CollectForFun

There's one other possibility - at least one auction house I know has hidden reserves on lots. So if you browse the auction site it may seem that a coin has sold as it had a bid but in fact it has not sold. That's how it can reappear in the subsequent auction...

Why even bother comparing your purchase price with an offer from a dealer? It's obvious that dealer will offer you just bare minimum. You will continue "losing" in this way with every purchase you make if you keep doing so..!

So you did not receive your 1 kg coin but received just something smaller worth 10% of your payment? It seems the seller is responsive - are they aware your 1kg is still missing? Or do they think what they sent fully substituted your 1kg coin? Probably not as you write the value is much less. There's so much you should discuss with them directly, I'm not sure what type of advice you expect to get from here other than talk to the seller and demand finalisation of your deal that will be satisfactory for you. I'm sure the matter will be resolved - let us know how it goes!

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/115060-american-royal-mint--eagle-ingot

For this problem I would have one simple solution for you - just start using a cheaper broker...

On researching a few coins from the latest TCC auction I noticed a coin which appeared already twice in previous auctions this year and found it interesting enough to share this finding with you. The coin in question is an 1844 Austrian ducat in an NGC slab. It was sold yesterday for £380+%, i.e. around £407 Link This same coin was auctioned with TCC already in June when it sold for £440+%, i.e. around £472 Link And further 3 months before that this coin appeared in an auction in Greece where it sold for €380+%, i.e. around €465 or £390 at historic FX rates Link This coin is sufficiently numismatic so that its price shouldn't be so much affected by gold price changes over the time. So what do you think - why is this coin on sale so often? Is the scratch so bad that noone wants it in their collection? Or maybe the buyer from the first TCC auction did not pay so it was put on sale again? Or is such a coin-flipping more common and only here it was easier to notice because the coin is so recognisable? By the way, after taking into account TCC seller's fees, the sellers received £396 and £342, respectively, from the first and second TCC sale. So not really a profitable development for the coin owner(s)...

Sorry but I'm not quite sure what you are trying to suggest by this - if yields decreased, especially so significantly as you wrote, that means prices increased, which implies that markets value the gilts more than before - so what do you mean by saying that markets were unimpressed?

Here you go, after short googling, info on the topic directly from the Bulgarian authorities website: https://customs.bg/wps/portal/agency-en/home/info-citizens/Carrying of cash, precious metals, gems and items containing them or made of them BTW, there's nothing like "partial" joining the EU. It's binary - either a country is a member, or not.

Whaaat?!? 😂

Foreign exchange markets reacting to the mini budget announcement = dramatic depreciation of GBP against USD -> higher gold price in GBP despite falling gold price in USD. I'm sure reading is available on the topic on many sites e.g. over here https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2022/sep/23/uk-consumer-confidence-economy-recession-mini-budget-tax-cuts-kwasi-kwarteng-business-live. "could" is the real magic word, isn't it 🙂

As far as I know, investment gold is exempt from both VAT and import duties in the EU in general. So far so good. However, notification obligation will most likely apply if you exceed €10,000 threshold. Have no idea how this works in Bulgaria but here for illustration is an explanation of the process in Germany: https://www.zoll.de/EN/Private-individuals/Travel/Entering-Germany/Restrictions/Cash/Entering-Germany-from-non-EU-country/entering-germany-from-non-eu-country_node.html Most likely similar rules will apply in Bulgaria as they would have most likely been harmonised within the EU.

I know that you want to rotate the image so that the position of the portrait looks most natural. But the result of this can often be seen on the slabbed coins - while the obverse looks straight in the slab, the reverse is badly rotated to one side. So I wonder if it really is necessary to try to determine the right rotation of the head, if we could simply look at the reverse, which usually has a horizontal or vertical line enabling us to determine the right position and then use the position of the obverse in accordance with the reverse? Or why think that anyone can determime the rotation better than the mint itself?

Don't want to spoil the fun but another visible coin had George's head on it and the coin which is right below the Elizabeth's one seems to be Victoria's portrait so perfectly plausible that some were 19th century...

The difference in the shape of the letters is really noticeable. That can't be due to worn out dies... But when I quickly checked Eagle images on the internet it seems there indeed is a different design of the letters on the coins from different years. Besides the R with a straight leg, you can notice also U is completely different with the extra "leg". It seems 2022 version has this new design, while 2008 - 2021 coins have the other one. 2007 coin and all (?) before seem to have the design which was adopted again in 2022. Interesting...

@daca may also be able to share some valuable experience in this area

Just to better understand your perspective: What makes you think premiums are now "so high"? What do you compare them against? And what premium would you consider appropriate?

Just to add a little bit of context for those who prefer not to remain ignorant: Material: Sandstone Dimensions: H:137. 5 cm Date: late XIIth - early XIIIth century Provenance: Krol Romeas, Angkor Thom (Siem Reap) Collection: National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh This statue is dated to the Bayon style. Portraiture art of this period is marked by smiling and mystical expression. The quality of the modelling of this work reveals an exceptional mastery of the art. His facial expression is accentuated by semi-closed eyes, a light smile, nose with three lobes, large forehead, lips that are neither thin nor thick, and long ear lobes. All these traits represent the Khmer physiognomy. The king’s power as expressed by his facial expression evokes supreme knowledge, compassion and peacefulness. https://www.cambodiamuseum.info/en_collection/stone_object/jayavaraman.html The true gesture of Jayavarman VII statues was in the form of a sampeah – a Cambodian traditional way of showing respect. Source

Lol the sovereign 😂

To be precise, 84 (zolotniks) means 875/1000 silver fineness. The town mark is hard to decipher but perhaps it may be Moscow - St. George on the horse? No "kokoshnik" (face) mark would mean the item is from before 1896 marking reform. And finally, "KF" is an intriguing maker's mark because it was used by none other than Karl Fabergé - most known for his famous Faberge eggs. But, just keep in mind that his mark would probably be also the most copied one. I am no expert on his work and have no idea if this ring is genuine. The symbol of a double-headed eagle on a cross is used on many various items in Russia and maybe it even has some meaning to it (but this I'm just guessing).

Yeah, sorry for being a messenger of bad news. You can also check offers on ma-shops where there's a variety of conditions and prices https://www.ma-shops.com/shops/search.php?searchstr=Netherlands+2+1%2F2+gulden+1868&catid=-1&sortby=preis_exclship to get an idea, keeping in mind that ma-shops asking prices are typically above what's fair market value. It's however still possible that on eBay this coin could be sold to an uninformed buyer for more - it's eBay, after all, where anything is possible 🙂

Is this the same coin? If so, it was on auction earlier this year with starting price EUR 40 and went unsold... https://numis24.com/lots/view/61d5b91539e3832ab6278b3e

Big like to you for this unexpected remark - put a big smile on my face!

This is getting somewhat confusing. So buying shares is "spending", while buying silver is "investing"? Sorry, I'm still missing your point. If the goal of this thread is to convince people to spend less and thus save some more money, that's ok I guess. But how this calculation of the yield from the stock markets fits in the discussion of whether gold and silver are good investment I have no idea.

So, spend less in order to have money to buy silver? Or what is your point?

Then what about for example platinum? Platinum's production is just a fraction of that of gold. And yet, it's cheaper. Unfortunately, production ratios can not be conclusive for an asset's price...