Do Two Pound Gold Proof Coins Sell?

[Kitalon]

I've had a hobby collecting circulated two pound (and 50p) coins for a while and only recently realised that there are gold proof editions. It's something that I would never have even considered buying before joining TSF. However since I've been here I'm seriously contemplating investing in two pound gold proof coins as bullion - because it goes hand in hand with my hobby.

I have seen that gold £2 coins are sometimes referred to as double sovereigns but although they have the same gold content they're clearly not a part of the traditional sovereign series. I feel that to call them so is perhaps slightly disingenuous and misleading. Either way they seem like fairly niche coins and less mainstream than sovereigns.

I would like to know if people consider them to be a reliable bullion investment in the long term, not just for buying but when the time comes to it are gold £2s as easy to sell as say traditional double sovereigns? I have noticed that gold £2s don't appear to be selling anywhere as near as well as thier tradional counterparts. So if it's going to be a problem shifting them later on maybe they're not as good an investment as they initially seem. I'd be really interested to hear about your thoughts and experiences with gold £2 coins, or should I just focus on double sovereigns instead?

[Stuntman]

Definitely not to be treated as a bullion investment in my opinion unless you can buy them for at or near bullion prices.

I too think it's disingenuous to call them double sovereigns as they are clearly not based on the sovereign.  They are £2 gold coins but not double sovereigns.  

Perhaps see if you can buy your favourite design(s) in gold proof, but treat it as an indulgence rather than a core element of your stack/collection.  I doubt any of them are particularly sought-after on the secondary market so you may well be able to pick up a nice-looking lump of gold for a relatively small premium.

I certainly wouldn't look to buy any such coins on initial release unless I really, really, wanted to own that particular design.

 

[Orpster]

Double sovereigns and Gold £2 coins are not the same in my opinion,

A true double sovereign will have the G&D design, like this one:

The gold £2 coins will be based on circulating £2 coins.  While sovereigns were a circulating coin calling the doubles £2 may have been accurate, but not anymore

 

[Orpster]

45 minutes ago, Kitalon said:

I would like to know if people consider them to be a reliable bullion investment

Proof 50p's I think are a decent choice but not direct from Royal Mint, I have a few of them I have picked up on the secondary market for under 10% premium.
There is a market for them and they do well on eBay but not so well on here, I have two Paddington 50p's up at the moment and have had no interest in them at all, though if I stuck them on eBay I know they would sell but it has been weeks since I had a offer code for selling fee's  
They would likely sell on the Facebook groups pretty well too, but I have not got them in hand to do dated pictures and they are quite strict on having named and dated pictures on the Facebook groups

Double sovereigns I love, so tactile.  The Maklouf above is one of my favourite coins.  And you can often get the bullion ones for a lower premium than sovereigns, I had a couple of the Platinum Jubilee doubles from Chards when they had them at super low premiums.  They do not seem to have come up much recently, getting a crowned Charlie is on my list for this year as I have the two 2022's so would like to complete the trilogy.  Another Maklouf would be nice too but the premiums at the moment on anything Maklouf are eye watering 

Edited January 1 by Orpster

[CoinCupboard]

@Kitalon It looks like we have come from the same area of collecting and it has brought us here to The Silver Forum. 

My thing for many years was 50ps and £2's. Although I'm now taking a back seat in collecting many of the Bunc as there are too many new releases. 

I've picked up a few £2's from here recently. Not too far away from spot price actually. For me, it's a bit of a long term thing too. 

I've picked up a few gold 50ps direct from the royal mint, when I didn't know much about precious metals. I'll probably keep them for a very very long time, but if I did want to sell them on. I know I'd lose a good £300/400 on them. One I did but in 2019 for £795 and it's not too far away from that price in gold now. So I wouldn't worry too much about the price of things if you are gonna keep them for a long time. 

In this market I recon, pick the £2 design you like the most then see if you can get it for around £775-£800 I think is decent enough. You could even ask on here if anyone is selling, comes across that specific design. I know there are a few on here at the moment for less than £800 too. I've been tempted. 

I'll keep my eyes open in the next few years and probably try and complete the 2018 RAF set. As it's one of my favourite Royal Mint sets. 

These are the ones I have right now, 3 of them picked up this year when the price/time and circumstances were correct. My "prices" have been added. I actually did a deal for 2 of them for a 1 Oz Krugerrand I had at the time. 

The older one I picked up last year. 

 

[Stuntman]

If I was to collect these - I think the Magna Carta £2 coin from 2015 would look pretty good in gold proof if it can be found for a low premium.  I'd think of it as a cut price 1989 double sov...

And I think the 2015 Britannia (definitive) £2 coin would fit well into a collection of gold coins too.

As for the 50p gold proofs, perhaps the 50th anniversary of decimalisation coin would be a nice first choice.

[dicker]

Whenever I have seen proof £2’s for sale, they seem to struggle.  I would buy as close to spot as possible.  

[Guest]

I honestly don't think...

Old proof £2 are going at same price as £1 if conditions are the same (sometimes even less). Circulation 1887 and 1902 are doing better but that's because there are millions of £1 floating around and only a few thousands of the £2 (and still go for around twice of the £1 despite the huge difference in mintage)

The 1831 might be the exception? Because that's when £5 were not struck.

[MBTPSilver]

Proof coins are not investments in my opinion. They're something for you to buy if you like collecting them.

Selling is a very limited pool due to the very high premiums. You'll either have to sell them quickly to a dealer at basically spot price, or you have the slow process of finding another keen collector to sell to who doesn't mind paying the premium. I'd stick to bullion if you want a simple investment option.