Brittania vs Sovereign premiums

[Walrus]

Hi all, newb here.

Could anyone tell me why Sovereigns, generally, have lower premiums than 1/4oz Brittannias, or other 1/4 oz gold coins the Royal Mint produces, like the Tudor Beasts series?   The only reason I can think of is that Sovereigns are possibly minted in much greater numbers than 1/4 oz Brittannias.  I can't, however, find, any mintage figures for these coins recently.

Anyone know?

[Mysstree]

Possibilities …

Britannia’s are minted according to market demand so logically that means they could be in greater numbers than Sovereigns.

Britannia’s are (now) 24 carat Sovereigns are 22 carat. In a lot of countries around the world they prefer ‘pure gold’ (India as an example).

The modern Sovereign has been around now for over two hundred years the gold Britannias since  1987. Initially Brits were 22 carat so were probably less popular as basically just an alternative (in 1/4 ounce form) to a Sovereign. So statistically there are a lot of Sovereigns around.

Premiums will vary depending on rarity so proofs command a higher premium (more often than not) than bullion.

The modern copper colour Sovereigns are not as popular as the gold ones. I like them.

[SilverRich]

3 hours ago, Walrus said:

Hi all, newb here.

Could anyone tell me why Sovereigns, generally, have lower premiums than 1/4oz Brittannias, or other 1/4 oz gold coins the Royal Mint produces, like the Tudor Beasts series?   The only reason I can think of is that Sovereigns are possibly minted in much greater numbers than 1/4 oz Brittannias.  I can't, however, find, any mintage figures for these coins recently.

Anyone know?

It won't help you massively but the RM archive shows some mintage figures on the more special 1/4s - https://www.royalmint.com/collect/archive/2018/uk18qdqo/ 

But yes, for every 1 1/4 Britannia there are probable 10,000 sovereigns.

On your point about premiums, there's pretty much bugger all in it. Obviously figures are approximated but they're usually within a quid or two on a £/G basis. 

 

Edited Tuesday at 10:28 by SilverRich

[Bratnia]

Referencing Tavex I currently see spot + 2.22% for Britannia's, spot + 3.74% for Sovereigns. Buy (sell to them) both at spot -1%

That is for bulk, 10+ one ounce Brits, 25+ Sovs (KC III). Sovs contain 0.2354 troy ounces of gold (so divide by that in order to identify the per ounce price for comparison purposes).

Brits could be melted straight into London delivery gold bars (400 ounce type), just requires heat. To covert 22 carat Sovs into bars would require additional nasty chemicals processing.

Sovs being older are more common/popular so I imagine that when a dealer receives bagfuls from a seller that they might reduce the spread down closer to Brit coin levels in order to shift them quicker (turnover = profit).

Personally I get 'free' London travel, so no additional postage, insurance, packaging, dispute resolution costs involved, just delivery/collection time/effort (actually a £20/year 60+ Oyster card, not yet old enough for the 66+ year old Freedom Pass).

[Tn21]

4 hours ago, Bratnia said:

 

Sovs being older are more common(actually a £20/year 60+ Oyster card, not yet old enough for the 66+ year old Freedom Pass).

Let's hope that does not get taken away. 

My take on the premium -

Purely on the basis it's 24 carrot and carries a premium is my guess 

 

[Walrus]

7 hours ago, SilverRich said:

It won't help you massively but the RM archive shows some mintage figures on the more special 1/4s - https://www.royalmint.com/collect/archive/2018/uk18qdqo/ 

But yes, for every 1 1/4 Britannia there are probable 10,000 sovereigns.

On your point about premiums, there's pretty much bugger all in it. Obviously figures are approximated but they're usually within a quid or two on a £/G basis. 

 

I'm interested to find out where you got those figures from.

Chards, at the moment, has 2024 Sovereigns at 1 for 3.26% premium and 10 for 3.23% premium.  1/4 oz Brittannias at 1 for 7.55% premium, and 10 for 7.45% premium

Tavex has 2024 Sovereigns at 1 for 3.89% premium and 10 for 3.84% premium.  1/4 oz Brittannias at 1 for 8.99% premium, and 10 for 8.79% premium

Tavex also pays slightly more for Sovereigns (spot-0,94%) compared to 1/4 oz Brittanias (spot-1.04%)

I'm guessing the Royal Mint charges the dealers more per oz for the 1/4 oz Brittannias, but why?  I can only guess it's because they mint more sovereigns and economy of scale has an effect on the price to the dealers.

[SilverRich]

Those figures are just a random example and can easily be achieved on here. 

With regard to your last comment, 1/4oz coins have a perceived "premium" over sovereigns because they are pure gold whereas sovereigns are not. 

 

Edited Tuesday at 18:28 by SilverRich

[MBTPSilver]

Yes, it's a combination of the much lower mintages on 1/4oz gold Brits vs Sovs, and the general perception of where the premium should be. Even pre-owned, Best Value, Mixed Year or whatever the dealer in question calls it. They'll have loads of Sovs coming in, and not many 1/4oz Brits.