StackToCollect

Iranians are denying a missile strike has even happened. Which suggests that they don't want to respond - they said if there was a missile strike then they would launch a massive retaliatory attack on Israel, so pretending one hasn't happened is the best way for them to avoid an escalation they clearly don't want. And Israel's attack appears to have been really limited. Looks like both are planning to draw a line under things for now. But if the other Israeli conflicts continue then I'm sure it's just a matter of time before another Iranian general gets taken out in Syria or Lebanon, and who knows what will happen then. Guess that's a problem for another day! So to summarise, (*checks thread title*) looks like the gold price should be steadier today.

Wish I knew. Maybe a prediction of things to come? Guessing they can't hedge over the weekend so are trying to cover themselves this way.

If anyone wants to know where the price is going, go and have a look at StoneX Bullion spot prices: https://stonexbullion.com/en/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw_e2wBhAEEiwAyFFFo5oSzBm4Kmspi4dqcrtM1pYm2zEvPPWlzOrOtC0jlovmYkmUuMnPRxoCMBEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Don't even get me started on their silver spot price!

Wonga watching the price begin its move down to £400/oz yesterday:

Thanks for this. Whilst there are some clear trends, interesting to see the company with the cheapest price is different for all 4 products chosen. Pays to always shop around!

Can't believe any of the big dealers would be able to do a deal like that. They're all buying back at near spot so no way they'd be able to sell at 20% under. There is that one dealer (can't remember who, gold something or other) that advertises selling at 15% under but I think they're doing something with futures contracts.

Did you already start selling off your stash to fund this?

In classic Royal Mint fashion, it was under the 50p section:

Oh Paul, I hadn't even considered that! So many more potential versions...

So it does come down to personal preference then 😉 yeah I'm not trying to suggest one is rarer than another, just pointing out that there are 2 versions because I don't recall any dealers advertising that fact so thought it might be of interest to some.

Guess it depends on your preference 😉 but I would say if you hold the coin with the reverse facing up, then the animal would appear to be standing up.

These guys are on the Royal Mint website as official distributors: https://www.intercoins.it/ No idea if they'll have the coin but thought it couldn't hurt to add them!

Fun fact, you know they strike the rim before the obverse and reverse? So technically there are two versions of this series, with the design on the rim either the "right way up" or "upside down" depending on which way up the coin went into the dye.

As has been said, if you're polite and apologetic and explain you're new to this then no shop should have any problem with that. And if you ask how they check the coins then ask them to show you their techniques on the coins you are buying then you would hope that any shop with nothing to hide would be more than happy to do so - the bullion market now compared to 18 months ago is absolutely dead so they should be doing anything to get a sale!

Yeah, as I said at the start of my post, everyone is different and there's no right or wrong answers here. I guess I'm a bit skeptical about how much some of the recent RM bullion series are likely to be worth in a few years, even when graded, but they certainly won't be unsellable. I guess I see investing in physical bullion as fairly niche, and then investing in collectible gold and silver as a niche within that niche, hence my concerns about the market for it when reselling! I agree about the sovs for sure, there is so much history to them that you just don't have with any of the other series of coins currently being produced. As long as you're happy with your purchases and strategy then that's the main thing!

Maybe it was a just a good story. But this is going back about 10 years and laws are always slow to catch up with new technology - the TV licence one has definitely been updated since his alleged case. Whilst the ability to record things to VHS and DVD has been around for a long time, that still required you to purchase physical items to carry it out, whereas now you can record days of footage to a TV box with no additional purchase required. It makes sense that that would prompt a law change at some point. But I confess, I've never paid too much attention to the TV licencing laws!

A friend of mine did this. His mum was then silly enough to let the TV licence people in when they came knocking and they caught him watching Sky. However, when it went to court he claimed that he was using Sky to record everything and watch it later so was never watching live TV and didn't need a licence. They couldn't prove he was lying so he got off!

As someone else said previously, there's no right or wrong answer, it's down to personal preference and your goals. I've always felt that gold bullion is the main thing for me. This is because the premiums are quite tight compared to everything else you've listed, and therefore I should be able to always get a reasonable return on it at any time. I will only pick up silver when I can get a good deal on second hand from a dealer. My issue with collectibles is that, as pretty and enticing as they are (and boy do they tempt me a lot!), I perceive them to be a very different type of investment as they are worth what the highest bidder is willing to offer when you want (or quite possibly need to sell them. I feel this is a point that isn't always considered. If you have a sudden mishap and need cash urgently, you might not make money on the bullion you sell but you should at least be guaranteed a fair price for it. But if you're forced to sell an obscure graded coin, you might not be able to sell it unless you discount it significantly. I'm also a little wary of you saying you bought from dealers and were "steered in the direction of collectibles". In my experience, any dealer that is steering you to collectibles is trying to rip you off. Your average dealer might make £30-£50 on a 1oz bullion coin, but is probably making £300 off a graded one so it's a good investment - for them! They often won't even buy them back and you're left in the situation I described above - forced to sell it at a discount unless you are fortunate enough to find a collector desperate for that particular coin. Some of them also charge obscene prices - I once saw 1 dealer selling a set for £20,000 that another had listed for £8,000! If I've interpreted your post correctly, you may want to double check the going rate for the graded coins you bought and compare that to your purchase price. Having said all that, there probably is more potential profit in collectibles, so I wouldn't discount them entirely but my preferred portfolio would be mainly gold bullion. Tl,dr: I like gold bullion because it has low premiums and has a universally agreed value whereas collectibles have a very subjective value and I perceive that value as being harder to recoup.

Well the national minimum wage is £10.42 per hour, so 10 sovereigns will get you less than an hour's work. As the cost to procure these sovereigns will be significantly more than that, I suspect your business would go bankrupt fairly quickly. Even if you wanted to only part pay in sovereigns, any tax "gains" would surely be significantly outweighed by the procurement cost of the sovereigns. And that's before we even get into the legality of it that others have already touched on. Fun question though!

So. Ukraine finally responds to Russian bombing with a bombardment of their own. The US finally engages the Houthi rebels and kills a number of them. Price moving up tonight?

Very well considered response, thank you. Will be interesting to see what happens tonight as I can definitely see profit taking from the casuals on Monday after their standard weekend check. Guess we shall see!

It was $40 lower 3 hours ago and is now only $7 off that high. Can't really consider that "some way off" can you?

Think this is a compliment 😄 thanks. There are obviously no guarantees with any strategy - the price could halve next week and then we'd all be buying in at any premium! But as a general principle, given that we don't know which way the gold price will go from one day to the next, or even one month to the next, but that the general trend over a long enough period of time is up, then buying at low premiums makes the most sense to me. Interesting point on the proofs as well, and a reminder that they are a very different type of investment to bullion - they happen to be gold but that isn't what really influences their value.

Not just the forum where premiums are dropping - most of the major dealers have been dropping premiums over the past few months as well. Fingers crossed it's the new normal!

Thanks 😊 and just to be clear, I'm not suggesting the entire forum should pile into gold now - I certainly won't be buying because I'm happy with my current stack in these conditions. I'm just talking about anyone who already wants to increase their holding. Cheers!