Historic Gold Coin Sales Soar

Investors are flocking to gold. It's been happening for the past several months, though the announcement of central bank easing provided even more reason to purchase the precious metal. Now the price is high, and investors want to get in as it continues to rise.

And this spike in investment interest has fueled the sales of historic coins.

The Scoin Shop, a bullion coin chain based in the UK with outlets in Westfield Stratford, Westfield West London, and Bluewater, has seen sales rise 50% in the last year. The company had to expand recently to meet the high demand for rarer, Victorian-era coins as the minting of new commemorative coins sparks interest for the old.

One of these coveted coins is called the Bush Pound, or the 1902 Veldpond, minted at the end of the Boer War by the Boers in South Africa.

Another is a £5 coin from the start of Queen Victoria's reign, called the “Una and the Lion” coin. It features an image of Queen Victoria as Edmund Spenser's Lady Una from The Faerie Queene walking with a lion. The coin bears an inscription of the phrase, “Dirige Deus Gressus Meos” – “May the Lord Direct My Steps.”

But there are also more recent coins that are in high demand as well. The 2012 Royal Mint £5 Crown, in commemoration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this year, is in high demand, with three different versions minted by the Royal Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, and the Royal Australian Mint.

And two coins commemorating the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – Prince William and Kate Middleton – are in popular circulation. The commemorative engagement coin was minted in 2010 and has risen from a value of £1,750 to £3,300. The royal wedding coin has risen 70 percent in value.

From the Telegraph:

Alan Demby, founder of the Scoin Shop, said: “We've reached a new direction of consumer interest not seen before, where it appears that sales of gold coins commemorating some of the UK's most recent major events, such as the Diamond Jubilee and the royal wedding, are turning the attention of customers to historic, rare and valuable coins. It's almost as if these modern day events, which people can closely identify with, are creating interest in historic coins, which are predominantly higher in value because of their scarcity.”

And even coins commemorating the Olympics from this past year are shooting up in value. The 29 different coins, one for each Olympic and Paralympic sport, are 50p pieces, but one sold for £1.31 while another sold for £2.04.

Already, over 70 percent of these Olympic coins have gone out of circulation due to popularity.

Gold is a popular investment in times of economic turmoil, as it often acts as a safe haven against inflation or quantitative easing.

The price per ounce has shot up well past $1,700 recently, and its headed towards the largest quarterly gain in two years.

Bullion such as historic and collectors edition coins are popular investment vehicles.

*Images courtesy of Wikipedia and the Sydney Morning Herald

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