Wileyfox

Hi all, 
I saw a video on the silver Krugerrand and there was a guy explaining a security feature that the newer Krugerrands have.. the word 'Krugerrand' in microtext behind the springbok's hind foot in the mountains, I go to check this on my silver Krugerrand and sure enough I can just about make out that the text is there. In the comments he then alludes to a second security feature with even smaller text but he doesn't go any further.. I can see that it is near the plant under the springbok's front leg but I can't quite make out what it says. If anyone has any information about these security features, particularly the second smaller one then I would be very intersted to hear more.
I've tried to find more information online but haven't had much luck, which I find strange for such a popular coin. I did a search for some HD images and have found two that illustrate at least where to look 
2018 Silver Version from @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer
 
 
2017 Gold Version from @coininvest via Wikipedia
 
From the gold version the text is below the plant heads and I can see it's something like SAR81, maybe for South African Republic and a year?
 

Hi all, 
I saw a video on the silver Krugerrand and there was a guy explaining a security feature that the newer Krugerrands have.. the word 'Krugerrand' in microtext behind the springbok's hind foot in the mountains, I go to check this on my silver Krugerrand and sure enough I can just about make out that the text is there. In the comments he then alludes to a second security feature with even smaller text but he doesn't go any further.. I can see that it is near the plant under the springbok's front leg but I can't quite make out what it says. If anyone has any information about these security features, particularly the second smaller one then I would be very intersted to hear more.
I've tried to find more information online but haven't had much luck, which I find strange for such a popular coin. I did a search for some HD images and have found two that illustrate at least where to look 
2018 Silver Version from @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer
 
 
2017 Gold Version from @coininvest via Wikipedia
 
From the gold version the text is below the plant heads and I can see it's something like SAR81, maybe for South African Republic and a year?
 

Hi all, 
I saw a video on the silver Krugerrand and there was a guy explaining a security feature that the newer Krugerrands have.. the word 'Krugerrand' in microtext behind the springbok's hind foot in the mountains, I go to check this on my silver Krugerrand and sure enough I can just about make out that the text is there. In the comments he then alludes to a second security feature with even smaller text but he doesn't go any further.. I can see that it is near the plant under the springbok's front leg but I can't quite make out what it says. If anyone has any information about these security features, particularly the second smaller one then I would be very intersted to hear more.
I've tried to find more information online but haven't had much luck, which I find strange for such a popular coin. I did a search for some HD images and have found two that illustrate at least where to look 
2018 Silver Version from @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer
 
 
2017 Gold Version from @coininvest via Wikipedia
 
From the gold version the text is below the plant heads and I can see it's something like SAR81, maybe for South African Republic and a year?
 

Detailed Trading Guide
 
The following guide is provided as an example of how a trade between members may be conducted on The Silver Forum. The guide contains an outline of a trade and an example of how it may generally be conducted and includes some suggestions regarding best buying and selling practices and other information related to trading.
This guide is primarily intended to help new members understand how to initiate and complete a purchase as a buyer from another member acting as seller in the Buy & Sell trade section of the forum. In addition it may also be referenced as a guide for a member conducting a sale.

As a member you are limited to creating one trade listing every thirty days. If a member wishes to increase the number of sales listings they are permitted to create, you may upgrade to a Premium Membership here
Upgrading to either a Silver, Gold, Platinum or Platinum PLUS Premium Membership provides a member with the ability to create unlimited trade listings and includes a whole host of other benefits such as access to premium trade listings three days earlier than all non-premium members. Premium listings are where the best deals are to be found. Purchasing a premium membership is a great way to support The Silver Forum. (Businesses need a Business Account available here)
Before reading the information contained in this guide please make sure you have read and understand the Quickstart Guide:
U.K Quickstart Guide
U.S.A & Canada Quickstart Guide
Please also ensure you have read and understand the forum rules, especially regarding trading and the risk of trading on The Silver Forum:
Forum Rules
Please pay attention to Section 7. Guidelines on Trading (Buying and Selling) and ensure you fully comprehend Section 7.4. Risk of Trading. It is essential that all new members read and understand this before trading on the forum.
Disclaimer: The following applies to all Members/Sellers on the forum. Members trade at their own risk. The Silver Forum does not vet any members/sellers on the forum and neither the founder @ChrisSilver nor the forum is liable for any loss(es) that may result from trades. The founder @ChrisSilver and The Silver Forum also can not mediate any trades, this is between the two parties to discuss and resolve any issues that they might have.
 
 
A quick summary of how a trade may be conducted on The Silver Forum

1. A member acting as seller lists an item in the Buy & Sell trade section with a price, postage options and photos. Interested members leave a comment on the listing and then a private message will be generally initiated by The Seller. Some listings will state, comments have priority over pm's, which means comment first for a place in the queue and The Seller will then send you a private message.

2. The terms of sale, total cost (item/s plus postage) and payment method will be discussed and agreed between The Buyer & The Seller via private message.

3. The Buyer makes payment and provides name and address.

4. The Seller confirms receipt of payment (best selling practice).

5. The Seller dispatches item and provides verification (best selling practice).

6. The Buyer receives item/s, fills bath with silver and/or gold and swims in their bullion like Scrooge McDuck.

7. The Buyer notifies The Seller that item/items have been received (best buying practice).

8. Members exchange trading feedback.

9. Trade is complete.

Please be aware that the steps provided are only a suggested example and it is entirely optional to follow them. The founder @ChrisSilver and The Silver Forum are not liable for the use or disuse of suggested guidance. Not all trades will be conducted in the exact manner as described in this guide but most will include similar steps in approximately the same order.
 
 
Detailed Trading Guide

1. Items listed by members on The Silver Forum can be found by clicking/hovering over the Buy & Sell tab and selecting the region or category relevant to you.

2. If a region is selected you will be presented with two sub-categories separately listing items (Ungraded) & (Graded Only). Ungraded contains listings for bars, medals, coins (Bullion, BU, Proof, Ungraded) & other non graded precious metals. Graded contains listings for precious metal items that have been graded and slabbed.

3. Now that you have selected Ungraded or Graded Only you will be presented with Page 1 of the trade listings for your selected sub-category. On the first page you will find pinned posts followed by all trade listings created by members of The Silver Forum.

4. There are 5 types of Trade Listings: For Sale, For Exchange, For Sale or Exchange, For Auction, Wanted.

If one of these tags is used on a listing by a top tier premium member, the tag will be followed with (by platinum member).

A tag is required for any item listed. We will discuss For Auction & Wanted listings later but for now we will only be concerned with conducting a trade for items tagged For Sale, For Exchange and For Sale or Exchange.
Listings tagged Completed, Withdrawn or Closed are no longer available. Please note that the Closed tag is only used when a topic is automatically closed or if it is manually closed by moderators and should not be used by members. Only use Completed and Withdrawn tags to end a listing you have created.

5. Trades for all listings tagged For Sale, For Exchange and For Sale or Exchange may be conducted in the same way.
Scroll through the listings until you find something you are interested in. Now that you have found a listing with an item/s that you would like to purchase you may wish to proceed as follows:
Leave a comment on the listing, stating your interest in the item/s listed and await a response from the member acting as Seller. A seller may have multiple items available on one listing, mention which one/s you have an interest in.
The seller will usually “like” your comment and/or send you a private message where the details and terms of the trade will be discussed. (The envelope icon at the top right of the page will display a notification if you have received a message)
Both members will agree upon the terms of the trade which will include the postage choice, payment method and total cost. You may also wish to verify expected dispatch time and clarify the intended measures a member will use to ensure the item/s are well packaged and protected. It is a good idea to establish that the seller can provide proof of postage. When agreeing terms, before payment is made, clarify who is responsible for any loss incurred in the unfortunate and unlikely event that a package is not received.
Once all terms have been agreed upon, the buyer will make payment to the member acting as seller. The seller will confirm the payment has been received. The buyer may wish to send a message to notify the seller that the payment has been sent. (A confirmation of payment is always to be expected from a seller)
Once payment has been received the seller will pack and ship your item/s. It is best selling practice for a member acting as seller to send a photograph of the postage receipt following dispatch and/or tracking information. Some sellers may also even include a photo of the package pre-dispatch. It is a good idea to confirm with the seller before-hand when agreeing upon the terms of the trade that they will send a photo of the postage receipt once your package has been dispatched.
Once you receive your item/s it is worth taking the time to notify the seller that the package has been received safely.
Now that payment has been made and item/s are received, both the buyer and the seller may exchange trading feedback. It is important to leave trading feedback for each trade completed, especially if the seller has provided a good service. The feedback system helps to facilitate a degree of safety and trust for members when seeking to purchase items from another member. If a member has received several positive feedback comments it is an indicator of how safe trading with them will be.
The trade is complete.
Please be aware that the steps provided are only a suggested example and it is entirely optional to follow them. The founder @ChrisSilver and The Silver Forum are not liable for the use or disuse of suggested guidance. Not all trades will be conducted in the exact manner as described in this guide but most will include similar steps in approximately the same order.
6. To leave Trading Feedback, click on a member’s user image to navigate to their profile page or click their name in a message thread.

Click the Trading Feedback tab and click the Add Feedback button

Select the role you adopted in the trade: The Buyer, The Seller or Trading.
Select whether your feedback is Positive or Negative and leave a Comment.
In the Topic field type the title of the trade listing that you interacted with to purchase, exchange or sell an item/s.

7. If you wish to conduct your own trade in the manner described above, assuming the role of The Seller, click the Start New Topic button to create your own listing. Please note that as a standard member you may only create one trade listing every thirty days. If a member wishes to increase the number of sales listings they are permitted to create, you may upgrade to a premium membership here.

8. Enter a name for your listing in the Title box, click the +Add Tag button in the Prefix box and choose For Sale, For Exchange, For Sale or Exchange.

9. Enter a full & detailed description including photographs, condition & price. You can use the Trade Listing Template provided as a pinned post at the top of the trade listing pages to fill the description box. Simply replace the example information with your own.


10. Wanted listings are created in the same manner as described above. When clicking the Start New Topic button you have the option to select the Wanted prefix. Choose a title for the item/s you are looking for, select the Wanted prefix and fill the description with information relevant to what you are seeking.

11. For Auction is the final type of trade listing you may engage with or create. The information provided in the description of a For Auction listing is the same as any For Sale, For Exchange, For Sale or Exchange listing with the addition of auction terms, a start/end date & time and includes a starting bid instead of a total item/s cost. Some auctions may have a reserve. If you wish to start your own auction it is recommended that you use the auction template provided as a pinned post at the top of the trade listing pages.

 
F.A.Q

1. Can I pay by paypal, what payment methods are accepted?
It depends on each individual seller and it is entirely the seller’s choice what methods of payment are accepted. Some members accept paypal friends & family payments. Paypal goods & services payments incur a fee for transactions, some may accept this method but will expect you to pay the fee. Some members may accept crypto payments. Most payments on The Silver Forum are made via bank transfer.
2. Do I pay for postage?
This is decided by the individual seller and the details will be described in the listing generally. If the listing says including postage then it’s included, the service for an included postage offer will be the seller’s choice. Most sellers do not include postage. Most listings will state the total cost of item/s plus postage of buyers choice and risk which is paid for by you the buyer. The service used is entirely your choice. If you use a postal service that is not insured you may be at risk of financial loss if the item is lost in transit.
3. Can I Contact a member about a trade listing directly in private?
Yes. If you are interested in an item/s listed in the Buy & Sell trade section you can contact a member directly via private message. Note that some listings will state that comments have priority over pm's, which means comment first for place in the queue and the seller will then send you a private message. On a listing with this term described it is best to follow the protocol if you want a chance to get the item/s.
4. What happens if I do not receive an item I purchased from another member?
In the unlikely and unfortunate event that an item purchased from another member is not received, the first steps to take will be to notify the member acting as seller and request a proof of postage if not already provided at the time of dispatch. If the member can demonstrate the item has been sent and it is clear that it has been lost in transit you could request that they communicate with the courier in order to identify if the package is lost or delayed. If it is lost then the seller will be able to claim a refund as long as the postage method chosen was insured and proof of postage retained. If the postage method chosen was not insured and the terms of the trade negotiated were that the buyer assumes all risk and liability if they choose a postal method that is not insured then your options will be limited. A seller may in this circumstance do all they can to aid you but they are under no obligation to do so, nor is the founder @ChrisSilver or The Silver Forum liable or responsible for item/s lost in transit. Ensure before any payment is made that it’s agreed that the seller can provide proof of postage to avoid issues if this situation were to arise.
5. What does it mean when a listing says the postage is of buyer’s choice and risk?
This means that if you the buyer choose the postal service and you choose a service that is not insured then the seller is not responsible for loss or damage. Ensure the terms agreed are clear before purchase is made. Although problems are unlikely, you may wish to choose an insured service if you wish to eliminate the possibility of an issue. Only you, the member acting as buyer are responsible for the choice made.
 
A final note on Trust
Making a bank transfer to someone who is essentially a stranger for an item/s unseen in person that one hopes will be shipped in good faith by an individual can be daunting in a world where we are used to ebay and paypal buyer protections and secure credit card transactions.
As individual members of The Silver Forum we find ourselves relying on community reputation, trading feedback and our own powers of discernment.
In my personal opinion @billysilver the manner in which trades are conducted on The Silver Forum is the best way to deal human to human, it is in accordance with our inherent nature. If trust can be developed and built between two humans trading, then that relationship can extend further.
Building relationships based on trust is a valuable and rare thing but certainly needed in the world we find ourselves living in today. Trust is especially needed between humans in general to be healthy and happy. We are social animals and we need to be able to trust one another, we are afforded an opportunity to do so here.
Reciprocal trust between humans is an incredibly powerful thing.
You can verify any member’s trading sales feedback by clicking a member name and viewing their profile. You can click the trading feedback tab on a member’s profile in order to view feedback for previous trades, this is an important part of instilling confidence when potentially engaging in a trade.
From a member’s profile you may also note the length of time a user has been active and you can view how many posts they have made and how many reputation points they have. Community Reputation points are built from members engaging a post made with a reaction(Like, Love etc).
Membership tier (silver, gold, platinum, platinum plus) can also be a factor to consider alongside reputation and trust but it's not a definitive reason to trust someone, just indicates how much someone has invested financially into the community.
Dependence on outside agents and financial protections are what we are used to generally as consumers, this dependence is not necessary.
How your interaction with an individual feels must certainly be one of the most important factors to pay attention to when trading. You are a capable human with your own mind. Trust your gut. Use your own powers of discernment and enjoy your stay at The Silver Forum.
Thank You
 
Disclaimer: The following applies to all Members/Sellers on the forum. Members trade at their own risk. The Silver Forum does not vet any members/sellers on the forum and neither the founder @ChrisSilver nor the forum is liable for any loss(es) that may result from trades. The founder @ChrisSilver and The Silver Forum also can not mediate any trades, this is between the two parties to discuss and resolve any issues that they might have.
All guidance contained within this document is suggested and is not mandatory instruction given by the founder @ChrisSilver or The Silver Forum.
 Neither the founder @ChrisSilver or The Silver Forum are responsible for suggested guidance followed or not followed based on information contained here in.
Opinions expressed are the personal opinions of @billysilver

Not sure I will be much help. When I buy from the US from companies that don't ship to the UK, I use a company called shipitto. They have loads of different services and I even consolidate parcels with them and they will write whatever you instruct them to on the shipping label (within reason). They may offer something you are looking for.
Just putting it out there. Couldn't you sell as much as you can, change it to tether, carry it over on your laptop. Then buy it back when you get here. 
 

The metals got smashed at the open tonight. Long time since i saw these moves. Presumably they were gunning for the lows of last November and September - didn't make it that low. Low volume trading levels, probably less chance of retaliation and consequences, looking to flush out stops - the usual gangster MO of old.

1. Place a piece of folded bubble wrap or packing bean(s) inside the tube to stop the coins rattling.
Give it a good shake ( keep your thumb on the lid though ! ) to check before wrapping further.
2. Either wrap the tube in several turns of clingfilm or place in a polythene bag, wrap tightly then tape to close.
I never tape the bare lid because many tapes leave a disgusting sticky residue.
3. Assuming you are posting special delivery, package dimensions are less critical so wrap the tube in multiple turns of bubble wrap giving several centimetres of thickness all round.
Alternatively a small cardboard box is a good suggestion but fill it with packing - paper, bubble wrap, polystyrene beans etc. so the tube doesn't have room to move.
Job done !

Welcome to the forum Patrick! 

Patrick and I know each other in real life and I'm happy to vouch that he is a sound guy to deal with

I've finally bitten the silver bullet. Made my first purchase today. 250 1oz Britannias. 

My name is Patrick.
The past 18 months my eyes have been opened to Precious Metals. During this time I have begun stacking Silver coins for my own collection and also to help family members and friends understand the importance of protecting there wealth. I have joined the Silver Forum to connect with other members who able to share knowledge with each other.
My intentions will be to list some Silver Coins on here and gain more insight from more experienced members 🙂

Hi all,
I've been invested in platinum for bit over a year now. One of the problems with investing in platinum is the large spread between buying and selling. I expect this is because it's a fairly niche investment and the professional dealers have to charge 20% VAT at least in the U.K.

However, there is no fundamental reason that the spread should be that large, we just need some more peer to peer market makers. At the moment I'm looking to get my trading rep to 10+ with some silver trades, once I'm there then I'll have a look into making a market for 1 oz platinum Britannias. For example, by offering to buy at spot +12%, and offering to sell at spot +22%. I have a 10 oz position with BullionVault (a vaulted service) and 6x1oz platinum Britannia coins which I bought on the forum for around spot+12%. I'd just be flipping between vaulted and coins so I wouldn't care what the actual spot price was.

Ideally there would be a thread where anyone could beat the best bid and platinum Britannia holders could also improve the offer thus making a type of orderboard for 1oz platinum Britannias and reducing the spread.

I'm still fairly new here so I'm wondering: Would something like this be useful? Has it been tried before for any other product? Can anyone see some pitfalls that would prevent it from working?

I can spot a few issues that I'm mulling over, though I'm fairly confident that maintaining a spread of 10% should be possible.

Yes a wealth of information there for me to digest.
Yes I think trust is a key issue, that's why I'd wait until I have more trading history and experience of doing bigger amounts - hopefully enjoying the process as I go. 

I'd need to see pictures of the coins before agreeing to purchase, if the coins are imperfect then I'd would look to adjust the price or refuse the trade. 

If I invest in coins then the source of the cash will essentially come from selling a portion of my vaulted platinum BV position so if the platinum price drops then I'd be sitting on a paper loss though no worse than where I would have been without buying the coins.

If no one want to buy the coins I had in my inventory then I'd just have to enjoy looking at them  I'd only be looking to purchase Britannias though so good for the UK market and these only started to be produced in 2018 so its quite new as a coin series.
I guess the experiences that you've posted shows the differences between what a professional dealer and a hobbyist provide to the pm ecosystem and the issues they have to consider. Always quoting a price on any coin in any quantity is something that only a handful of dealers can hope to achieve, I expect that managing cashflow and making payroll becomes particularly important then too.

One of the other points that I was considering (especially before I bought my first platinum coins) is verifying that the coins are indeed genuine.. given platinum's density I've realised that if it looks good and passes the weight and measurement tests then it pretty much has to be platinum. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has ever heard/come across a convincing fake platinum coin?
 
Yes exactly, lower spreads draw in investors, speculators and transaction revenue for the exchanges. I tried using some bots (free open-source software) to market make on a crypto platform, however to compete with professionals one has to essentially go for obsure alt-coins that have a higher spread and the profit in earning the spread is dwarfed by the effect of the price swings of the alt-coin. So I think the key to a market making as a hobby is to choose something that has a low liquidity/high spread but which one also doesn't mind holding as a long term position.

I hope that stolen platinum doesn't make it into the Royal Mint supply chain.. Also nice to see your recent sales post and a strong bid at 15% for the platinum britannias    

interesting post!
most exchanges/trading places do offer discounts or rebates for the service of market making. On coinbase pro for cryptos, you get lower transaction fees if you are providing liquidity, as opposed to taking it.
on an unrelated note, it looks like criminals are providing liquidity to PGM market in their own way 😛
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/why-are-thieves-stealing-so-many-catalytic-converters

I did guess the main answer! 🙂
Your further scheme sounds quite sensible. 
I can envisage a few problems:
The seller needs to trust you, or vice versa.
What happens when some coins are imperfect?
You invest in 10 coins (I know you said about hedging against your BV account/stock), platinum price drops, do you make a loss?
Whether platinum prices go up or down, there is nobody who wants to buy, or wants to but can't afford any. Maybe they want a different date!
I am not knocking the idea, just "thinking out loud".
I see our companies role as a market maker. We will (almost) always quote or discuss a buying price on any coins in any quantity. Part of this is that we need to maintain sufficient liquidity to be able to pay immediately for whatever we get offered. Sometimes we buy in very little for days or a week at a time, then we get a big buy-in, and the next day there is a queue of other people wanting to sell often quite substantial "dollops" of coins. This is not unusual, these things often go in waves, almost as though they were synchronised.
A few months ago, someone brought in multiple large cartons of modern issue, mainly proof, coins, some gold, some platinum. they included 5 and 10 ounce coins, mainly Channel Islands, most were low issue limit, nearly all bought from Harrington and Byrne. From memory, the total came to almost £400K. It took us a good few days to work through them to establish their value, followed by weeks photographing them, more weeks adding them to our stock system with descriptions and VAT status. A few sold within days, we probably under-priced them, but I don't know what proportion we have now sold. I suspect it will not be high, and also that we still have too many of them left in stock in a year's time. This is not a complaint or pleas for sympathy, we remain happy we bought them, but in the few weeks either side of buying these, we also bought a few largish bullion lots, and several other modern issue parcels.
Back to platinum, about 20 years ago, a Rothschilds customer wanted to sell 50 x one ounce platinum bullion coins, maples or eagles from memory. She was pointed in our direction, and we duly bought them, without much enthusiasm. It took us months to get our investment back into cash, even offering them out as low as 1% premium.
... and of course, when the palladium price spiked a year or so ago, palladium coins and bars were coming out of the woodwork much faster than we could sell them. Our investment in them was a substantial 6 figure sum. Almost nobody wanted to buy. We did end up shifting almost all, but only after prices were about 15% down from the peak.
In both of these cases, I am sure we ended up in profit, but we had to work hard, and we certainly didn't get rich.
 
 

hey everyone so glad to be here and be a part of this forum i heard about this through Backyard Bullion and i'm hoping to get a lot of advice from members and business owners alike since i'm starting up my own brand of silver products that will involve silver coins and hopefully if i get them right silver bars i'll show my current successful product at the moment. unfortunately the file is too big to show the back of the coin but i'll send images of that on another post.   

By my count 2020 onward the following countries are going through hyper inflation: 
Lebanon, Cuba, Venezuela, South Africa. 
They say in hyper inflation gold leads silver in timing of the increase but silver jumps bigger. So the ideal would be to somehow have foreknowledge of the timings then you could time it right and trade out of gold into silver, but in reality the costs of selling gold and the premiums of buying silver during the panic would make that unpractical in my circumstances for me. 
I'd like to learn more about how silver does in those modern hyper inflationary nations. I wish these silver channels on YouTube would tell that story. 
For me 999 silver lost its appeal when VAT came with Brexit and also the premiums got so high with #silverqueeze hype
But there's no VAT or premiums on 1947 British coins, good for emergencies, it's something I've been buying recently. 

Hi all,
I've been invested in platinum for bit over a year now. One of the problems with investing in platinum is the large spread between buying and selling. I expect this is because it's a fairly niche investment and the professional dealers have to charge 20% VAT at least in the U.K.

However, there is no fundamental reason that the spread should be that large, we just need some more peer to peer market makers. At the moment I'm looking to get my trading rep to 10+ with some silver trades, once I'm there then I'll have a look into making a market for 1 oz platinum Britannias. For example, by offering to buy at spot +12%, and offering to sell at spot +22%. I have a 10 oz position with BullionVault (a vaulted service) and 6x1oz platinum Britannia coins which I bought on the forum for around spot+12%. I'd just be flipping between vaulted and coins so I wouldn't care what the actual spot price was.

Ideally there would be a thread where anyone could beat the best bid and platinum Britannia holders could also improve the offer thus making a type of orderboard for 1oz platinum Britannias and reducing the spread.

I'm still fairly new here so I'm wondering: Would something like this be useful? Has it been tried before for any other product? Can anyone see some pitfalls that would prevent it from working?

I can spot a few issues that I'm mulling over, though I'm fairly confident that maintaining a spread of 10% should be possible.

Hi,
As a complete novice, I'm looking for advice on purchasing physical silver for storage at home, using savings (about £15000) plus some junk silver for emergency use possibly. I'm not particularly interested in numismatic. If I understand correctly, it's better to obtain 50-90% 0.999 fine silver for the investment. Maybe now is not the time to buy, I know premiums are very high...
If anyone could recommend any trusted dealers it would be appreciated. I live in Essex.

I like Platinum and have a position with Bullionvault. I have always found Bullionvault has worked well for me (though there is a third party risk, I'd be more concerned with it being an easy target for some new government regulation/capital controls). I guess the issue the OP has is the cost of transaction in switching between vaulted/fiat and physical coins especially with the VAT situation here. I had always avoided buying silver and platinum coins for this reason. It was only when I found this forum late last year that I realised that there was a good potenial to buy/sell peer to peer thus avoiding vat and transaction costs.

I'd be quite interested in making a market for platinum coins, I'll write a separate post about this later today.

What about liquidating and use the funds to buy Platinum via Bullionvault (VAT Free), then just pull out what you need to buy physical when you get here?
Always a third party risk but....

under data you can add a source and I select via WEB... I use BBP url and then you should see a field called "metals" which has all the pricings for Gold, Silver and platinum.
 

No matter which size or specification it is, completing the kookaburra series is a marvelous achievement.

Maybe refined from stolen car catalytic  converters