YOUR MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Create an Account
Sign up for an account on the Register & Bid page, or download our app. (To ensure that the app is up-to-date, please enable background app refresh in your phone settings.) We require your name, telephone number, and email address to create an account. For bidding limits over £10,000, we also need a copy of your passport or driving licence.
Once registered, you can:
Register to Bid in an Upcoming Auction
You will receive an email confirming approval to bid and a paddle number for the auction.
There are two bidding sessions for each auction: the live online auction and pre-bidding, which is open for 10 days leading up to the live auction.
Placing Bids Before the Auction (Pre-bidding): Absentee bids can be placed as soon as an auction opens, which is announced by email. Bids placed during this period are called pre-bids. If you are outbid, you will receive notification via email and/or within the app. Your maximum bid can be raised if required.
Bidding in a Live Auction: If this is your first time bidding, please familiarize yourself with the lot descriptions and bidding increments. You can read more about these below. Each lot is allocated 10 seconds for bidding, with fair warning at 5 seconds.
The Coin Cabinet auction platform uses predetermined bidding increments and does not accept uneven bids. (For example, a £730 bid is not permitted and would be rounded down to the nearest even increment, £725.)
The bidding increments are as follows:
Lot descriptions are the catalogue details of a coin’s mint, date, denomination, condition, size, weight, and composition, along with an explanation of the design and text. Read more about terms used below in Coin Terms. The following is a lot description, with an explanation below:
GREAT BRITAIN. George III, 1760-1824
Country, regnal years of monarch
Sovereign, 1820. London.
Value and denomination, date. Mint. Variety
Laureate head right; date below, with open 2; GEORGIUS III D:G: BRITANNIAR: REX F:D:. / St George slaying the dragon right within Garter; HONI · SOIT · QUI · MAL · Y · PENSE
Design description and type
Good extremely fine and lustrous
We use the International grading scale for raw (ungraded/not encapsulated) coins and the Sheldon 70-point grading scale for third-party graded coins.
Reference: Fr-371; KM-674; Marsh-4; S-3785C
Reference works where the coin is described: Friedberg (‘Gold Coins of the World’); Krause & Mishler (‘Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins’); Marsh (‘The Gold Sovereign’); Spink (‘Coins of England and the United Kingdom’). Note: For Australian sovereigns, we use McDonald (‘The Pocket Guide to Australian Coins and Banknotes’).
Mintage: 2,101,994
The number of coins of a particular date struck at a given mint during a specific year
Diameter: 22.05 mm
Metric measurement
Weight: 7.9881 g
Metric weight
Composition: 916/1000 Gold
916/1000 = 91.66% = 22 carat; the remaining 8.33% is primarily a copper alloy. (Note: Sovereigns (including ½ sovereigns, £2, and £5) are struck in rose gold. This is because gold is inherently a soft metal, and using an alloy with a harder metal such as copper makes the coins more durable.)
When a lot is sold, the successful bidder will be presented with the invoice itemizing the total amount due. All invoices must be paid within 7 days of receipt of the invoice, and The Coin Cabinet reserves the right to pursue non-payment of any sums owing. This includes, but is not limited to:
We accept payment by bank transfer in GBP, USD, EUR, and CHF, and payment by cheque in GBP only. We do not accept PayPal or credit/debit card.
Your bid activity and results will be available in real time, while finalized results will appear once the auction has ended. If any of your bids are successful, your invoice will be emailed after the auction, including payment advice. Once payment has been received in full, we will proceed with shipping.
Delivery of Your Coins: You will be notified when your goods have been dispatched to you. The message will contain tracking details in addition to any reasons for delays. We are unable to accept any liability for packages that have been delivered to houses of multiple occupancy or work addresses once the package has been signed for or confirmed as delivered by our couriers to that address. Ownership of goods passes to you once full payment is received and a signature has been accepted at the address provided. Failure to deliver an order on our part will result in a full refund of the original amount paid or goods as a replacement. If we receive no communication from you regarding any problems within 7 days of delivery, you are deemed to have received the goods in full. If your package shows signs of tampering and/or damage, do not sign for and accept delivery of the package. Not signing will result in the return of the package to our address at 26 Seymour Street, London W1H 7JA. Should this occur, please contact us immediately.
Collecting Your Coins from The Coin Cabinet Offices: Orders that have been fully paid in advance can be collected from our offices once you receive notification that your items are ready for collection. On pick-up, you must produce identification and a copy of the invoice. We cannot release items to third parties unless we receive written authorization from you in advance.
Address --
The Coin Cabinet offices and delivery address is:
26 Seymour Street,
London, W1H 7JA,
United Kingdom.
While we do our best to describe items accurately and rely on third-party grading companies to provide professional grading services to catalogue coins, it is possible for items to be incorrectly described, mixed up in the sales process, or damaged in transit. On such occasions, we accept returns of auction goods. Please note that auction sales are not covered by the Consumer Protection Act 2000 — Distance Selling Regulations. This means that coins cannot be returned under normal circumstances. Where coins have been graded by PCGS or NGC and you disagree with the grade, we refer to our Auction Terms & Conditions and ask that you take up the matter directly with the grading company.
Before the Sale: To start the consignment process, send us a list of items by email. Our specialists will review your submission at no cost. If your items meet our quality standards and minimum consignment value, we will recommend the most effective way to sell your property. Should you wish to have your coins graded before consignment, we offer a seamless third-party coin grading service with a discounted seller’s commission. Go to the Coin Grading Service section for more information. For eligible coins, we will discuss with you the upcoming auctions most suitable for your consignment. A DocuSign Consignment Agreement will be sent to you for signing. We will assist you with shipping to our offices (see Packing and Shipping for more information). Once we receive your coins, we will photograph and catalogue them in preparation for the agreed auction.
How Are Estimates Determined?
All coins are offered at auction without reserve, at 10% below their melt value regardless of valuation. By agreement, we can guarantee a minimum amount for very rare items. (If guaranteed items end up selling below the guarantee, The Coin Cabinet will reimburse the difference.)
How Much Do We Charge for Selling Your Coins?
We charge a standard seller’s commission of 10%, reduced to 9% for coins graded through our third-party coin grading service.
Will My Coins Appear in the Next Available Auction?
Our flagship monthly auction is complemented by a programme of regular specialist auctions throughout the year. We cannot guarantee that your consignment will appear in the next available auction.
After the Sale: After your coins have been sold, you will receive a report detailing prices achieved at auction and net proceeds of the sale, with agreed expenses and our seller’s commission deducted. Provided that payment for the coins has been received in full, we will pay the funds to your nominated account approximately 30 days after the auction. Remittance will be paid in GBP by bank transfer, processed on the last bank day of the week.
Shipping to The Coin Cabinet: You must notify us in advance of sending your property. For our insurance to apply to your shipment, we must arrange and pay for the pickup by courier (DHL or FedEx). The cost of providing this service will be deducted from the proceeds of sale. You can send goods to us at your own arrangement and risk, but you must still notify us before proceeding with shipment. Please note that if items are not packed according to the guidelines below, they will not be covered by The Coin Cabinet’s insurance. If your property is damaged in delivery, we do not hold responsibility or liability for any losses associated with the damage.
Personal Delivery to The Coin Cabinet: By prior arrangement, you can personally deliver your property to our offices.
Address --
The Coin Cabinet office and delivery address is:
26 Seymour Street,
London, W1H 7JA,
United Kingdom.
Packing Guidelines — Ungraded (Raw) Coins:
Packing Guidelines — Graded (Encapsulated) Coins:
Packing the Inner Box or Envelope:
Packing the Outer Box or Envelope:
TCC Marketplace allows you to sell your coins at fixed prices. Items listed on the marketplace will also be listed on eBay and MA-shops. Further marketplaces will be connected in due course.
Selling items on the TCC marketplace follows the same process as selling in our auctions. You can start the process by completing the consignment form here or by contacting us. All items must be sent to our office for processing.
The only fees we add are shipping charges, which are calculated upon checkout. There are no buyer’s premiums on purchase and no other fees.
As per The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, buyers have the right to return items without giving any reason. Please note that this regulation does not apply to auctions.