LawrenceChard

Because they are not up to the job! I also just started a similar topic / thread: With a few brief comments. @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer continued to trade bullion normally, despite it being one of the most volatile days we can remember. If investors want to deal with an experienced, professional, and reliable bullion dealer, they know where to look, I hope! 😎

We have temporarily stopped trading Bullion. If you are registered with The Royal Mint, you will receive an email when were back online. I don't know how long ago they suspended bullion trading. If it was yesterday, I could partly understand it, but the market is quieter, and much less volatile today. This seems to mark the Royal Mint out as a "fair weather" dealer. It must be unsatisfactory for their customers to discover they can't buy or sell when they want to, particularly when markets are busy and volatile. This is a clear indication that other UK bullion dealers operate a much more reliable market and service. Also, where are the Apostrophe Police when you need them?

Buerk once criticised contemporary newsreaders for being overpaid autocue-reading "lame brains". I wonder how much he was overpaid to read Hattons autocue? In my opinion, it seems rather sad that he might have fallen on such tough times, that he needs to sacrifice any respect he gained as a reporter or newsreader, to willingly promote a coin marketing company like Hattons. Perhaps "respected ex newsreader!" should be reworded "ex respected newsreader!" He has previously been criticised for a number of questionable opinions and attitudes. I must try and force myself to watch the video to see how cringeworthy it is. 😎

Can't be, it says they are AUTENTHIC Although they should be magnetic if it's a cast iron guarantee! 😎

I am probably on chauffeur duty on 8th March, but I am sure some other @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer team members, possibly Ian, will be happy to welcome you. Ian jumps at most chances to have lunch at Harrowside Chippy.

If that happened at a small provincial bullion dealer in Blackpool, you would rightly feel very disappointed, and I would feel extremely embarrassed. When it happens at a government owned 1100 year old national institution, you should expect a full explanation, apology, assurance it will not happen again. Perhaps make a complaint to the Financial Conduct Authority?

Sure, be sure to wear a crash helmet... and / or a wet suit. ... and bring your own time machine! 😎 What, the lights in our swimming pool, or Blackpool Illuminations? 😎

Bring it to Blackpool next time you fancy fish and chips, and we can see what our Niton XRF machine says. 😎

1916-M Fake sovereign. I have already posted about this under a different topic and thread, but: If you wish to comment, don't forget these go in the thread / topic. Or here:

This off-centred mis-strike would be scarce and collectable if it was a genuine sovereign struck by the Royal Mint. Your photos are quite good, but it we had the coin here in Blackpool, I would want to get bigger, better, photos of it. I would also want to Niton XRF test it. It looks grainy, the date numeral and exergue look a little strange, but worst of all, the reverse field appears to be strewn with raised pimples. These could be explained if the coin was struck using a rusty die, but the RM do not usually use rusty dies especially for their "flagship" coin. I am 91.66% sure this is a fake. Do you have a local coin shop or bullion dealer anywhere near you? It would also be interesting to know who and where you bought it from, then to hear what they say when you query this with them. 😎

Apart from the fact that you are still saying these are silver plated gold bars, it would be preferable if you had given a more complete account of things, such as: How much each, or in total, you paid for these bars. This would help TSF members to understand the situation more clearly. Having said so, it is very common for people to only tell a partial story. I don't know why, but it happens about 90% of them time. Because we are face with this guessing game, I took a look at the Coiny site, and took this screenshot: Without even looking at the details on the relevant page, we can see: One ounce silver coins offered for sale at $18.85 each. Looking at the site of a well-known Blackpool coin and bullion dealer, I can see: Live Silver Price Current $24.47 Now precious metal prices will have changed since you bought your bars, but does anything above strike you as strange? The asking price for manufactured bars is only 73% of the spot bullion price. Yes, the deal is too good to be true, which means it is not true. I see you are in the UK, and the current silver price in GBP is about £18. If we recalculated in pounds, you would have been paying about £13.87 each. If you look at some of the comments by other members, you will see that you can buy similar fake silver bars direct from China, via AliExpress and other sites for about £1 to £2 each. If you bought 20 fake silver bars for £40 total, you have not lost much, and have gained some valuable experience and knowledge. If on the other hand, you have paid about £277 for them, then your lesson has been quite expensive. May I suggest you bare all, and tell us all how much you paid, if you can bear to? Also, do you really still think these are gold bars, or have you realised that they are probably gold-coloured brass ones? If the answer to either or both of these questions is "no", could I introduce you to someone I know who will sell you gold sovereigns at £250 each? 😎

I guess you mean silver plated copper or base metal bars?

I think if you bought from most private individuals on TSF, you should be OK. I try to ensure that @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer are competitive on bullion sovereigns, even when compared with smaller dealers who don't know or care about fakes or substandard coins. Most of their customers are unaware until they come to sell. In fact, I forgot to mention, we bought the coin above in a lot of 42 coins. The seller told us he had bought them all from a well-known bullion dealer, and mentioned their name to us. As I didn't have the opportunity of speaking to the seller, and double-checking with him, I will not name his supplier. I do encourage our staff to get original receipts, or copies of them, if possible. I will ask our "teller" if she can contact the seller to let him know one of his coins was a fake, mainly for his own information. Obviously, the deal we did with him still stands, as we take responsibility for our purchase from him. The slight loss we take on scrapping the coin is possibly outweighed by the educational value all round. 😎

Did you try @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer at the time?

Why would the RM need to get a quote from PAMP? 😎

Here are the photos of the 1916-M fake sovereign I mentioned: Awful reverse! The obverse is just as bad: And for anyone who thinks a Niton or other XRF machine can tell genuine from fake: The gold content is within normal range, but the silver content is a big clue. This is an excellent example of human eyes, brains, and experience being better than dumb reliance on technology. 😎

Yes, of course. I was only joking about waiting for $50 in 1980, although there are probably some people who are still holding on. A dealer's function is to "make a market". There are a lot of coin and bullion retailers and distributors around who are not real dealers. 😎 P.S. I used https://www.chards.co.uk/blog/highest-silver-price-previous/618 for some of my historic data. It saves me from having to commit dates and prices to memory.

I'm still waiting for silver to hit $50 per ounce ( 18th January 1980). 😎

I struggled to find a Topic category for this, but have posted it under General Precious Metals. I think a "Word of the Day" should be an interesting, if occasional, topic. Today's "WoD" is tribometer. A tribometer is an instrument that measures tribological quantities, such as coefficient of friction, friction force, and wear volume, between two surfaces in contact. It was invented by the 18th century Dutch scientist Musschenbroek. (Wikipedia). I came across this in a link posted by @Darr3nG https://www.materialstoday.com/metals-alloys/news/new-platinumgold-alloy-most-wearresistant/ New platinum-gold alloy most wear-resistant in the world, dated 27 August 2018.

Perhaps someone at Hattons read the above 2018 article about a new platinum-gold alloy, but I doubt it. It reminds me of "rhodium-platinum", something invented by the so-called London Mint Orifice Office: https://24carat.co.uk/frame.php?url=changingfaceofbritainscoinagenationalemblemseditiongoldwithrhodiumplatinum.html 😎

How long will it be before the London Borough of Camden will decide to rename Hatton Garden? 😎

Now for a more important question: WTF is "platinum gold", apart from some sort of oxymoron?

Thanks. I do recognise his name, and him now you mention it.

About 40% below Hattons original premium. 😎

Who is the old guy wearing a tie, and a double breasted suit? Is he Hatton's boss, an employee, or some actor trying to look like a well-informed professional or expert. ... and as Bob Dylan said "It ain't me babe". P.S. We do own a lot of secondary market c**p that gullible people have bought from Hattons in the past.