1989 sovereign, too good to be true?

[Notafront4adragon]

Hi all,

So I'm hoping someone with a little more experience with proofs from the Royal Mint can help.

I've seen a 1989 which is up for auction, the seller claims it's not been out of the RM packaging. Did the RM ever sell coins like the below photo. My understanding was the proofs from the late 80s and early 90s were in red leather not black boxes. Also would the COA not be in the box?

My spidey senses are tingling that something isn't right. Am I paranoid or is there a reason to be cautious? 

[Goldmick]

@terakris can you help i khow you have had a few of these 

[terakris]

Ive never had an original sealed before... i have seen others being advertised that are like that... to me it also seems strange the coa is not in the box. I wonder if @Marc would know as he has had quite a few sets pass through his hands.

[Fathallazf]

I bought 3 half sovereigns in the same packaging as above 2002, 2015 and 2012. I got them from ebay and i also sent them for grading through numi 2 years ago and they all got 70s. Check attached photos. I cant find the photo showing them sealed in that plastic but you can see it in one of the photos. 
 

The coa’s were also outside the box, in the plastic.
 

[HelpingHands]

50 minutes ago, terakris said:

Ive never had an original sealed before... i have seen others being advertised that are like that... to me it also seems strange the coa is not in the box. I wonder if @Marc would know as he has had quite a few sets pass through his hands.

This half has the coa outside

https://www.thecoinconnection.co.uk/product/1989-gold-half-sovereign-proof-coin-box-coa-sealed/

 

[terakris]

1 minute ago, HelpingHands said:

This half has the coa outside

https://www.thecoinconnection.co.uk/product/1989-gold-half-sovereign-proof-coin-box-coa-sealed/

 

Thanks .... so maybe it is factory sealed still.

[dicker]

I have had both and they were packaged as follows. 
 

1989 Full Sov Proof - Black Box with Certificate in Red writing. 
 

1989 Half Sov Proof - Black Box with Certificate in Blue Writing

 Both of the ones I had were with Certs in the boxes but I bought on the secondary market not from the mint. 
 

Hope this helps

Dicker

[richatthecroft]

I bought this unopened Half Sovereign in December 2018- COA was on the outside of the box. 

[richatthecroft]

I remember @CoinStruck describing that he had bought a sealed older Sovereign still in its packaging, perhaps he can remember if the COA was inside or outside of the box.   

 

Also, this eBay seller has a still sealed Half Sovereign for sale:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/F541-GB-UK-UNITED-KINGDOM-2003-GOLD-PROOF-HALF-SOVEREIGN-UNOPENED/293295313630?hash=item4449c352de:g:X3IAAOSwcqFdsdMh

[SILVERFINGER]

My boss has a machine that can seal packages like that and make them look brand new, a mate of mine bought an unopened vintage star wars toy, turned out the box was an aged repro with a knackered used old toy inside, if you do buy it I would personally open it and check the contents.

[Notafront4adragon]

Thanks everyone for your contributions, really helped me!

[CadmiumGreen]

I thought the full Sovereign was sold in a red box and the half Sovereign in a black box. My 1989 full Sovereign came in a red box with certificate in red lettering, but it was secondary market.

[Lr103]

10 minutes ago, CadmiumGreen said:

I thought the full Sovereign was sold in a red box and the half Sovereign in a black box. My 1989 full Sovereign came in a red box with certificate in red lettering, but it was secondary market.

Here is mine (1989 Full Sovereign proof)....hopefully it's helpful as a comparison. 

 

[CadmiumGreen]

5 minutes ago, Lr103 said:

Here is mine (1989 Full Sovereign proof)....hopefully it's helpful as a comparison. 

 

Concur...

[sovereignsteve]

For some reason this year did seem to have more than one colour of box.

[Lr103]

The one above that @Notafront4adragon has found looks right to me (at least the box and COA, but who knows what's inside). It's interesting seeing the various COAs. It seems they had the card bulk printed, and then stamped the COA number on the card in red ink. This explains the smudges above the numbers...I had wondered about that. Each number is also in a slightly different location relative to the border of the COA.

I've never seen the outer plastic (mine is from the Coin Connection), but the "Royal Mint" font lettering on the plastic is the same as the back of the COA. 

 

[Lr103]

13 minutes ago, sovereignsteve said:

For some reason this year did seem to have more than one colour of box.

That's very good to know, or else I would have worried either I or @CadmiumGreen have a fake due to the inner felt color. 

[CadmiumGreen]

7 minutes ago, Lr103 said:

That's very good to know, or else I would have worried either I or @CadmiumGreen have a fake due to the inner felt color. 

Screw the coin! We need to be confident we have genuine 1989 Full Sov boxes!!😆😂

[Roy]

Good resource.

'The famous 1989 Tudor Rose 500th Anniversary proof sovereign was issued in both the red and maroon leatherette presentation cases. Many believe 1989 to be the changeover year, where the Royal Mint were using the last remaining red boxes, along with the new maroon cases.'

https://mjhughescoins.com/royal-mint-proof-boxes-year-box/

[5huggy]

Up she goes!!