I'm looking to buy my first full sovereign.
Can anyone help me with an updated guide as to what your average full sovereign in reasonable condition would be worth today?
I'm not looking for any of the more collectible rare dates or unc stuff, Just any old date in reasonable condition would be great for a first Sov.
I see a few on eBay but I'm not sure if they're fair value or not.
ebay won't be fair value for a start - ebay wants their cut. Haven't sold anything there for a while, but I think it used to be over 10%, maybe 12% of the sale price. Might be wrong, but there is a cost and that is typically rolled in, as will be pp&h and GST if applicable.
gumtree is worse - full of dreamers
in short, target price as a buyer for *bullion* sovs should be spot or walk away from it
anything better than that grade and you will need to know the basics of grading. Fortunately there is plenty around on the internet on this topic and somebody here will have pulled together a thread on it. Typically you are looking at a seller who will talk up/over grade and a buyer who will pick out the faults and try and push it down. If the coin has been slabbed by a professional grader then there is no argument, though you must also be watchful for fraudulent items which have been "slabbed".
you could try searching the "collecting the australian gold sovereign" by ANDA for a start, for getting a basic idea
there are numerous sites which reference key dates and better dates, as well as provide something of a price guide
you might try and approach a dealer or two and ask what they would pay for certain coins from you, to get a feel for the spread
note dealers must pay tax and overheads as well as generate profit so you won't pay spot
I was once in your shoes. Many years ago I bought my first sov from a major numismatic dealer in Sydney and they clearly told me it was bullion, so I knew what I was buying. It still cost 375 from memory, a lot more than its gold content at the time. I might be underestimating the price. Anyway, what I do remember better is it took many years for it to be in the green, as it took ages for the spot price of gold to rise to the point where I could sell it and get the money back.
This is a useful lesson you don't need to learn. Never buy a bullion grade item unless spot or very close to it. The reason is obvious - you can't sell it until a set percentage rise in the gold price. For sovs this can be high.
