Tag Archives: Financial news

News, South East

Final season of ‘The Crown’ causes gold rush for coin collectors in Surrey

A Hatton Garden-based gold coin broker has reported a huge surge of investment in royal-themed gold coins since the final season of The Crown was aired on TV.

Aurum Bullion Plc has revealed that canny investors in Surrey account for a quarter of its total UK sales of coins relating to the British Royal Family in the month since the finale of the popular drama series was released.

In total, Aurum Bullion has sold £2.97m worth of royal-themed minted gold coins in the ensuing one-month period, more than £750k of which was spent by investors in Surrey.

The figure compares with just £798k in sales during the same period last year, which the company puts down to The Crown and a growing interest in Royal Family memorabilia.

Similar spikes were seen after the death of The Queen in September 2022, during her Diamond and Platinum Jubilees and following the Coronation of King Charles in May last year. But none of those spikes was as big as the one witnessed since The Crown’s final season.

Gregory Cole, founder and director of Aurum Bullion, said: “There is definitely a deep and ongoing affection for the British Royal Family which has spilled over into the gold coin collectors’ market.

“The fact The Crown TV series coincided with the run-up to Christmas and the purchasing of Christmas lasting gifts could explain some of the huge increase in investments, though sales over this Christmas period particularly have been exceptional.

“It is not totally surprising that Surrey has come so far ahead of everywhere else in the UK in terms of royal-themed coin purchases. It has one of the wealthiest demographics, and many residents in Surrey will already be pretty astute investors, a lot of them having worked in London’s financial markets.

“The older average age bracket in Surrey may also suggest that canny investors are spending their wealth on safe investment heirlooms for their children and grandchildren.

“Gold remains one of the most secure investment commodities and, similar to investment in art, collectible cars and watches, some of these gold coins are seeing significant increases in value, far outstripping returns on cash investments.”

Aurum Bullion’s most popular royal-themed products currently are a 2023 Coronation of King Charles III Gold Proof Sovereign and a 2006 Queen Elizabeth II Birthday Gold Proof Coin (Grade PF70). The term ‘Proof’ means their provenance has been certified as being in mint condition, complete with a protective, tamper-proof display pouch.

To illustrate the investment potential of collectible gold coins, the aforementioned Queen Elizabeth II Birthday coin cost £1,450 when it was released in 2006. Its current price is £5,600 – representing a 386 per cent return on investment in less than 18 years.

Similarly, the release price of a four-coin set celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee was £8,250 in 2012. It is now worth around £22k.

And an ultra-rare royal-themed Kew Gardens 50 pence coin that sold in 2009 for £550 was recently sold at auction for £6.8k pre-hammer, representing a return on investment of over 1,200 per cent.

“The royal coins are eminently collectible,” said Gregory. “They never seem to go out of fashion – in fact they are becoming more and more popular, especially in some of our overseas markets like China, the US and Dubai.

“The increase in investment in the gold coin market suggests that people have definitely become more informed in ways of getting a better return on their money. Another significant benefit is that any gains made on gold coin investments are exempt from capital gains tax, inheritance tax and VAT.

“Many of our clients have also indicated they’ve been forced to be more creative with their investments due to big rises in the cost of living combined with the fact that their other assets have been underperforming.”

While Surrey has claimed the top spot overall in terms of the purchase of royal-themed coins, investment with Aurum Bullion from residents in the Cotswolds has grown by 12.5 per cent during 2023, London is up by 34.6 per cent and, perhaps surprisingly, Sheffield has seen an increase of 22 per cent.

Anyone interested in the growing trend of gold coin investment should take advice to ensure they are buying from a reputable source. The safest routes to investment are typically direct with the Royal Mint, and at registered auction houses or certified dealers like Aurum Bullion Plc.

For further information, visit www.aurumbullion.co.uk. 

News

TransUnion Wins Credit Information Provider of the Year at The Credit Awards

TransUnion, a global information and insights company and one of the UK’s leading credit reference agencies, has been named Credit Information Provider of the Year in the Credit Awards 2021.

The Credit Awards recognise and celebrate innovation and best practice across the UK credit and financial services industry and the win was based on TransUnion’s work supporting both businesses and consumers.

Satrajit “Satty” Saha, CEO of TransUnion in the UK commented: “It’s an honour to receive this award. Credit information is absolutely pivotal to us and the services we provide. By ensuring that each consumer is reliably represented in the marketplace, we make trust possible between businesses and consumers,  and we’re really proud of what we’ve achieved as a business, and in particular how we responded through the challenges of the pandemic.

“I’m grateful to all our colleagues, both here in the UK and globally, for their hard work and expertise in supporting our clients and consumers throughout this period. It’s great to see our efforts recognised  with such a key industry accolade and a fantastic end to the year for us.”

The award celebrates TransUnion’s achievements in several areas including:

  • Educating and empowering consumers to take control of their credit report and score

The judges recognised that TransUnion has helped millions of people with credit repair and educated UK consumers on their credit information and how it’s used in financial decisions. Collaborations with the likes of NatWest, NewDay and Incuto have provided consumers with easy access to their credit score and the information they need to improve it.

  • Preventing fraud and verifying identity

Earlier this year, TransUnion streamlined its fraud prevention and identity verification under TruValidate, a global solution which delivers a comprehensive view of each consumer by linking proprietary data, personal data, device identifiers and online behaviours. From helping UK businesses to reduce financial losses due to fraud, to enabling them to confidently identify genuine consumers, the win recognised the impact of this service across a variety of business sectors.

  • Supporting businesses and protecting consumers

By providing innovative, tailored solutions, TransUnion helps businesses meet changing customer needs and new regulation. One example that was recognised by the judges in the Credit Awards is its Affordability Solution for Gaming, designed to boost consumer protection in gambling, which is used by many leading gaming operators. Using individual-level financial data and industry-recognised scores, built by TransUnion, it helps inform fair and responsible decisions and protect players from gambling-related harm.

Shail Deep, chief product officer of TransUnion in the UK added: “As an information and insights provider, our clients rely on accurate data so we’re thrilled to have been recognised in this way as Credit Information Provider of the Year. This data is central to many of our innovative products and solutions and as we look to the year ahead, we look forward to continuing to support our customers, and in turn the consumers they serve.”

TransUnion is committed to using Information for Good® and offers specialist services in fraud, identity and risk management, automated decisioning and demographics, supporting organisations across a wide variety of sectors including finance, retail, telecommunications, utilities, gaming, government and insurance.