Commemorative coins, legal tender and lack of knowledge

[Rob_B]

A while back I purchased a couple of the Big Ben £100 coins and thought I'd stash them away for the kids (never really thought they'd increase massively in value or anything) it's years until they're old enough for me to think to pass them on but I thought it would be a nice idea.

I always assumed that if it ever came to it I could cash them in at a bank and at least get back the £100 and have lost a tiny amount of possible interest, well it seems I was wrong.

Apparently the Royal Mint have advised banks a while ago to not accept commemorative coins, the reason being obvious in that they don't want to have to actually back up the value with 'real money'

I must admit I'm pretty peeved to say the least, it's not like I'm trying to make a profit like the guy who bought £29k worth of them but its annoying that they can no longer be 'emergency funds' - the amount isn't massive and I'm probably acting more butt hurt than I should be but I needed to vent a little!

My options seem to be, do nothing or sell them on ebay for under face 'value' and lose out of fees/postage etc too.

So a reminder to all: legal tender actually means pretty much nothing unless you want to pay a court in commemorative coins! I guess I need to commit some offence so I can offload them

Rob

[shaithis]

I'm sure there will be eBay collectors willing to pay more.

Not quite in the same bracket but I have a 1986 £2 coin that I was given in my childhood.....I see them selling for more on the bay.

[Rob_B]

Maybe in a few years, at first they were selling for £130ish, now they go for £100 ish or under (!) so a loss after fees etc. Not that I'm looking to sell, yet.

[Jonatron]

If a 1oz coin is printed with "two pounds": https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/silv...tannia-silver/ , and costs £18-24, it doesn't make a lot of sense for a 2oz coin to be printed with "100 pounds". The royal mint should have some warnings in place.

[Rob_B]

They do, now at least, after they advised banks not to take them. It's not the value of the material it's the same as any currency really, I'm just annoyed, I know I'm also at fault but it still sucks!

[jimbouk]

Well I guess if you've ever got tax issues settled in court they'd help http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/pol...der-guidelines

Please note that whilst these coins are legal tender, they are not designed for general circulation, so banks and shops are unlikely to accept the coins. The Royal Mint cannot accept returns of such coins outside of the 14 days return policy.

Gold looks a lot more interesting, always fancied getting some rather than putting money in an ISA but always seems a bit scary!

[chinf]

I've bought a few coins from the Mint, some as gifts and a couple to keep, but their value was principally in their "ooh shiny shiny" appeal or as a souvenir for a particular event (e.g. Paralympics that we'd been to) rather than their monetary value. At the time I bought them I was fully aware that they wouldn't be accepted in banks or shops.

For storing money away for the future in a "low-risk low-reward care-free" way - the index-linked savings certificates from NS&I are quite appealing.

[Rob_B]

Well I guess if you've ever got tax issues settled in court they'd help http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/pol...der-guidelines


Gold looks a lot more interesting, always fancied getting some rather than putting money in an ISA but always seems a bit scary!

I believe the terms were far less clear originally, although all technically the same. It's a nice little earner though, with almost 0% ever actually having to be backed by anything.

Maybe in 10yrs time they'll be worth their minted amount!

[chinf]

It's a nice little earner though [...]

You could say they're minted...


(I'll get my coat)

[BobF64]

It only says that the "non-circulating limited edition" coins are unlikely to be accepted.

Just as plenty of places have signs up saying "We do not accept £50 notes", even though they are legal tender and they should be required to take them.

Tbh, its more likely that they were telling banks not to accept them because they were more likely to be fakes.