Minted

True but you have to wait for them and they aren't offered to every account every time. Also, if a buyer cancels or fails to pay, the seller then can't relist the item under the same offer if it has expired. I had two buyers cancel on a laptop I was selling, ended up taking over a month to sell it as I wasn't going to take the full fee hit on that.

I don't think that would look suspicious personally, but then I do collect the odd piece of ceramic alongside coins. 😁 The fees on eBay would prevent me selling high value coins on there though. Even at £460 for that Sov, the seller will only just scrape £400 after fees. Neither buyer or seller are getting a good deal there! 😞

I'm also looking for a birthday coin from 1953 but with a minimal budget. Haven't found much of interest so far. The Canada Voyager is top of my list currently but wouldn't have any particular meaning for the recipient. Kennedy half would have been ideal, just a shame he hadn't been President by '53! 😄

I've bought a few collectable coins second hand for well below their initial retail price. I don't think they're a good investment to buy new. I have bought the odd 'keeper' new. There is another problem with collectable silver, and that's milk spots. Collectors want perfect coins. If you buy a new one and it develops milk spots in storage, your super expensive coin loses most of it's value.

Could you do the two Geiger bars for £37.50 inc postage? 🙂

VAT refund is in my bank account this morning. So under 2 weeks from sending the letter to receiving the refund in my case. I assume timescales can vary but hopefully that gives anyone else a rough idea. 🙂

I've had a dispatch email for my 1oz this morning. Should arrive by the end of the week. 🙂

It would be the gold for me as well. Silver is quite bulky to store at that sort of value and still at a fairly large premium. Lack of boxes and certificates reduces the value and amount of buyers for the collectable items. Must admit, there are only about 3 or 4 coins that I'd want to collect myself out of those pictured. With the coloured Krug, has the colour shrunk on it? I've got a few coloured silvers myself but am concerned about the longevity of the colour.

Thanks for posting this. I questioned this process a couple of weeks back but didn't get a response. Still waiting on a 1oz silver Coronation coin myself.

Good to know. BBP sell oak gift boxes in 1oz silver size. 😬

Wow! I haven't risked a 1/4oz from abroad. £40 on a tenth is more manageable. As long as that coin is legal tender in Aus (has a face value) it should be VAT free. I would recommend trying to claim that back. You won't be able to use the form linked above as that's only for Royal Mail or Parcel Force. Looks like you can dispute Fed Ex charges online - My invoice is incorrect, what do I do? (fedex.com)

Same here. There are lots of red flags on that advert (pic quality, cheap postage, low feedback, sellers other items, etc) but I wouldn't have spotted it was a fake visually. Think the idea that anyone could spot it a mile off was a bit of an exaggeration. I couldn't even tell you what my own hair looks like without a direct comparison, let alone KE7's! 😄 For Sov's & half Sov's I've been checking the quality of the strike, perfection of edging, colour of the gold, size & typeface of date and text...but I never thought to check the actual head image. Some monarchs have several images through the years so I would expect some difference in them. Probably best I don't buy any more old Sov's from eBay without carefully comparing to a known genuine one of the same year.

*Update* Received a letter from the Border Force in under a week. VAT is being refunded within 30 days. However, it looks like I can't get the £12 charge back from ParcelForce. I could contact EMK and ask them to cover it but I'm fairly sure they'll just say they don't take responsibility for customs in foreign countries. It does mean the coin ended up costing more than buying from a UK seller, so I'm afraid I won't be using EMK for gold coins again. Just to clarify for anyone new to PMs, investment gold is VAT free, but silver and platinum are not, so expect to pay VAT on those if bought abroad, as well as in the UK.

I've budgeted £410-£425 for a single one. Can't see them below £400 myself but that would be ideal. 🙂

What's the most noticeable issue with that one? Picture quality is so poor I can't immediately tell either way, but I am still new to this so grateful for any tips.

Where? Reminds me of the 1980s acid house smiley! 😃

Thanks for the tag. I did buy one from BBP a few weeks ago. Great looking coin and very pleased to get one from the UK! 🙂 You may have seen my recent thread about customs issues with another gold coin I bought from EMK last week. Currently in the process of trying to claim the VAT back. I can't fault the service or packaging at EMK, but the amount of hassle caused by a slight error on the customs form has made me reluctant to use them again.

I've got a few gold eagles and never noticed that. Just checked and you're right, 22 carat instead of 24! I still like the design though, so will continue to buy them! 😄 Kruggerands are 22ct as well. Perth mint did a 1/10th gold rabbit this year. I really like the Spanish Bull (Toro) from this year as well. I've seen a Cook islands ship with sails from last year. I also like the Tokelau 'Terra', which I have in 1oz silver, but think the design may be a bit difficult to see in 1/10th gold, and the premiums were more than I wanted to pay last time I checked.

Thanks for the suggestion, I have seen it suggested on here before. If the forum hired one out I'd probably do that once or twice a year to check in bulk batches. It's not worth the time & cost for each individual coin though. With the eBay returns window being only 30 days, chances are it'd be too late to return any fakes.

I'm not VAT registered, and not buying for business purposes, purely for my own collection. Gold investment coins should be VAT free in these circumstances, regardless of being purchased within the UK or from abroad. (Though I may have the legal wording slightly wrong). I reckon a lot of people get caught out by this unfortunately. If they're not aware of the rules, they probably would just pay it, not knowing any better. As long as the seller clearly marks them as gold coins, they should pass through customs easily. Unfortunately, there's no way to query a customs charge, you have to pay it to have the item delivered, and only then can you try to reclaim it. I'm hoping that posting the form linked above, along with the invoice (which does clearly state gold on it) and the labels from the package will be enough for them to refund the VAT costs directly back into my bank. I don't know how long the process takes, but fortunately I'm in a position where I can afford to wait for it. I wouldn't have risked buying from abroad if I wasn't. I was aware that this could happen, but was optimistic that it would be a smooth delivery as previous ones have been. I must admit, that despite all the hassle, the coin itself is very nice, good quality and great design. I was slightly worried I'd be disappointed with it after all this hassle, but that's not the case! 🙂

I've bought quite a few coins and bars on eBay. Still early days and learning all the time. I do enjoy scrolling through eBay pages and finding coins that I haven't come across before. Don't think I've bought any fakes so far but one or two are questionable. (They're not magnetic, so that's a good start.) I would like a Sigma Verifier to quickly check purity of any purchases when they arrive, but I just can't justify the cost compared to my monthly PM budget. I'd need to buy several silver fakes before it'd pay for itself. Haven't had to return any PM's through eBay, but I have had to return a few other items that were not as described and they've been helpful each time. In all honesty, I doubt it's worth a sellers time to precisely weigh and measure a 1oz silver item so wouldn't ask myself. Would feel a bit more comfortable asking about a 10oz coin.

I've considered this as well but couldn't cut a perfect circle with a knife. Wondered if a very small cookie cutter might work?

Thanks for the reply, I'm also surprised there weren't any others. I have now received the package and can see that EMK failed to write 'gold' in the description on the customs form. So it's been taxed at the standard 20% VAT rate. I think the important phrase is 'investment gold coin'. I have now found the page I'd seen before regarding this - Investment gold coins (VAT Notice 701/21A) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Interestingly, this spreadsheet is meant to list all of the VAT free gold coins, but doesn't list a 15 Euro coin from Spain. Hopefully that's just an oversight. VAT_Notice_701-21A_coins_list.ods (live.com) 2. Investment gold coins 2.1 Definition of an investment gold coin An investment gold coin is either: a. Gold coin minted after 1800 that: is of a purity of not less than 900 thousandths is, or has been, legal tender in its country of origin is of a description of coin that is normally sold at a price that does not exceed 180% of the open market value of the gold contained in the coin

Hi, I spent a while deciding whether to pay the extra ~£20 from a UK seller or risk importing a 1/10oz gold Toro from EMK. Chose EMK in the end, and the coin is now at customs, requiring charges to be paid. 🙄 Firstly, just want to double check that there shouldn't be any VAT or duty applied to this coin? Secondly, I haven't done this before, is this the correct form and what is the exact wording I need to use to confirm that it should be VAT free? BOR286 - Customs Duty and/or import VAT relating to imports by post (publishing.service.gov.uk) Thanks

Hi, Just wondered if you've been through that process yourself? I paid nearly 6 months ago now, so possibly too late, but looks like the only option I've got left when TCM still won't respond to messages regarding this item. Thanks