I've personally bought 6 precious metal coins from
The Royal Mint in the last 18 months. I've learnt my lesson. I now try to avoid dealing with
The Royal Mint wherever I possibly can. Their entire business plan seems to be to take a coin, put it in a cheap presentation box with a certificate of authenticity and then charge between 3 and 5 times what the coin is actually worth.
The Royal Mint defends their prices saying that they are not trying to sell viable investments, but rather coins for people to collect and hold on to but that hardly excuses the prices of some of their offerings. Their bullion sovereigns are truly an outrage. £370 from
The Royal Mint website or £270 from a bullion dealer. What do you get for your £100? Nothing but some cheap cardboard packaging.
It's actually cheaper to buy proof coins and have them delivered all the way from
Perth Mint (even taking into account currency charges and customs/VAT) than it is to buy comparable coins from
The Royal Mint.