Gold and Silver Britannias to change composition to .9999 gold and .999 silver in 2013

pendragon1998

Gold and Silver Britannias to change composition to .9999 gold and .999 silver in 2013.
ARTICLE


Looks like 2012 was the the end of the original metal composition for the britannias.


" In an effort to compete with other, finer, world bullion coins, Royal Mint officials recently confirmed plans to launch Britannia .999 fine silver and .9999 fine gold coins later this year.

This signals a departure from the historic “Britannia” silver standard of .958 fine, as well as the standard .9167 fine gold in use for British coins for centuries."




Also mentioned was something to do with a change in packaging:

"As part of the bullion program overhaul, the Royal Mint is expanding its network of distributors and changing its packaging, moving from blisters to more durable tubes for easy storage and convenience."

...The effect of tubes vs. blister packaging on the protection of super-high grade britannias (69s and 70s) remains to be seen next year, I suppose. SOURCE ARTICLE

secondrepublic

interesting - thanks for posting. I wonder if the change in composition will shrink the diameter of the Britannias.

pendragon1998

I doubt it will. They are only changing 0.042 of the composition to silver from copper(?) which should be a neglegible difference. There may be a slight difference in color, though.

nibanny

If UK gives up on tradition, the Mayas must be right!
I think this move is not needed, collectors/stacker really don't care much to have britannias with three or four 9's, they don't sell for melt anyway! It's the design which is appealing. JMHO

Thanks for sharing.