£2 Gold Locomotive Coin

[Guest Chris_Lander]

Hi ya folks,

I am currently looking to buy or invest if may between £250 - £400 of my British Pounds on a Gold Coin or set if may.

What would you recommend:

A 2004 Gold Locomotive £2 Coin (sold out at the Royal Mint, but i can get them for £285)

A 2002 Three Sovereign Proof Set (half- sovereign, sovereign and double sovereign) for £385

A 2002 B Uncirulated £5 Coin with shield design (£445)

A 1 oz Gold Panda Coin of any year, if i could find one! ahhh

Or maybe something else?

Thanks!

[Emperor Oli]

Personally, I'd go for some of the older investment gold i.e George III - Victoria. Although the best examples can't be bought with the money you want to spend, you can pick up some nice pieces. Plus, I think you would get more pleasure out of older ones as they are far nicer than the modern issues. If I had that money to invest in gold, I would buy a George I Sovereign in VF however if you could push your budget to £500 (!), a nice uncirculated 1826 Half sovereign would certainly grace any collection!

[Sylvester]

I would buy a George I Sovereign in VF

I hate to break it to you but George I had no sovereigns...

[Sylvester]

with that money you could invest in a guinea

pick something not George III and it'll probably appreciate very nicely.

e.g i bought a James II Half guinea for £225 a year and a half ago, it's already cataloging at £350

[Emperor Oli]

Whoops, there was meant to be a "V" after that to make in George IV hence 1826

[Sylvester]

Whoops, there was meant to be a "V" after that to make in George IV hence 1826

ah right, i thought you meant Geo III actually, i thought the 1826 was unrelated.

[Half Penny Jon]

I would invest in Victorian-George VI silver, copper, and bronze as they appreciate a lot in value. (Much more than the stock market can guarantee). If you do decide to invest in coins, Gold bullion would perhaps increase the slowest compared to other coins which are in much higher demand.

[Emperor Oli]

(Much more than the stock market can guarantee).

As a few of you know, I spent my Work Experience at a stock broking comapny last month and I did a project on a company. I found that a good company to invest your money in at the moment is Stanley Gibbons, the stamp, autograph and coin dealer. Because the stock market has fallen and pensions have all but collapsed, people are looking for alternative investments, namely stamps and coins. This has made the profits of Stanley Gibbons double in the last year. So, if the market does hit a rough patch, SG should fare well as more people turn to them to invest their money. The broker Seymour Pierce upgraded their estimate to a plain BUY from BUY ON WEAKNESS, further evidence to the reasons above.

[Sylvester]

I would invest in Victorian-George VI silver, copper, and bronze as they appreciate a lot in value. (Much more than the stock market can guarantee). If you do decide to invest in coins, Gold bullion would perhaps increase the slowest compared to other coins which are in much higher demand.

I'll agree with Victorian, but if you hope to make some profit on it, do not go beyond 1919, as the silver gets debased from there.

Infact i'd say the best thing to invest it on would be high grade Edward VII silver coins, halfcrowns and florins specifically.

[Half Penny Jon]

I would have to agree with the Edward VII investments they are attractive due to their low mintage and high demand in better grades. I would also reccoment Wreath Crowns in UNC as a superb investment.

[Sylvester]

I would have to agree with the Edward VII investments they are attractive due to their low mintage and high demand in better grades. I would also reccoment Wreath Crowns in UNC as a superb investment.

pssst, 1905 florins

trust me, you don't see them.

[william]

I love Edward VII florins, but they always seem to be struck weakly.

Chris_Lander, if I was you I would invest in some early Victorian gold!

[Sylvester]

I love Edward VII florins, but they always seem to be struck weakly.

Chris_Lander, if I was you I would invest in some early Victorian gold!

One sovereign jumps straight to mind (infact two do)

1841 and 1859 Ansell type.

Although i'd urge you to be on the look out for a 1858 (i think it was 1858, might have been the normal 1859)

The catalogue doesn't show a price difference but one of those years is very scarce. I'm damn sure it's 1858, high grade specimens are a good investment.

It was always the one i couldn't get, never had enough cash.

Did i mention i used to collect London mint Shield reverse sovereigns?

[mint_mark]

Ummm, I don't really understand why nobody else has said this yet, but I would be very wary of investing in collectable coins at all!

As mentioned in other threads, the collectable value of a coin is purely down to supply and demand, and with the modern coins at the top of the thread there are almost always plenty to go around. As for the demand side... buying old coins is a luxury. When things get tight non-essential hobbies are the first thing to get cut from the budget... you have to be sure you won't need the money if things get tight for you, because that won't be a good time to sell.

Of course we can all point to some coins and see how much they have risen, but most things rise in a rising market... the whole lot can go down too. The experts always suggest buying something that is worth the money to you... it's hard if you feel ripped off at selling time becuase you can't get what you hoped for.

By all means invest in gold, in coin form. You can always make it a collection of, say, George V mint marks, or a complete set of portraits. You don't have to pay more than 15% over bullion to get lovely gEF or unc examples.

These guys talk about the big ticket items... I've never seen so many wreath crowns in one place before Chris listed them on this website.... and they're all still there.

[Geoff T]

Infact i'd say the best thing to invest it on would be high grade Edward VII silver coins, halfcrowns and florins specifically.

I'd certainly second that. Edward VII silver is rising faster than British house prices at the moment. One reason I'm sure is that the low relief makes it that much harder to find coins in EF-UNC condiction. The 1902 crown in particular is getting increasingly difficult to come by in top grades and for the rest there's the added problem of low mintages, especially 1903-5.

I'd also recommend earlier Victorian gold.

Sticking with your original list, I'd go for the 3-sovereign set because of its classic design rather than the one-off Trevithick reverse £2.

[Chris Perkins]

The Wreaths are not all still there, I've sold 5 of them but either haven't been paid yet, or haven't had a chance to remove them.

[Half Penny Jon]

I am not surprised that you have sold 5 of them already, did you acquire them all at once Chris?

[william]

I think he did get them all at once Penny Master, if I read the newsletter correctly!

[Half Penny Jon]

Wow, he got lucky!

[william]

Yes, he did; if I remember rightly, he exchanged a 1934 wreath crown for some gold, and the other Wreath Crowns (except for 1934). Is that right Chris?

[Half Penny Jon]

Wow, that's good, what condition was the 1934 wreath crown in?

[william]

Wow, that's good, what condition was the 1934 wreath crown in?

I dunno, you'll have to ask Chris for that one, but I assume it was around EF or better, as they were never issued for general circulation

[Half Penny Jon]

I guessed that it would be EF or better considering he swapped it for loads of Wreath Crowns and some gold.

West Ham are the Best. I.D.S.T

[william]

West Ham are the Best. I.D.S.T

What?! And what does I.D.S.T stand for?

[Emperor Oli]

Sheesh I'd have thought you would have known this, still attending primary and all but anyhoo - I.D.S.T means If Destroyed Still True. However, you can turn that on the author's head and say it means If Destroyed Still Trash