2 hours ago, BackyardBullion said:

Well, we have found something super cool!

2023 Silver Britannias with The Queen on them....

Some of them might have a 90 degree rotation of The Queen!

Super cool.

Confirmed by The Royal Mint, we sent coins off to them to check and verify!

Have a listen of my video!

 

Are you filming that at the "right angle"?

😎

32 minutes ago, TheShinyStuff said:

You should roll back the years on that 3 for 2 offer. It would make up for your frankly ludicrous stance on postage!🤣

I am sorry to hear you call my stance on (free) postage "ludicrous".

As this Topic is posted under the "Gold" section, I will give a brief example based on a gold bullion sovereign.

Currently, we make about 2.5% gross profit on a single new sovereign. That is about £9. If we were to sell that "post free" we would make about £3, but it probably costs us £1 to £2 in labour and other admin costs. Would you work on that sort of profit margin?

I don't mind being competitive, our new sovereigns are from £6 to £23 cheaper than our major UK competitors, and even after postage we are still from £0.30 to £17 cheaper.

If you buy 2 pieces, our prices become even more competitive, because our "free postage" competitors don't give you any rebate on the postage you are already paying on your first coin, so we are then:

From £3 to £20 per coin cheaper.

Actually, writing that may have persuaded me that you could be right. We should simply add the postage to our prices, and charge more like most of our competitors. We would make more profit! Perhaps it is ludicrous for us not to maximise our profits, but...

Apart from the fact that it is a more direct and simple price calculation to quote the actual item price, then show it with postage, than to miss showing customer the "shop", "collection", or "storage" prices first, I would not enjoy treating customers as gullible morons by telling them they are getting "free postage", when I know there is no such thing. There is "including postage", but not "free postage". I much prefer treating our potential customers as intelligent, and with respect!

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On 06/10/2022 at 07:22, MetalMandible said:

Being the red white and blue blooded yankee knucklehead that I am, normally I would say Eagles... But unlike the much lower mintage, high demand Libertads the premium is largely without justification.  Go for that topless Mexican angel in my opinion!

On 06/10/2022 at 14:02, Arcadian said:

The ASE does nothing for me, it’s the Buffalo for US coins every time, but … I just love Libertads.

On 11/10/2022 at 15:45, StackemHigh said:

Price is key but compare millions of ase every month with the total population of libs?

I would be going for Libertads every time!

On 11/10/2022 at 16:00, Mothballjim said:

Libs if I had to chose.. the type 1 design!

On 11/10/2022 at 17:09, SilverPlatinum said:

Both are beautiful coins.......😀

If you are buying for the investment potential of the precious metal, the mintage figures should not matter,simply buy at the lowest premium within reason, if I can borrow some of my own advice from here:

https://www.chards.co.uk/guides/advice-guide-for-uk-bullion-investors/1041

Yes, the title is "Advice Guide for UK Bullion Investors", but many of the point in it are good common sense things which could apply equally almost anywhere.

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51 minutes ago, Britannia47 said:

Proof Sovereigns were £149.95 from 1983 - 1991. The 1989 4 coin set was £1150. Oddly enough, the price of the Sovereign dropped slightly to £149.00 from 1994 to 1998 something to do with VAT I believe! - I bought my 4 coin set on the secondary market for £850 in 1997. Just for info.😀

Thanks for that information. You are probably right about the VAT, but investment gold, which includes proof sovereigns, did not become exempt until January 1st 2000.

That was a good price on the 1997 set. We often had them for sale below the original issue prices in those days. I remember advertising a supermarket style "Buy 3 get 2 free" offer on a number of gold proof sets.

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1 hour ago, CazLikesCoins said:

I think it's the knowledge potential collectors need, to buy effectively both financially and in terms of market judgment that I lack that puts me off looking into the world of proofs. I mean there's no point buying the proof reunion sovereign depicting prince Harry entwined around a fig leaf while prince William adoringly sucks what's left of his hair, if they made one, if future generations aren't keen on paying a premium for a comedy coin you've held for a lifetime hoping to retire on. I wouldn't know where to start, and it sounds very expensive. Nope, pie and chips all the way for me.  

I don't know about pie, but we have a good fish and chip shop directly across the road from our showroom!

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3 hours ago, Bigmarc said:

I'm not that fussed about HMRC, I am more bothered about how the information is kept and stored. I am assuming the retailer had to keep a copy somewhere and wouldn't think it would be that hard for a hacker or villan to get hold of the information of all names and addresses of large purchases of gold. 

I remember reading a while back that after the first world war government kept records in the local town halls of who was living in the town, what religion they were and address. All Hitler had to do is walk in to the town hall and pick up the book. 

Anyone who stores personal data has to take adequate security measures.

We at @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer certainly take our systems security seriously, and this includes customer data, which is only kept locally on a different server from our main systems.

We also have "Penetration Tests" performed, similar to those done for "payment processors", even though we are not required to have these, as we are not "payment processors".

I would hope that any major bullion dealer would have similar security, but I would bet against many of the minor coin or bullion dealers having anything approaching a highly secure level.

Another reason for choosing Chards!

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1 hour ago, CazLikesCoins said:

Bog standard full bull sovereigns. Any age and within reason, any condition. As others have said, they're easy to acquire and easy to liquidate. The idea of buying a proof rather than an equivalent value amount of bullion sovereigns makes me want to shake my head violently screaming no no. no no no. Then again I'm more pie and chips than Potato Dauphinoise. 

We are all different.

If it purely as an investment in precious metals, then yes to bullion sovereigns, although one ounce gold Britannias probably now hit the "sweet spot". Proof are probably  better for those who appreciate aesthetic values, but buying a 1989 proof sovereign in its early days would have ticked just about all boxes. They were not an immediate success, as you can glean from the mintage figures compared with the issue limit:

https://goldsovereigns.co.uk/1989sovereign.php

Unfortunately, we neglected to note the original issue price, which would have been a nice piece of historic information!

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On 17/02/2023 at 13:01, westminstrel said:

In the Gazette Proclamation for the British Monarchs - Charles I coin, there’s a strange description given for the cupro-nickel coin which doesn’t match the descriptions for the rest of the denominations.

It states:

For the obverse impression Our effigy with the inscription “· CHARLES III · D · G · REX · F · D · 5 POUNDS ·” and the date of the year;

For the reverse either:

(a) a depiction three lions passant guardant, being that quartering of Our Royal Arms known heraldically as England and the inscription “FIVE POUNDS”; or

(b) a depiction lion rampant within a double tressure flory counter-flory, being that quartering of Our Royal Arms known heraldically as Scotland and the inscription “FIVE POUNDS”; or

(c) a depiction of a dragon passant, being Our Badge for Wales and the inscription “FIVE POUNDS”; or

(d) a depiction of a celtic cross charged at the centre with an annulet therein a pimpernel flower and overall an ancient torque, symbolising that part of Our United Kingdom known as Northern Ireland and the inscription “FIVE POUNDS”; or

(e) a depiction of a lion, a unicorn, a stag and a dragon surrounding a crown accompanied by the inscription “FIVE POUNDS”.

 

Source: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4277741

These designs seem like something that would work for a Coronation themed range of coins. Thoughts?

On 17/02/2023 at 13:08, GoldDiggerDave said:

@westminstrel Always a pleasure seeing you go to the effort to post this information  Looks like they can't make their mind up what they are going to mint.....by the looks of it, a £5 pound coronation coin, with it being cupro-nickel something thats likely to be an unlimited run similar to other coronation coins.......Just waiting to see if they do a coronation proof sovereign set.  

 

On 17/02/2023 at 15:26, Petra said:

Coronation coin, they will want to cover all the nations individually  making up Great Britain, plus a coin to include us all together. No doubt sell as individuals and as some sort of set to make as much as possible. No need to queue as there will be hundreds of thousands, plus🤔🫢

On 17/02/2023 at 18:39, Stuntman said:

All five of those in a set would be pretty smart, I think.  Probably will cost about £100 assuming it comes in a nice folder or something.  

Be even better if they made them in 1/4 oz gold bullion, or 1 oz silver bullion...

A first thought about a Welsh dragon design:

Although "5 Pounds" makes it a rather lightweight dragon!

😎

10 minutes ago, AaaGee said:

Will the coronation sovereign be a limited run/mintage timewise?

See below above, but nobody yet knows!

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22 minutes ago, TheShinyStuff said:

I'd personally sit tight for the Coronation sovereign.

19 minutes ago, AaaGee said:

But aren't they going to be available from May through to the end if the year? So i can worry about them later in the year. Or are they only going to be available for a very short period?

8 minutes ago, AaaGee said:

@James32 @GoldDiggerDave @LawrenceChard

There will probably be a rush to get the proof coins on release day, there may also be a S.o.D. (Struck on the Day), and who knows, perhaps a piedfort...

What about a Camilla coin?

There were some recent Privy Council London Gazette notices also linked on here, although I have not had time to read them through.

If anything sells out rapidly, it is likely to be the proofs. If there are bullion versions, I would expect them to be available for a few months at least, but at this stage, I expect nobody knows!

😎

12 hours ago, scotwasp said:

Crossing the £10k threshold

Just wondering if anyone other than me considers not buying more than the reporting limit from any one dealer.  Not that I am buying with anything with other than taxed income, but why would you want to have them reporting you to HMRC?
in the US it’s any single purchase, which means they informally advise you to buy in instalments, but I understand that in the UK it’s annual spend.

I buy my pm to be a wee bit “off grid “ so I don’t really welcome my purchases being monitored. 
Am I just being overly paranoid, or does it ever cross your mind that you buying, is being monitored? 

We just came back from one of our regular short walks along Bispham Promenade, and discovered we were on the route of a "run". Someone told us it was the Blackpool fun run, which I have done in the past, 10K in 45.45, which was frustrating as I had set myself a target of sub-45 minutes, harldy fast, but better than many.

It turned out to be a half marathon, which I have never attempted. My longest distance was 10 miles at Chorley,which went surprisingly well, and made me think I could attempt a half marathon, but I never did.

It always felt good when I was "Crossing the £10k threshold" or finishing line!

😎

1 hour ago, scotwasp said:

I get that it’s not the dealers fault, it just seams perverse that I can go into a jewellery shop and buy £250k of watches over a year (I wish) and no one cares, but buy £12k of sovereigns and they are forced to report.

It just stinks of government overreach and begs the question , why? 

I reckon it’s also pretty blooming unfair on the dealers. 

I think you might find that spending £250K at a jeweller in a year would go on the radar.

It certainly would if you paid it in cash!

Unfair? Perhaps, but most businesses are already unpaid tax collectors, and it is a distinct improvement over the days when the 1947 Exchange Control Order and Act were in force:

https://www.chards.co.uk/guides/exchange-control-act/785

Or when VAT applied to previously owned coins and gold coins, because the numismatic trade and UK bullion dealers did not have any political lobbying leverage. This also adversely affected collectors, investors, and stackers.

The AML and investment gold reporting are almost a blessing!

😎

9 hours ago, scotwasp said:

Just wondering if anyone other than me considers not buying more than the reporting limit from any one dealer.  Not that I am buying with anything with other than taxed income, but why would you want to have them reporting you to HMRC?
in the US it’s any single purchase, which means they informally advise you to buy in instalments, but I understand that in the UK it’s annual spend.

I buy my pm to be a wee bit “off grid “ so I don’t really welcome my purchases being monitored. 
Am I just being overly paranoid, or does it ever cross your mind that you buying, is being monitored? 

You would end up paying more if you split your buying between the most competitive dealers and the rest.

If HMRC ever noticed you were trying to stay under the radar by spending just under £10K with multiple dealers, this might arouse great suspicion, because you would obviously be trying to conceal your activities from them. Anybody who was not brain-dead, would naturally wonder why!

Dealers, banks, and many other traders are legally required to report suspicious behaviour, whatever the amount.

😎

41 minutes ago, CazLikesCoins said:

My partner and I bought a copy of Marsh last year and on a gloomy day we were reading through it. I spotted you in it and got excited lol. I started going on about how you were on the forum I used and how we can have an adventure to Blackpool to buy gold sovereigns on a cold winters day and I can get my book signed and this, that and the other haha. Big kid lol. We'll probably visit one day. We're not that far away actually. I'm after a birthday sovereign for the other half. Luckily it's not an expensive coin date haha. 

As long as you don't want a signed photo of me in my "alternative skiing outfit"!

With any luck, I should be skiing on most cold winter days, and even when I am still "at home", I only get into our office / showroom for a few hours, a few days per week.

Also best to make an appointment to visit. We inroduced an appointment system after lockdown, otherwise we struggle to cope.

😎 

On 15/02/2023 at 19:41, carrigher82 said:

Hi I see Germany has EMK  and the US has Apmex, theres probably loads of others I'm  missing, but I'm in the UK. Does anyone have any suggestions for dealers that deal in rare and low mintage coins like you can find at these other (foreign for me) websites?

On 15/02/2023 at 21:15, LawrenceChard said:

There is only one of me.

That surely makes me a low mintage coin dealer!

I would be asking why low mintage is important to you.

Also are you interested in modern coins with low issues, or older.

This search page lists a number modern ones:

https://www.chards.co.uk/products/low-mintage-coins

The first item on the list has a mintage or issue limit (not always the same), of 15 pieces.

Earlier today I mentioned a Henry III gold penny (of 20 pence). It is or was considered to be unique. I noticed a similar coin sold by auction for over £500,000.

I could also talk to the Perth Mint if you were interested in buying their unique one tonne gold coin. Its intrinsic gold value is about £50 million. It is also the world's largest gold coin.

😎

On 15/02/2023 at 19:50, Silverlocks said:

There are quite a few.  Here's a starting point from the exhibitors list in the coin fair a couple of weeks ago.  Many of these outfits do rare coins and numismatics, although quite a few are mainly concerned with base metal coinage.  I suggest you peruse their web sites and get in contact with them (not all maintain a web shopfront).  A few of them also maintain a presence here.

https://www.coinfairs.co.uk/events/london-coin-fair-2023-02-04/

On 15/02/2023 at 21:44, SidS said:

I take it the Chinese haven't had a go at this one yet then?

On 16/02/2023 at 01:58, Foster88 said:

Have a look at All Gold Coins, they are also a member on the forum.

@Allgoldcoins

On 17/02/2023 at 08:44, MonkeysUncle said:

Are you proof or bullion?

On 17/02/2023 at 10:58, sovereignsteve said:

Sounds like to need to be sent to NGC, although you may not enjoy being slabbed.

14 hours ago, Leonmarsh said:

Silbury coins 

It looks like the OP @carrigher82 has done a "hit and run", which is a pity after a few TSF members tries to help.

His question was, like many, somewhat vague, but worse, he has not come back to clarify or refine his question, so will be missing out on possibly useful information and opinions.

Are we wasting out time trying to help?

One point I would have made in a fuller discussion would be does he appreciate the difference between "issue limit", which might be high, "mintage" which may be lower, or even "issued", which may be much lower still?

For example:

"The 1933 double eagle is a United States 20-dollar gold coin. Although 445,500 specimens of this Saint-Gaudens double eagle were minted in 1933, none were ever officially circulated, and all but two were ordered to be melted down. However, 20 more are known to have been rescued from melting by being stolen and found their way into the hands of collectors before later being recovered. Eight of the recovered coins were destroyed, making this one of the world's rarest coins, with only 14 known specimens remaining - only one of which is privately owned, which is known as the Weitzman Specimen. Due to the fact that the coin was never released to the public, it is illegal to privately own any of the 1933 double eagles, with the exception of the Weitzman Specimen." Source: Wikipedia, although I think it should retain its earlier name of the King Farouk specimen.

I suspect the coin did not have an issue limit, so a lot of modern "collectors" would not have even wanted one in the first place.

The mintage of almost half a million would be a strong disincentive for anyone interested only in low mintage coins.

For the current owner, being the owner of the only "legal" copy of the coin in private hands might give great bragging rights. I suppose he is aware there are probably another dozen of them out there somewhere.

Would I like to own one? Yes, but it could cause more potential problems than it was worth.

It could be fun to display a photograph of it!

Is the 1933 a better coin than a 1932?

😎

3 hours ago, CazLikesCoins said:

Thanks for the posts clarifying, Lawrence. I've learned that I need to wear my best frock when I come to your place if I want to sell, and make sure I don't look shifty (Might be difficult. I've been told I've got a wall eye) and to show my passport if I come in drinking alcohol (always a possibility)  

I still want to get my Sovereign Series book autographed if I do visit since you're in it. I like that kind of thing.  

If you would like my autograph in your copy of Marsh, I would be delighted to provide it!

😎

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Why is Chards so cheap?

Probably because I am a slow learner!

😎

6 hours ago, CazLikesCoins said:

Happy about that. I love paperwork. I'm quick to whizz out my passport and driver licence the moment any person in authority asks for it. I feel like I'm behaving very well and get all chuffed with myself like I did getting gold stars in junior school  I'll be disappointed if they ask for things I can't provide lol.

I often volunteer to show my passport when buying alcohol. I have been told I don't look 25!

😎

5 hours ago, CazLikesCoins said:

I agree with you that there's often no definitive link between the receipt and original item purchased, making requirement a moot point. I started thinking about this after reading a comment by a bullion dealer requiring a purchase receipt or proof of ownership on the following thread. I doubt I'll reach the kind of weight this member is trying to sell but I'd imagine the rule applies to all sales. 

 

 

I didn't say we require proof of purchase.

What I actually said was:

We (Chards) would also want full ID, and preferably a purchase receipt or other proof of ownership, but this is or should be stand practice with all or most reputable dealers.

We try to apply a sensible and practical policy.

If a seller seems OK, we do not insist or require a proof of purchase.

If a seller seemed shifty or devious, we would insist on everything, although we might just refuse to deal with them to keep things simple and clean.

😎

36 minutes ago, SidS said:

I'd settle for a free cup of tea if I ever was to visit. 🙂

Done!

😎

3 minutes ago, Darr3nG said:

Insider shenanigans!

I have never been inside Shenanigans:

or Eden (there are at least two of them within a few hundred metres of each other in Blackpool)

😎

2 hours ago, slack said:

Just had an email from the royal mint announcing the king Arthur coins will be available on monday 20th Feb.. it'll be good to get Robin Marion and little John a new friend at last

26 minutes ago, SilverPlatinum said:

I got the same email, but I'm confused here, didn't we get this coin in the past months!

So are we getting a new design on Monday?

 

9 minutes ago, slack said:

That's a very good point, I'm as confused as you, I guess if no information arrives over the weekend we'll have wait for Monday morning to reveal the answer

I was as confused as both of you, so had to check on the UK's best coin and bullion website:

https://www.chards.co.uk/2023-king-arthur-one-ounce-silver-coin-bullion/17553

😎

On 16/02/2023 at 09:12, SilverSurferZA said:

In a discussion on a Facebook group, the issue was raised that these "altered" Krugerrand coins were illegal to own or sell in South Africa, as it was deemed in breach of The Reserve Bank Act - tampering with legal tender. I know these themes are also applied to other bullion coins (pretty much all of them), but I am not sure of laws related to legal tender in other countries.

I have been trying everywhere to find out who are making these coins, as I am dying to find out by what authority they are doing this. Any ideas? 

If they are genuine, then Rand Refineries and The South African Mint makes the coins,

Other companies do the gold plating, colouring, etc.

If they are fakes / replicas / imitations, then they may be made in China.

Some may be ordinary, normal coins with printed stickers /decals stuck on them. 

Why don't you ask the people on the Facebook page?

😎

On 16/02/2023 at 10:30, purehaggis said:

Hello I'm coming back into stacking after years etc I used to purchase all my bulk orders from goldsilverbe is this still the cheapest for bulk? Or is there a place that is cheaper than that how for bulk orders? Specifically silver 1oz coins and 1kg silver bars and the lowest premium for 1g gold bars also the 50g slabs that you can take the 1 grams out separately thanks

On 16/02/2023 at 11:50, harrygill111 said:

Bringing silver into the UK is subject to VAT post brexit - so I buy gold and silver from UK dealers or second hand.

Hopefully someone can help with bulk orders 

On 16/02/2023 at 12:10, Silverlocks said:

Sadly, this no longer works and VAT-free silver in the UK is a thing of the past.  You will get rogered for VAT at the border if you try to import silver from Europe.  Buying on the UK ungraded forum here is the most cost effective way, and 10oz-1kg bars and lots of coins come up on a regular basis.  

If you want 1g gold bars, check out Tavex.  They have house branded Nadir 1g bars in cards at a very modest premium by 1g standards.  There are also several vendors with 20g or 50g Valcambi combi bars, although it will pay to shop around as the premiums on these vary a bit.

Importing gold is still feasible, and there are some German vendors such as Aurinium.de that have Heimerle + Meulle unity boxes (boxes of loose 1g bars), often at a reasonable premium, and frequently have good prices on fractional gold bars or coins.  However, the shipping costs mean that this route is only going to be cost-effective for orders of a couple of thousand quid or more as there's no saving on VAT to offset the shipping cost.  

On 16/02/2023 at 12:39, Pete said:

We Brits are now totally screwed ( along with everything else these days it seems ) but I believe the EU has tightened up on VAT as well.
Higher margins and VAT seem to be integrated into silver when selling peer to peer and only lost if selling back to dealers.
Often best prices for silver are on this forum and some sellers are offering full tubes rather than single coins.
As a regular member only you will never get the bargains as stuff gets sold instantly, days before regular members see the listing.

On 16/02/2023 at 18:40, purehaggis said:

Thanks guys for all the replies much appreciated! Oh my looks like silver stacking is a problem now then I might just get to 500 ozs of silver then just stack gold lol thanks for all the info

All or most of the above helps to reinforce some of the advice on this page:

Advice Guide for UK Bullion Investors

https://www.chards.co.uk/guides/advice-guide-for-uk-bullion-investors/1041

Particularly:

"Investment gold is exempt from VAT in the UK (& also the EU)." 

What more do you need to know?

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