LawrenceChard

Does "Newly minted Silver addict from Scotland" mean you are addicted to "Newly minted silver", or are you a silver addict who is newly minted? 😎

Mine's bigger than yours! 😎

I can't think who that might be, but I would seriously doubt the 1,750 figure for 2016 bullion sovereigns, and suspect there is a missing zero or two. I would have guessed that @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer would have handled at least 5,000 of them. Perhaps the figure quoted is for "B.U.". A few years ago, the RM stopped publishing mintage figures for some of its bullion products, citing commercial sensitivity as the reason.

I have just had my first sighting of the New "Bullion Protect" Feature by Metalor: Now to find out more about it...

Good to see the rather phallic looking carrot in hand photo. When my mouse hovers over it, I get a message "Enlarge image". It makes a change from being asked "have you got anythng smaller?" 😎

I was deep in sleep very early this morning, when I got the eerie feeling that my name was being mentioned somewhere. Now I am wide awake, I can spring to the defence of my honorary title of Pedant in Chief. So: Carat and its abbreviation ct. is English. Karat and its abbreviations kt. and k. are Americanisms. American, sometimes called American English, United States English, U.S. English, is a language similar to English, used by most of the population of the North American Continent. The word "carat" is used to denote the proportion of gold in its alloys, and also for the weight of diamonds and other gemstones. Americans use the word karat to denote the proportion of gold in its alloys, but inconsistently use the word carat for the weight of diamonds and other gemstones. There is an argument in favour of karat rather than carat, as both words are derived from the Greek keraton, referring to the seeds of the carob tree. Now, to be really pedantic, I should point out that 22ct gold is not 91.67% gold, but 91.66', where I have used ' to denote "recurring". Much depends on the use of approximation; how, when, where, and why it is used. The problem arises because base 24 numbering systems are not perfectly compatible with base 10 (decimal) systems. It follows from this that there are no 24ct or 24k gold coins, only coins which are approximately 24ct. Even .99999 fine gold coins like some Canadian Maples are only 23.99976ct. Thank you all for your mentions. 😎

Well, since 1979 perhaps! 😎

What?, You don't like gold, or you prefer 9ct?

Actually, my answer to the question posed in the topic title: Are you a 22 or 24 carat kind of Guy or Gal. or person or... Is "Yes!" 😎 As I hope it is for all TSF members.

22ct or 24ct? Where have I seen this before?

An admirable, sensible, and commendable preference. That's almost certainly because they are gold coloured. I think the vast majority of the world's population, past and present, like the colour of gold. One reason for this is that is similar to the colour of the sun (but don't look too closely at the latter). The sun gives us light and warmth, so I think there is an instinctive, pre-historic, tribal part of our brains which cause us to be attracted by and to it. Because 24 carat gold coins contain (almost) no other elements, nobody can mess about with its colour or spoil it.

Investment gold is the only precious metal which escapes VAT in the UK and EU. Silver, platinum and palladium attract VAT. This mainly explains why my company does not hype investment in physical metals except gold, although otherwise I like silver and platinum. Fractional sizes cost proportionally more to produce than larger (ounce) sizes, and sell in lower volumes, which makes them uneconomic for investors. Combine fractional sizes with VATable, and it makes things worse. There are some exceptions. If you are happy to store offshore, VAT can be avoided, but there are storage costs, and you don't get to touch your own stuff, but it works for larger, wealthier, investors. Of course, if you can buy secondary market, it can help. Since 2000, I have been vocal in trying to encourage the Royal Mint to improve the transparency and accuracy of its advertising, and reduce the misleading content. The possibly does not endear me to the Royal Mint. 😎

Yes, Swiss do free ski carriage, but only or mainly from London which is a PITA for me, and they still work out more than many. Swiss is now part of Lufthansa, part of Star Alliance. IMO they are often worth the slight extra for Frankfurt, Munich, and a few other German airports, compared with the "budgets". I read that many of the OLeary stuff were publicity stunts.

You be expecting to take luggage and skis next!

I am aware that AllEngelhard.com has been mentioned a few times previously on TSF. It states: ALL ENGELHARD is dedicated to the presentation and preservation of all things Engelhard. Here, you will enjoy Engelhard biographical and company history, spanning from when Charles W. Engelhard, Senior, founded the company in 1902, and continuing to German chemical company BASF’s acquisition in 2006. You’ll find definitive information on all common production bars and the increasingly more rare ‘legacy’ ingots. We present examples from many private collections, and information regarding their approximate mintage, specifications, and unique characteristics. All Engelhard is dedicated to continued research and is proud to serve as the premier resource of Engelhard information and grateful custodian of its history. While I know there are some rare and collectable Engelhard bars, and also those of other refiners, I doubt the accuracy of much of the information on the site, which seems to underestimate the production quantities of many of the definitive bars from some refiners. I notice the site refers to "Mintages" rather than production quantities, which sounds strange. It also says to "Hallmarks", when referring to makers marks and logos. I don't know if any TSF members have used, or looked closely at AllEngelhard, but thought I would add it as a topic, and invite all to discuss.

... and bringing this thread full circle: Now all we need is the RM to lose its copper (out of sovereigns). 😎

Sadiq Khan also lost his copper: "Britain’s top police officer quits after losing confidence of London mayor" 😎

Because most dealers have quantity price breaks on bullion coins and bars, the use of "from" is often legitimate and useful. Quoting prices exclusive of VAT is generally misleading, especially if aimed at UK / EU customers. The budget airline example is a good one, I can visualise it now: One Ounce Silver Coins / Bars. RyanGold Price only £0.99 Book now... Silver per ounce £17.24 Manufacturing charge £2.99 RyanGold handling £0.99 Booking charge £4.99 Priority shipping £4.99 Postage and packing £4.99 Credit / debit card charge £2.99 Subtotal £39.18 VAT £7.84 Total £47.02 Only 3 available at this low price! 😎

Yes!

Where have I heard that before? 😎

That's OK. We do appear to be in broad agreement.

2005 Bermuda Kilo Silver 5 Sided Quincentennial Silver Proof $100 Hundred Dollars I thought this was an attractive coin, and design. With selective gold plating.

I just found an RM response from September 2021: "As the Sovereign is our flagship brand, we need to ensure consistency, so any colour change would need to be across the board, rather than bespoke for an order. As part of our ongoing customer research with our customer base we are in the process of review the market opinion on the colour of the Sovereign, and make an informed decision on this for future launches. We are too late to change the 2022 Sovereign, as this is launching in a few weeks, but we will look to include any customer views as we develop ranges going forwards, and will be back in touch if make any changes to our Sovereign range." There is hope! 🙂

Slight mis-attribution there: It was you not me who said "but come on RM - You can do better than this!" I then quoted you, and added mainly in jest: This could feature in a pantomime, as in: "Oh no, they can't" 😎 Yes, the RM have been turning our some bi-metallic gold proof version of bi-metallic base metal coins. The first, as I recall, was a gold proof version of a bi-metallic £2 (1997?). It would be silly to produce a single coloured gold version of a bi-metallic base coin. Gold sovereigns are different, because they are not bi-metallic. I feel sure I quote their response in an earlier post, but basically they seem reluctant to alter ther colour and composition of their "flagship coin". What I can't get through to RM is they they have altered the colour and composition through a process of "drift", where they may have initially not realised they were making a change. Now that the change is established, they are reluctant to go back and correct it.

All good points. When you said "deterred", my mind said "de-turd", possibly because an earlier post mentioned recent sovereigns being brown, the same colour as turds (my thoughts, not those of the earlier poster). As far as "but come on RM - You can do better than this!" This could feature in a pantomime, as in: "Oh no, they can't" 😎