steve3jant

I agree that 1oz coins will be easier to liquidate than bars, but maybe consider buying one 1oz bar at some point, as something to keep rather than to stack.
The 1oz minted Britannia bar is a good-looking piece of gold, in my opinion, and more impressive in-hand than I thought it would be. 
I would recommend one as something to own as part of a collection.  But the coins would be preferable from a stacking point of view. 
Gratuitous photo of 1oz Britannia bar and 1oz Una bar:
 

@BackyardBullion re the dice?

How about 17x2023 brits QEII? or
17x2014 philharmonics, all in great condition.
17 mixed maples, mostly birds of prey series,
and all in capsules

Bugger.... did I miss the 2010's! Trust me to have a late dinner

2 bars please

Bugger.... did I miss the 2010's! Trust me to have a late dinner

Pm sent

Possibly will be some downtime later today (sometime after 2 hours from now) to update some stuff on the server side and to update to the latest forum software.

Before this happens TSF will be put into offline mode and a message will show to this effect. We do not expect the forum to be down for that long. 

Sovereigns can be a good choice, very popular amongst collectors and investors for their relatively low cost (compared to Troy oz coins) with low margins, recognisability and desirability. They are very easy to resell on the forum.
But how many sovereigns for a roll of toilet paper in such a situation? 🧻 
If selling on the forum rather than direct to dealers you can likely get back most of the margins of silver coins, so maybe also worth considering. 

It's been discussed before, no doubt, but some clarity would never go amiss and there may be new understanding to be gleaned for some members. There seems to be a lot of questions and confusion around it so can we clear it up once and for all?
What is the situation with importing silver coins into the UK? People tend to automatically say it is charged at the standard rate of 20% as that is the rate for silver, but I have been looking into this, and to clarify the applicable rate you'd need to know what commodity code it falls into in TARIC: https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff
You could apply the code 7118100000: "Coin (other than gold coin), not being legal tender", which would be 20%.
Or could you class the coin as numismatic? In which case apply a "Collections and collectors' pieces of numismatic interest" code, one of two codes depending on the date of the coin being before 1923 or not:
https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/9705310000 
https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/9705390000
In this case, it get's a bit more confusing as it lists both the reduced rate of 5% and the standard rate of 20%.
I have found this page which gives info on the reduced rate and leads to this page which seems to imply that you when importing you should declare the value on the customs documents as 25%, which effectively makes the VAT rate 5% FOR CERTAIN ITEMS, and goes on to list the items including:
So, assuming I've understood this correctly, and assuming the coins can be argued as being a "collector's piece of numismatic interest", we should legally be able to import them into the UK from any country and declare the value as 25% of its actual value, which will then attract the 20% VAT rate on the reduced valuation and we therefore pay only 5% VAT.
I guess the crucial question is, are bullion silver coins reasonably categorised as a "collector's item" or of "numismatic interest"? I would argue that any coin with a stated face value or traded as a coin with an agreed face value (sovereign, halfcrown etc) regardless of rarity or metal content, is money and therefore numismatic. And they are collector's items if you collect them. Surely?
HOWEVER, when I contacted HMRC they advised as follows:
But this seems very open to interpretation. Where is the line? Take a very real scenario in my position as a China 1oz silver Panda collector. 2023s are mass produced and readily available. Probably not so easy to argue they have "attained interest by age or rarity". 1983s however, definitely have. And there are pandas all the way along that spectrum. 
We are talking about individuals importing, not businesses and margin schemes. No doubt there is a potential long and contentious discussion topic there... Let's leave that.
So IF I AM RIGHT and you are buying from sellers outside the UK and can reasonably argue that your coin is a "collector's item" of "numismatic interest" - get them to state commodity code 9705390000 (1923 onwards) or 97053910000 (older) on their customs form and state the value as 25% of the actual paid price and furnish them with the links provided to show it is the correct procedure.
Back to the original question - can we clear it up once and for all?? Maybe not for bullion coins.

£17.54.
From one retiree to another (also late and new to the stacking addiction)

£17.54.
From one retiree to another (also late and new to the stacking addiction)

I think this will continue once they raise the interest rates again this month. This is going to get bad. You don't hold it you don't own it. Just my opinion I could be wrong. 

@Darr3nG was the first member to like this topic started last Thursday. He has been patiently waiting all this time for this ticket number to come up 😄

#16

#16

Beautiful coins but a bit too rich for me. I'll stick to the bullion coins from this mint as you get them.

As some of you have noticed - I was able to procure the first ever one ounce bullion coin from Carpathian Mint - A stunning coin for sure. See the sales post. https://www.thesilverforum.com/topic/73499-✨the-apocalypse-is-nigh-the-white-horse-by-carpathian-mint/
There have been inquiries if I am able to get a hold of their other coins. The larger Premium Art coins.
Short answer - I can ! 
Long answer - This is basically an exercise in new connections. Lot's of questions to answer and lot's of planning and processes to put into place. 
Below please find web address for the Carpathian products. This web page is the direct link to the mint. Browse through it. 
There are quite a few awesome pieces. If one stands out to you, please contact me and I will research best way to get it to you.
The challenge will be in offering competitive pricing, so, please bear with me as I crunch the numbers.
Use the prices you see on the partner webpages [where to buy] as a guide. These prices do not include UK customs charges or shipping to the UK. The prices I will quote you will be the final price to your door.
Lastly, I need to consider timing. It won't make sense to order a coin at a time. So I might open up time frames in which to order. Maybe twice a month or so, or maybe every four to five orders. 
Thanks so much for your time in reading this message. 
 
Here is the link:
https://carpathianmint.com/ 

I only started stacking last August when I joined this forum (same as you after watching BYB on YouTube). Silver membership, at least, is essential to get the good deals. But beware… having joined the forum just to buy a few bits and pieces…. it soon became addictive! So many great deals, so little time!

I only started stacking last August when I joined this forum (same as you after watching BYB on YouTube). Silver membership, at least, is essential to get the good deals. But beware… having joined the forum just to buy a few bits and pieces…. it soon became addictive! So many great deals, so little time!

Welcome, I tend to buy a mix of both, then later, regret buying silver! Pay for a membership on here and you will be able to see all the early bargains before they go. Due to a wide range of reasons gold is probably the best to get in to. If needed there are usually a good selection of smaller stuff and the 1oz plus stuff. Whichever way you go, good luck.

Welcome to the madhouse. All of the knowledgeable people seem to think 75/25 in favour of gold is a nice ratio but in all honesty read alot of the threads on here it will give you a good idea where to go. 
So many different factors at play it really is a personal thing.
Just enjoy and as previously stated pay for membership for the early releases.

Firstly I have to point out that the vast majority of members are respectful to one another and respect other member's trade topic. So thank you to all of these members.

TSF has a policy against unsolicited comments in other members trade topics. Recently there has been a growing number of posts, and childish behaviour that has been slipping over from the non PM section into genuine trade topics of other member's, and completely derailing their sales topics and turning them into a joke. TSF is all up for members having a laugh and some banter and joking around, and it is why we specifically have a non PM section of the forum as well as this topic here, so members do have a section where they are allowed to discuss (nearly) anything and to joke around in. But member's trade topics where your fellow members are trying to trade in, is not the place.

Please remember that TSF is a business, with many professional dealers and industry representatives on as well as many serious collectors and investors. We are trying to grow the trade section for everyone. We would be grateful if you could please respect other forum members and our rule about unsolicited comments and treat the forum's trade section with seriousness as it is a place of trade.

In general I try not to interfere and like I said am all up for members having fun and a joke about (in the correct non PM section of the forum) but I have even had continual reports from a few long standing members who are not happy that the trade section is receiving a rise in such unsolicited comments and behaviour, which has resulted in several sellers sometimes withdrawing their items from sale. Again please try to contain yourself within the non PM section. 

Unsolicited comments (such as pages and pages of members joking around in one trade topic) also unfairly bump such topics up, hiding other members trade topics as well as completely derailing and destroying the trade topic of the member who is just trying to sell their item(s). It is also very off-putting to new members, we wish to encourage new members and for TSF to grow.

Please see the forum's rule on unsolicited comments here: 
Sellers who receive unsolicited comments in their trade topics, please report for moderator review. Trade topics may also be put into moderator approval queue, and/or warning points issued to accounts as the moderators see appropriate in order to uphold the forum's trade section.  

Hi I just joined the silver forum and wanted to say hello 

So, didn't want to publicly start a thread until this situation was resolved one way or another but now that it has I can say my piece publicly. 
I sent a package with approximately 6 Kilos of silver in it to The Edinburgh Assay Office in late November via Special Delivery. 
It only arrived 13 days later....
It was sent to The Isle Of Man instead of Edinburgh!
Apparently, this is what I was actually told, someONE (not a system malfunction, but someONE) missread the label and instead of EH for Edinburgh they thought it was IM for Isle of Man. 
Crazy, how does this happen?
The reason I want to share this is so that if anyone else notices funny business with their special deliveries they can know what to do that might help resolve a situation for the better. I honestly believe that not for my actions of hounding the Royal Mail investigations team nothing would have been done. 
Starting from the beginning, I was expecting the parcel to arrive on a NON strike day. Nothing happened with the tracking. So, I waited. I understand why the strikes are happening, I don't agree that they should be happening at all but alas thats not the topic of this conversation - I am prepared for some disruption to happen because of this. 2 days later, NOTHING had updated. 
So, what you need to do in this situation is go on hold for up to an hour (obviously lots of people moaning at Royal Mail, wonder why!) and you must INSIST on escalating this to the investigations team. Use the word escalation and if they say no just keep asking until they say yes. 
The reason for this is that the customer service agents on the regular number know about as much as you do. They will just tell you what the tracking says and when the cut off date for it being "officially lost". 
The investigations team should call you back within 4 hours or the next day if you ring on an afternoon. 
Later that day I got a call from the investigations team, they told me it had been sent to the wrong mail centre but not to worry, it was safe it was located and would be moved to the correct destination that day. 
Relieved I got on with my day.
Next day, NOTHING. 
Rang up again to ESCALATE AGAIN!! You cannot call the escalations team directly (totally stupid) and so you have to wait another 4 hours for the call. 
I was supposedly rung 2 minutes after escalating this call - but NOTHING came through on my phone. They decide one missed call is job done and don't try again all day. 
Next day (about 1 week since posting now) I ring again to get this sorted. The customer service person says it is now approaching the day that would be the cut off for it being lost....
UNACCEPTABLE. 
Escalate again.
Finally spoke with someone in a senior position within the escalations team who then told me it had gone to the Isle of Man and that a mistake had been made. Things would start moving again and to my surprise the tracking was updated to say received in Isle of Man. 
Spoke at length about how frustrating this whole situation was and its impact on my customers and by blood pressure!
Low and behold, NOTHING happened again for 4 more days over a weekend. I finally got an answer that the package had been placed in a "bag" with the other packages that the sorting office "didn't know what to do with". 
I firmly believe that without the intervention of this senior manager (the one good and shining light in this whole saga) This package would have been lost into the depths of Royal Mail and I would have had to make a claim.
So, lessons here. Don't take no for an answer. Push them to investigate and you get results. 
Regarding insurance 
It is worth noting this package was insured with up to £2500 cover. 
This cover is for replacement items only and would NOT cover retail value of items. I had close to £10,000 worth of retail value items in that package and consequently was quite concerned as you might expect!
Anyway, that was a long ranty post, anyone reading to this point....thanks, your obviously a BYB rambler and in the cool kids club.