UPDATE-IMAGES ADDED-Ugly...Buyers are reporting that many 2013 Silver Britannias are scuffed badly

carew4me

I have seen discussions on 2 "other" boards.

Composition change from .958 to .999 has resulted in scuffed coins (especially Queen side) from sealed Mint sheets.

Some even have coin on coin reed impressions indicating poor QC this year.

I have ordered 5 so I will report what I see.

If you have any let us know.

ricko

That is a shame, in the past, the Britannia's have always been virtually flawless. I used to have the gold sets and found them to be amazingly beautiful coins...Cheers, RickO

carew4me

5 silver coins are in an ALL have issues. Its bad.

Scuffs and reed indentations abound similar to other buyers, almost all on Queen face.

There are also noticeable rim scratches.

on the left - still sealed- reed marks are not on plastic.

bjeffv

I bought one, and didn't really look at it closely until seeing this thread. Its scuffed on both sides pretty bad, it came straight from modern coin mart.

I was thinking of ordering up a few more, and am glad I didn't.

derryb

aren't these bullion coins and not marketed as collector coins?

carew4me

<< <i>aren't these bullion coins and not marketed as collector coins? >>



Ok, why are Pandas, Kooks and the like graded at all then? Why were there 28 pages of comments about
"scratches in the mirror fields" when the bullion ATBs were issued?

The "it's just bullion" retort has been roundly dismissed by the PM community.

Baley

<< <i>

<< <i>aren't these bullion coins and not marketed as collector coins? >>



Ok, why are Pandas, Kooks and the like graded at all then? Why were there 28 pages of comments about
"scratches in the mirror fields" when the bullion ATBs were issued?

The "it's just bullion" retort has been roundly dismissed by the PM community. >>



No, the retort is dismissed by the PM collector community

carew4me

While PM "collectors" rage...


And by the way the size also changes to 38.6 mm from 40mm.

None of the "coin blogs" mentioned the size change.

Do you think if the SAE size changed it would be mentioned?

These early strikes are a disaster...lets hope someone with some pull
shames the Royal Mint.

derryb

<< <i>

<< <i>aren't these bullion coins and not marketed as collector coins? >>



Ok, why are Pandas, Kooks and the like graded at all then? Why were there 28 pages of comments about
"scratches in the mirror fields" when the bullion ATBs were issued?

The "it's just bullion" retort has been roundly dismissed by the PM community. >>


Didn't say "just bullion" but I will now that you brought it up. My point was that they are marketed/sold as just bullion; one should not expect them to be more. An example of the difference is the gold eagle bullion coin with no mintmark and the business strike gold eagle bullion collector coin with a mintmark - two different quality control standards/production methods by the producer and rightfully expected by the consumer who pays more for the collector version.

I have hundreds of silver maple bullion coins right out of the box with spotting. While I don't like it, it does not affect their value as bullion and I have no legitimate complaint with the producer. In fact, this is what brings a good premium to MS70 "just bullion" coins, the fact that they aren't minted to higher standards.

carew4me

Fundamentally I agree with your sentiment however,
I think this year the issue is fraught with quality issues that
separate it by far from other years.

Also, given the design rotation , there are many that buy this issue each year.

Also the premium of past years settles the issue of whether these are just bullion.

Finally, is it not fair to compare them to product from other countries who have a consistent clean strike?


Most odd of all is the fact that no lead story or blogs mentions that the size of the issues changed!

Imagine if SAE size changed, I guess we could just tell those folks "it is just bullion, your Dansco be damned!"

derryb

Just think what this will do to the premium for 70s.

TWQG

Yuck, that is bad.

CaptHenway

Any Mint can have quality control problems if its employees are not trained well enough and/or just don't give a damp.

One of my fellow authenticators at ANACS once got a VIP tour of the San Francisco Mint in the late 70's. He was being shown the proof set packaging line, and the people assembling the sets were wearing smocks, caps and gloves to protect the coins. Then all of the sudden they came across a worker who was wearing all of the protective gear, and in between sets was sticking her gloved hand into a bag of potato chips, shoving them in her mouth, and then using the same gloved hand to assemble the next set. The Supervisor giving the tour excreted a large rectangular solid!