misterbrillo

I have no doubt that the big boys in London will send the big ticket items but, even then, the FedEx UK T&Cs, section 8.1 (Prohibited Items), item L states quite clearly that collectible coins (or any money equivalent item) are prohibited from shipment and no money back guarantee applies to loss. That's the difference between the risks that the Big Boys are prepared to take and the Small Boys (me) are not - I can't afford to lose the money, LOL.

Hi Zadok; Thanks for that. Yes, you are correct about RM International Tracked but the main downside to that service is the compensation payable if the package does not arrive - £50 (about $65 approx), which can be increased for extra payment to £250 ($325 approx). Not many coins worth sending with a value of less than £250. And of course, there's that other issue: putting a customs label on the package stating: "Gold coins, please slit open and help yourself". The other issue that if one just puts "coins" (for example) on the label, there is the risk of seizure for inadequate declaration. And.....for dispatch of eBay items that require a signature be shown to eBay to prove delivery in case of a dispute, there is the asterisk (*) in the terms and conditions: "A signature is taken on delivery. However, we don't provide you with a copy of the signature as part of the service". And finally - the very first item in the list of services: "Your item is tracked until it leaves the UK" (i.e. your item is not tracked after that.) I'd like to think that it's just unjustified paranoia, but experience tells me otherwise, even though I am sure that a vast majority of packages make it safe and sound; for small-time folk like me, the loss of one package can have a marked financial repercussion. Oh dear.

Sorry old chap, I'm afraid not. The irony is that due to favourable tax advantages related to British Sovereigns which don't apply to Manx versions, anytime that I got a standard IoM Viking Sovereign in my hand in the past, I always endeavoured to change it into a British Sovereign as quickly as possible, so apart from a couple of special issues, I don't have Manx gold to hand.

Ha, thought you were serious - was getting ready to offer you a half version that I have kicking around. There are many good proof halves available - as you say, it's down to the price of gold in the end. Good luck with that, it will come good in the end.

I determined rarity from Krause, Zebo - low mintage quoted so I knew that I had done well.

Thank you for your kind words, gentlemen. I am kept quite busy in my professional work, but will dip in as and when. I think you know full well how difficult it is to get any sensible answers out of Pobjoy Mint so yes, that's a shot in the dark, I'm afraid, LOL! I have very few IoM coins now and most other coins that I have are bullion grade, put away for retirement. I did have a graded 1984 1/10th proof angel, but sold it a while ago and used the money to buy about three times as much gold as contained in that coin.

Are you looking to acquire a full or half version of this coin?

The coin was sold for GBP 550 earlier in 2020. Just as background, thought you might like to know how such a rare coin came into my possession. It was not actually bought as a coin, it was bought as a "buy it now or best offer" off eBay as part of a 9 carat gold gate bracelet in 2010, listed solely as a "half sovereign gold bracelet". The seller's image was not the best but it was clear to me that it was not a standard "Viking" coin but it was hard for me to believe it might be one of the rare 1984 coins, so I asked the seller for an image but she could only tell me what it looked like and confirmed the date. That confirmed my thoughts so I made an offer of just over GBP 100 (!) on the bracelet which was accepted. As you can imagine, when it arrived, I was more than happy to see that the coin was as I had thought and I could scarcely believe my luck. That coin was quickly replaced with a standard half sovereign to sell the bracelet on at a profit whilst keeping the 1984 for my collection. Unfortunately, the damage on the coin was there when I received it and obviously as a consequence of being worn around someone's wrist, which is why I advertised it as in "circulated" condition. I know that it may sound sacrilegious to mention here but as I have gotten older, my mind has moved to more existential matters, including shifting all the special gold coins into bullion, but that is what I have felt the need to do because in the end, I need to live and that's why I started in the first place. For the IoM coin, the offer price was too good for me to refuse as it allowed me to buy almost 4 times the amount of gold that it contained. IoM gold coins have designs that are quite popular. Two in particular seem to sell well - the Cats and the Angels - so I snap them up if I see them at a decent price. Because they range in size from 1/25th upwards (and I believe that Pobjoy may have started producing 1/40th coins, but I have not bothered to investigate), they are accessible to all levels of buyer, even as the gold price has taken off again and allow a profit to be made to fund the purchase of bullion. I've attached a few of the images that I take to reference my stock, so not perfect but they do the job for general administration. In the coin shot with the circulated coin, that reference for size is a British £1 coin of the type that was recently withdrawn from circulation, just to show how small and intricate the coins can be. (The ones that I have put here are mostly all sold.) Just want to add a few reasons why a lot of UK buyers don't sell to US. For me personally as a private seller it's because: 1) Royal Mail tracking stops as the package goes out of EU, so cannot guarantee a signature when delivered - leaves seller open to abuse as cannot prove it ever got there; 2) Scare stories about USPS (and other courier) delivery people just leaving the packages on doorsteps if addressee was not at home (seems more so now that Covid is with us); 3) It actually says in (all?) courier contracts that gold is not covered for loss and may not be sent (check the small print); 4) Wary about filling in a customs or courier declaration that says "here's a package of gold, please put a small slit in it with a knife and help yourself" (There are no customs declarations to be filled in between EU member states); 5) Payment: difficult to arrange payment from US customers. They often want to use PayPal, but PayPal explicitly excludes gold from its seller protection programme (but keeps very quiet about doing so). EU countries have free transfer rules, so cheap and easy to use the bank for a next day transfer); 6) Distance selling can be disappointing because a buyer will often have an expectation that doesn't actually match reality, but if the item is in US and needs to be repatriated, then there is simply too much work to be done and too many risks able to present themselves. I do not totally exclude sending to US, but would only do so when I receive a signed waiver stating that the buyer will arrange collection and accept full responsibility for the package, no matter what the issue, once I have been paid by bank transfer (only) and given it to the courier and got a signed slip. Larger companies may not see these things as a big deal, but as a private, ageing individual, I just want peace, simplicity, reassurance and security when I sell my modest savings. Thank you for letting me interject into the thread.