The Bentley collection seems to have been eclipsing everything recently, but another noteworthy trove has also been up for auction. Whilst it consisted of gold medallions as well as coins the story behind it is fascinating.

Apparently, half a century ago, an’ Eastern European Gentleman” deposited this collection in a London bank vault. In the 1990′s the vault was closed and despite great efforts, no trace of him could be found. As a result the collection was put up for auction, with the proceeds going to…..the Government (ouch!).

You can see the results here.

Til next time,

Happy gold coin collecting,

Paul

www.BuyBullionCoins.com

An interesting article here from Scoin. As I have mentioned previously, they are new entrants into the gold coin market in the UK and are already making waves.

I hope this is more of a PR ‘press release’ type of article, rather than ‘hard truth’, as I don’t believe that the William and Catherine commemorative gold coin is a particularly good ‘investment’ for anyone wanting to dip their toe into gold buying. Any UK buyer would be better served by starting with traditional gold sovereigns, where the market is deep and liquid.

An interesting read though.

Til next time,

Happy gold coin collecting,

Paul

www.BuyBullionCoins.com

Well, the results are in from the recent Baldwins, Bentley auction….and prices for the good material, was strong. You can see a complete list of the results here.

Lot 335, went for…drum roll…15,000 pounds (hammer price), which equates to just under 20k (sterling), when you pay the auction premium and VAT. So, yes, a bidding was did break out.

However, I notice that the prices of a lot of the minor sovereign variants are only just “bullion” prices. People, it would appear, are only marginally interested in unusual die numbers or lettering variants.

Til next time,

Happy gold coin collecting,

Paul

www.BuyBullionCoins.com

Yesterday, I talked about an intriguing gold pattern proof sovereign of 1893.

Well the power of Google reveals that in 2007, either this coin, or the only other known specimen, went to auction……. and fetched $40,000.

See here.

That means the auction guide price is more than a little light, I think.

Til next time,

Happy gold coin collecting,

Paul

www.BuyBullionCoins.com

Browsing through the catalogue for the upcoming Bentley Sale, I was intrigued by item 335.

You can see it here.

It is an excessively rare, 1893 pattern gold sovereign. The coin was produced by Allan Wyon, as a proposal for, what would become, the “Old Head” Sovereign.

First off, the design; I am not convinced that the portrait of Victoria is as good as the version, which eventually went into production (& we all know so well). The crown on this pattern seems a little two dimensional.

However, the Reverse is exceptional. The dragon is truly incredible, with intricate detailing in the scales. I wonder in fact if this design was the inspiration for the 2012 gold sovereign? This If it was, then the current engravers have failed to live up to the standards of the past (& how many times have I said that in recent years?).

So, how rare is this coin, and how accurate is the guide price?

In 1927 Baldwins recorded that THREE of these coins existed.

However, in 2003 when the Dr Jacob Terner collection went to auction, among the great rarities was a version of this coin, but in silver.

Half way down this page, you can see a reference to this coin. Here is a quote:

“In more than 20 years of searching, Dr. Terner never located this pattern in gold.”

So, one of the greatest collections of coins IN HISTORY never managed to obtain THIS COIN!

And quoting further “Which in gold is R7, only 1 or 2 known”.

So, between 1927 when Baldwins identified 3 of these coins and today, at least one seems to have gone missing.

I think a bidding war will ensue!

Til next time,

Happy gold coin collecting,

Paul

www.BuyBullionCoins.com

FINALLY! I have written before that the incredible Bentley collection of gold sovereigns is coming to the market soon. The first sale is due to commence in early MAY- so not much time to get your money together. Looking through the catalogue, MANY of the pieces are extremely affordable. So this is a great chance to acquire a specimen which will have an incredible provenance.

You can find the online catalogue here.

Tile next time,

Happy gold coin collecting,

Paul

www.BuyBullionCoins.com

I often talk about how small the UK coin market actually is. The fact that the Bentley collection needs to be broken up & sold over the course of a year, shows how few collectors there are in the UK with REALLY deep pockets.

However, it is a different story in the US. Besides being a collector market, it is also an INVESTOR market. Now, I am the first to admit that this brings with it a lot of drawbacks. Prime amongst them, is that real collectors often get priced out of the market.

However, such a market bias means that so much of the best quality material – including English hammered and milled gold, shows up for auction in the States. To the normal collector, what appears at auction often has the ‘drool factor’, being outside their price range. BUT, if I had some truly great coins, which I wanted to get the best price for, I would send them stateside to sell.

Here is an example of what I am talking about.

Til next time,

Happy gold coin collecting,

Paul

www.BuyBullionCoins.com

I have a couple of interesting articles I would like to share with you;

The first is about the discovery of a hoard of ancient Jewish coins in Israel. As you know, I am a fan of Israeli gold coins, but this is a truly ancient discovery.

You can see the clip here.

It is in Hebrew, but subtitled into English (don’t panic, it’s only a 10 min. clip!).

The second article concerns the price of gold. In recent weeks, gold has pulled back about $100 an ounce and I keep getting a lot of questions about the future direction. As I always say, I really don’t know……but this article gives an interesting perspective.

Til next time,

Happy Gold coin collecting,

Paul

www.BuyBullionCoins.com

I keep writing about the hordes of gold coins that seem to be popping up. Just like busses, nothing happens for ages, then three come along at once!

Well here is the latest story of newly discovered coins…..and looking at the picture, some nice James 1 Unites amongst them. I bet we will see those at auction soon!

Til next time,

Happy gold coin buying,

Paul

www.BuyBullionCoins.com

1999. As you know I am a fan of the gold Britannia coin, either in its one ounce incarnation or in its smaller sizes. However, it is instructional to look through the mintage figures for this coin. Some of the issuances have been VERY low. For example, on Lawrence Chards wonderfully informative website, he points out that in 1999 only 1,277 coins were produced. Of course, 1999 was the year when gold prices reached an all-time low and there was essentially no interest in these coins. How things have changed! Today, you can buy some of these low mintage coins at little over the spot price of gold. This makes them unbelievable bargains.

Til next time,

Happy gold coin buying,

Paul

www.BuyBullionCoins.com

Newer Posts »