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Britannia's V Sovereign's


GoldenDuck

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Hi all,

 

Just looking to get some views on the differences on Britannia's and Sovereign's. I appreciate the difference in precious metal content etc, however I am trying to identify the benefit of one over the other (if there are any)? 

 

I am considering 1/10th and 1/4oz Britannia's and full & half Sovereigns if it makes any difference.

 

Thanks in advance

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Are we specifically talking about gold?

 

Gold britannias don't seem overly popular or collectible currently, you can pick up pretty low mintage proofs on the second hand market for not too much of a premium; whether that will change in future I'm not sure. 

 

On the other hand sovereigns are very popular and collectible  - depending on type, year, condition etc of course

 

So as a general rule of thumb id always go for a sovereign > gold britannia

 

Size wise I prefer a 1/2 sovereign to a 1/10 Britannia too. 

Help thread for members new to silver/gold stacking/collecting

The Money Printing Myth the Fed can't and don't money print - Deflation ahead, not inflation 

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Hi all,

 

Just looking to get some views on the differences on Britannia's and Sovereign's. I appreciate the difference in precious metal content etc, however I am trying to identify the benefit of one over the other (if there are any)? 

 

I am considering 1/10th and 1/4oz Britannia's and full & half Sovereigns if it makes any difference.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Depends on whether you want to look at your coins and show them to friends or just accumulate weight.

The Britannias in my opinion look more attractive but if you can get proof Brits and proof Sovereigns they are quite stunning and I wouldn't say one was better than the other.

You can also get double and quintuple sovereigns if you want to get serious.

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post-47-0-59585600-1429041189_thumb.jpg

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Could not have said it better than Kman in my opinion. I picked up a 1989 proof 1oz last year. The only reason being was that the mintage is stated as 338 and I felt I could not pass it up. I am fairly recent into the purchase of gold and silver (18 months). I did purchase some unc style Brits but if I had my time again I would have gone for sovereigns instead.

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sovereigns are usually more commonly traded. if

you are after something that is more recognised then

go for the sovereign. the main advantage of the

britannia should be that it's more likely to develope

a larger premium if you plan to hold it long term.

 

HH

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  • Founder & Administrator

It's easily to count the weight of your stack in oz if you just buy Britannia's and not sovereigns. No need for any grams to oz calculations.

My posts are my personal opinions, they do not constitute advice or financial advice.

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sovereigns are usually more commonly traded. if

you are after something that is more recognised then

go for the sovereign. the main advantage of the

britannia should be that it's more likely to develope

a larger premium if you plan to hold it long term.

 

HH

Why's that HH?

Profile picture with thanks to Carl Vernon

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britannia's have more different designs and higher

purity in it's favour. in age terms, britannia's are still

close to the start of it's series. sovereign collectability

have already matured but britannia's still has a chance

to mature further as it's still defining it's character.

 

HH

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With gold its weight all the way none of this silly premiums

 

You may think the premiums are silly, but fortunately there's a big market out there to sell them to who disagree with you. 

 

Not taking advantage of that.. now that's silly.  

Help thread for members new to silver/gold stacking/collecting

The Money Printing Myth the Fed can't and don't money print - Deflation ahead, not inflation 

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With gold its weight all the way none of this silly premiums just for a sov because it has a shield on the back. 

 

Now thats put the cat amongst the pigeons.

Not really. Each to their own. As KM says, there are hundreds if not thousands of people who disagree with you.

It's stacker vs collector again.

People will collect anything that's rare, attractive, interesting, valuable for their PM content etc and will do so for some, all or even none of these reasons.

Sovereigns especially shields tick all these boxes and they aren't making any more. Therefore as coins get lost, damaged, sold for scrap and melted down by ignorant people, they will become rarer. While ever collectors want to collect them, you've always got a market at premium prices.

They also rise in value as spot gold rises so they tick the stacker box as well.

What could be better?

Personally I'll stick with my silly shields, they give me lots of interest, to look at, study, talk about etc.

If you're just a stacker interested purely in gold content, what interest have you got and to talk about?

Oh the spot of gold rose today, it fell yesterday, wonder what it'll do tomorrow?

How mind-numbingly boring. What interest is there in that?

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I wondered how long it would take for our resident sovs collectors to take the bait.   :ph34r:  :ph34r:

 

I was only joking, :lol:  :lol:  :D  :D  :D

 

The fact is the premium on sovereigns esp shields has gone up the last few years they seem to be in fashion, I bet that the premium will go down when the gold price goes back up. I own Sovereigns that were bought at 4% above spot not silly premiums, but as you say horses for courses

 

.Sovereignsteve said/  How mind-numbingly boring. What interest is there in that? 

 

Well to be honest buying all the different bullion coins at near to spot as I can is very interesting, seeking out the coin and the price, oh ok they may not be in perfect condition so what.  yes i am price driven I am happy with my method and when a shield pops along I take it at a low premium. :)

 

 I don't think Sovs are being melted down in the UK unless they are really damaged the premium is to high they are in fashion thats why HGM put there prices up.  

 

I buy for my retirement, I also enjoy buying bullion coins cheaply.  You are not the first to poke fun or try to put my method down as if you are a first class collector and I and stacker's like me are only second class. Is it beyond some of you collectors to understand that price is important to stackers but the resale price and how easy it is to sell is also considered when buying.  

 

I would not pay for a RM wooden box it just does not make sense, The box is just added value the same as the market store holder who buys T-shirts and puts their own print on them, or a hot dog vendor he buys the sausage and the bun then sell at a premium again added value; you are paying a premium for the nice display box and piece of paper.  Thats not to say if I was offered one at the right price in that case I would buy one. The cheapest I have seen for a proof sov with box is on this forum and even then the price bit to expensive.

 

I have heard the Royal Mint are going to produce a new standard of coin the 'ultra Proof', this has been enabled by new minting technology. This will come with a mintage of 1500,  A better standard than a Proof coin it obviously will come with a premium probably twice the premium of the proof coin.  It is hoped that it will be available in 2017. This will give you collectors even more coins to go for and spend even more money per coin to make you feel even more superior. :D         

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Hi all,

 

Thanks for the opinions this is a lot to take in!!

 

I did spend time doing a lot of catch up reading within the forum but this has given me a different perspective.

 

Kman, yes I was looking at gold.

 

I mainly plump for silver (bars and coins) but don't have any gold (outside of inherited jewellery). My reasons for my original choices were that in the long run (hopefully upon retirement in approx 30 years) that if/when I need cash I will look to sell off a little gold and silver as and when. 

 

I know that for smaller sizes there is a premium but also if values increase then these coins would be easier sell off quickly.

 

I realised that I wanted to diversify my metals a little and so from now on will look to spend a certain amount on gold each year, but once again thanks for your input everyone, once I know what money I have left after my hols I will be looking to decide and make my purchase(s).

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@Pipers

 

Chill out man, nobody's poking fun at your method.

I too was joking. :lol: I know when I'm being poked with a stick and wound up, I do it all the time myself.

If you think about it anyway, you're not "just" a stacker, but a collector of sorts. As you say, your interest is finding gold coins of all types at the cheapest price. I would say that pretty much everyone who takes an interest in this forum and stays and contributes will be a semi-collector too of sorts.

I fall in to that category as well; I'm not just a collector either, not even for sovereigns. I like buying bullion sovs or even any sovs at the cheapest price. I keep some but sell on even more. I'm a kind of stacker too, I like to keep a certain amount of gold in my stack but like to derive as much enjoyment as I can from the gold I have. Every sovereign I own is for sale at the right price.

I collect lots of semi-numismatic silver coins but I also have some bog-standard bullion ASEs and maples as well.

I have lots of scrap value sterling silver and 50% silver coins as well as commemorative coins and medals bought at close to spot and kept in the stack.

 

I'm not so sure you're right about sovs being at a high premium at the moment. I haven't worked out the % premium but for bullion sovs I would say they're pretty much as they have been for a number of years. Everything deviates around a mean to a certain degree and shields do seem to be in demand at the moment. I've just sold over 20 "bullion" grade ones for good money but in general I would say the higher priced collectables aren't fetching especially good money at the moment.

 

I would agree with everything you say about the RM packaging and hype, I have never bought a sovereign new from the mint. If I want a low mintage proof or whatever, I wait and find it at a good price on the secondary market. If the price doesn't come down, I do without or wait even longer.

However, I find my interest in modern editions, even proofs, is waning somewhat.

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I have two 1oz Brittanias which are beautiful. They were one of my first purchases, then I plumped for some Sovereigns and haven't looked back.....

It is quicker to semi regular stack sovs than wait for a few months to have the cash for a Brittania.

But both sovs and Britannias are awesome :) and which ever anyone chooses they have great taste :)

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It is quicker to semi regular stack sovs than wait for a few months to have the cash for a Brittania.

 

I think that is the problem will gold Britannias

 

A sovereign, you know the standard most collectible size and most people can afford them compared to a 1oz coin. 

 

What is the standard collected size of gold Britannia? 1oz? did they even make the single proof 1 oz gold Britannia available for 2013/14? they were only available in sets right.

 

What sizes were individually released for 2014 proof gold, 1/40, 1/20 and 5oz? not great sizes for collectors are they really.. not great at all. 

Help thread for members new to silver/gold stacking/collecting

The Money Printing Myth the Fed can't and don't money print - Deflation ahead, not inflation 

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I started collecting sovereigns then moved to britannias then a wider variety like Libertads and older sovs and pre33 gold and Perth Lunar.

My daddy said if The whole world is doing it then if you all investing for the long term do the opposite of what the whole world is doing.

History has shown that it is often losers to Chase and follow the herd. The winners trying to pick what may become fashionable in 5 or 10 or 15 years.

The highly competitive low margin pricing of sovereigns worries me. And investment is something that is designed to make money over the long term or in the case of precious metals store and hold value.

I believe that the low mintage of fractional Britannias and fractional Libertads will prove to be where the money is in the next 5 to 10 year period. Sovereigns will always keep their value as a store of wealth bought wisely and will tend to be worth a fairly fixed percentage over spot.

That said, I think the different design proofs of 2002, 2005 and 2012 have some way to go.

What will be interesting is whether Britannias or Libertads prove to be the best investment.

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I think that is the problem will gold Britannias

A sovereign, you know the standard most collectible size and most people can afford them compared to a 1oz coin.

What is the standard collected size of gold Britannia? 1oz? did they even make the single proof 1 oz gold Britannia available for 2013/14? they were only available in sets right.

What sizes were individually released for 2014 proof gold, 1/40, 1/20 and 5oz? not great sizes for collectors are they really.. not great at all.

I don't think the collector market is the 1oz size generally unless a special design year. It seems pretty clear that the sweet spot is the one 10th ounce or 1/4oz ounce proof coin.

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I don't think the collector market is the 1oz size generally unless a special design year. It seems pretty clear that the sweet spot is the one 10th ounce or 1/4oz ounce proof coin.

 

Yeah I think they're the sizes RM should focus on, but they didn't release a 1/10 or 1/4 on their own for 2014 did they? only sets + not sure about 2013 but I'm guessing not

 

Instead of 1/10 and 1/4 they're doing 1/40, 1/20 & 5oz 

 

I don't get the thought behind it at all. 

Help thread for members new to silver/gold stacking/collecting

The Money Printing Myth the Fed can't and don't money print - Deflation ahead, not inflation 

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They did and I started this thread below. They may have only been available at non-UK dealers. The link to the shop within the thread is dead however.

https://thesilverforum.com/topic/1025-110th-oz-gold-britannia-2014/

 

There were selling 1/10 2014 proofs with the Jody Clark design? 

Help thread for members new to silver/gold stacking/collecting

The Money Printing Myth the Fed can't and don't money print - Deflation ahead, not inflation 

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