the 2017 SOTD sovereign is of similar quality.  

For that reason alone I think the 2017 and 2018 coins are worth collecting.  But I'm not a fan of these coins in general.

[GoodAsGold]

2017 was such a busy year with 3 SOTDs, though I note that Rich’s book indicates that only the first SOTD of the year appears to have been a complete sell out. 

I recall that there was confusion at the time of how you would go about distinguishing between the first 2017 SOTD and the third one, as both had milled edges. Only the middle SOTD struck on 1 July 2017 has the plain edge.

Looking back at my notes, the 6 Feb SOTD is almost identical to the 20 Nov one but the 6 Feb one apparently has narrower ribbing on the reeded edge than the 20 Nov one. Geeks like @westminstrel will hopefully already know this of course.

I don’t have any of them myself, and although I like my coins slabbed, I think I would appreciate the beauty of the plain edge 2017 SOTD in its original capsule in this case, as I’m guessing that unique feature is largely hidden in a slab.

I apologise to @westminstrel for calling you a geek. Modern Sovereign Specialist sounds much better!

[Paul]

The SOTD series is certainly interesting as it builds. The 2017 and this year's coronation should be seen as the best thus far.

The brexit SOTD may have its day in decades to come, possibly?

They may sink or swim as a series, but RM don't look like they intending on dropping it anytime soon, seeing as they can wheel the SOTD out for anything of significance

Pick em up if you can find any cheap 

[Zhorro]

16 minutes ago, Paul said:

The SOTD series is certainly interesting as it builds. The 2017 and this year's coronation should be seen as the best thus far.

The brexit SOTD may have its day in decades to come, possibly?

They may sink or swim as a series, but RM don't look like they intending on dropping it anytime soon, seeing as they can wheel the SOTD out for anything of significance

Pick em up if you can find any cheap 

The Brexit SOTD is the only sovereign with a Privy Mark that I have bought.  Initially, I gave it a miss - the price went up to £800 and the mintage went up to 1,500.  However, whether you like it or not, Brexit was a significant event, and I eventually relented and bought an MS70 on this Forum.  

I think I would add another to the "must have" list, namely, the 6th February 2022 Platinum Jubilee SOTD.  But I do fear that the sheer variety of gold coins released for this event may overshadow it.

[Paul]

5 minutes ago, Zhorro said:

The Brexit SOTD is the only sovereign with a Privy Mark that I have bought.  Initially, I gave it a miss - the price went up to £800 and the mintage went up to 1,500.  However, whether you like it or not, Brexit was a significant event, and I eventually relented and bought an MS70 on this Forum.  

I think I would add another to the "must have" list, namely, the 6th February 2022 Platinum Jubilee SOTD.  But I do fear that the sheer variety of gold coins released for this event may overshadow it.

Some are going to do better than others over time. I forgot the platinum jubilee SOTD when Ive got three ms70s sat in safe deposit box.

I think the major attraction point of these SOTD is the comparison to the mintages of the proof coins of the same year/design

There's relative loads of proofs coins available compared to the SOTD mintages  for 2017 plat jubilee and coronation which look very limited in number.

Wether the collector market sees this as attractive long term remains to be seen. But I'm happy to have a sneaky punt on the long term to hold

Once there's 20+ years of history to these days SOTDs we will see 

Again, it's all learning and diversifying 

[SiCole]

Soon be time for the Charles birthday one. I hope we have all been saving.

[Sc391]

@SiCole and others - so I ask, If the opportunity to purchase a KC III 75th STOD presents itself would you do it?  I don’t know if I’ll get the chance, but I’d like some informed opinions if I do.

[Clockpuncher]

I personally wouldn’t buy a KC 75th birthday sotd.

In my view the 3 key dates are the 2017 200th anniversary, the platinum jubilee and the coronation SOTD sovs which I have in MS70.

For the rest they are on my skip list but there is a growing community of collectors picking these up and some of the issues are very low mintage so might end up being in a tight spot like the 2016 5 sovs in years to come.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Clockpuncher

[SiCole]

16 minutes ago, Sc391 said:

@SiCole and others - so I ask, If the opportunity to purchase a KC III 75th STOD presents itself would you do it?  I don’t know if I’ll get the chance, but I’d like some informed opinions if I do.

It was very tongue in cheek. Personally only if i knew i could sell it on early enough for a return. Long term not at all.

[Paul]

59 minutes ago, SiCole said:

Soon be time for the Charles birthday one. I hope we have all been saving.

Not for I, said the fly

I'm not buying anything at launch from RM for the foreseeable

There's super bargains to be had currently, spots gone well up, market sentiment and demand for big gold  proofs is rock bottom

Buy today and hold could be brilliant if you can ignore current values and trust your gut