Buying gold Britannia coins

LeadFarmer

Anyone here buy gold, or gold Britannia coins?

I quite like the idea of buying a gold Britannia coin for my 11yr old son (out of the savings I've been putting away for him), maybe with the date stamp of the year of his birth. Could put it away for a few years and maybe even keep it long enough to give it to him on his 21st birthday? Should I see this as more of a novelty thing to do rather than a solid investment?

*Edit - Im talking about real gold in the form of a coin, not the fancy coins that the Mint produce every year.

planteria

i would say primarily novelty, but it has some meaning so that's fine.. and it will always have an underlying value.

jamei305

As an 11 year old it would be quite an interesting gift, especially if they were encouraged to sell it if they wanted to, at a time of their choosing. I imagine they'd learn something about the nature of value.

For a 21 year old probably less so - they likely wouldn't feel able to sell it while you're around so it would probably steadily gather dust and lose value in a drawer for a few decades.

Alexland

We bought our son a Royal Mint year of the monkey 2016 coin as a Christening present on the same year as his birth. It was about £15 and hopefully he will treat it as special.

If he ever hits hard times and needs to sell it to survive he might be disappointed with the value. Still he is going to do well enough out of us during our lifetime and after.

We have 2 slightly more valuable coins and I keep them on my spreadsheet of physical assets, investments, cash and liabilities. This helps me keep track of accounts, understand our family net worth, assets under management and portfolio leverage.

Alex

ColdIron

I'd say it was a novelty and maybe reflects you own wishes rather than his. It's hard to say what he would think of it but casting my mind back to when I was 21 I think cold hard cash would have done it for me. Maybe split the difference and go for a Sovereign or even one of the smaller Perth Mint Lunar Series? Obviously work out if he's a dog or a pig like me (though I prefer to call it a boar)

Alexland

ColdIron wrote: »

Maybe split the difference and go for a Sovereign or even one of the smaller Perth Mint Lunar Series? Obviously work out if he's a dog or a pig like me (though I prefer to call it a boar)

That's a problem we might have if we have a second child and they expect their own low value lunar coin.

Still at the rate we are going that one might be a monkey too.

steampowered

Please assume that the coin will have no future value. It should be seen as a nice novelty only.

It is absolutely NOT an investment.

Have a read of https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5557600

This was a thread by someone who inherited a collection of coins from the Royal Mint from their uncle. The uncle spent several thousand over the years, but the coins only turned out to be worth a couple of hundred quid.

A_T

Gold has always had a value to people. At any given time it will be worth what someone is willing to pay for it - just like anything else.

DiggerUK

steampowered wrote: »

This was a thread by someone who inherited a collection of coins from the Royal Mint from their uncle. The uncle spent several thousand over the years, but the coins only turned out to be worth a couple of hundred quid.

No, it was not The Royal Mint that sold the coins. The London Mint is a notorious outfit that sells overpriced tat to unwary punters.

A word to the wise....even The Royal Mint sell at overpriced boutique prices, it’s cheaper to buy gold coins from outfits like these I have used and can recommend..._

http://www.elminvestments.co.uk/gold-coins.html
https://atkinsonsbullion.com/gold/gold-coins

Alexland

It's not very MSE but at around £15 it's a very nice Royal Mint coin and I have no regrets. I even invest in replacing broken light bulbs which is another terrible investment. I don't track the light bulbs in my spreadsheet, yet.

ColdIron

DiggerUK wrote: »

No, it was not The Royal Mint that sold the coins. The London Mint is a notorious outfit that sells overpriced tat to unwary punters.

They are currently offering free commemorative coins on daytime TV (postage £2.99). As DiggerUK says - tat