Silverlocks

For stock photos? Are you mad???

It's possible that there are institutional impediments that prevent the issues from being fixed.  Mostly these arise from toxic individuals in key positions - gatekeepers, empire builders, blockers and suchlike.  Someone remaining incumbent in one of those key positions can do a lot of damage over time as they tend to accumulate deadwood around them with anyone competent leaving in frustration or being forced out.  Once you've got this sort of toxic culture embedded in an institution it can be next to impossible to shift.
In the course of a couple of decades working as an I.T. contractor I've seen so many companies with this type of issue, at least a third of the sites I've worked on.  Usually it's allowed to grow and persist through air cover that keeps the key people from being held accountable, and without heads rolling at a fairly senior level it's not likely to change.
Unfortunately, 'Hire the right people' is the hard part.
 

It's possible that there are institutional impediments that prevent the issues from being fixed.  Mostly these arise from toxic individuals in key positions - gatekeepers, empire builders, blockers and suchlike.  Someone remaining incumbent in one of those key positions can do a lot of damage over time as they tend to accumulate deadwood around them with anyone competent leaving in frustration or being forced out.  Once you've got this sort of toxic culture embedded in an institution it can be next to impossible to shift.
In the course of a couple of decades working as an I.T. contractor I've seen so many companies with this type of issue, at least a third of the sites I've worked on.  Usually it's allowed to grow and persist through air cover that keeps the key people from being held accountable, and without heads rolling at a fairly senior level it's not likely to change.
Unfortunately, 'Hire the right people' is the hard part.
 

Interestingly, the UK is one of the worst places in the world to try to generate solar power. Just too cloudy. For the benefit of Scottish readers, the sun is that yellow thing that occasionally appears in the sky and hurts your eyes when you gawp at it. 

It's possible that there are institutional impediments that prevent the issues from being fixed.  Mostly these arise from toxic individuals in key positions - gatekeepers, empire builders, blockers and suchlike.  Someone remaining incumbent in one of those key positions can do a lot of damage over time as they tend to accumulate deadwood around them with anyone competent leaving in frustration or being forced out.  Once you've got this sort of toxic culture embedded in an institution it can be next to impossible to shift.
In the course of a couple of decades working as an I.T. contractor I've seen so many companies with this type of issue, at least a third of the sites I've worked on.  Usually it's allowed to grow and persist through air cover that keeps the key people from being held accountable, and without heads rolling at a fairly senior level it's not likely to change.
Unfortunately, 'Hire the right people' is the hard part.
 

It's possible that there are institutional impediments that prevent the issues from being fixed.  Mostly these arise from toxic individuals in key positions - gatekeepers, empire builders, blockers and suchlike.  Someone remaining incumbent in one of those key positions can do a lot of damage over time as they tend to accumulate deadwood around them with anyone competent leaving in frustration or being forced out.  Once you've got this sort of toxic culture embedded in an institution it can be next to impossible to shift.
In the course of a couple of decades working as an I.T. contractor I've seen so many companies with this type of issue, at least a third of the sites I've worked on.  Usually it's allowed to grow and persist through air cover that keeps the key people from being held accountable, and without heads rolling at a fairly senior level it's not likely to change.
Unfortunately, 'Hire the right people' is the hard part.
 

So I'm in Indonesia now and I did a little bit of detective work.
A big part of the reason for gold's popularity lies in the influence of Sharia law on the culture, in particular the proscription on usury. Interest-bearing savings accounts are not strictly allowed per Islamic doctrine and sharia banking is quite the topic in its own right.  Keeping savings as gold is common practice in Islamic circles and is apparently prescribed in the Quran as the officially sanctioned way to do it.  Although Indonesia is fairly liberal by the standards of such things it's still widely practiced here.  Thus, there is a lot of trade in smaller gold bars and, because it takes the place of banking for a lot of people, it is subject to state regulation.
Most jewellery shops and various online outfits buy and sell bullion, and there is a state regulated buy/sell price for retail gold traded domestically.  I'm not sure how often it updates - it might be daily but it seems to be less frequent than that.  The gold also attracts 11% PPN (essentially VAT), although it looks as if there might be some discussion about punting this.
The spreads for small bars are also less than those for (say) 1g bars here, and I suspect the production volumes of small bars are much greater than in a typical Western mint.
The major reputable gold producer is a state owned enterprise called P.T. Antam, which is a mining company that produces refined gold alongside various other products.  They sell a range of retail bars at various sizes as well as industrial and good delivery gold products.  They are viewed in Indonesia as being reputable and carry LBMA accreditation, which means essentially that their published assays are accepted.  Given their role in what is essentially a banking system one suspects there would be a major shitstorm if it was found that they were pushing dodgy gold. 
There is also a state pawn shop (for want of a better word) that will take gold as collateral against loans.  In Jakarta there is a weekly auction of collateral on defaulted loans,  which includes gold bars.  There are probably other auction sites but it looks like there isn't one in the town we're living in.
That appears to be what's going on in the retail gold bullion market here.  It's been an interesting little vignette of a different culture and the role of gold in its society and I think I've got a reasonable insight into how to go about doing the Indonesian side of the family stack now.
 

I think they're also quite big anywhere with a substantial Muslim population because of the sharia banking and savings practices, so it doesn't come as a surprise that you might see them in the Middle East.

thailand, cambodia etc dont buy coins or bars except if they are rich - by our standards. normal folk will buy gold chains, rings, earings etc.

So I'm in Indonesia now and I did a little bit of detective work.
A big part of the reason for gold's popularity lies in the influence of Sharia law on the culture, in particular the proscription on usury. Interest-bearing savings accounts are not strictly allowed per Islamic doctrine and sharia banking is quite the topic in its own right.  Keeping savings as gold is common practice in Islamic circles and is apparently prescribed in the Quran as the officially sanctioned way to do it.  Although Indonesia is fairly liberal by the standards of such things it's still widely practiced here.  Thus, there is a lot of trade in smaller gold bars and, because it takes the place of banking for a lot of people, it is subject to state regulation.
Most jewellery shops and various online outfits buy and sell bullion, and there is a state regulated buy/sell price for retail gold traded domestically.  I'm not sure how often it updates - it might be daily but it seems to be less frequent than that.  The gold also attracts 11% PPN (essentially VAT), although it looks as if there might be some discussion about punting this.
The spreads for small bars are also less than those for (say) 1g bars here, and I suspect the production volumes of small bars are much greater than in a typical Western mint.
The major reputable gold producer is a state owned enterprise called P.T. Antam, which is a mining company that produces refined gold alongside various other products.  They sell a range of retail bars at various sizes as well as industrial and good delivery gold products.  They are viewed in Indonesia as being reputable and carry LBMA accreditation, which means essentially that their published assays are accepted.  Given their role in what is essentially a banking system one suspects there would be a major shitstorm if it was found that they were pushing dodgy gold. 
There is also a state pawn shop (for want of a better word) that will take gold as collateral against loans.  In Jakarta there is a weekly auction of collateral on defaulted loans,  which includes gold bars.  There are probably other auction sites but it looks like there isn't one in the town we're living in.
That appears to be what's going on in the retail gold bullion market here.  It's been an interesting little vignette of a different culture and the role of gold in its society and I think I've got a reasonable insight into how to go about doing the Indonesian side of the family stack now.
 

First set I've ever seen through, almost sad it's done and I was expecting fireworks or an orchestra to start playing..but nope nothing 🙃 

So I'm in Indonesia now and I did a little bit of detective work.
A big part of the reason for gold's popularity lies in the influence of Sharia law on the culture, in particular the proscription on usury. Interest-bearing savings accounts are not strictly allowed per Islamic doctrine and sharia banking is quite the topic in its own right.  Keeping savings as gold is common practice in Islamic circles and is apparently prescribed in the Quran as the officially sanctioned way to do it.  Although Indonesia is fairly liberal by the standards of such things it's still widely practiced here.  Thus, there is a lot of trade in smaller gold bars and, because it takes the place of banking for a lot of people, it is subject to state regulation.
Most jewellery shops and various online outfits buy and sell bullion, and there is a state regulated buy/sell price for retail gold traded domestically.  I'm not sure how often it updates - it might be daily but it seems to be less frequent than that.  The gold also attracts 11% PPN (essentially VAT), although it looks as if there might be some discussion about punting this.
The spreads for small bars are also less than those for (say) 1g bars here, and I suspect the production volumes of small bars are much greater than in a typical Western mint.
The major reputable gold producer is a state owned enterprise called P.T. Antam, which is a mining company that produces refined gold alongside various other products.  They sell a range of retail bars at various sizes as well as industrial and good delivery gold products.  They are viewed in Indonesia as being reputable and carry LBMA accreditation, which means essentially that their published assays are accepted.  Given their role in what is essentially a banking system one suspects there would be a major shitstorm if it was found that they were pushing dodgy gold. 
There is also a state pawn shop (for want of a better word) that will take gold as collateral against loans.  In Jakarta there is a weekly auction of collateral on defaulted loans,  which includes gold bars.  There are probably other auction sites but it looks like there isn't one in the town we're living in.
That appears to be what's going on in the retail gold bullion market here.  It's been an interesting little vignette of a different culture and the role of gold in its society and I think I've got a reasonable insight into how to go about doing the Indonesian side of the family stack now.
 

For the right amount of gold,I'm happy to be a French maid.
 
 

Since when has Angelina Jolie been modelling for the Royal Mint?

Since when has Angelina Jolie been modelling for the Royal Mint?

Since when has Angelina Jolie been modelling for the Royal Mint?

Since when has Angelina Jolie been modelling for the Royal Mint?

Any online marketplace is only as valuable as its customer base, so generally the sellers will get screwed as Ebay will start losing customers hand over fist if it gets a reputation for customers getting ripped off.  Ergo, it sides with the buyer unless it's pretty much forced otherwise.  The interwebs are full of horror stories about this.  
I've bought a lot of computer equipment off Ebay but it was mostly of a somewhat specialised nature so far enough off the beaten track to be an unlikely target for spammers.
Doing PMs on ebay does give me the willies a bit though.  I think TSF is a much better community as there is a certain level of community whereas Ebay is a vast, howling wilderness.  Unfortunately communities don't scale, and the nature of the interwebs is that once an incumbent gets a dominant market position it's pretty much winner takes all.  Ebay has the brand recognition and it's not easy for a smaller player compete against that.
Once the big players have the power they have little motivation to be anything but self-serving.
There's a good analysis of this called 'Content is not king' by Andrew Odzlyko that goes into the economics of big dot com firms.
Sadly, things are not likely to get better anytime soon.  I think we can be thankful that TSF exists and keeps functioning.

I have been doing a research on Rhodium to justify the current high price of this special metal. I have found the below info, please add anything you can think of.
Rhodium unique metal characteristics:
1***  The 2nd highest metal reflective of light (visible spectrum). But since It does not corrode or tarnish by the atmosphere at room temperature therefore it can be the 1st reflective of light (because silver tarnishes in room temperature). Here are the top 3 reflective metals at different wavelengths spectrum:
1) Silver.
2) Rhodium.
3) Platinum.
This is why they plate some Jewelry with Rhodium (since silver would tarnish, and Platinum is just a slightly lower in reflection than Rhodium at some wavelength spectrum).
2*** It conducts electricity better than any other platinum-group metal (PGMs) which are Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium, Ruthenium, Iridium, and Osmium. This is why it's used in a critical devices like the heart pacemakers and spaceships devices.

3*** Of the three precious metals (Rhodium, Platinum and Palladium) currently used in vehicle catalytic converters, Rhodium has by far the highest activity for the removal of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the exhaust. It also has very high activity for the oxidation of hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) and very good resistance to the poisons present in the exhaust.

4*** Swiss researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the ETH Zurich developed a new chemical process that uses the sun's thermal energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into high energy fuels. This chemical process involves a new material combination of cerium oxide and small amounts of Rhodium as a catalyst. Their discovery is a major step toward the chemical storage of solar energy (which has been a very tricky problem for scientists).
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2016/EE/C6EE00862C

Wow, is that the actual coin??

I sort of vowed to keep out of numismatics, but I do like the Gillick design for the pre-decimal queen's head.

I've lost my interest already for spoons...
I am now at the next level...
Searching for Aladdin's lamp.😁

@LawrenceChard - I think someone from America has compromised your account.