Gold coins Harrington and Byrne. help!

ceewash

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/9753/1hXClX.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/9963/jqTT92.jpg
This is the only documents we have.

ColdIron

£39 would be a fair price for a 24k, 0.5 gram proof coin (though at 11mm it must be paper thin) so the question remains, why is he paying £600 for it? Probably something only H&B can answer

ceewash

Yes that is what I need to find out. Hoping it is just some sort of error or misunderstanding.

Aretnap

And does the coin actually weigh 0.5g? (If you don't have an accurate set of scales to hand, a 5p coin weighs 3.25g for comparison. Must be extremely thin if it does weigh that...) 

ceewash

tacpot12 said:

There are no coins costing £39 on the Harrington and Byrne website; there is nothing costing less than £699.
And £139.20 * 5 = £699, so I think it likely he has bought a 2018 Australia Coronation Jubilee Quarter Ounce Gold Proof Coin. He has paid about double what the gold is worth.

I doubt it is a scam. Why would you scam people out of money when you can sell a real coin for twice what it is worth?
Also the website looks correct in that it has all the legally prescribed information on it. The company is registered and has been trading for six years. The T&Cs allow him to return it for a full refund within 30 days. 

It was February when he bought it. 

ceewash

I can't understand why he would be paying so much for it if this was a legitimate company.  Also the coin has sovereign on back and paper work says £5 coin. feel out of my depth here but something doesn't seem right.

DiggerUK

Hi ceewash, the coin image you posted is not the Tristan da Cunha £5 24ct 0.5 gm. It is something else.
It doesn't look like a rip off site, they just sell some stuff at high prices. Their current UK sovereign on offer at £339 is in the current price range that should be expected. Having said that, it is quite normal to find out that they are "out of stock" and then asking  "if you would you be interested in one of our other offerings".

This outfit do smell a bit 'sharp practice' to my seasoned eye however. 

UK gold sovereigns are minted in 22ct gold, not 24ct. These Tristan da Cunha coins are known as 'rounds' in the gold world, they may be sold as coins, but all they are worth is the value of the gold content. If you provide more details we will be able to give you a valuation on what your dads bought.

Keep calm, it sounds like he has been overcharged, as opposed to being ripped off..._

ceewash

I don't have any more details but it seems like an old man has been taken for a ride. He has fallen for a scam before which cost him a few hundred pounds, hence my anxiety. Any advice on what I should say to them when I phone them. And thank you for all these replies.

ColdIron

Do you have an invoice?

ceewash

No. There is just an entry on his Barclaycard statement for £139.80 which was first payment of 5. Made to "Harrington and Byrne Lim, Bournemouth". Bit vague as this information is coming via my brother.