what is it about sovereigns?

[phrenzy]

First it was low premium silver, a lunar dragon was a little too numi for me and gold was expensive compared to silver so that was way out. Then I see an Austrian 4 ducat, it's massive for its weight/cost, low premium and looks like the sort of medieval coin that popes were bribed with, the spots low so why not? Sovereigns though? Half the weight and size, higher premium, much less impressive to look at and paying more or less on the basis of a tiny mint mark?

It creeps up on you doesn't it? See a couple in a bulk pile and pick one or two that might be worth a little bit more thanks to their collectabillity than the normal large premium over spot sovs command. Maybe it's rare enough you can trade it for a 4 ducat, right?

The history gets at you, sovs minted during wartime to pay for battleships, the first sovs minted in australia bearing the countries name to make use of the copius metal coming out of the goldfields. Similar story when they opened the mint out west. Sovs from all over the empire.

They came hidden in James Bond's suitcase and in the survival kits of airforce pilots in case they had to bribe a border guard. It's hard not to like that.


It's not just the history, there's something about the conneseurship of collectible sovs. Minute details differentiating one coin from another, the small marks and wear that denote graded condition. A 150 year old piece of Australian history in 22karat gold...a few hundred over spot starts to sound reasonable.

There's still a big part of me that thinks they are just gold coins and forking out $750 for 0.2354tOZ of gold is contrary to my natural tendencies but there is definately something about them. Now I'm cashing in my ducats to get nice sovs, it feels like a form of insanity.

How did they get their claws into you?

 

[Belvedere]

For me it is the history as well as the gold value. I have a few that are very ordinary looking and have obviously been through a few pockets and I have some numi ones as well. I really like the half sovs as they are a bit harder to find. Half the fun is in the chase. I stack as well but it is only the sovs that I reach for when I want to admire something. They are very addictive and my grandkids can't believe there are coins older than me. Keep collecting.

 

[trozau]

For me, it was the 5 Sovereign coin that got me hooked. I have quite a few 5 Sovereigns both slabbed and unslabbed. Here's my sweet 16 (slabbed Sovereigns - all classic St George)...

 

[SpacePete]

A member sold me one at a meet and a few months later I was hooked and had acquired some more. Besides the aesthetics and history, a big advantage for me is that they are far more space-efficient than silver.

 

[phrenzy]

I never had any out of a flip but capsule but I had a couple to stack and play with and there is something cool about stacking and counting them. Something tells me I would have loved to be an early 19th century banker or tax man just so I could spend all day listening to the clack of the coins on the checkerboard.

A little dads army with some prominently features sovs. Watch the whole thing if you have time or skip to 1:35 if you want to get to the juicy bit.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAz9e0YYLak[/youtube]


Trozau: those quints are pretty sweet!

 

[neonuke]

definitely the history of them, love looking at my sovereigns and pondering all the history that is contained in such a small yet beautiful coin.

easy to hide, lovely to behold, can be numi or bullion, recognisable, fairly liquid (unless a really nice numi piece which commands a high premium).

my fav is my 1875 Melbourne mint sov in absolutely stunning uncirculated condition. even has a 2 o'clock offset error to boot.

they're also fun (addictive) to collect, there are so many ways to collect them.

you can collect different mints, different monarchs, errors, not to mention some interesting re-dos of George and the Dragon and the shield (e.g. 2002, 2005, 2012) and the 1989 500 year commemorative.

absolutely fabulous coins they are

 

[phrenzy]

My new baby:

Book value is $6k which seems to have no bearing in reality but it's nice to know

Sydney sovs are my new thing, a little piece of golden australian history.

I also picked up an 1871 s st george so I'm thinking I might try for the first of each australian sovereign of each type as a new goal. I have the 1899 perth, 57 type 2 and now 71 s st george which leaves the melbourne shield and St george, sydney shield and an 1855 type 1 :s. Frankly if I could find a 55 type 1 that was in pretty shoddy shape it works work for me, as long as you can read australia on the front. Maybe someone has one that got jammed in a coke machine

 

[dougy032]

bro its not 6k and i have the same goal im trying to get every sydney mint with out paying a fortune im getting there but 1856 and 55 are near impossible to find at a good price and same but not so much with 1860
got this one the other day for 800 hate paying double price of spot but its pretty much paying 400 for rarity

 

[phrenzy]

I know it's not worth 6k, not by a long shot, but that's the current Rennik's price for an aU '65 sov.

Your 1863 looks pretty strong on the reverse for an aU50. It's so hard to find type 2 sovereigns where old Vic's braids in front and below her ears aren't worth into the background. Yours looks very sharp, a little loss of detail in the wreath but still very strong for it's grade.

I'm slowly putting together a collection but I'm starting to think I've been aiming a little low grade wise. I know I'll always be able to get my money back as they are pretty easy to sell at cheaper prices but I can't make my mind up if I should be aiming for an xf or better set or if I should be happy getting the set in a minimum F/VF and just replace the lower grade ones with higher grades as I see good prices for them pop up.

 

[dougy032]

yeah ok, i agree thats what i have been doing just buying vfs for now till i have them all, after that ill try and upgrade one at a time

 

[phrenzy]

A few of my little Victorias are off to grading so I took some pictures to remind me what they look like while I'm without them for a few months. The camera picks up every little flaw but I'm holding out hope that I'll get a few back aUnc.

*edit* there are two large BP 1871S not one coin twice. The scratch on the last image is on the flip do I think that's my best chance at getting a low unc coin.

 

[dougy032]

yeah they look good to me, i really want to complete my collection so hard to get 1860 for a reasonable price i was on a bidding war on ebay and lost could of got an xf45 for $650, there was a au 53 selling for $1750 at drank stirling coins and i got offered an au 58 for $3100 but ill get it one day just have to keep watching

 

[phrenzy]

Just got my grading results back for my first batch of sovs. The two 1857 cane back vf35 and xf details - cleaned. I'm not surprised on the details but I don't think it was cleaned. My 1899p came back xf45 and the the 1884s came back aU53.

I'm not super surprised and I hold much higher hopes for the next batch. Even though the 84s cake back high I don't think I'll burger sending any common sovs of again. Strictly the good stuff.

 

[dougy032]

yeah i think its only worth it a xf45 or above whats the ponit in sending a vg or a fine if really you pay money to get it graded to only get just above spot for it unless its very rare like a 1855 half sovereign, who did you go through to get them graded drake stirling offered me to send my coins to him to ship off to america i think for around 100 a coin

 

[phrenzy]

I went through Eric at drake stirling. The cost for non us gold coins worth less than $3000 is $65 plus the cost of optional insurance. If it was your type 1 half then the estimated value might have been over 3k which might account for the higher price. I certainly wouldn't have sent any normal sovereign in the lower grades that the 57 were in but rarer type 2's makes it almost worthwhile. I'm quite confident about the next batch though. I knew the first batch were marginal.

Do you still have the type 1? I keep thinking about getting into halves but I'm already making myself broke trying to collect the full sovereigns.

My goal for the moment is still to get the first of each type from each mint but finding a cheap 72 m shield and st george is proving hard and the 55 type 1 abs Adelaide pound go without saying...

 

[phrenzy]

A few of my little Victorias are off to grading so I took some pictures to remind me what they look like while I'm without them for a few months. The camera picks up every little flaw but I'm holding out hope that I'll get a few back aUnc.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320xq90/r/631/Wg8b5R.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320xq90/r/631/x90u8z.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320xq90/r/537/x7x2W5.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320xq90/r/633/BX53qV.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320xq90/r/540/tU2WwT.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320xq90/r/540/tU2WwT.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320xq90/r/538/MQPAar.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320xq90/r/673/VS1Ehu.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320xq90/r/631/cMOuko.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320xq90/r/673/sn5Yv3.jpg

*edit* there are two large BP 1871S not one coin twice. The scratch on the last image is on the flip do I think that's my best chance at getting a low unc coin.

i like these things

That was a while ago now, most of those are back from grading and up on the block for sale now. The 1871 was a hard coin to let go of and I'll probably find another when I can but needs must, you can't own ALL the coins in world, you can only try.