Mike

They are nice box, how much do they want for them? I think, but not certain, that this is the guy that makes them for the RM: http://www.robdaviscabinets.co.uk

No not yet, I think there must have been a delay to the printing. Im going to chase through foyles...

And you too! All the best everyone

Are NGC UK falling apart? Im not challenging it its just the first i've heard and I haven't felt that to be the case either. I see they have expanded their office also which I took, maybe incorrectly as a sign of growth. Although I understand the snobbery associated with companies like this wanting / needing a London address, it really isn't important anymore and they'd be better off picking another city, York or Manchester to my mind and spend the money on the people and process. I take your point about the low salary vs responsibility and that does seem low if that is the case (especially in London). But I think there are a lot of us that are responsible for budgets and assets that way exceed our personal financial position. It's getting someone who is interested and trustworthy as you say. But PCGS seem to have managed it in Paris and NGC in London (although I appreciate you may disagree). I Agree a dealer isn't the right place, they'd be more of a target than they currently are and it needs to be the core business due to the volume. As a client I personally wouldn't care where they were. I would be more interested in their security and efficiency to process. Grading is surely a big enough thing now in the UK just justify a small team of graders and experts? PCGS need to jump in with both feet rather than just dipping a toe tentatively and give it at least 5yrs to mature imo. This would possibly finish NGC off in the UK, unless they moved with it also.

Id agree with Steve, ive always found Jamie to be friendly and helpful. However its is a shame if he’s leaving. I have noticed he doesn't pick up emails anymore and Oduwa does what he did (and ive also found her to be excellent, she is recent recruit I think). If PCGS want UK business, they need to open a UK office imo

Hey @Dean13, I was one of those lucky enough to get a plain edge, I'll share photo's when it lands but.... sometime January

TS... where? 😂 I disagree entirely, we are in the general section of a community and everyone is welcome to talk about whatever they wish I 🙂

😄 this was Morton and Eden, so not just a general salesroom

Any idea when Part 2 is?

It looks very much proof to me in those photo's! fully agree on auction photos, doesn't seem to matter where you shop, the photos they use hardly ever tell you much and you have to rely on the graders more than we'd like to when spending significant sums sometimes. I do trust the appraisal of some of the better auction houses though, but even then its a gamble

If anyone was successful in grabbing one or more of the stunning coins in the Sincona british coin auction last month, NGC have put a bit of a write up on their website here . Perhaps more interesting they have uploaded high resolution images of each of the coins which you might be interested in grabbing while you can. Also nice just to look through: https://www.ngccoin.com/gallery/sincona/?page=1 @Shaun

yeah I think you had to have bought the previous coins in the range directly from them to stand a chance. Which is fair enough I guess but means there’s little chance for anyone who just wants this one. fingers crossed for the 9am lucky dip! 🤞

Widely anticipated and could well be one of my favourites in the series tbc 🤔, the RM are releasing a re-strike of the Gothic Crown in gold and silver. Release is speculated to be next week (on the first of two coins), although there's an outside chance it could be tomorrow imo. My only reservation is that they are doing it as two coins to capture both sides of the Gothic Crown on a coin rather than having to call it a medal if it had been a straight out restrike. Personally I would have prefferd one coin (or a medal), with the reverse as we know it, then a special obv, could have been a Gillick head, could have been QEII in gothic garb, could have been QEII and Victoria in a double portrait like they did with a Phillip a few years ago, could just have stuck with the reverse and ditched the Victoria effigy alltogether (they didn't feel the need to do a second coin on the una where the young head there is in my opinion better than the obv of the Gothic, or George III on the three graces), but no they are doing two. So based on previous coins the 2oz gold is likely to set you back 2 x £5k for the set so quite a reach for most. The range is similar to the three graces, I hope they cut the mintages back to more like the Una though, but lets see... 2oz Gold and Silver 5oz Gold and Silver 10oz Gold and Silver 1kg Gold and Silver 2kg Gold and Silver 5kg Gold 10kg Gold I'll be after the same as everyone else I expect, 2oz G&S.... You can register your interest here to get an email from them: https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/the-great-engravers/gothic-crown/ As a separate thought, I think the RM need start doing something that the other mints can't completely rip off and / or stop licensing it out as it floods the markets with options that aren't too dissimilar other than the terrible obv's that the other mints have. *image courtesy of the Royal Mint

Take care people, some teachers at my childrens school have gone down with covid, “so what” I hear you ask, the answer Is these were all teachers who had covid in June / July this. We are friendly enough to have been in touch with two of them and it seems they don’t think their symptoms are any easier than last time, despite having had the jabs and booster…. When does it end or at least stop being so socially and economically debilitating!

oh, that'll be nice to see!

No, there isn't a limit. They are all insured to the value declared on the submission form once in the custody of NGC. worth noting though that if they are asked to post back then once they hand over to the courier NGC insurance ends and it passes to the couriers insurance.

No I don't, but I do see your point and had been looking at it with a similar thought when I first got it back. I don't think the difference in lighting helps the photos here. It was never a heavy cameo, but due to the hazy fields in the original shot I was able to position in a way that helped display the cameo better but wouldn't really have worked once the fields were more reflective. You see the black back of my iPhone that I use to darken the field more prominent in the first shot and its has more of an orange / warm light going on so was probably done at night. The second shot has more white light and I think a purple / pink highlight as a reflection from monitors. When Im next able to, I'll get a different photo and try to replicate the first shot and see how they compare. I've attached a different shot I took but i'm not sure it really achieves anything different. I find not having a great camera set-up, the best position is often spoilt by the way the light strikes the portraits and can make what is a gentle form look sharp and 'odd' so I tend to position to show the form rather than necessarily the contrast between the fields and devices, which sometimes makes for awkward reflections.

Nice short article by the RM, in preparation of the upcoming Gothic Crown(s) but more about his work and the young Vic heads https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/the-great-engravers/una-and-the-lion/a-prolific-artist/?__ja=tsid%3a38667|kw%3aE22C48B&utm_medium=email&utm_source=product-launch&utm_campaign=2021-11-com-gothic-crown-teaser&utm_content=main-cta1&ca=ryi&mc=E22C48B

Look to be in nice condition, what are you getting them ready for? grading?

oh man, that's excellent. They have really identified why people enter their coins into collections online. Yes thats a fair point, it is indeed a journey. However, I don't see me ever becoming one to be drawn towards date runs and rarities and varieties on circulation sovereigns. I have dipped my toe in quite a few times and and then sold out and come back to proof. Its about what makes something desirable to me and right now, primarily if a coin isn't beautiful and of high grade first, i'm going to end up regretting it, irrespective of everything else. Rarity (to some degree) and age is a close second but needs to be present for me to know it's not going anywhere soon. Variety for me is a nice to have, but does bring more interest and gives me something to investigate and research, but isn't a necessity. For these reasons, the NGC offering is sufficient, albeit leaves a lot to be desired when you see how PCGS come at it. Maybe I will change in time on my journey... Yes, I don't think it'll work in the UK unless they are present as themselves, we are different to the US culture in that sense. We don't by nature like middle men or someone involved in something that doesn't really add value, at the least we are sceptical. If, and it is a big if, I could walk into a PCGS office and have a discussion with them about my coins and the likelihood of certain collections crossing in full, then having seen their system, I don't rule out the possibility of it. I would just need to get over the slabs which is a hurdle for me but perhaps not quite as high.

PCGS without a doubt maintain the census and database so much better, and I am very envious of it. I've just been looking through it again from that link you posted to one of your sets. The presentation and categorisation of the coins is superb, very impressive. NGC would have a long way to go to even come near it. It's to the point that I can't understand why NGC haven't done something about it. NGC are too willing to accept / create a new variety just because one submitter puts something specific on a coin submission where another submitter doesn't although they may be the same and belong in the same place. So you can have a coin that is single finest / top pop, in reality it can be one of many. They just don't consider it I think when they grade, it would be a mammoth job to unwind it now if they even wanted to. I appreciate the point that its about the coin, but if i'm putting it into a case it is important to me that it looks at it best, I do understand though that this doesn't add anything other than a visual. Im at a point where i'm considering my own label 😅 which is an utter waste of money but that will be for coins that won't see the market again for some time and for my enjoyment. It is easy to work with NGC in London to be fair, they are a helpful bunch and you can have a 1 to 1 business friendly relationship with them in London, but maybe it's the same with PCGS. I can also drop off by hand or send by SD and they are there quick, it feels safer / easier anyway. They also rely on the US to grade which 'should' give some continuity, at least the graders have gone through the same school. I do have a problem with PCGS and that they don't have a UK office and that they grade in both the US and Paris and I'm not convinced they both grade in the same way or with he same approach / care, which to my mind anyway devalues the good work globally, that they do in the US. Don't get me wrong, I know both companies get it wrong and there are outliers, but generally speaking they are there or there about the same I think. It could be just my experience but I have had some very generously graded PCGS proofs, especially on the older sovereigns and I have assumed, rightly or wrongly that these have been done in Paris. If I wasn't OCD about the slabs being the same and just wanted the highest grades and not necessarily the right grades, I would send my modern proofs to NGC and my older proofs to PCGS Paris. This post was longer than I expected 😅... best do some proper work!

Yes, more obvious on the obv

Cheat 😄, but yes. Here it is back from grade

Will Spink own the copyright now @Shaun ? Is that how they operate?

100% agree, NGC imaging is utterly terrible. The PCGS database is in a different league. But PCGS do offer the same / similar service, but call it restoration 🤷🏻‍♂️ Not sure if its any difference but they advertise it similar: https://www.pcgs.com/restoration 😄 now now, to be fair ive had some super results with it on the old coins, very hazy proofs brought back to life and some truly awful deep, dark copper spots that ruin the eye appeal (alot) removed. You do lose the lovely orange peel affect that you can get though like on that 1817 proof of yours. …and NGC slabs arent ugly 😛😂🥊