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Ant

Newbie with Sovereign Question.

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Hi everyone,

I have been reading this forum whilst deployed for the past 3 month and after reading many posts to pass the time at sea i think its time to sign up and get to know a few people.

I was given a gold Sovereign for Christmas and i have been fascinated with it ever since, its like jewelery money :D

I have been researching the history of Sovereigns, all the different Kings and Queens of England and i often find myself going off on interesting historical tangents all because of the initial sovereign google search.

I looked at a few other forums but this one seemed well organised, friendly and full of people full of information, some useful some not so ;)

However when i search for Sovereign related "chat" there doesnt seem to be much, which surprised me. Im wanting to start collecting them and for my collection i was thinking of starting with all the different types of Elizabeth Sovereigns, as i already have a 2013 :) Then i would move onto Victorian Sovereigns as i like the Victorian era.

I was hoping to find other Sovereign collectors on here to pick their brains but it doesnt seem too popular, is this correct?? And if so why??

Looking forward to hearing from other members

Ant

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It's true that gold doesn't seem too well represented here, I'm not sure why, though there are gold collectors among them thar members :D . It's probably a generalisation but nevertheless true, that there aren't as many varieties among things such as sovereigns as there are with other metals / denominations. For another thing, gold attracts as many bullion investors as true collectors, which may be another reason.

But there's nothing wrong with collecting sovereigns, now your interest has been piqued! The good thing - apart from the price of gold - is that you can pick up a whole load of commoner dates for little more than bullion value, especially 20th Century, and lower grade Victoria.

We'll always give advice, even on metals we don't collect personally, because if we don't know the answers ourselves, "we know a man who does"! (Not the same man, I hasten to add...)

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Welcome Ant! Sovs are popular enough. I'm pretty sure at least a couple of members collect them. I don't know about them myself (gold generally is out of my budget) but I'm sure we can help!

I don't know if you meant types in the numismatic sense (as in significantly different design) but that's a good way to start. It'd be easy enough to find an illustrated guide to the different designs and pick a nice example of each.

Obviously as you go back to the earlier currency days the prices will start to pick up, but if you work on Victoria forwards until you get a feel for grading you should be OK. The same 'rules' as for any coin purchase apply. Don't clean them, choose some decent storage, buy as good as your budget will afford and getting a book (or ten) early on will generally prove worth the investment!

Worth checking out the home insurance policy or thinking about secure storage too. Particularly if you're away from home for long periods?

.

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A problem with sovereigns is the entry cost for those on a limited budget, as the later pieces will set you back a couple hundred each and some of the early ones are quite expensive. There is also an issue with variety because you don't have too much variation in design. Gold doesn't tone to the same extent as silver and copper leading to a certain blandness in colour.

I have a few gold pieces, but can't get enthusiastic about sovereigns for the reasons above. An example of each substantive type is enough for me.

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Oh, let me butt in here, say hello and then unashamedly point out the sovereigns currently on predecimal.com, here:

http://www.predecimal.com/coins-sale-british-gold-coins-c-51_187.html

Forum members get 10% off.

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Thank you for those comments, i suppose i was just a little naive to think that everyone would like sovereigns as much as i do.


With regards to type i was looking at:



Victoria- Young head Shield + Young head St George


Victoria - Jubilee Head


Victoria - Old Head



Nothing too difficult, just 3 nice coins of a Queen i find interesting.



Chris i had seen those coins on the forum and i was trying to figure out why they are so expensive, i know i have a lot to learn, the only sovereigns i have seen for sale are the ones on thegoldbullion website and they are a lot cheaper than the ones you metioned.



Please could you give a simple answer as to why they are priced as they are? I am thinking along the lines of rarity? My coin from the above website was £201 ish when the price of gold was £820+ per ounce so now gold is about £745 per ounce i would expect the coins to be cheaper. :unsure:



I WILL purchase some publcations when im home next month, and like i said i have trawled through the forum before asking this question.



Its just good to be actually talking to other people about my interest :D


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Best book to get really is Michael Marsh The Gold Sovereign, he also did one on the half Sovereign. Just a quick reply to your question to Chris, not all sovereigns are just bullion coins, there are some rarities in there, i also don't collect it due to the fluctuation price in Gold plus i much prefer a hammered coin these days.

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I only kept 1 sov back when gold hit silly money.I took the profit (up to 500% in a few years)

I kept my guineas.

Copper and bronze sovs are my 1st choice (farthings use the same dies)

Welcome to the forum.

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Just looked at Marshes book on amazon and it looks like thats the one ill be getting, thanks Azda!

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Like with all coins, it's mainly condition that affect the value. Rarity and desirability does too, but the main factor is condition. Better than average condition will mean higher than average/bullion prices.

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Good to know your interests extend back to the pre-Dec-imal era (see what I did there? :lol: )

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Sovereigns are an interesting series of coins well worth collecting. A little expensive perhaps but maybe not so when you look at high grade Victorian copper prices. Also plenty of different mint marks, shield and George and Dragon reverses. Australian and South African branches of the Royal Mint continued to mint sovereigns long after the London Royal Mint stopped. Don't be fooled by the modern sovereigns as they are only bullion pieces. Fine if you just want gold but not much interest otherwise. Don't be tempted to buy them from the Royal Mint as you can probably obtain them cheaper elsewhere.

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Sovereigns are an interesting series of coins well worth collecting. A little expensive perhaps but maybe not so when you look at high grade Victorian copper prices. Also plenty of different mint marks, shield and George and Dragon reverses. Australian and South African branches of the Royal Mint continued to mint sovereigns long after the London Royal Mint stopped. Don't be fooled by the modern sovereigns as they are only bullion pieces. Fine if you just want gold but not much interest otherwise. Don't be tempted to buy them from the Royal Mint as you can probably obtain them cheaper elsewhere.

Don't forget the Indian mint

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Sovereigns are an interesting series of coins well worth collecting. A little expensive perhaps but maybe not so when you look at high grade Victorian copper prices. Also plenty of different mint marks, shield and George and Dragon reverses. Australian and South African branches of the Royal Mint continued to mint sovereigns long after the London Royal Mint stopped. Don't be fooled by the modern sovereigns as they are only bullion pieces. Fine if you just want gold but not much interest otherwise. Don't be tempted to buy them from the Royal Mint as you can probably obtain them cheaper elsewhere.

Don't forget the Indian mint

Ah yes - wasn't polo invented in India?

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Thanks OZJOHN, i did notice the Royal Mint coins seemed very expensive. Im home very soon so i can order a couple of publications and have a good read about the Sovereign. Im currently looking for a Gold Sovereign / Coin dealer near my home town Hartlepool, does anyone know of any in the North East? A lot of the posts ive read have mentioned retailers in London and down south.

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I can't answer for local dealers but an average sovereign in Australia is about $AU 420.00 or GBP 227.00 . As a previous post indicated there are Bombay Mint with an I plus Canada with an O which are a bit more expensive than the others. It has to be said that some of the post 1914 Sydney Mint sovereigns command big bucks.

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Sovereigns are an interesting series of coins well worth collecting. A little expensive perhaps but maybe not so when you look at high grade Victorian copper prices. Also plenty of different mint marks, shield and George and Dragon reverses. Australian and South African branches of the Royal Mint continued to mint sovereigns long after the London Royal Mint stopped. Don't be fooled by the modern sovereigns as they are only bullion pieces. Fine if you just want gold but not much interest otherwise. Don't be tempted to buy them from the Royal Mint as you can probably obtain them cheaper elsewhere.

Don't forget the Indian mint

Ah yes - wasn't polo invented in India?

No that was onion bajhi

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