Hi, I have just started to collect sovereigns for long term investment and wanted to pick some expert brains. I purchased two sovs from Atkinsons, first thing I did was check the weights, both are weighing in at 8g and I have read they should be 7.98. I was expecting the shield one to be a yellow gold colour but it has a slight orange tinge to it, is this normal? We are new to collecting them and want to make sure the coins we have purchased are genuine.
You can buy a sovereign tester for like $10 which will weed out some fakes or the Fisch tester for like $150 and that will certainly catch any fakes. Was the 2002 coin a proof or bullion finish? Proof would explain the shininess but its hard to tell without holding it to see.
Hi, As far as i am aware the 2002 is not a proof or bullion coin. We ordered from Atkinsons, in Birmingham. We ordered a shield sovreign and thought it would be an older coin but the 2002 turned up. Has anyone ordered from this company before?
Get a 200g scale with 1000ths increments - I'm a long term Sov nut - left Manchester in 2009 - also do try Mays pawnbroker Manchester - PM me if I can hook u up with managers there
Welcome newbie. Atkinsons is totally reliable so don't be concerned. If you are serious about collecting sovereigns and other gold coins then you MUST buy digital scales. I recommend an electronic scale that has 0.01 gram precision and a max weight of 50g. That should give you the best accuracy. Scales that weigh up to say 300g are less accurate measuring 4 gram half sovereigns and 8 gram sovereigns. You need to be seeing on your scale two decimal points. Newer sovereigns say 1980 onwards can be extremely shiny especially 1990 and later. A proof coin is totally different to a bullion coin - your 2002 Shield is bullion. The proof high points ( Queen's face e.g. ) is of a frosted appearance and the contrast between cameo and background is very distinctive. A free tip is to try and not pay more than 5% over spot for any bullion coin and better still look for 3% above spot. This is possible but without homework you may pay up to 15% over spot. Proof coins tend to be priced higher and according to scarcity and demand. If you are interested in buying a proof 1980 half sovereign in its original red Royal Mint box with COA sometime PM me with a realistic offer.
