paul159

It's slightly complicated.
There is/was a scheme whereby if you bought silver coins made outside the EU, without VAT, you only paid VAT on part of your cost, possibly commission. Some of this was via Estonia I think.
It came about when German VAT rate on silver coins increased from 7% ro 19%. There were and probably still are doubts about its legality. We investigated it, but decided not to try offering it because of the contingent risk. There are numerous threads about it on TSF. I you can't find the theads, I am sure some member can point you to them.

Welcome as a member
I found out after I got my membership about this page which I think is great, it's the forum's automated gold price research tool
www.thesilverforum.com/compare/?addShipping=1

Me neither 

To follow up with a more serious response:
Are you aware "Investment Gold" is exempt from VAT in the UK and EU?
Silver is taxable at standard rate (20% in UK). So you still want to invest in silver?
Any "Sterling" coins (UK £s) are also exempt from CGT.
If you still prefer to buy silver:
One well known Blackpool dealer almost always has the lowest delivered (you can collect) quantity prices in the UK.
You could try doing "grey" imports.
You could buy piecemeal peer-to-peer from TSF members, but don't expect to pay 20% less than new dealer-sourced coins.
All the above assumes you want to have it in physical in your hands, making you a collector / stacker.
If you are serious about the investment element, you can legally avoid the VAT by buying for exempt storage. The same Blackpool dealer offers secure offshore storage (in Zurich), which cost 0.6% plus VAT per annum (compared with Royal Mint storage of at least 1.0% plus VAT).
Now, if I can just remember the name of the world famous Blackpool dealer, established in 1964...
🙂

Just curious how come you don’t want to buy gold? 

I agree with Jimmock.
Until you know which years are worth more money it's best to try not to spend more than 4.5% over spot including postage.
That's about what you can hope to get back for common years in good condition (selling on the forum).
SVcollector is selling for way under that at the mo.

If your looking to buy sovereigns in bulk,have a look at @SVcollector,usually has bulk lots for sale.

Seems quite good although trawling though as many dealers as you can sometimes show up good deals. The best place to buy Sovereigns is right here on the forum, although you would need to upgrade your membership to see listings as soon as they are posted.

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. 

Thanks Airhead. I'll look into that

In that case forget Silver and buy gold. Either 1oz Britannias, low margin, or bullion Sovereigns, very liquid.

Baird are well trusted dealer and accredited lbma refiner. They also have a showroom in Hatton garden if you wished to deal in person over counter, remember to take your ID and proof of address
 

Because you do not take physical possession, it just sits in thier vault.

there are some silver coins on here now for £24.00 each in the sales section.... not sure if he's in Essex though 😂

I got a few under £25, no one is interested 😆

if you want most silver for value for your money, consider bullionvault allocated storage
 

Anything British bud. Only buy bits that you can sell on easily. Pre 1920s, 47s, Britt's, queen's beasts and sovs. Other bits do sell but to a smaller market. 

@paul159I would agree just now is not the best time to buy with very high premiums and VAT on top. I would not be looking to blow the 15k on a UK dealer.
If this is the path you have researched and think it is best, the best info I could add would be to get yourself premium membership on here.
The deals go on here quick but the price on here beats the dealers everyday. 
If you get premium membership you will be first to see new deals that get offered. 
This will be the best use of your money. 

I wouldn't trust any dealers from Essex! 🙂

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.