Sovereigns price difference - collect or stack conundrum

[DavePa]

Hi all,

Another stupid question about sovs. I have looked for a definitive answer before posing this question but cannot find anything that hits the nail on the head. 

Background is that I have a few sovs that Im collecting for my kids to have on my demise. I am also quite addicted to the PMs hobby currently so have a view on what I like. 

I have a (very short) date run of Sovs from 2020-2024 incl the Jubilee, Memorial, Coronation (x2). Also have birth year Gillicks. Love the colour of the gillicks but also really do like the coppery modern ones - especially Memorial design. I have no interest in anything pre QE2 or 24k (1/4 Brits etc). Also not looking at proofs / graded (out of my budget).  

Next up is a 1974 on my want list as I have been selling Marvel comics from that era and will buy a Sov with the proceeds of my childhood reading material. 

My question is : Do I keep going back in time with the date run? This pleases my collector needs. Do I grab more Memorials / Jubliees / Coronations as they have a higher premium now and might in the future ? Does it really matter ? and in the end the gold content is all that counts. 

I have a sum of funds that I have gained from selling off my Swatches and want to go for a couple of Sovs. Just not sure which ones and at which premium.

Thanks for reading this. Oh and if you know how long a piece of string is that would be good too 

Dave  

[SilverDrum]

I always look to see if i can get any special reverse designs at near the average bullion coin, then if not those i look for the cheapest premium sov available.

Gold is gold to the uneducated eye, and when you are gone the family will have to be a member of a place like this to get the true value of each coin. Is the collection for your own joy, to leave a family heirloom/collection or to leave a nest egg for the kids? Really takes some conversations with the kids to see which outcome would be best for your stacking goals. 

A few token cherished coins, birth years and moments in time. Labelled "never to be sold, family history". Then a core stack of bullion sovs labelled " flog this lot". 

Edited June 17 by SilverDrum

[Dankanugget]

1 hour ago, SilverDrum said:

I always look to see if i can get any special reverse designs at near the average bullion coin, then if not those i look for the cheapest premium sov available.

Gold is gold to the uneducated eye, and when you are gone the family will have to be a member of a place like this to get the true value of each coin. Is the collection for your own joy, to leave a family heirloom/collection or to leave a nest egg for the kids? Really takes some conversations with the kids to see which outcome would be best for your stacking goals. 

A few token cherished coins, birth years and moments in time. Labelled "never to be sold, family history". Then a core stack of bullion sovs labelled " flog this lot". 

Ha I was trying to blow off the flea from the screen. …,then I realised.

[Silverlocks]

2 hours ago, DavePa said:

Hi all,

Another stupid question about sovs. I have looked for a definitive answer before posing this question but cannot find anything that hits the nail on the head. 

Background is that I have a few sovs that Im collecting for my kids to have on my demise. I am also quite addicted to the PMs hobby currently so have a view on what I like. 

I have a (very short) date run of Sovs from 2020-2024 incl the Jubilee, Memorial, Coronation (x2). Also have birth year Gillicks. Love the colour of the gillicks but also really do like the coppery modern ones - especially Memorial design. I have no interest in anything pre QE2 or 24k (1/4 Brits etc). Also not looking at proofs / graded (out of my budget).  

Next up is a 1974 on my want list as I have been selling Marvel comics from that era and will buy a Sov with the proceeds of my childhood reading material. 

My question is : Do I keep going back in time with the date run? This pleases my collector needs. Do I grab more Memorials / Jubliees / Coronations as they have a higher premium now and might in the future ? Does it really matter ? and in the end the gold content is all that counts. 

I have a sum of funds that I have gained from selling off my Swatches and want to go for a couple of Sovs. Just not sure which ones and at which premium.

Thanks for reading this. Oh and if you know how long a piece of string is that would be good too 

Dave  

 

Buy whatever you like.  Gillicks and Machins are nice because they're uncirculated and tend to be in good condition.  At the other end of the spectrum you can go full anorak and start collecting mint errors and varieties of 19th century sovs.  I like George V sovs as the portrait is very photogenic and they tend to be in good condition due to being mostly uncirculated. 

When it comes to selling, I think individual sovs are easier to shift than date runs, so I'm not that convinced that a large date run adds much if any value.

You pays your money and takes your choice.

 

 

Edited June 17 by Silverlocks

[Stuntman]

Maybe see if you can extend your bullion date run back to say 2000 and then keep it going forwards each year as well.  View it as a long-term project, and associate a memory from each particular year with each sovereign that you add.

That date run will also encompass 3 more special reverse designs (2002, 2005, 2012) and the 200th anniversary privy mark on the 2017 bullion sovereign.  Some dates in the mid 2000s are harder to come by - I think 2004, 2006 and 2007 are fairly scarce, but none should prove prohibitively tricky or expensive to pick up over time.

[DavePa]

Thanks all so far. Very valuable insight that hits a chord with me. Need to continue mulling it over. I like the keepsakes and bullion for flogging approach. Still not sure what I'm going to but next though 🤷

[ZRPMs]

When it comes to sovereigns. My journey has been one of change. I've always had an interest in gold and to a lesser extent silver. My first round started as a youngster collecting old jewellery from sales. I sold this to help with the purchase of my first house. The current round of collecting started with the thought that gold is gold. What's the closest to spot? This was generally the sovereign. I managed to find a place where I got a small loyalty discount of 5% that got me to about a % point from spot. There was no concern about dates, mints, proof, bullion. The question was, Do you have any sovereigns in? followed by, How many can I get for £xxxx? Which was the spare pennies I had.

As time went on and the stack got bigger I took notice of the dates and the different Monarchs. Always went for any young head Victoria shields first then anything to complete the purchase of what I could afford. 

Then at some point I noticed I had some date runs so I started to take note of the dates needed to join the runs up to create the longer date runs. So I changed my purchasing plan to getting the years I hadn't got first, then any Victoria, followed by any that was left that I could afford. 

Moving on further and the different Mints now become of more interest. Now I'm looking for the mint marks as well as the years. I've also increased the places I buy from. In the start it was just the couple of places I built up a good buying relationship with.

I would say that I'm now most certainly more of a collector than a stacker. The stacker phase helped me built up a good foundation for my collection and the goal was just the gold weight at the cheapest price. However, I feel that once you have a good base then branching out in to date runs and perhaps the more numismatic sovereigns has only added to the collection. Not just in value terms but also interest. The sovereign and the collecting of them has more facets than is at first apparent. I went from their intrinsic value and gold weight to, The dates and Monarchs, to that and the mints. Then becoming more aware of the different varieties, bullion, Proof, Matt Proof. Then the rarity of certain ones and getting drawn to the more numismatic valued coins. There is just loads of ways to collect them. You've entered the rabbit hole now.

I'm now 61 sovereigns short of having all the years and all the mints. However this needs to be broken down further to 31 sovereigns from common to rare that are relatively obtainable, and 30 that are rare plus, meaning that they will most likely be unobtainable for me. Not least because of their rarity and the frequency of their availability but also the cost. I have been in talks with a dealer recently over my wanted list and he told me that he may be able to source an 1819 for me. It's an R5 meaning 5-10 examples estimated to have survived. No price was available but as a ball park figure I'd need over £100k for it.  

In summery, I'd say you're in the gold is gold phase. Build up a nice collection of sovereigns at the closest to spot price you can. whilst doing this you can keep an eye out for any years for your date runs but just concentrating on certain dates could cost a bit more and make you miss some nice cheap sovereigns that will keep your average £ cost down.

[Roy]

6 hours ago, DavePa said:

Background is that I have a few sovs that Im collecting for my kids to have on my demise.

This is all.

Unless your kids follow in your collecting footsteps, then the coins will be exchanged for fiat at the earliest opportunity!

They're your kids and only you know the answer.

Keep stacking 👍

[Petra]

Sovereign is a sovereign as @Roysaid….. your ‘collection’ may not last long when you’re gone. However, once you start buying you notice you may have a run going and suddenly you try to go with that🤔 Just have fun buying while you can. Any left for the family when you’re gone part of a run or not may not last long and is irrelevant 🤔🤔

[27carrots]

It’s always a good idea to avoid duplicates where possible as it’s easier to shift a load of sovs in one go in a place like TSF if people have many years to choose from. But thanks to royal mail jacking up their special delivery prices it would be hard work to get more than you could get for a bulk sale to a dealer where the years don’t matter.

[SidS]

10 hours ago, ZRPMs said:

Then becoming more aware of the different varieties, bullion, Proof, Matt Proof. Then the rarity of certain ones and getting drawn to the more numismatic valued coins. There is just loads of ways to collect them. You've entered the rabbit hole now.

Next step is overdates and over letters, closely followed by denticle count. 😁

[ZRPMs]

4 minutes ago, SidS said:

10 hours ago, ZRPMs said:

Then becoming more aware of the different varieties, bullion, Proof, Matt Proof. Then the rarity of certain ones and getting drawn to the more numismatic valued coins. There is just loads of ways to collect them. You've entered the rabbit hole now.

Next step is overdates and over letters, closely followed by denticle count. 😁

I thought my post was getting a bit TLDR. There really is a never end way to collect the humble sovereign. Not counted the denticle's yet but you never know on a cold night with not much to do.

[Minted]

I find sovereigns a bit boring personally...they look the same for several years in a row, so I have no intention of buying a yearly date run where only a single number changes on each coin. 

I'm buying one from each decade, plus one of each special reverse, and then filling in any obverse portraits missed from the collection after that.  Some are half, some are full, some are proof, some are bullion.

If you are just buying to hand over to kids who aren't interested, buy the cheapest ones you can find.  But if you are buying to give yourself some interest, then buy what you like and don't worry so much about the premium. 🙂

[SidS]

I've always found St George sovereigns boring to be fair.