RM Bullion 1oz gold Britannia rip off?

[GoodAsGold]

Just been browsing current 1oz gold Britannias and noticed an "anomaly" on the RM Bullion website to put it mildly. Whereas they're charging £ 1240 for a single year 2020 coin, and £ 1253 for a 2019 Oriental Border version, the price for one standard 2019 Britannia coin is a whopping £ 1662.  Bullion By Post are presently charging £ 1236 for the same coin and no doubt some other bullion dealers are charging even less. Even the Lion of England 1oz gold  bullion coin is cheaper. Does anybody have any idea why the RM price is so high for a standard bullion coin that appears to be in plentiful supply?

[Abyss]

https://www.royalmintbullion.com/Products/Britannia/Gold/UKB19GOS

@GoodAsGold assume discourage people buying the 2019 coin because no longer being produced by the mint. The coin itself has no numismatic value and purchase one of these for £1200 (2.5% premium spot) from https://www.europeanmint.com/2019-1oz-uk-gold-britannia-coin/

[GoodAsGold]

Thanks for your response  @Abyss and for displaying the relevant link (I'd stayed up too late catching up with the Forum and forgot about the link before hitting the sack). I was on the verge of buying a Britannia just before the gold price shot up earlier this year, but that money has since went elsewhere (no harm in window shopping though).

 I thought maybe the Mint was implying that the coin was now scarce and therefore more valuable, as seen in prices of various Queen's Beasts since issue.

[Pete]

If they have minimal stock they may just take a chance on ripping-off someone less experienced.
Maybe granny, after watching TV advertising gold, thinks she will buy her newly hatched grandchild a memento thinking ' you surely must get the best price directly from the manufacturer and cut out the middle-man' ?
They are a business and will screw whoever they can like many eBayers listing a £20 value coin for £120 making the punters believe it's a bit special hence the high price.
"Caveat Emptor"

[RoughDog]

That was cheaper than the 2020 version last week.  It was on sale.

 

[Serendipity]

Well spotted! I definitely think someone screwed up on the pricing at the Royal Mint Bullion. It wouldn’t be the first time. Their website is a real mess and a nightmare to navigate. I notice the 2019 1oz Gold Britannia is showcased alongside the 2017 1oz Gold Griffin which could have caused confusion. It would have made much more sense to put all the Britannias together than mixed up higgledy-piggledy with the Queen’s Beasts.

The Griffin is priced at £1,633.15. The person doing the pricing seems to have similarly priced the Britannia at £1,662.82 in some kind of mix-up. Here’s some interesting maths to prove my point. Divide the Britannia 2019 1oz Gold Ten Coin Tube priced at £12,316.88 by 10 and you end up with £1,231.68 which is close to the 2020 Britannia figure £1,240.00. Confusingly, the 2019 1/4oz Gold Britannia at £329.60 is cheaper than the current 2020 1/4oz Gold Britannia at £335.54!!!

https://www.royalmintbullion.com/Products/Britannia/Gold/UKB19GTO

[GoodAsGold]

6 hours ago, Serendipity said:

Well spotted! I definitely think someone screwed up on the pricing at the Royal Mint Bullion. It wouldn’t be the first time. Their website is a real mess and a nightmare to navigate. I notice the 2019 1oz Gold Britannia is showcased alongside the 2017 1oz Gold Griffin which could have caused confusion. It would have made much more sense to put all the Britannias together than mixed up higgledy-piggledy with the Queen’s Beasts.

The Griffin is priced at £1,633.15. The person doing the pricing seems to have similarly priced the Britannia at £1,662.82 in some kind of mix-up. Here’s some interesting maths to prove my point. Divide the Britannia 2019 1oz Gold Ten Coin Tube priced at £12,316.88 by 10 and you end up with £1,231.68 which is close to the 2020 Britannia figure £1,240.00. Confusingly, the 2019 1/4oz Gold Britannia at £329.60 is cheaper than the current 2020 1/4oz Gold Britannia at £335.54!!!

https://www.royalmintbullion.com/Products/Britannia/Gold/UKB19GTO

Thanks @Serendipity. I did compare the 2019 1oz Brit against 4 quarter sovs, but your detailed analysis confirms just how crazy RM Bullion prices can sometimes be. Definitely a rip off.

[Serendipity]

@GoodAsGold, I have some good news for you! The Royal Mint Bullion has addressed the problem and corrected the anomaly. Either a forum member has informed them of the anomaly or they are avid fans of the Silver Forum.

https://www.royalmintbullion.com/Products/Britannia/Gold/UKB19GOS

[GoodAsGold]

Well spotted @Serendipity and thanks for restoring my faith in RM Bullion. You deduced their error correctly. More of a pricing error than a rip-off it seems. I hope nobody bought any 2019 Brits at £400 over the odds.

[danmc82]

21 hours ago, GoodAsGold said:

Well spotted @Serendipity and thanks for restoring my faith in RM Bullion. You deduced their error correctly. More of a pricing error than a rip-off it seems. I hope nobody bought any 2019 Brits at £400 over the odds.

If they did, I hope the RM would do the decent thing and refund the extra money.