Newbie Sovereign Collector

[joedredd]

Afternoon all

Thought I would say hi to all of you before I start asking for advice and doing plenty of searches re Sovereigns.

I have sold my extensive comic collection and have about £2K to invest in Sovereigns.

I have 7 CGS sovereigns, obviously it is nice to have graded coins but where is the best/ secure place to buy raw sovereigns?

Do you think I am doing the right thing in investing in Sovereigns or should I put it elsewhere?

Thanks

[bunhead]

I love the way you moved seamlessly from comics to coins. The geek gene is strong in this one!

Welcome to the forum, though I am but a newbie as well.

[Nordle11]

Welcome to the forum Joe!

Are you not having withdrawal symptoms from parting with such an extensive collection?!

Gold isn't my area unfortunately but someone will be along shortly I am sure

Edited August 2, 2015 by Nordle11

[joedredd]

Hi Nordle11

Thanks for the welcome.

I have only sold one part of my collection, I still have my early Amazing Spiderman comics. I am sitting on these for now but I like to keep my options open.

Years ago when I was a child I loved collecting stamps and coins, but recently I was left a couple of Sovereigns by a relative and every now and then I treat myself to another one. So it seems logical to now concentrate on these for now, and in time I hope to have a good return on my initial investment if needed.

Lets hope the Gold Gods will be along soon to throw some good advice my way.

[joedredd]

Loved the comment bunhead, made me chuckle re nerd. LOL

Edited August 2, 2015 by joedredd

[sound]

Joe,

Welcome. Sovereigns are just as collectable as anything else.

Just some thoughts in no particular order.

Sovereigns in low grade, with some exceptions are only worth bullion value. Make sure you know the price of gold, which currently is bearish. So be careful.

Sovereigns in high grade, the further you go back, have an intrinsic value that supersedes bullion value. So the price of gold becomes less important. They become less speculative.

Unless you understand this you will lose money. So don't be in a hurray.

Would suggest you familiarise yourself with Marsh and obtain them if you can.

By all means familiarise yourself with prices on ebay. Then be determined not to buy your sovereigns there.

Buy the highest grade you can afford. Less is more particularly with gold.

Best

Mark

[PWA 1967]

Hi joe and welcome.

Are these comics worth buying as i would not have a clue were to start.

Pete.

[Mr T]

Buy from somewhere with a good reputation for selling sovereigns - there are fakes out there that are quite passable and when you buy from someone on ebay who's never handled a sovereign in their life it can be a real gamble.

No idea if it's the right thing to invest in though, but I think in the main that a sovereign's value is highly related to the price of gold.

[joedredd]

Morning Mark

Thanks for the advice, what you said makes absolute sense. I already own "The Gold Sovereign by MIchael Marsh" and its a fantastic reference book. I am in no hurry to start buying any/ all sovereigns I find, I will be looking at eBay and London Coins auctions for reference and purchasing. Buying the highest grade I am somewhat confused between the main grading houses ( CGS, PGC, NPS), which one is the best ? or are they all equal? Prefer CGS as it is UK based as oppose to the US.

Whilst I understand the risks associated with buying on eBay is there anywhere else that is good to buy from without paying dealer prices?

Thanks

George

[joedredd]

PM sent Pete

[joedredd]

Mr T, is there any companies or person that you can recommend?

[Nordle11]

Morning Mark

Thanks for the advice, what you said makes absolute sense. I already own "The Gold Sovereign by MIchael Marsh" and its a fantastic reference book. I am in no hurry to start buying any/ all sovereigns I find, I will be looking at eBay and London Coins auctions for reference and purchasing. Buying the highest grade I am somewhat confused between the main grading houses ( CGS, PGC, NPS), which one is the best ? or are they all equal? Prefer CGS as it is UK based as oppose to the US.

Whilst I understand the risks associated with buying on eBay is there anywhere else that is good to buy from without paying dealer prices?

Thanks

George

Some 'light' reading for you

Thread 1

Thread 2

And of course we have a dedicated section for discussing these things;

TPG Subforums

Enjoy!

[Rob]

Morning Mark

Thanks for the advice, what you said makes absolute sense. I already own "The Gold Sovereign by MIchael Marsh" and its a fantastic reference book. I am in no hurry to start buying any/ all sovereigns I find, I will be looking at eBay and London Coins auctions for reference and purchasing. Buying the highest grade I am somewhat confused between the main grading houses ( CGS, PGC, NPS), which one is the best ? or are they all equal? Prefer CGS as it is UK based as oppose to the US.

Whilst I understand the risks associated with buying on eBay is there anywhere else that is good to buy from without paying dealer prices?

Thanks

George

Somewhat contradictory and confusing here. You don't want to pay dealer prices (implying you want them at melt or so), yet are looking at slabbed coins, which, with the right label for the right person will sell for a premium to the rest of the market which will itself be above melt? As you don't want to pay dealer's mark up, who is going to supply them? Our man in Beirut? A nice Nigerian fellow?

[sound]

Joe,

Rob is making a good point about dealers.

Take each coin on its merit. Don't assume auction houses are more cost effective than dealers.

The dealer may have sourced his coins on good terms and can pass that on. On the other hand you may get a bargain at an auction on the day because collectors failed to show.

Mark

[DaveG38]

In my experience of auctions, the gold rattles through in no time, with prices for the 20thC in particular going at around melt once you take into account charges. Often you see lot after lot of say 1911 sovereigns going through at the same price within 20 seconds of each other. There's little competitive bidding and the prices are always consistent to within a few pounds.

[joedredd]

Rob, perhaps I didn't explain myself clearly enough or what I wrote hasnt come across right??

I don't want to buy at melt point, but don't mind paying for a good quality coin, but there must be some places to buy good quality raw coins as oppose to London dealers who command top $$. For instance there is only 1 Coin dealer that is near me and that's Peter Morris in Bromley, I live in Bexleyheath its hardly local but its the only place apart from going to London, and he doesn't have any sovereigns at the moment (according to website) and no I wont buy from some Nigerian scamster.

I have just looked at Predecimal site and their coins are at a reasonable price, this is what I am referring to.

Nordle11 I will start that light reading, thank you.

Please remember gents that I am new to this and need nurturing(sp?) and guiding form all you "Grand Oracles" on these forum.

Edited August 3, 2015 by joedredd

[Coinery]

In my experience of auctions, the gold rattles through in no time, with prices for the 20thC in particular going at around melt once you take into account charges. Often you see lot after lot of say 1911 sovereigns going through at the same price within 20 seconds of each other. There's little competitive bidding and the prices are always consistent to within a few pounds.

What Dave says is also true of local antique auctions. You can always find half a dozen sovs a month going through the local auctions. The interesting bit, again as Dave mentioned, is that they rattle through, more or less at the bullion value for gold. Now, if you take a close look at these coins, you will find Fine going for the same value as AUNC.

[joedredd]

Thanks for that info Coinery, I will check out my local auction house and see what they have didn't think of them as mainly antiques!!

Nordle11 just read some of that "light" reading and what an eye opener.

Prove of what I am newbie I am, I thought TPG was another grading house LOL

[Nordle11]

Thanks for that info Coinery, I will check out my local auction house and see what they have didn't think of them as mainly antiques!!

Nordle11 just read some of that "light" reading and what an eye opener.

Prove of what I am newbie I am, I thought TPG was another grading house LOL

We all start off knowing nothing I guess

You can see though, TPGs are full of controversy and it's certainly a love 'em or hate 'em case of which we all have our reasons. Some people like myself just don't want slabbed coins.

Other people, like everyone, just hate Semra (I'm sure her name crops up everywhere in those threads)

Edited August 3, 2015 by Nordle11

[PWA 1967]

Nothing wrong with semra she is spot on.

Although i am sure she must smile at some of the posts on here.

[Coinery]

Nothing wrong with semra she is spot on.

Although i am sure she must smile at some of the posts on here.

You are the one single exception to the rule that I've heard of so far!

[Nordle11]

Nothing wrong with semra she is spot on.

Although i am sure she must smile at some of the posts on here.

You are the one single exception to the rule that I've heard of so far!

Yes, Pete, I was going to say! Haha

Maybe she likes you?

[joedredd]

TBH I dealt with CGS a few years ago, when I inherited some sovereigns and I had no trouble at all. I popped down there after checking I could dropped off my sovereigns for grading, also an assortment of various coins for putting in their auction everything went smoothly and was happy with the service, hence would use them again.

[PWA 1967]

Nothing wrong with semra she is spot on.

Although i am sure she must smile at some of the posts on here.

You are the one single exception to the rule that I've heard of so far!

Just sending a batch so need to keep her smiling

[Coinery]

Nothing wrong with semra she is spot on.

Although i am sure she must smile at some of the posts on here.

You are the one single exception to the rule that I've heard of so far!

Just sending a batch so need to keep her smiling