1957 to 2003 21 Coin ER II Royal Sovereign Collection by The Royal Mint
Although we make up our our superior quality British gold sovereign sets, we also buy and sell various 'collections' marketed originally by the Royal Mint, including their '1957 to 2007 21 Coin ER II Diamond Wedding Gold Sovereign Collection'.
According to the Royal Mint's Certificate:
Product Information
Since 1817 all sovereigns have been struck in 22 carat gold to a weight of 7.98 grammes and with a diameter of 22 millimetres.
Issue Limits
Bullion sovereigns struck up to and including those of 1982 had no issue limit, being produced to satisfy demand from the international gold bullion market. Those struck in the twenty-first century, however, have each been subject to an issue limit - the Millennium sovereign to a maximum of 250,000 and the 2001, 2002 and 2003 sovereigns to an issue limit of 100,000 each.
Only 1500 Royal Sovereign Collections will be made available from the Royal Mint.
Each sovereign in the Royal Sovereign Collection is in "extremely fine" condition. For this reason it is advisable to avoid handling the coins as fingerprints will impair the surface.
Nice Box!
Housed in a specially designed oak veneered case, the collection is accompanied by an informative booklet incorporating a Certificate of Authenticity.
Three portraits of Her Majesty The Queen feature on the sovereigns in the collection: the young portrait by Mary Gillick was created for the first coins of the Queens reign; Arnold Machin's royal effigy was introduced at the time of decimalisation; and in 1998 a more realistic portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS graced the obverse of United Kingdom.
Each sovereign, apart from those of 2002, features St George and the dragon by Benedetto Pistrucci, a design created for the first modern sovereign of 1817. On the occasion of the Queens Golden Jubilee in 2002 the heraldic shield by artist Timothy Noad appeared on the sovereign'2950s reverse.
Price & Availability
Save at least £1,000 compared with Royal Mint's price.
The Royal Mint, not content with its monopoly in producing new sovereigns, has for some years now been buying mintmark and other sets of sovereigns from the numismatic trade, and marketing them to its "Coin Club" members (customers) at exorbitant prices. Sadly because most of its customers are not coin collectors, but ordinary members of the public who appear to trust the Royal Mint without question.
Prices & Timing
This page was first created in or around July 2008. As it is no longer a simple matter for us to determine our original publication date of text on this page, in order to ensure our comments are considered in their historical context, we note the following, and will add any more data as it becomes available:
It is likely that the Royal Mint's prices were set earlier in 2003, when gold bullion prices were around �222 per ounce, and the intrinsic gold content of the collection would have been less than �1,100.
Our own prices quoted were set when gold was around �472 per ounce, when the intrinsic gold content of the collection would more than double.
To give a clearer comparison, the Royal Mint's premium over gold content was around 135%, ours was around 26% premium.
Government Wealth Warning
We wonder if some of the Royal Mint's offerings should come with a "Government Wealth Warning".
Notes
* Buying this collection from the Royal Mint will not turn you into a numismatist. Real numismatists would source their own coins from a real, expert, professional coin dealer like us.
*Relevant Dates & Other Information
This page was first created in or around 2008. As it is no longer a simple matter for us to determine our original publication date of text on this page, in order to ensure our comments are considered in their historical context, we note the following, and will add any more data as it becomes available:
- All price comparisons were correct at the time of writing, The Royal Mint price of £2,495 in Bulletin 89 from the Royal Mint Coin Club in Winter 2003.
- Our complete collection set contains all QEII sovereigns, so they are directly comparable with the Royal Mint's sets.
- The Royal Mint may not be offering any similar sovereigns or sets currently.
- We have a copy of our photograph dated 24th July 2008.
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