timsk

Hi Gruff, This is pure speculation on my part - so take what I'm about to say with a large pinch of salt. My suspicion is that the Tavex' 'Christmas Deal' is a loss leader designed specifically to generate interest in the way that it has here. That said, there's not that much interest (thus far) and, given that they've only been operating in the U.K. for a few months will - likely as not - want to continue to raise their profile into the new year. So, I suspect their deal will either be extended, or morph into a 'New Year Deal', or whatever. The difficultly I have - and I guess anyone in the market for silver Britannia's has - is trying to decide if A) the recent market spot price low is a turning point and the downtrend is in the process of reversing, or if the late December bounce was merely part of the equities market Santa Rally and, come the new year, prices will once again push lower. If the latter is the case, the current 'deal' from Tavex doesn't look quite so attractive. So, what to do? As no one can answer the question I've posed, the smart move might be to divide whatever one has to invest into two or three portions. Use one chunk to buy now and, if prices tank, buy the dips on the the way down. If the recent low is 'the' low, then at least one's got in close to it with a deal that's much better than anyone else is currently offering. Like I say, just my £0.02p worth - probably a load of bunkum! 😉

Apologies Chris - I'm largely responsible for the off topic Tavex stuff! If the forum has a naughty step - send me to it! I wonder, Is there any merit in you (or one of the Mods) starting a bespoke Tavex Bullion thread and moving relevant posts from here to the new thread? I ask as I'm wanting the discussion to continue and hope that those who've made purchases will post feedback which will inform others about the merits - or otherwise - of dealing with them. Cheers. 😉

Nice one Gruff, May I ask what you bought? (Tell me to MYOB - I'm a nosy so 'n so at the best of times!)

Hi Gruff, I thought I'd see if I get comments on here from members with questions like yours and then get back to Tavex with any follow up questions. Good point - worth checking!

Further to my earlier post, I've received a reply to my list of questions. The English isn't great, but I suspect this is because English isn't the first language of Priit Rinken (who replied and is Tavex's 'Country Manager'). So, I'm not concerned about that. My list of questions is in black type and the reply from Tavex follows in blue type. Any comments about what they say - or don't say - are welcome. Subject: Prospective Customer Enquiry Re. 1 oz Silver Britannia Coin Hi Tavex, I'm looking to make an investment of up to £---- in silver bullion coins and have seen your 'Christmas Offer' for the 1oz Britannia. With this in mind, I'd be grateful if you could answer the following questions please . . . 1. The listing on your website shows an image of the 2021 coin - is this the year that you're selling (as opposed to earlier years or the current 2022 edition)? 2. Is there an end date for this offer? The reason I'm asking is that - as best as I'm able - I want to try and time my purchase in line with the best silver spot price. 3. Are the coins for sale brand new (presumably sourced from The Royal Mint?) or via the second hand market? 4. If they're second hand, what assurances can you provide that the odd rogue (i.e. fake) coin won't be included? Just to be clear, I'm not casting aspersions upon the professionalism or integrity of Tavex - I'm merely conducting due diligence as I've not dealt with you before. 5. What personal details will you record if I decide to purchase from Tavex? 6. My concern - and the reason for asking the question - is security. I'm a Luddite when it comes to IT but, if I was a hacker, I'd be after your customer database! Needless to say, the consequences of that getting into the wrong hands doesn't bear thinking about. So, if you record personal info', what assurances can you provide that the data is safe? 7. If I buy a quantity of coins, are you able to offer any additional discount in price on top of the Christmas offer? 8. Additionally, would you be able to supply the coins in tubes rather than individual capsules and, if this incurs any additional cost, please indicate the amount? 9. Can you deliver to an address other than my home address - e.g. a Post Office local to me - so I can collect the parcel from there? 10. Please provide a quote for any additional costs over and above the price listed on your website. Specifically, I'm thinking of P&P? 11. Does the price remain the same regardless of payment method? I ask as some companies add on a surcharge for payment made via debit and credit cards. 12. My impression is that Tavex hasn't been operating in the U.K. for very long and online searches reveal very little information about the company. Trustpilot reviews are positive - but there are only 4 of them. Are you able to provide testimonials from reputable U.K. sources willing to vouch for you? Again, I'm not casting aspersions upon your professionalism or integrity - I'm merely conducting due diligence such that I would rather ask awkward questions now rather than regret not asking them when it's too late. I hope you understand! I look forward to your reply at your earliest convenience. Kind regards, Dear ----- Thank you for the query and the second attempt of contact on the website. For some reason your request was sorted into the spam folder. I will answer all your questions below. The coins are 2021. There is a chance that we might need to replace some of them with 2022 coins as well. At current situation the promotion will run until the end of the year. The coins are brand new from Royal Mint. They will be shipped in original tubes. Tavex has been in business for 30 years and we always do thorough checks on the bullion we buy back.. However on the UK market we are currently only selling brand new produicts directly from the factory. We will record full name, date of birth, phone nr, residential address and persons residency. The order is only handed over to the person who made the payment either by card or transfer. Our website by itself does not store any personal information. The information is stored in secured databases which are only accessible from very limited locations. Although not regulated by the FCA in the UK, most of our subsidiaries are regulated by local equal institutions and as our platform is developed centrally, it is in copliance with the strictest rules. We have some very smart people working on that. Currently I am unable to improve the price even further as it is already significantly reduced. Yes, that’s how they come. No extra cost. The parcels are sent with signed for delivery. That mean they will attempt an home delivery and if they don’t reach anyone, it will be made available to collect at the closest post office. I hope this works. There is just the 5£ standard delivery fee. All else is included in the price. The price stays the same, but we would prefer a bank transfer. There will an option for Trustly direct bank transfers available in coming days as well. This is true. We launced our website in UK only in November and we are hard at work to gain customers trust. You can check out our sister companies trustpilot pages and know our standard in the UK is rather higher than lower than there. Also our group audited annual reports are available in the public domain. Hopefully the rather large volumes we process help you put your trust in us. We also encourage new customers to place initially smaller test orders to get a feel of the service and products. Please accept once again my apologies for not getting back to you sooner. If you have any additional questions feel free to reach out. Kind regards,

Hi Martin, I'm one of the people interested in this company - specifically the 'Christmas Offer' on the silver 1 oz Britannia. I think the reason why the response about Tavex is negligible (and forum searches and wider searches online reveal so little) - is that they've not been operating in the U.K. for very long. They claim to be Europe's largest bullion dealer and appear to have been trading (in mainland Europe) for 20 years. My feeling thus far is that they're probably kosher, but tread very carefully. Caveat emptor and all that! I've e-mailed them with a long list of detailed questions - so I'll update the thread if I get a reply with info' other members might find useful.

The year appears to be 2021. Clearly it's either 2021 or 2022 because of the updated design with the security features. The price is fantastic, almost too good to be true, which prompts the question: is Tavex Bullion a legit firm? Have any members dealt with them - can anyone vouch for them? Last week I tried to buy a 1oz silver Brittannia on eBay and bid £16.00 - thinking it was a fake. I actually wanted a fake so I can compare it to the real thing bought from The Royal Mint the week before. Anyway, I was outbid. The final price was £30.00 + £2.99 P&P! So, I assume the coin was genuine but, even so, why would anyone pay almost £33.00 when they can get the same coin for £10.00 less (+P&P)? This is why I smell a rat!

Hi Centauri167, I'm in the market for tubes of 2022 1oz Silver Britannia's in perfect condition. To acquire them, I'm expecting to go to one of the main dealers but, if there's a trusted TSF member I can buy them from - then I'd certainly consider the option That said, there's a twofold catch-22 for a new member and novice stacker like me . . . 1. I could sign up for premium membership only to find there isn't anyone in this particular market place. And I imagine that's the case, as the spot silver price is circa the year lows and so, presumably, any seller would be making a loss. (Ergo - there won't be m/any sellers.) 2. I've opted for the Britannia solely for its security features but, even so, presumably fakes are out there which might find their way into a privately purchased tube. Whilst this is also possible via an established dealer, I think it's less likely as once word gets out that they've passed on a fake coin (albeit unwittingly) - their reputation will be toast. Tricky one - for me at least!

One quick question which I think I know the answer to but would appreciate confirmation of is the difference between 'graded' and 'ungraded' precious metals in the U.K. buy and sell section. My guess is that graded metals are collectable and have numismatic value (and, presumably, the grading will impact the value up or down), whereas ungraded metals are those that have little or no numismatic value and are stacked mainly for investment purposes. Is this more or less correct - or am I missing something? Thanks in advance!

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome - much appreciated.

Hi all, I've been an active trader in the financial markets in the past and a member of staff on a large U.K. forum for retail traders - so I understand the benefits and pitfalls of online forums! This one looks good! Making the switch from trading gold and other commodities via CFDs and spread betting to buying actual physical bullion is, I suspect, a bit like a 100 metre sprinter switching to become a marathon runner. So, why am I considering it? (I say 'considering' as I've not bought anything yet - so I'm still a precious metals virgin!) I don't want to sound like Mr. Doom 'n Gloom, but I fear that inflation will skyrocket and a major correction - if not a total collapse - of the financial markets is likely in the coming months / year(s). Therefore, owning the real thing strikes me as being prudent, not least because if my fears are realised there will be an enormous demand for 'safe haven' investments which will see a sharp rise in precious metal prices. As with trading, investing in this market is laden with jargon and working out the pros and cons of which metal represents the best value is something I'm finding challenging. However, it's interesting and I can't wait to to get out of the starting blocks and make my first purchase. Like other newbies, I'm very aware that being green around the gills makes me low hangin' fruit ripe for plucking by the ne'er-do-wells who, doubtless, infect this market like they do any other. With this in mind, I'm attracted to Britannia coins because of their security features - this one's caught my eye: https://silvergoldbull.co.uk/1-10-oz-2022-britannia-gold-coin# Any thoughts from old timers or those of you who were once in my shoes would be much appreciated! Tim.