AppleZippoandMetronome

As you embark on this journey its definitely worth keeping in mind that there are terms which are used to describe a coin (finish of it such as proof) which really have no relation to value. Value is driven very much by what people want and its also worth keeping in mind that those wants ebb and flow so something desired today may not be of interest in a few years from now. I'm usually keen to avoid the stuff that is hot today unless I'm thinking of a quick flip because you'll usually pay a higher price for those items and generally they're going to trend down over time. There are some arguably safe bets such as coins with a long multi decade track record of desireability or something like sovereigns which have just so many avenues open to collectors given the amount of time they've been produced combined with things like different mint marks, etc. My own knowledge of those barely scratches the surface and I've been at this for quite a few years now so appreciate it can feel a little daunting. If you want to go down this route of higher premium coins I'd suggest picking a field that interests you. Spend some time researching all aspects of that particular field then make some purchases. Being from Canada the Ottawa mint marked sovereigns interest me as well as the $5 and $10 Canadian gold coins so I've invested in quite a lot of those alongside bullion products over the years. Finding what interests you makes it a lot easier to dedicate the time needed to ensure you aren't getting ripped off and are investing with as much knowledge as possible.

It might be worth looking at some of the more "collectable" stuff with the high gold price if you're considering more purchases right now. The gold price suddenly rising tends to shrink the premiums for a time until the price stabilizes and they catch back up. Should be able to find some proofs, special sovs and other items that generally carry a higher premium for what will be an attractive price once those premiums catch up.

You've had some good advice above and I agree with pretty much all of it. The whole concept of there being bargains when spot rises combined with some stuff being hard to sell can be confusing but its important to note that - generally - in any moving market there are always ways to exploit things. The premium suddenly falling out of a lot of coins as stated above is the best example of that when gold spot price rises. If there are certain coins you are after that have a high premium now can be a good time to pick those up as there is usually a fair amount of lag between spot going up and those premiums rising to match the increase. As for storage there are no end of options and there have been some good topics on this forum about it as well as some decent YouTube vids - well worth searching both the forum and YouTube. When talking about storing items at a place of residence I think its always worth keeping in mind the risk levels attached to your lifestyle. Do you live in shared housing of any type of decription? What is crime like in the area? Do any other people know that you buy and hold PMs? All of these things (and much more) will dictate risk and whether or not you should be storing anything at home. To buck the opinion of the folks above I will say that I don't personally think safes are good ideas. The only time I would consider a safe would be as a decoy though I don't even have that since I do my best not to store anything at home. A safe to me represents an opportunistic quick grab for a would be burglar. If its somehow secured and not able to be removed by an opportunistic intruder it could be noted if found so then there's the risk of someone or multiples returning looking for a potential high value score. I just think they make an easy target more than they provide any real benefit. If you get creative there are no end of safe places in any residence where you could squirrel things away. If you do go down that route though make sure you have a mechanism for letting someone know in the event anything happens to you.

In the 6 or 7 years I've been around here and really been paying attention to the gold/silver prices I've found that stuff priced well will always sell. A lot of coins that would traditionally have a higher premium (not talking mega collectable stuff here just premiums that are higher than normal - stuff like normal proofs, the QBs mentioned, slightly special sovs, etc) tend to look more attractable as the gold price rises because it often takes a bit for the premium to catch up to the live gold price. I've bought a lot of coins like this during these gold runs over the last 4 or 5 years. Arguable whether it matters long term but when the premium shrinks it feels like you got a good deal especially when those premiums eventually do catch up to the live price once things settle.

I was reading a post on here the other day (apologies for being unable to remember the member who wrote it off the top of my head) where it was mentioned that with the higher gold spot price some of the more common and less desireable proof sovs are already being thrown in the melting pot so we're kind of there already without the SHTF situation. That being said... I think a reality check is probably helpful in actually answering this question. Things like proofs and graded coins, etc only have a value uplift because enough of us desire them to give them a value uplift. The market which gives that value uplift is something that exists because of our modern way of living. In a crisis scenario where we no longer have access to our modern way of life priorities will naturally change and frankly pretty much anything that we currently assign a collectable value to will lose that because people won't care. Your priorities will be survival, safe passage, etc for you, your family and loved ones. Your priorities will not be what a paper label says inside a plastic slab or how shiny the finish is on your coins.

Yeah I've long been a proponent of the ownership of physical assets because I simply don't trust the systems that are in place. You're very much preaching to the choir with this here but its always good as a reminder for others to read. Like I said in my post I do get a good amount of comfort from holding the gold and silver that I do not to mention land and other property. That being said the kind of emergencies most of us are likely to have to deal with in our lifetimes are going to be much more everyday. Car breaking down, vet bill, house repair, etc. Stuff like this comes up every now and then and when it does it is necessary to have a good cash buffer to deal with it. If a sudden bill that needs to be paid ASAP pops up and all you have is gold and silver you will take a hit on that because you need to sell it quick to settle the bill. Cash is still needed in this world regardless of what any of us think about its stability.

No I would never buy gold or silver for use as an emergency fund. I have two stores for emergency and these are split between cash and an easy access account. For an emergency scenario I want the peace of mind of knowing what I need is there and not something I'd have to go through the stages of selling to get access to. Chances are also good if you are having to liquidate gold or silver in an emergency the urgency of that scenario means you are almost certainly going to take a hit on the value of those items. I am very glad to have the gold and silver I do - there is a good amount of comfort in it. But its there for the long term. Cash is still king for emergencies not to mention day to day living.

I think the RM have pretty consistently proved how little they care about QC over recent years. There are always problems and its annoying having to deal with them. The only thing I'm still purchasing from them is the Great Engravers coins and even then I find myself questioning whether its worth sticking to that series at this point or not. More people need to remember the power of voting with their wallet and stop supporting a company who seemingly cares so little about the products they send out. There are plenty of other coins out there to spend ones hard earned cash on that don't come with the same annoyances.

Whether intentional or not I do feel the current way the RM is selling these packaged up historic coins is wrong and very much has the potential to take advantage of people who don't know better. The cobbling together of coins and marketing them as something special when they aren't is nothing new but I do think its especially problematic coming from a place like the Royal Mint. From what I've seen the RM has quite a good reputation and level of trustworthiness amongst the general public. I would think there are quite a few people out there who wouldn't expect to be taken advtange of by the RM but that is what is happening when the RM puts these things together and tries to sell them as something special. All businesses have to make money but the issue I see with this is its dressing up something to be more than what it is so it can be sold at a much higher price than what its worth. It is misleading and people will be swindled by it. Sadly it tends to be some of the most vulnerable in our society that get drawn into and swindled by things like this.

Good to read this and hope something comes of it. I've expressed my own thoughts on this subject in other threads so won't dwell too much on it but I do very much see what they're doing as just taking advantage of those who don't know better and do feel it is wrong. As for this coin I'm very glad we've reached a point where I could completely lose track of these releases, not get up early, not queue yet still get the 2oz silver to keep my Great Engravers set going. No stress.

Sadly nothing new and ebay doesn't seem to have any interest in doing anything about it as its been going on for years. I've reported many very obvious fakes over the years and they never get taken down. Ebay enjoys their cut too much and doesn't seem to give a damn about their platform being used this way. At least you've done the right thing in educating yourself enough to know how to check. Many people buy first and learn all that later on down the road when its too late to do anything about it.

100% agree with @dicker. I really have a very visceral reaction when I see some of the stuff they've repackaged to make look so much better than it really is. Its the same tactics places like Westminster Collection use to (IMO) scam people who don't know any better. Its probably worse coming from the RM though because I'd imagine your average person would think the RM is a more trust worthy institution than places like WC. I think going down this road is fundamentally wrong and I do think it is very much scam like behaviour.

The vast majority of what I own is very safely stored away. There are some exceptions though which I make for some of the coins I am most into. I don't currently have anything on display as such but I do keep them within easy reach of where I work for moments I want to look away from the screen and just focus on something else for a while. I have considered framing up some of the silver proof sets I have that I'm really into. Some of the 25cent sets from Canada or the 10p A to Z series. I'd also like to frame up the silver proof round pound run when I complete it. One day.

Sadly ebay really is a bad place to shop for collectable items worth more than a few £s unless you really know what you're looking at. I had my own run in with this on ebay when buying a valuable retro game cartridge for a friend as a christmas gift. That field is not at all my speciality but I know enough to spot the obvious fakes a mile away and I know to open any cartrdiges to check the boards inside for authenticity. The one I got was not authentic despite coming from a seller with really high feedback and numerous assurances that the cartridge had been checked. When I notified the seller and sent pictures of the board the reply I got was an absolute freak out about how I'd destroyed the item which he still claimed was authentic. I opened a case and got my money back. I had to send the item back but I did permanently mark it as fake so it couldn't easily be resold. Not that this matters as it costs a couple £s to buy a replacement off Aliexpress that can then be easily turned around for over £100 to someone who doesn't check things thoroughly. The potential profit for the morally bankrupt seller is the problem. For any of these things the potential profit is high enough to make the few nuisance cases of people seeing what is actually going on worth dealing with. Even if only one out of every 10 sales results in the item going to someone who just accepts it there is still enough profit to make that worth while for the seller. Do that using a number of accounts enough times and there is sadly probably really good money in it. The average buyer does really need to educate themselves when buying on ebay but equally ebay really needs to make more of a point of highlighting the fraud that they collect fees for on their platform and helping more people avoid it. They really have done an exceptionl job when it comes to dodging their responsibility on this.

If you regularly sell on ebay one thing you (sadly and quite often annoyingly) come to realize is that very few people actually read an items description. Quite often someone will see the title, look at the first picture and base their bid/purchase on that alone. Whilst the title of this one does clearly give a weight indicating it is a half sov one other thing I've noticed in the coin world is that quite often people rush to buy things without knowing anything about it. I suspect there is a combination of those two things at play with this auction. The above being said though this is very much a thing on ebay which I'd mostly chalk up to some form of auction fever. You'll see the same behaviour if you attend an auction in person. I was at one back in November and watched as one lot after the other went for well over what you could buy the items for from the shops around that sold them. Factoring in auction fees people paid as much as double for some of the goods and it wsan't because it was a charity auction. Its not something I'll ever understand.

Really liking the looks of those

Good to see they finally got around to it!

From what I can see looking at coins coming up for sale all modern releases are suffering to some degree. I think this makes sense in the context of the current economic climate. There's still money out there but instead of betting on what were likely always overhyped (not to mention overpriced) new releases people are almost certainly opting for safer bets. Its possible that the prices these coins are selling at currently could make them a bargain in the future but thats definitely not guarantteed. A lot of folks like to compare these special release sovs to previous ones - especially the 89 ones. I'd warn about that mindset especially given the rate at which the Royal Mint has churned out special release sovs. At some point they stop being special and I wouldn't be surprised if we're there. Some will have bought them with the intention of holding but have had things unexpected come up and need cash. Some will have bought to resell and just don't have enough cash flow to hold onto them hoping they rise in value - better to cash out, take the loss but have the chance to use that cash to profit elsewhere.

Yeah kind of amazing they've managed to completely sleep on these whilst putting out so many other releases. I do seem to recall them saying they'd be offered later in the year but wouldn't have thought it would be this late. Maybe they'll be out at the same time they release that new £1 coin design that was meant to enter circulation in 2023.

I think its really hard to predict. I think interest will drop off when it comes to coin collecting generally. How many of us got into the hobby because of the fascination we adopted when looking at coins when young? I very much remember going through change looking for particularly old coins or ones that were otherwise special with my mother when younger and that helped kick off my interest. Some people will still come into the hobby though and as stated the old established coins should carry on doing well as will gold and silver because I can't see that demand falling off. I do think the Royal Mint could come up with clever marketing that would make people carry on buying the expensive proofs. There'd be a certain exclusivity in being able to hold or collect coins you'll never see otherwise but again would a younger audience growing up without ever having touched a coin care? I have to imagine the Royal Mint are already talking about this and making plans for if/when it becomes a thing. We are already seeing the result of them making less circulating coinage with the other services they continue to roll out and offer as well as the endless offering of expensive proofs.

I would say it is something that is undoubtedly happening but to what extent really is anyone's guess. The decision to delcare items is mostly voluntary. The caveat obviously is that you could be "randomly" pulled aside and required to empty your bags/luggage. I really have no idea what penalty someone smuggling silver would face at that point. I travel to Canada and back usually once a year or so to see family and pretty much always bring some form of silver back with me. I do try to keep it within the tax free allowance though just in case. I've speculated in other threads that in theory someone travelling to Canada or the US could get around the limit by briging back under $10000 face value worth of silver Canadian dimes or quarters since those coins are still technically circulating coinage so should count as cash but its not something I've ever tested.

Whilst I suppose the marketing was probably decided a long time ago I'm still surprised they're so enthusiastic and upbeat given how a few of the recent releases have gone. They need to learn how to read a room...

I don't have any to hand to take pictures of but I do try to make an effort to pick up the BU packs for the £2 and 50p coins that don't get released into circulation. I have to admit that I've been better at grabbing the £2 coins than the 50p's but thats mostly because I have a preference for them and its easier to track since the mint isn't putting any £2 coins into circulation currently.

I've written about this in other threads mostly on the topic of grading more broadly but yes... you have to imagine with many more examples of "the perfect coin" the values will certainly have an impact long term. Does that make it a bad buy long term? It's debateable but I think they're worth buying. I bought into the memorial sovs and will buy into the coronation sovs. With the mintage of the coronation sovs I'll wait a few months because I believe they'll be available for under issue price but long term I think they'll be a safe bet. I do think its worth warning about the potential of them not performing well long term. I think too many of us get caught up in situations where we expect lightning to stike twice, or three times or four times, etc, etc. The expectation that a special issue sov will well outperform a regular issue one is something that will become less and less a thing the more the mint puts out those special issues. This will be the third one in a row. At what point do they stop being special and start just being a regularly changing thing? Throwing grading into the mix you certainly can't expect the values of these coins to match special issues where mintages were lower and coin preservation isn't what it is today because there will be so many more "perfect" examples in the market. I and others think these coins are a fairly safe bet but I'll be the first to admit with everything taken into account its just a guess and we could all easily be wrong.

I think with auctions people just get themselves caught out not being fully aware of the fees when bidding focusing solely on the hammer price. You see complaints all the time here on the forum about shipping costs associated with auction wins so you have to imagine if folks get caught out and surprised with shipping costs its likely the fees or the extent of the fees come as a surprise too and aren't factored into the winning bid. Personally I've rarely found auctions to provide many good deals when it comes to things like coins or other items that are highly sought after. There are certainly exceptions to this - the early coin cabinet auctions come to mind as having been full of bargains and no fees back then - but by and large once shipping and fees are calculated it rarely makes sense to keep bidding.