I am just getting into physical and was starting to despair of finding any dealers locally (Manchester area UK). However, I started looking in on pawnbrokers today after reading the posts by VRS on how most will sell for bullion value plus a small premuim regardless of year etc. The first place I visited had only a pair of half sovs for 111 each which meant I could dip my toe for a small outlay. I checked spot and it was really close. I am still thinking gold might go down and the shop in question does price off the fix so if I wait I might collar a bit more of a reduction. Also while they didnt have any full sovs there was a smashing class 3 double eagle this time under the atkinsons and bullionbypost prices that tempted me to stretch my wallet a bit. The question though is whether half sovs are considered worthwhile. All I can see so far is they seem to have half the premium if they have any numismatic value compared to full sovs. That seems fair and also I could have more of them more often which might be bettr for me. I dont have a massive budget but I really want to go long term say 10 or 15 years. Maybe longer. p.s. I went to 4 stores on this outing and one wanted 250 for a half sov and 600 for a full sov in 14 carat! because he said that was rare. I shant be going back there in a hurry unless they buy at those prices! This is my first post, having been a reader for a month or so and a member as of today. Hope it aint a dumb question
Hi Welcome to the form, I think the 2 half sovs you mentioned were priced well. I doubt you will be able to buy any, at less than that price ( athough it would be nice to be proved wrong). Nothing wrong with half sovs in my opinion.
Been trying to get together the right tools. Found some good scales and calipers. Got them to the till and some robbing devil had pinched the scales out of their box. Oh well I know that some more will come in. One thing I am coming to undrstand is that half sovs and fulls seem easy to.mix up. I still havent seen a full one in the flesh but I recall one I saw (maybe evem one of the 2 I am looking at buying) was thicker than the other. could that be a fake or a full? Also tgere was in anorhr shop a full Australian sov. It was about 15 quid dearer. I guess I have to get a book now. This is all very exciting. Will keep posted and will post some piccies as soon as I can. Allocated is realy not as fun as physical.
Been trying to get together the right tools. Found some good scales and calipers. Got them to the till and some robbing devil had pinched the scales out of their box. Oh well I know that some more will come in. One thing I am coming to understand is that half sovs and fulls seem easy to.mix up. I still havent seen a full one in the flesh but I recall one of the halfs I saw (maybe even one of the 2 I am looking at buying) was thicker than the other. could that be a full as it didnt look any less well made than the other. guess I have to get a book now. This is all very exciting. Will keep posted and will post some piccies as soon as I can. Allocated is realy not as fun as physical.
Welcome - nice to see another Brit join us. Three things to start off - 1. Familiarise yourself with gold prices - spot and London fix. London am fix is often used by bullion dealers and this number is provided each trading day around 10:45am Spot live prices can be found in sterling on the good charts provided by BullionbyPost 2. A full sovereign and half sovereign are easily mixed up until you are holding both in your hand. The fastest method of differentiating is to weigh them. A full sovereign will weigh almost 8 grams and a half sov 4 grams. Invest in digital scales - many on sale on eBay - but go for precision of 2 decimal points and a maximum weight of 50 or 100 grams. You should also be prepared to measure diameter and thickness but measuring thickness is tricky as some coins have slightly raised rims. There are recommended thickness slots each coin should pass through. If buying from a dealer there is nothing to worry about but if buying on eBay etc you should be prepared to check - chance of getting a fake is rare but starting your collection you need to get familiar with a few things. If a coin appears too thick and is underweight it will definitely be a fake. 3. use the factor 22/24 to convert weight into 24 ct gold. A full sovereign weighing e.g. 7.98 grams will contain 22/24 x 7.98 = 7.315g of pure gold. If spot is 29 per gram then this coin has a melt value of 212 A half sovereign would have exactly half this value i.e. 106 The best prices around if buying are 3% over London am fix so expect to pay 218 - 220 for a full sovereign and 110 for a half sovereign. If selling you will usually get 98% i.e. 208 approx and 104 approx. although some dealers ocassionally may offer spot. Atkinsons is a good start and their prices will range from about 3% to 5% above spot daily but they charge about 12 for shipping. If you can buy half sovereigns at 3% above spot this is perhaps better than buying full sovereigns as smaller denominations tend to have a slightly higher premium. Only until recently ( last year or less ) could you find bullion dealers selling half sovs at the same premium as full sovs, generally they wanted more for the halves. If anyone is selling proofs at 5% above spot then this is worth considering also but make sure you understand the difference between a real proof and a brilliant uncirculated. New coins are incredibly shiny and many sellers describe them as proofs incorrectly. Good time to start your collection - happy buying.
