Magritte

To answer your question I'd like my country to be proud of its heritage, and invest in its companies and actually manufacture and make things. You know the days when you could say 'made in Britain' and actually be renowned and respected for it (like German cars, French wine and cheese), and not like British Leyland.
Is that so wrong?

I'm starting to think (and it may be bigger than just the UK to be honest, mostly in Western countries) that politicians since the late 1950s have actually done everything in their power to weaken and destroy their countries.
Just looking at the UK, in the 1980s Thatcher stripped out the industries and shut them down (yes some were ailing, but they could have modernised and invested in like Germany after WW2), she also sold off transport and utility companies to foreign investors who just want to cream off the profits. How many times do you see the energy companies put up their tariffs?
Brown sold off the gold at the lowest price in the decade and left the country in swathes of debt by 2010.
Cameron came in with austerity and starved the country of investment and yet seems to have made little dent in the national debt which has now been totally made pointless by the covid money printing machine. Although the elite made great gains.
Blair gave away more political powers to the EU... Started of course by Heath in the 1970s. Theresa May was determined to see the UK stuck in a weird limbo when leaving the EU (a vassal state without any benefits of being either in the EU nor out of it). Ruled by people without the option to vote them in or out...
Let's not forget the whole political correctness and changing the language and wholesale rebranding (spin) of the Blair years.
Although the Tories set up the Dr Beeching report, it seems the Wilson government went along with it with relish... Stripping out railway networks across the country because they weren't profitable... How in the modern world where we are trying to champion green politics and the environment, and reducing car usage, we have an overworked network with so few duplicate routes and communities isolated from public transport. Buses well they're dire outside of London... Thatcher gets that point.
Then we come to electricity generation. It seems to me we are going to be using more and more of the stuff in the decades coming (heating/cookers/cars etc.) And yet we seem to be closing power stations at a rate of Knots, so where does all this power we need come from?
The politicians of any party, only care for their bank balances and utter control of the people they are supposed to represent.
Tax 'em hard, impoverish them, strip away their freedom of thought, enslave them to following endless rules and regulate the way they behave and think. And just to sweeten the deal throw in some bread and circuses... Here's what you could have won... Free broadband for everyone. Get Brexit Done. Education, education, education... (Student debt has skyrocketed since 1997).
The west seem to be stripping their countries to the bone, the east seem to be stockpiling gold and building strong militaries. Something's afoot...

Nothing sinister about that, he probably has the remaining 99 of them still in stock, that's about £500 worth of stock! 🙂
Correction £495.

I received a reply - pretty much unintelligible and refusing to answer my questions:
(1) Graded by whom
(2) Grade reference
(3) What was the source of the sovereign 'a 3 party'
I think that tells us all we need to know...
Best
Dicker
 

Another variation on a potential 2022 gold sovereign design:

For those who are undecided!
🙂

I’m told (by family) that I’m getting a metal detector for my birthday. 😬
I’d be happy with finding a post 1817 sovereign. Let alone a Henry VIII gold sovereign.
But knowing my luck I’ll end up with a load of bottle tops and ring pulls, but at least I’ll get a tan if it isn’t raining.
Every could.... ☁️

Well, it’s been a long time since gold was just $17 USD an Oz. It was the 1840’s the last time the world saw those prices.
Anyway, there’s a great documentary on YouTube called, ‘Ghost Towns of the American Gold Rush’. That’s the exact title, I know YouTube can send you down a rabbit hole. Been there, done that.
I’m just finishing watching it now, it wasn’t called the Wild West for nothing!!
I wonder how much of that gold is in our gold coins today. Most likely most of it.
If you have a bit of time spare, watch this documentary, it’s a few years old and a little grainy in parts but it’s fascinating.

I watched this and it was utter tripe.  Nothing to do with mining, geology or metallurgy. 
Just more BBC force feeding anti-company, “workers are good, bosses are bad” junk.
Vile, but I expected nothing less.  
I don’t often express opinions here but we should remember that when Jimmy Savile and other “stars” were abusing children, the BBC management ignored the behaviour.  This was at BBC TV centre.
Today single mums are sent to prison for failing to pay the licence fee.  I have personally had bullying BBC licence fee collectors at my door tying to intimidate me for failing to pay a licence fee that I had already paid.
The BBC is morally bankrupt and cannot create a programme without perverting the content to match its own woke view of the world.
Best
Dicker
 

Nice little find!!!!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9840003/amp/Metal-detectorist-finds-200-000-gold-coin-Wiltshire-field.html

Of course the people that orchestrate these schemes never include themselves in the group that have to live within the new restrictions.
The whole idea of preventing money laundering and tackling crime. Great on the tin, but actually the criminals will simply find a way around it. Instead the ordinary, law abiding folk will be hit instead, as always.
I'll state bluntly that I have never liked the EU (as the political body) and I've never trusted it. I'm afraid I have read Ninteen Eighty Four and they really are like Big Brother, the moral police, slowly encroaching on people's freedoms and rights through an ever growing network of complex rules and regulations. A malicious spider weaving its web.
How does an organisation that was birthed as a trading partnership to create frictionless trade, seem to do nothing but barriers, regulations and obstacles in the way of businesses?
It was never really about trade, it was always about creating a unified (political) European superstate based on some neo-marxist ideal, where the elites can analyse every one of their citizens and have supreme control over their thoughts and actions.
Beware my friends, they are never going to stop... there's too much money for those in the loop to walk away from this. They'll take your gold, your houses and your rights. You will own nothing and be happy.

" Gold in the hole " 😲 James 1st Quarter Laurel 👍
King of England between 1603 - 1625

That’s awesome, I live just outside of St Albans which is a Roman settlement town with a load of history so have always wanted to run the Greenland and churned up fields with a metal detector, it doesn’t help that I watch Aussie goldhunters 5 nights a week. 

Well gents:
I have reported to Action Fraud.  There is a lesson to be learned for petty scammers here:
If you are going to try and scam people:
(1) Don't also advertise your car on the same ebay account with its number plate visible (Easy to lookup an address using the plate)
(2) Don't include your phone number on the ebay ad
(3) Don't then give your address to the person who phones up for a test drive
All of this has been reported to Action Fraud - fed up of Ebay doing nothing.
Best Dicker

Sure, about 10 bids on some items.
Albert Einstein has been credited with saying "Only two things are believed to be infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the first one."

We received this notice today from Rand Refineries:

I doubt if it will affect any TSF members, but you never know!

There is no longer any such entity as the "London Mint", and has not been since about 1975. The Royal Mint relocated from London to Llantrisant starting in 1969.
What you refer to as the London Mint is almost certainly the misleadingly named London Mint Office, which is the UK subsidiary of a large coin marketing company called Samlerhuset based in Germany.
LMO and Samlerhuset are wll known for misleading advertising and selling modern issue commemorative, and also some historic coins, at prices which most TSF members, and I, would consider to be rip-off prices. They are highly skilled at promotion and marketing, but it is quite unlikely that anything they sell will be a sound investment.
Humanium is not a type of metal, but a brand name. You could read the Wikipedia page about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanium_Metal
IMO Humanium coins are as you say just a gimmick, but not just to prey on our hearts and sensibilities, but to prise money from the gullible. 🙂
 

Hi All
If anyone is in or visiting Edinburgh, it is worth visiting the National Museum of Scotland to see the Galloway Hoard.
There is currently a special exhibition and it is worth 30 mins of your time.  It is free.
https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-history-and-archaeology/galloway-hoard/
 
Best
Dicker

Thanks for that input. I guess you mean the page on "Bullion Exchanges", which I have now read.
It may be correct, and sounds well written, but I am not totally convinced yet. 
If it is borax contamination, it should be quite easy for most mints to mitigate the problem, and there may be other contaminants.
I will continue to try and get expert opinions, which I will post here.
Any other input is welcome.

We have a customer who asked the Royal Mint about milk spotting.
Although I do not know his exact question, this was the reply he received:
Dear xxxxx,
 
Thank you for your email.
 
Please see response below, this has been approved by the relevant department regarding your enquiry below:

White spots or milk spots are occasionally found on the surface of silver bullion products and do not affect their value, as the silver content will remain unaffected.

The spots can develop over a period ranging from weeks to years and can be the result of a number of factors including microscopic chemical surface contamination during the manufacturing processes or incorrect handling & storage of the products where oils or moisture from hands/fingers reacts with the surface of the Silver. Safe handling and storage can greatly reduce the likelihood of white spots occurring. During our manufacturing process we take all precautions and adhere to rigorous quality standards to ensure that we reduce the possibility of introducing milk spots.

Any attempt to clean or remove the white spots is not advisable as this can introduce further contamination and scratches on the surface of the products.

As milk spots do not damage or erode the silver content, the intrinsic value of the silver is not effected (sic), you will, however, have to speak to the dealer for details of their refund policy as we are unable to advise on their policies.

If you have any enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us,
 
Kind Regards,
 
It seems to me that someone at the Royal Mint does not know that it also occurs on silver proof coins.
It is misleading of the the RM to state that milk spots do not affect the value of the coins.
I do not think milk spotting occurs as a result of post-production handling, although it might be difficult to prove this either way.
While the intrinsic value of the silver is not affected, I suspect there will not be many TSF members who would be happy about milk spots, and most would say that it detracts from the aesthetic value, and market value.
I suspect our customer was asking about a Royal Mint coin, which he probably bought from them.
All in all, I think this is a rather unsatisfactory answer, but not totally unexpected.

I had never heard the term "milk spot" until the last year or two.
I think I first became aware of it on TSF, where there seem be be lots of discussions and complaints about milk spots, mainly about British Royal Mint silver coins including some high premium proof coins, and also bullion coins like Britannias.

This composite images shows milk spotting on a 2021 UK silver proof Queens's Beasts Black Bull of Clarence coin, one of 9 coins from a 10 coin Royal Mint set to feature this production defect.
Of course, I have seen white spots on silver coins before, but had never called them milk spots, or heard anyone else call them that, until quite recently as I just mentioned.
I can call to mind seeing a slight grey blue bloom on some silver proof crowns from 1980 and 1981. In the past, we have tried silver dipping a few coins, but with very poor results. I suspect that this bloom is caused by the same or a similar production problem.
A quick search using Google will find many pages discussing the problem, but none which states its cause, although a few of the sites including YouTube videos seem to claim to explain the phenomenon and its cause, but fail to actually do so.
A number of these sites mention that it might be caused by solvents or detergents used to clean the planchets (blanks). Some suggest PVC. Although PVC can and does cause some tarnishing, corrosion, or discoloration, I have never noticed it causing milk spots, so I think we can discount the PVC theory. My own thoughts were that it might be caused by oils or other lubricants, affecting either the blanks or the actual coins during the striking process.
The Royal Canadian Mint is to be commended because, according to its website, it carried out research over about 4 years, and in 2018 introduced something called MintShield, which reduces , slows down, or helps to prevent milk spotting. It proudly states that it now incorporates MintShield into its silver bullion maples, and other silver coins. However...
... Disappointingly, the RCM fails to state clearly what causes the problem, what MintShield is or how exactly it works, stating it is a secret process. While I can understand it protecting its investment in research to develop the process, I feel I should deduct points for choosing to withhold the basic facts, namely what is milk spotting, and what causes it.
As recently as yesterday, I asked our main Perth Mint contact what Perth Mint knew, as I cannot remember seeing it on their silver coins, although I feel sure somebody will have done.
I received the following very prompt reply:
Such spots are caused regularly by some small pollutions at the production process. TPM has made large efforts by cleaning the factory to prevent such spots.
I will check if there is any further “official” statement available about that theme from TPM.
Obviously, this does not explain everything we all want to know, but at least it is more than I have heard from any other mint, apart from the RCM as mentioned above. If I receive any further information, I will post it here.
 
 
 

Visitor tickets for the Chards Bunker and Strongrooms Tour will shortly be available. 
Reservations should be accompanied by a non-refundable deposit of £100.
All money received will go towards the Lawrence Chard memorial fund.
🙂
* When @silenceissilver said send him a PM, he did not mean a Private Message, he meant a Perth Mint gold bar, preferably one kilo!

Here is a comparison shot showing the normal quality and one from the recent batch:

Sure, silver is silver is silver, but I know which I would choose.

Crikey! Looks like those silver bars walked up to Mike Tyson and insulted his mum!

New Metalor Kilo Silver Bars
We recently bought a quantity of "new" Metalor kilo silver bars from a well-known European dealer, instead of direct from Metalor, and these are some examples of what we received:

 

As you may imagine, we are currently in discussion with them.

My usual, quick, response to any mention of "the silver shortage", is that it (the shortage) does not exist, and that it is rumour and hype peddled by silver bulls (and bullshitters). which would include miners, brokers, speculators, investment bankers, and conspiracy theorists, however...
Modern commodity markets, although theoretically backed by physical supply options, do facilitate negative or short positions, meaning that the market could be in shortage, but I would argue that this is not the same as an actual shortage of physical metal.
During the Covid pandemic, which is still extant in most of the world, although non-existent according to a highly vocal few, there have been production delays at mines, refiners, and mints, combined with transport delays and interruptions, compounded in the UK and EU by Brexit, which has re-introduced extra customs procedures, declarations, and checks.
These are the real, actual, reasons why most brokers and dealers have been short of physical stock of silver. (It has also applied to gold supplies). During the actual or imaginary pandemic, there has also been increased investor demand for precious metals; combined with the production and transport disruptions, of course.
You mention "bullion by post", and I presume you mean the high profile Birmingham based UK dealer Bullion by Post. 🙂
I have little doubt they they have "loads of stock" now, but will have been experiencing similar delays to every other dealer, including the much longer established @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer based in Blackpool, of all places. I have not spoken to Rob at BbP for quite some time, but I am sure that for the past 18 months, much of their stock will have been paid for, but awaiting production and shipping. This has certainly been the experience in Blackpool. I can also tell you that whenever I descend into the Chard bunker, there is quite a lot of shiny white metal stacked up. This now includes 2021 silver bullion Britannias, almost for the first time in 18 months, There are also lots of kilo silver bars, and other silver bullion coins. It is also true that most of the 2021 silver Britannias we own are in the supply pipeline rather than in our strongrooms. This is quite good as we are now expecting to receive these within 2 to 4 weeks instead of 6, 8, or who know how many weeks during the past 18 months. Chard also holds substantial physical stock in a secure Zurich storage facility. 
Your question "how can bullion by post be allowed to have all this stock?" puzzles me somewhat. In a free, democratic, country like the UK, we are all free to have as most stock of silver as we like. There is no rule, regulation, or law whcih says we can't, unless we mean the "law" of supply and demand. Dealers could have stock, or more stock, if they chose and could afford to buy more, or if they chose not to sell it, or to increase their prices to maximise profits and maintain stock levels.
One comment on your post calls into doubt whether BbP do have the stock they appear to have. As a competitor, I would be happy to join in if I thought that was the case, but from my experience, I feel sure they do actually own significant stock.
We could offer tours of our secure storage facilites, at least the ones in Blackpool, but we would want to charge for them (why not?), and for security reasons, we might just have to kill people before we let them out! 😎