The Sovereign Mintmark Collection by The Royal Mint
We offer for sale complete mintmark collections of British sovereigns. A detailed account of the 7 mints including the 6 branch mints can be found on our Mints & Mintmark page.
The following sets contain one each of the mintmarks issued in the reign. George V is the only monarch for whom all 7 mints and mintmarks were issued.
Save Over £500!
The Royal Mint, not content with its monopoly in producing new sovereigns, has for some years now been buying mintmark 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, for some reason, appear to trust the Royal Mint.
As we wrote this, the Royal Mint's latest price on its George V mintmark collection was £1,245! We should point out, in mitigation, that the Mint's collection does come in a quite impressive wooden box, with each coin in its own capsule, and with an informative booklet / certificate. At a pinch, the presentation might be worth as much as £50, but on the negative side, the quality of some of their coins is rather variable. We have the advantage of having seen a number of the Royal Mint's sets, so we know their typical grades. Some of their coins would not even make it into our lowest grade / price. Otherwise their sets are closest to our lowest graded set.
Even our most expensive set is £350 less than the Royal Mint's offering. Perhaps we should increase our prices, but we just can't bring ourselves to charging rip-off prices.
Since then, gold prices have risen, and we have had to revise some of our prices upwards, but our sets still remain a far better deal than those from the Royal Mint. (We can sell you one of their sets if you really want).
For details and prices of mintmark sets including ours and the Royal Mint's, please see our Mintmarks Sets page.
Since creating this page, we have found a Royal Mint sales brochure offering "The Sovereign Mintmark Collection", "Only for Royal Mint Coin Club Members", at £895. The copyright notice on this is dated 2000, at a time when we were offering our own set between about £395 to £495, depending on grade.
When we added our "Save Over £500!" heading, the price differential between our sets and those of the Mint, was indeed over £500. Since then, gold prices have risen, and we change our prices depending on bullion market gold prices, whereas we guess that the Royal Mint react more slowly to price changes. With their much bigger profit margins, they can well afford to do this. Because our prices are more competitive, we need to review our prices more frequently.
Government Wealth Warning
We wonder if some of the Royal Mint's offerings should come with a "Government Wealth Warning".
According to the Royal Mint's Website*:
At the beginning of the reign of George V the sovereign was still an integral part of daily life, changing hands frequently in a vibrant economy.
The First World War changed all that and within days of its outbreak in August 1914 the government was urging the public to give up its gold coins.
Although sovereigns were still struck overseas, if effectively meant the end of the sovereign as a coin in everyday use and thus the gold sovereigns of George V, struck at the Royal Mint in London and in several branches overseas, were the last sovereigns to be issued for general circulation.
This splendid collection comprises seven gold sovereigns struck in the reign of George V - one from each of the Royal Mint branches at Bombay, Ottawa, Pretoria, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, all bearing the King's effigy and each carrying a mintmark peculiar to its city or country of origin together with one struck at the Royal Mint in London.
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Presented in a wooden case, with an emblazoned brass plaque
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Accompanied by numbered Certificates of Authenticity
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The obverse of the coins features the commanding portrait of George V by Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal RA
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Benedetto Pistrucci's classic St George and the dragon graces the reverse of each sovereign
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All sovereigns are struck in 22 carat gold to very fine condition
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A Free pocketsize magnifying glass with every collection
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A Free booklet which charts the proud and distinguished history of the Royal Mint accompanies each collection.
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An issue limit of just 1,000 has been set
All Sovereigns are Struck in 22 Carat Gold to Very Fine Condition?
When we read this, we didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Surely when sovereigns are struck, they are in uncirculated condition. Once they have circulated for some time, they degrade through Extremely Fine to Very Fine condition.
The claim was obviously not made by a coin collector, as one of our colleagues pointed out, but I would suggest that it was not written by anybody with an understanding of the English language.
So it must have been written by a marketing person!
Our conclusion from this is:
It is now official that not only do the Royal Mint not know anything about numismatics, but they don't know what they are talking about either.
Mintmark Sets - Our Own Superior Quality Sets
For availability and pricing. Also for the Royal Mint sets as on this page.
The George V Sovereign Mintmark 7 Coin Collection by The Royal Mint
Although the certificate which accompanies this set specifies that all seven coins are George V sovereigns, they also sell a "George V Sovereign Mintmark 7-coin Collection". As far as we can tell, the set is identical except for its title which is repeated on the certificate, and probably also the box lid, but appears to be in a slightly upgraded box similar to the "Three Monarchs Sovereign Mintmark Set". Confused? Yes, so were we.
* It is the Royal Mint's George V Sovereign Mintmark Collection which makes this particular statement.
