Those ingots went like crazy indeed - my max. offer became the start price for one of them
I'll be passing up on the new ingot offered due to the missing certificate, but keep those Bond items coming
John Gilbert was also interviewed by the Collectors Club of Great Britain. The interview is posted on youtube via the following link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8F5I_cKMrg.
Hi Ambassador, thank you for the above post! I've been meaning to do something along those lines for a while now - I guess it's a good thing that we've been so busy that I've just not had a chance!
You're correct in mentioning the additional Golden Opportunity bar in the sale on Thursday. While it's lacking the certificate and orders from 'M', this item does have an interesting background:
When Corgi were delivering the 99 Gold Bars (well, 90 or so after the employee allocation!) to various CEOs around London, they had two of their own employees deliver them personally. Each of them took on one 'half' of London and spent the day taking the Golden Opportunities to their destinations. Each of them was given one of the 'overrun' stock (and therefore without paperwork and Limited Edition number) as a reward for the efforts. The item in the sale is one of those two.
You might also be interested in lot 120: a rather cool James Bond Secret Agent case with all sorts of cool gear inside!
Those ingots went like crazy indeed - my max. offer became the start price for one of them
I'll be passing up on the new ingot offered due to the missing certificate, but keep those Bond items coming
Believe it or not, the winner was a commission bid that still had a long way to go!
John Gilbert is aware of the huge interest in the 'Golden Opportunity' promotion ingots and of the amount of rumour and speculation that has since followed. He is keen to set the record straight and is in the process of writing an article for the Collectors Club of Great Britain (www.collectors-club-of-great-britain.co.uk). It is likely that his article will be published in the December issue of the Collectors Gazette. I’ll keep everyone informed.
Please do keep us informed, as this is very interesting stuff! One of the ingots seemed to be re-auctioned at Vectis about a day or so ago, though it might be another one. Anyway, it did not include the 'letter from M' so I didn't bid.
Thanks for your interest. I’ll post an update as soon as I receive confirmation of the date when it is to be published.
The ingot you mentioned, sold by Vectis on 24th September, was number 090/099. It sold for £360, a fraction of the price normally realised for this model. It didn’t have the Letter from ‘M’, so not a particularly good investment, but it is still a cracking model nevertheless and a worthy addition to anyone’s collection. If you are considering bidding on a complete ‘Golden Opportunity’ ingot in the future, expect to pay £1,200+. I’ve been keeping track of sales since 2003 and back then they were achieving over £800.
The Gold Ingot limited edition produced exclusively for Comet Miniatures is also gaining in price; they often exceed £1,000 at auction.
About 10 ingots came without a letter if I'm correct - they were mostly a gift for the people who distributed the ingots that did come with the letter. The price of a complete, mint one doesn't scare me off as it's a good investment indeed - they are getting hard to come by though...
Update regarding John Gilbert's 'Gold Ingot Promotion' article.
The article didn't make this months issue of the Collectors Gazette due to an influx of advertising for Decembers issue. His article has been put back and will now be in the Christmas Issue.
John Gilbert's article is included in the March edition of the Collectors Gazette, entitled "All That Glitters..."
He has provided more background information about the Gold Ingot Promotion. Let me know if you have any further questions and I'll try and get them answered.
Comments
At stupidly inflated prices
I'll be passing up on the new ingot offered due to the missing certificate, but keep those Bond items coming
Hi Ambassador, thank you for the above post! I've been meaning to do something along those lines for a while now - I guess it's a good thing that we've been so busy that I've just not had a chance!
You're correct in mentioning the additional Golden Opportunity bar in the sale on Thursday. While it's lacking the certificate and orders from 'M', this item does have an interesting background:
When Corgi were delivering the 99 Gold Bars (well, 90 or so after the employee allocation!) to various CEOs around London, they had two of their own employees deliver them personally. Each of them took on one 'half' of London and spent the day taking the Golden Opportunities to their destinations. Each of them was given one of the 'overrun' stock (and therefore without paperwork and Limited Edition number) as a reward for the efforts. The item in the sale is one of those two.
You might also be interested in lot 120: a rather cool James Bond Secret Agent case with all sorts of cool gear inside!
Thanks again to Ambassador for the review.
Believe it or not, the winner was a commission bid that still had a long way to go!
John Gilbert is aware of the huge interest in the 'Golden Opportunity' promotion ingots and of the amount of rumour and speculation that has since followed. He is keen to set the record straight and is in the process of writing an article for the Collectors Club of Great Britain (www.collectors-club-of-great-britain.co.uk). It is likely that his article will be published in the December issue of the Collectors Gazette. I’ll keep everyone informed.
Please do keep us informed, as this is very interesting stuff! One of the ingots seemed to be re-auctioned at Vectis about a day or so ago, though it might be another one. Anyway, it did not include the 'letter from M' so I didn't bid.
Thanks for your interest. I’ll post an update as soon as I receive confirmation of the date when it is to be published.
The ingot you mentioned, sold by Vectis on 24th September, was number 090/099. It sold for £360, a fraction of the price normally realised for this model. It didn’t have the Letter from ‘M’, so not a particularly good investment, but it is still a cracking model nevertheless and a worthy addition to anyone’s collection. If you are considering bidding on a complete ‘Golden Opportunity’ ingot in the future, expect to pay £1,200+. I’ve been keeping track of sales since 2003 and back then they were achieving over £800.
The Gold Ingot limited edition produced exclusively for Comet Miniatures is also gaining in price; they often exceed £1,000 at auction.
About 10 ingots came without a letter if I'm correct - they were mostly a gift for the people who distributed the ingots that did come with the letter. The price of a complete, mint one doesn't scare me off as it's a good investment indeed - they are getting hard to come by though...
The article didn't make this months issue of the Collectors Gazette due to an influx of advertising for Decembers issue. His article has been put back and will now be in the Christmas Issue.
John Gilbert's article is included in the March edition of the Collectors Gazette, entitled "All That Glitters..."
He has provided more background information about the Gold Ingot Promotion. Let me know if you have any further questions and I'll try and get them answered.