Stuntman

What a fantastic result that must have been! In answer to the original question - a few, mostly in 1990 and 1991 when I worked as a betting shop cashier. A couple of shillings, one of which was George V and the other being George VI, and three florins, two of which were George V and one which was George VI. Two of these florins remain in my collection. The better one is a 1929 specimen and is at least VF, with traces of lustre. A nice coin that I still treasure!

I hope it didn't damage your colon. Regarding the 1890 - interesting, thanks for sharing. Like Rob and perhaps many others, I wouldn't go out of my way to collect such a specimen - but if I had one just randomly, I would probably feel an extra bit pleased about it.

VAT, manufacturing premium and delivery costs all contribute to the premium over spot. I like the design. I'm biased, I have the gold bullion version 😊

Looks real rather than fake to my eyes.

I was thinking the same!

The 1989 double sovereign is the value proposition for that year if you want the design, rather than the investment. It seems that most people don't collect the doubles, and the price of a double is often less than the price of the sovereign. I'd love a 1989 double sovereign, or indeed the quintuple!

It's a no from me. I'll get a 2019 bullion sovereign when the gold price dips a little.

Do silver and platinum attract sales taxes in the US? Sadly they do if you buy them in the UK (from a UK seller): 20% VAT. Therefore I have only bought a couple of platinum coins (2018 1 oz Britannia being the other) for interest value rather than investment value - despite thinking that platinum is currently very cheap. I have a few pure silver bullion coins but again, just for pleasure interest. The only 10oz one I have is the Royal Mint 2018 Valiant, which is lovely.

Nice multiple! I think the most I have managed is 257,280 (67 pounds for a quarter farthing)!

The 1/4oz and 1oz gold Queens's Beasts that I am buying/collecting are not that expensive a way to buy gold. Buying in the UK while they are on current release, the 1oz coins cost about 5% above spot, delivered. For example, today the gold price is GBP 1016 per ounce, and you can get a 1oz Falcon Of The Plantagenets coin for GBP 1065 delivered. That's decent value as far as I'm concerned, given that I like the coins in the first place. The 1/4oz are of course more expensive, the equivalent Falcon coin would cost GBP 303 delivered on today's price. Currently, people are paying significantly more than spot price for the earlier 1oz coins in the series - the Lion and the Griffin in particular. I certainly intend to collect the remaining 4 designs during their release time frame (about 12 months for each coin) and then enjoy them for many years to come.

I reckon AU58.

I like this series rather a lot. I'm collecting the 1/4 oz and 1 oz in Gold, and I also have a 1 oz Platinum Lion (it being the first 1 oz Platinum UK bullion coin, I believe) but not looking to add any more Platinum Beasts. Anyone else into these, apart from Azda and me?

No pushing in, Nons... 😉😁

Lovely quality there, Gary. There are plenty in your collection that I would happily give a good home to!

Beautiful examples indeed. Good luck with the sale, and I hope you have been able to retain at least one, hopefully your favourite, just as a thing of beauty and happy memories.

Cars and art for me. I love driving, and having a proper driver's car is something I will always hope to keep doing. Proper cars can be had at practically any budget of course. I currently have a 9 year old BMW M3 saloon (the one with the V8 engine, and a manual gearbox) and a 3 year old Porsche Cayman GT4. As for art, I like all kinds of art from representational to completely abstract, whether pictures or sculptures. The house may resemble an art gallery sometimes, but that just makes me smile. I would love a nice watch (and one in particular, a TAG Heuer Monaco Gulf Edition) but cannot currently justify spending the money on it as a treat to myself. Well done for doing so!

^^^ and what did you think? I like: The Moneymaker, Smoke Detector, Dejalo and 15 the best, I think. Some would say the music is formulaic and there are certainly lots of pretty obvious influences in there, but so what, it's well done. I also have her solo album 'The Voyager' - my favourite on that one is You Can't Outrun 'Em. I don't have any Megadeth, despite having seen bands such as Iron Maiden and Motorhead in concert several times each!

Nice bonus of Jenny Lewis at the end. I love her voice - check out the album 'Under The Blacklight' by the band she used to sing in, Rilo Kiley.

I worked for a dairy for a while, delivering cream to housewives' back doors.

I prefer yours on eye appeal - the mint lustre is indeed lustier 😉 and as you say, the reverse of your coin is much better struck. Very nice coin!

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, it was fairly unusual to find the pre-1947 silver shillings and florins/two shillings in change in 1990. When I was in the betting shop I would receive hundreds of 5p/10p coins over the counter every day, and found only 5 pre-1947 silver coins in a year. This was a massively higher hit rate than I had found in change over the previous 10-plus years, probably no more than another 5 in total!

😉 All this talk of varieties reminds me of a recent conversation with the wife of my work-colleague, who lives round the corner. One night she came round to my house and invited me out for a drink in the local pub. Her husband was out of town and I assumed she just wanted a bit of a chat. During our first drink, she was telling me about a small raised ‘dot’ that she thought I might like to investigate, and kept mentioning the letter G. Given the conversation, I naturally assumed that she must be talking about a Farthing, and it must be some sort of ‘G spot’ variety. I hadn’t realised that she was a fellow numismatist, but she reminded me that she also had a couple of delightfully toned thruppeny bits. She assured me that that her G spot variety was very pleasing for the grade and told me that she was currently keeping it in a tight pocket near the top of her thighs. She also said that the variety was best viewed after a light rub. Now I know the forum’s views on cleaning coins, but she said that it had seen plenty of circulation and further rubbing would, if anything, enhance the eye appeal. We agreed to adjourn to my place for a close visual inspection of the variety, and she suggested low light and closed conditions. I carefully opened the tight pocket and, following clear instructions, proceeded to administer the light rubbing. I found this was best done in a gentle circular motion, followed by more vigorous strokes (clear guidance from her did help). I tried to take some photographs of the variety to post on the forum, but despite a great deal of digital manipulation, they all seem to have come out a bit blurry and damp. Not worth sharing… And so, while she is adamant (indeed very vocal) that the variety exists, I am unable to confirm it, as it was impossible to remove the G spot from its snug pocket. Perhaps it’s a bit like Schrodinger’s cat (or perhaps more aptly, Schrodinger’s pussy). In any event, she says that she has another couple of specimens that she will hold in the same pocket, and will let me know when her husband is next out of town, as that seems to be the best time for her to squeeze me in. I told her that I was nothing if not a keen and thorough researcher, and would therefore be delighted to probe further. Just doing my predecimal duty… 😉😋

Yep. Absolutely no downside risk (after all, can spend the coin if you can't sell it) and potential very significant percentage reward. I've yet to see any of these 10p coins!

That picture epitomises the age-old maxim: "buy sheep, sell deer...' 😉

Sorry Rob but I disagree, it's totally different (assuming that the coins were sent to the post office in sealed bags and intended to be given out in change). The coins were intended to be placed in circulation and they are not being placed in circulation. It's not really any different from if the RM employees swapped the freshly minted 10ps for circulated 10ps and then sold the freshly minted ones for a profit.