Merry Christmas

[Accumulator]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Canada hehe!!

I just bought the Spink 2011, a lot of reading and updating in the next days (my last book about British coins dated 1997)

Have fun! William

Welcome to the forum!

Santa managed to bring me Spink 2014, so I've had lots to read. A number of changes in presentation this year and the promise of 2 volumes next year.

A few day's break before the New Year festivities now

I got my copy as well

How is the book going to be split...hammered/milled?

If CCGB can eventually cover milled it will be interesting.

The split will be into pre-decimal and decimal, Peter. Only one volume I'll need to buy!

[Coinery]

Talking of decimal, I played cards last night at my father's and, maybe drank too much wine, I don't know? But I pulled a 2013 10p and 5p, and a 2012 5p from the playing money!

I took my temperature, and that all seemed to be in order, so I'm not sure what's going on?

[Peter]

Stuart you are just a Liz tart

I do confess to putting BU decimals away.Our local PO often gets bags of earlier decimals and they put a few aside for me.

I think Chris will have to market his book minus the pre.

I can't see how Spink can do a better job.(or could Chris do it for them?)

I was hoping Spink would split the book hammered/milled.

[Peckris]

Stuart you are just a Liz tart

I do confess to putting BU decimals away.Our local PO often gets bags of earlier decimals and they put a few aside for me.

I think Chris will have to market his book minus the pre.

I can't see how Spink can do a better job.(or could Chris do it for them?)

I was hoping Spink would split the book hammered/milled.

Hammered / milled makes more sense to me, especially if the decimals were hived off into a softback produced every two or three years (after all, the values of decimals change even less than Roman and Ancients). Hammered / milled would give approximately half a book each, where pre-decimal / decimal would be about 7:1. But perhaps they've already identified that's where the biggest market split is?

[Coinery]

Stuart you are just a Liz tart

I do confess to putting BU decimals away.Our local PO often gets bags of earlier decimals and they put a few aside for me.

just a bit of one!

I'm glad I'm not alone then! They'll never be worth more than face, not even in my son's lifetime I shouldn't think?

[Chris Perkins]

I'm racing to get a new Check Your Change done during 2014!

[Peter]

Stuart you are just a Liz tart

I do confess to putting BU decimals away.Our local PO often gets bags of earlier decimals and they put a few aside for me.

just a bit of one!

I'm glad I'm not alone then! They'll never be worth more than face, not even in my son's lifetime I shouldn't think?

I have a large padded envelope where I store my decimal keepers.I think I may get a larger one so I can climb in too.

I really have no interest in decimals but I have a complete set of the Olympic 50p's.

It is frightening that decimals have been around for over 40 years...should I be storing mint bags of 70's decimals?

[Accumulator]

Stuart you are just a Liz tart

I do confess to putting BU decimals away.Our local PO often gets bags of earlier decimals and they put a few aside for me.

I think Chris will have to market his book minus the pre.

I can't see how Spink can do a better job.(or could Chris do it for them?)

I was hoping Spink would split the book hammered/milled.

Hammered / milled makes more sense to me, especially if the decimals were hived off into a softback produced every two or three years (after all, the values of decimals change even less than Roman and Ancients). Hammered / milled would give approximately half a book each, where pre-decimal / decimal would be about 7:1. But perhaps they've already identified that's where the biggest market split is?

Actually a more careful reading of Spink 2014 reveals a dichotomy! Page 553 of the decimal section has a Spink colour 'advert', stating 'Coming next year. The Decimal Coins of England. From next year the Decimal Coinage will be published in a separate volume'.

On the other hand, Philip Skingley's editorial on page ix states, 'We had previously stated that we would be removing the Decimal section to a separate volume, this again has not happened this year. We had intended to improve the section with more illustrations and greater detail but, since taking the decision, we have received almost no information from the Royal Mint whatsoever in the past two years and it seems that their policy is to disassociate themselves from the general UK coin trade who have supported their products for decades and created the very collectors who buy the coins from them. We still aim to produce a separate volume but will have to wait to gather the information as products appear rather than having official notification from the Royal Mint as they are released'. A very sad reflection of the Royal Mint in my opinion, but probably par for today's attitude from officialdom in many areas! Anyway, certainly no confirmation of a separate volume next year from Mr Skingley.

[Chris Perkins]

It's bad all-round!

It's no secret that the new issues they produce are in the main, not even a bit collectable (shock-horror if you've just realised that), at least not in the sense that they have some potential to hold their value over the long term or in the sense that they are well executed pieces of numismatic art. Profit profit profit, that's all it's about. It's not about the coins and the (too) many things they commemorate, it's not about encouraging young potential collectors to get into coins (and often they progress to proper coins) it's simply about making as many different coins as possible and selling them for as much as possible. Every year they find an anniversary of something or other to commemorate for the first time!

In the last few years there were always complaints about the prices and complaints about the RM's rather frugal wholesale discount terms, but at least people had a choice as to where they bought the products. Not any more. You buy from the RM and only the RM and you pay whatever they ask or you don't buy anything. I'd strongly recommend the second option.

[TomGoodheart]

Actually a more careful reading of Spink 2014 reveals a dichotomy! Page 553 of the decimal section has a Spink colour 'advert', stating 'Coming next year. The Decimal Coins of England. From next year the Decimal Coinage will be published in a separate volume'.

It'd sort of serve the RM right if what he's actually saying is that from next year they will drop all the decimal crap and just have a volume for coins!

It's bad all-round!

It's no secret that the new issues they produce are in the main, not even a bit collectable (shock-horror if you've just realised that), at least not in the sense that they have some potential to hold their value over the long term or in the sense that they are well executed pieces of numismatic art. Profit profit profit, that's all it's about. It's not about the coins and the (too) many things they commemorate, it's not about encouraging young potential collectors to get into coins (and often they progress to proper coins) it's simply about making as many different coins as possible and selling them for as much as possible. Every year they find an anniversary of something or other to commemorate for the first time!

Could be worse though. I've been following threads on coincommunity about how just as soon as the Royal Canadian Mint (who have a similar policy for issuing coins to commemorate everything from Thurday to Stepping in Dogshit on The Way to Work). It appears that, as soon as the RCM issues a new offering, the Chinese make cheap copies of it! Ooh, you should hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth over those Murano glass enhanced Maple Leafs.

Edited December 30, 2013 by TomGoodheart

[Chris Perkins]

Maybe the RCM contracts the Chinese to make the originals (to save money) and that's how they are able to release their own versions so quickly!

Modern issues are 90% awful. Nearly every aspect is ghastly, from the desperately chosen themes to the design and production, to the marketing, to the poor innocents that buy them. There you are, I've said it now.

In Check Your Change I publish a book all about something I have grown to hate. I'm seriously thinking of starting a Boycott Modern Issues campaign, promoting true coin collecting!

[Accumulator]

Maybe the RCM contracts the Chinese to make the originals (to save money) and that's how they are able to release their own versions so quickly!

Modern issues are 90% awful. Nearly every aspect is ghastly, from the desperately chosen themes to the design and production, to the marketing, to the poor innocents that buy them. There you are, I've said it now.

In Check Your Change I publish a book all about something I have grown to hate. I'm seriously thinking of starting a Boycott Modern Issues campaign, promoting true coin collecting!

Your Gerald Ratner moment, Chris?

Edited December 30, 2013 by Accumulator

[Peckris]

Maybe the RCM contracts the Chinese to make the originals (to save money) and that's how they are able to release their own versions so quickly!

Modern issues are 90% awful. Nearly every aspect is ghastly, from the desperately chosen themes to the design and production, to the marketing, to the poor innocents that buy them. There you are, I've said it now.

In Check Your Change I publish a book all about something I have grown to hate. I'm seriously thinking of starting a Boycott Modern Issues campaign, promoting true coin collecting!

Your Gerald Ratner moment, Chris?

No. The BOOK's good, even if the products therein are total cr*p!

[VickySilver]

Maybe they ought to get CGS involved in "hyper grades" and see if they can replicate the US market where there are flippers running rampant and selling First Strike 70s for multiples of the US Mint's issue price!

How on Earth do the RM maintain their sales? I just can't see much repeat buying after their poor customers try to sell any of their prizes...

[Gary D]

I used to buy RM coms and year sets regularly until 2000, since when I've bought nothing. It's all gone the way of the stamps 20 years before.

[Accumulator]

I used to buy RM coms and year sets regularly until 2000, since when I've bought nothing. It's all gone the way of the stamps 20 years before.

I have a friend who continues to buy every Royal Mail commemerative stamp set issued, purely on the basis that he has all the others (for the last 20 years) and can't stop now! He doesn't really enjoy them, in the sense that he never even looks at them, researches them or has any further involvement with his collection. I've hinted, but haven't the heart to point out that they're virtually worthless!

[just.me]

The Royal Mint website has some interesting pages showing what they issued, from base metals to gold and platinum proofs, singles to collections for each year 2003 to 2008. It gives limits of each issue and the number that were actually ordered. Very few of these actually sold out and some orders compared to issue limits were staggeringly low, but they seemed to just repeat the limits year after year even with the dropping orders?

One interesting piece I noticed was that the 2004 50p, £1 and £2 sales were very low for the base metal, silver and in the gold, they have a note next to each one saying, to be offered in 2007 as a 4 coin set.

http://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/circulation-coin-mintage-figures/2003-dated-uk-collector-coin-sales

Edited January 8, 2014 by just.me