JohnA1

17 minutes ago, Esjayc said:

If you can afford a Sigma, it is worth it... expensive initially, but my philosophy was once I purchased it, then it's always there. I have the Pro Mini.

Same here.

23 hours ago, Bratnia said:

Any gold, held by anyone, even if bought via the internet, and without a audit trail is at risk of being confiscated, as the proceeds of illicit activities or smuggling.  If HMRC inspect a dealers records that will lead them onto individuals who if in turn they are investigated may very well lead to a prize of confiscation. HMRC manual even indicates that if you are the unwitting holder of smuggled gold ... its confiscated and as such each purchase you make should include questioning of how/where it was sourced/funded, name, address ...etc. Any claim of gold having been lost and if it is ever found again ... may very well not be the finders gold, instead being claimed by the Crown or others (museums).

As should anyone who makes large sales/purchases of over 10K Euros value (even in multiple smaller amounts and across multiple family members) consider whether they need to register as a high value trader (that costs around £300/year - that helps fund anti-money-laundering activities). Or again potentially fall foul of the law. Perhaps a claim that you didn't register and so were up to no good and your gold (and other wealth/assets) confiscated as the proceeds of illicit activities.

The UK seems to be transitioning ever closer to a assumption of guilty until you can prove otherwise state and where that state can financially benefit from pursuits/confiscations. Buy a single paper roll of 10 one ounce gold Britannia coins costing £17K of whatever from a dealership who is later inspected and their records having you also investigated and potentially having that gold, your home, car, savings etc. being seized/confiscated when maybe a few other coins found don't have a full audit trail.

So the state is pretty much advocating that even best endevours to be above board can be a risky venture, where you could end up losing everything. And then wonders why so much capital/assets are flighting the UK. When pushed into such corners there's greater incentive to move to the dark side. And not only gold, but Pounds also. Which mid to longer term is likely to be good for the price of gold in Pounds as the currency sinks due to state over-micro-management.

Simply the tax rule book/laws are so extensive and vague that the state could likely have anyone they so decided to focus upon being proven as guilty. In reflection of that 'everyone is guilty' mindset they have facial/car number recognition, geolocation tracking, internet/call activities recording, are pushing for all transactions also being fed into their AI systems ... a Open Prison state. A very sad state of affairs. It should also be remembered that Labour in 1968 opted to set the top tax rate to 130%, yep, above a certain amount and for every £1 you earned you owed the taxman £1.30 in tax! And guess who'll likely be in government come the next General Election, with a large enough majority where it can implement even its most wildest of socialist dreams. The Tories as is aren't much different, we basically have a autocracy - just a colour vote of red or blue with much the same government rising to power either way.

This is a public forum so I cannot go into much more depth.

They can create whatever rules/regulations/mandates they choose - that would only apply to those who volunteer (or are tricked to volunteer) and act as if they are under their juristiction.

We are all innocent until proven guilty by a jury of our peers - this hasn't changed, despite the mafia tactics of liars and bullies hiding behind sham corporations.

The less they know, the better.

Anything you give them, can (and will) be used against you under circumstances that suit somebody else's interests

Why share private data?

9 hours ago, pricha said:

 What are the going to fight the Russians with ?

Climate change, Inclusivity and Diversity

On 19/04/2024 at 09:20, Darr3nG said:

One of the best purchases I ever made... I was living in constant "fear" buying gold from dealers and forum members until I got mine. No amount of dunking coins in water could convince me otherwise  

I bought my sigma in Dec 2021 when it cost approx. 90% spot at that time

Today you could buy one here for only 50% spot - it's a no-brainer! Worry less about the (potentially unsafe) more gold you could buy and focus on the less-stressful fully-tested stack.

 

Totally  agree.

I felt nervous and had nightmares 😄 even for stuff from Royal Mint or BBP. You never know, people make mistakes, good fakes can sneak through and you could end up with a lemon.

Depending where you live, see if you can find someone experienced/equipped to verify anything you might feel uneasy about.

If you have several coins of the same kind, then it's easier as they all should be weighing the same, dimensions and magnetic properties identical etc.

Good price, eh!

On 18/04/2024 at 22:23, Bigcheesy123 said:

You’re just right too, I have acid and a coin slide I can make sure all the measurement are as specified by the original mint. I take no joy on using acid on my coins 😅 also hard to trust the rest without a proper precious metal tester  

Acid? Nooooooo🫣

11 hours ago, bluemoon said:

Lab grown gold could undermine its status as a store of value. https://goldzouq.in/blog/science-of-lab-grown-gold/. I'm watching the diamond industry as a guide to how gold could go. So far, real diamonds retain their value over lab grown. We'll see if that changes. Question is is gold is no longer a store of value in the future, what could take its place?

Fantastic article, full of wisdom and technical insight (not!) - alchemy dreams recap for the 21st century.

I'll save it next to the 'gold asteroid' meteor Elon Musk was going to mine, crypto-dudes were all certain gold was a dead duck back then.

Or the vast gold reserves discovered in Africa less than a year ago. All such distractions totally fogotten now..

As seen on Twilight Zone season 2 episode 24, "The Rip Van Winkle Caper"

Sovereign is someone standing on his feet, a ruler - even of one's fate

Fraction of a sovereign is...just not sovereign, is it?🧐

On 14/04/2024 at 08:32, Bartho said:

Any idea why that is? Would you need to go really big 1kg/100oz to achieve a better price per oz than coins? And at those sizes is it still safe buying on second hand market or is the chance that it will be filled with tungsten quite high?

An ultrasonic tester can be below £100 and can verify the uniformity/thickness of the metal in question. If it has something else in it (or bubbles) the thickness will come out wrong - just make sure the bar has at least two opposing parallel surfaces. Other shapes  may not work with such a testing method.

On 03/04/2024 at 23:26, arphethean said:

...Secondary market concerns all of us, and even dealers, and vat is not a factor. ..

^^^^^

This

A lot of harmony there..

2 hours ago, Spyder said:

I wonder how much gold the USA has been holding and not giving it back when asked.

Remember a few years ago Germany asking for its gold and being told to wait. I wonder if they ever got it back.

They did.

The US just took it's sweet time, and returned (eventually) different bars.

Originally they claimed it would take 5 years to return them! That raised a few eyebrows

Go figure - if it's been remelted it would be impossible to tell

That's one reason it is money, no extra counterparties involved, no interlopers.

Try that with bitcoin🤣 once the wallet addresses have been exposed. The 'agencies' have picked up people even after they'd gone through tumblers (liquidity was low at the time)

I'm currently reading 'Gold Warriors' and it is eye-opening to realise what has been going on behind the scenes to shift stolen gold through Asia, Europe and the US. Lots of dead bodies left behind

As stored wealth goes, gold has always been the ultimate aim. Either with outright violence, subtrefuge, deception, confiscation or whatever else

This much for the recent myth that government 'securities' and all sorts of promisory notes are money. They are not.

The Romanians could have dug up deep underground tunnels to hide their gold, like others do (often boobie-trapped and burying in the workers and engineers so no loose ends are left)

Now they're still asking for their gold back.

Possesion is 9/10ths of ownership

There's a lesson there

A Kilo version would be really nice eh?

https://www.bis.org/publ/work906.pdf

These are the guys pushing the 'paper is money' narrative

Yet the percentage of gold they calculate for portfolio risk minimisation is kinda larger than one would expect..

Tried to transfer a few hundred squid and 'computer says no'🤬

Not a new payee either. WTF

Says now restrictions are £1000/day for all payments altogether.

It used to be £1000/day for a new payee because supposedly they are not 'verified'.

Now it's the same limit for all of them, even if it is a few hundred here, a few hundred there.

They're tightening the noose it seems..

pm sent

Yet another update:

Barclaycard updated their app yet again.

In order to use it you have to agree to a long list of terms and conditions. Many pages long. Bit towards the end is the 'paperless only' thing.

I declined their offer. Sod them.

No paper = they can claim whatever they want whenever they want and you've agreed to it.

20 hours ago, Earthmetal said:

This is the problem with paperless online.
When they sent a letter to you, it was far, far, more secure.

It was also indisputable and immutable

It could be used as proof of fraud, depending on the content.

Now they pretend that everything has to be 'electronic' for speed and efficiency. Bollox.

Without paper and proof of postage from Royal Mail you've got nothing. They can claim anything.

52 minutes ago, Clockpuncher said:

Never trust the number they call from - it’s very easy to spoof using commercially available kit.

And never trust email through a phone.

If you can't see the real link behind, don't click anything. They rely on people accessing email through phones because they are more vulnerable.

I would only respond to an email from a PC, where I can see the real link behind. This is a big gotcha.