New Baldwins fixed price list

[mhcoins 95]

Anyone seen their new list ? Some great pieces !

If Only my pockets were deeper ...

[Nicholas 51]

Some nice pieces, but no bargains as I see it.

[VickySilver 830]

Uh, no, not for me either. Bit of gold, milled silver not so great, not seeing coppers...

[RLC35 288]

Uh, no, not for me either. Bit of gold, milled silver not so great, not seeing coppers...

Steve Hill told me that Baldwins don't deal much in Copper/Bronze...more the upper level coins only! Every time I see Baldwins here in the USA, they have a few Pennies, but not many.

[Nicholas 51]

Woah. There's a 50 shilling Cromwell..

[VickySilver 830]

Hi Bob, bit interesting that he (Steve) has related that to you. Baldwin's has had some of the very rarest copper bits ever seen in the latter milled series incl. the 1860 copper farthing and halfpennies, 1864 COPPER "patterns" (plural), 1877 proof farthings, 1933 pennies, the 1952 proof penny....

[RLC35 288]

Hi Bob, bit interesting that he (Steve) has related that to you. Baldwin's has had some of the very rarest copper bits ever seen in the latter milled series incl. the 1860 copper farthing and halfpennies, 1864 COPPER "patterns" (plural), 1877 proof farthings, 1933 pennies, the 1952 proof penny....

Stop by their booth some time, and ask to see their copper/bronze Pennies! I don't think you will find much. btw...the coins you are referring too, are the upper level type items Steve mentioned. Being a Copper/Bronze Collector, I am not impressed with the Baldwins offerings, and find them to be a little aloof.

[Colin88 54]

Hi Bob, bit interesting that he (Steve) has related that to you. Baldwin's has had some of the very rarest copper bits ever seen in the latter milled series incl. the 1860 copper farthing and halfpennies, 1864 COPPER "patterns" (plural), 1877 proof farthings, 1933 pennies, the 1952 proof penny....

I am not impressed with the Baldwins offerings, and find them to be a little aloof.

Baldwins always had and still have the "me expert, you dickhead" approach to dealing with ordinary collectors.

[RLC35 288]

Hi Bob, bit interesting that he (Steve) has related that to you. Baldwin's has had some of the very rarest copper bits ever seen in the latter milled series incl. the 1860 copper farthing and halfpennies, 1864 COPPER "patterns" (plural), 1877 proof farthings, 1933 pennies, the 1952 proof penny....

I am not impressed with the Baldwins offerings, and find them to be a little aloof.

Baldwins always had and still have the "me expert, you dickhead" approach to dealing with ordinary collectors.

[azda 979]

You need to have the economy if a small country such as England just too purchase something

Edited July 12, 2014 by azda

[VickySilver 830]

True the above. They may be isolating themselves from the ordinary collector & that is just how they've been for such a very long time. Still the place has a bit of aura & mystery - who wouldn't like to have a look around their famous basement?

[Rob 3,152]

The basement is rumoured to be empty.

Having said that, I'm sure they will still find something if they look hard.

[VickySilver 830]

Think that might be a protective rumour as they found one of the 1864s just recently, allegedly by moving furniture about - somebody "back in the day" having dropped it behind a desk, and LEAVING it there....

A friend not so long ago was promised a tour of that famous basement, and that offer rescinded at the last moment...

[Rob 3,152]

Their overheads must be so great these days that it's a case of every little helps when it comes to sales. I'm sure the amount of money tied up in the business together with the large number of (expensive) staff will ensure that Gibbons keep the prices sky high.

I can certainly see the overheads requiring a mark up of at least 50%, so doubling prices compared to what is paid seems reasonable if a safety margin is to be included. The problem is they are paying full book at auction more often than not, so the prices are going up exponentially.

Just looking at the two Exeter crowns on the list, the C15 is £3500 for what is a not particularly well struck coin. I would have thought just over £1K top would suffice. The D21 is one of the two better examples of that die pair, but a price of £7500 is plain silly as other die combinations have superior examples. There are over 130 examples of tower both sides 1645 crowns on my list, and I add to this on a near monthly basis. With the Spink VF price at £1100, £2K or a bit more should be more than adequate.

[VickySilver 830]

Interesting points there, Rob.

I don't see a lot in my area anymore, partly because I have nearly all the bits I have targeted, and partly because the prices of what I lack are absolutely astronomical and I refuse to pay the prices - just trying for the occasional bit. Wonder if that is how others are?

[Coppers 58]

Their auctions of course provide another source of income.

[RLC35 288]

The basement is rumoured to be empty.

Having said that, I'm sure they will still find something if they look hard.

Funny you should mention the "Basement." I bought a 1860 N/Z off of Steven Hill, and when I asked him if he had any provenance on the coin, he said no...I think that one just came from the basement! I thought he was kidding...who would store coins in a basement? LOL!

Edited July 12, 2014 by RLC35

[Rob 3,152]

The basement is rumoured to be empty.

Having said that, I'm sure they will still find something if they look hard.

Funny you should mention the "Basement." I bought a 1860 N/Z off of Steven Hill, and when I asked him if he had any provenance on the coin, he said no...I think that one just came from the basement! I thought he was kidding...who would store coins in a basement? LOL!

Baldwins would. Space is at a premium in London, so buildings often go up or down further than they would elsewhere. The premises cling to the side of the bank below Adelphi Terrace a few hundred feet from and about 40 feet above the river, so they shouldn't have a problem with damp there.

[pokal02 44]

The crowns were a bit (!) steep for me too - the Winter list had a few more reasonably priced coins, but this is a top-end catalogue. £14.5k seems very high for a 1732 or 1839 Proof crown, especially as neither are absolutely FDC, but sadly almost reasonable for an 1831 these days (strange that all 3 are the same price).

[VickySilver 830]

Who is buying coins such as ANY of these three crowns? I love Victorians absolutely but just can not see how the crown (1839) is worth half that amount. A bit sad to see collectors likely being chased away....

[azda 979]

Who is buying coins such as ANY of these three crowns? I love Victorians absolutely but just can not see how the crown (1839) is worth half that amount. A bit sad to see collectors likely being chased away....

Who is buying them, my guess is Japanese collectors who seem to have an abudance of Yen

[pokal02 44]

I'm in the same position as poster #15 with crowns. Could upgrade my 1696 relatively cheaply, but anything else looks prohibitive now - have turned to groats in recent years but the same outcome is not that far off!!

[mhcoins 95]

The problem is, as we all know the coin market "at the top end" is in a bit of a bubble and to get the best material to sell (or to keep), dealers and collectors are having to pay well over book price to get them. I imagine this is partly the case with this current list (Possibly the crowns are from an individuals collection).

That being said i still think some of the coins are good buys like BH114 The Charles I mm castle Crown - Its an expensive piece but in terms of the current market, it could be considered value for money. I would presume the finest known specimen and excuse my french but flippin' rare !

[azda 979]

As i said previously, we don't all have the finances to Throw around X amount of many thousands at coins. A majority here are what i'd call a normal everyday collector where £1000 is probably the absolute maximum they want to spend and have maybe even saved a month or 2 just to get that.

We're not all loaded full of money, i personally have Tended to shy away from certain grades and coins, i'm now looking at my hobby as Investment for myself and family but i'm not going to throw 5k at a coin. I was actually just reading a piece in the latest coin news where an Australian guy bought a coin for a few humdred thousand aussie dollars from a dealer who promised that in 2 years it would be worth 50k more and they'd pay that price if he came back to them and sold it.

Turns out that in the 2 years it had dropped to $128k, he then successfully sued the company who are now in liquidation owing 11 million and the Court Held up his case and they now owe him the total amout they told him it would be worth, around $350k.

Coin collecting can get as elitest as it wants, its only going to attract a minority, i'll stick to what i can afford.

[Rob 3,152]

Like all bubbles, the wheels will eventually come off the bus. Gibbons are selling stamps and coins as investments. I don't know what promises they are giving, but if they are operating as the guy in the previous post then it is conceivable that when everyone wants their money out at the same time, SG could be left with a dozen or two triple unites to shift at the same time. How much would they sell for then?

If they have promised a minimum price they would buy 'investments' back, then the price can only escalate to silly levels as everyone makes their cut. Nobody has to buy a coin, but some can be forced to sell.