universalcurrency

On 09/04/2023 at 14:29, Minted said:

Found this thread a very interesting read myself.  Can anyone justify why the price of the Sigma is so high, particularly given that it only does one test and is far from 'fool-proof'?

I'd be interested to know how much the main electronic component in it costs?

I would imagine the bulk of the price is US labour rates. Personally I think the US price for the original & wands is acceptable although I probably wouldn't pay the UK price most retailers are charging.

14 minutes ago, arphethean said:

Gold

the sigma only does 90%, 22ct and 999 gold. No use for 14ct or 9ct etc. For those purposes the Kee is the best.

Also it does not work for extremely thin, small gold, such as grams or smaller. Also, very hit and miss through slabs or thick capsules for anything other than ounces, £5 etc

 

Silver

Generally pretty reliable, although some sterling silver coins are out of the brackets. 

High relief - yes, can definitely struggle with non-flat items or messy textures unless they fully cover the circle on the unit sensor

 

Copper - not supported

Platinum, palladium - works fine

Rhodium - not tried

The sigma machine I have says it will handle copper, but in the instructions its not too specific what the criteria is. Btw copper is in the other metals menu with platinum etc.

For anyone considering getting one,I would have to say that it covers most bases for pm stackers/collectors and is exceptional value compared to say an xrf tester. However without the wands its userbility is quite limited, so I would say that that the wands are essential.

This is probably a question for other sigma pmv original owners.

Having recently acquired a sigma pmv original I was keen to put it through it paces and find out what it could and couldn't do.

I found it worked well with all the gold I could throw at it, including capsules and blister packs. Although I did have some difficulty with a rattley Baird blister pack. The air gap confused the sensor, so I put one of the wands under the bar and got a positive reading.

Next I tried it on 999 + 9999 silver rounds and bars which worked great. However it does struggle with high relief coins, but in most cases taking the coin out of the capsule and using the wands works.

I have yet to test platinum, palladium and rhodium or have any success with copper. Does anyone have any experience testing these metals?

Also I haven't had much success with the calibration disk, which I understand also helps with using thin samples, any suggestions?

I recently had an enquiry about shipping a particular low mintage silver coin to the US.  Not having done so before I thought there might be a few issues for a potential buyer namely:

1. US customs duties and taxes
2. Any forward handling charges
3. Can any courier include the US side courier fees (unlike US postal service/Royal Mail)
4 Reasonable tracking and insurance cost or not bother if too costly?

Any courier suggestions? 

I was wondering if any one has experimented with pouring bars and silver casts from scrap 925 silver?  What happens with the impurities, do they form a tricky to remove oxide layer for example...

3 hours ago, Midasfrog said:

A quick google and I found a cheaper supplier wires.co.uk 👍 

Unfortunatly their 1.5mm 999 Ag wire is more expensive @ £33 per metre excluding shipping.

I was looking on ebay for 999 silver wire in 1.5mm and found a seller that was half the price per metre than all the competition.  Now I know that the one big seller in Birmingham and another well known dealer in Coventry that is nowhere near the price.  Is it possible that this seller is genuine.... perhaps high volume sales on ebay could account for the difference?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141175740745?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11051.m43.l1123&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=4a31feb1b6c64849bbca7f152a268748&bu=44370802944&osub=-1~1&crd=20211001122405&segname=11051&sojTags=ch%3Dch%2Cbu%3Dbu%2Cosub%3Dosub%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Cchnl%3Dmkcid

If I do buy some to find out, what is the best way to test the wire for purity, is it .999  .925 or silver plate? 

Hi all

I have a fairly large collection of scrap copper and would like to pour some bars, however the facility I am using has no electric so I am limited to gas or at a push charcoal.  Can anyone recommend a furnace and/or go through factors on selecting a suitable capacity?  Also what kit will I need including safety gear?  I already have a brazing hearth as a start and some snips but that about all...

1 minute ago, DarkChameleon said:

It's because right now two of the largest countries in the world cannot let gold fall too far or rise too far, they are not so severe on silver but the China Russia stash of gold is important enough for them to manipulate the gold market as much as they can.

It seems highly probable that some manipulation of the gold & silver markets is going on as in a 'free market' traders would be going long to protect themselves form currency devaluation and potential slowdown / fall in the stock market, poor returns in the bond market etc.

Where is gold going now.....

41 minutes ago, goluckystayhappy said:

I didn't think we would be in the £11XX range after hitting £1239 yesterday.

Gold has just dipped below £1200, £1196 as of 5pm today.

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/gold-price/gold-price-per-ounce/

Seems a bit odd considering the latest news from the ECB on rate cuts and bond buying!

2 hours ago, matrawr said:

Today I received!.....

Eaery time I see the reverse I keep thinking it 'in Gold we trust'  Lol

As a veteran bullion dealer once said to me gold (spot) price is like inflating a tyre, it goes up and down and then settles for a while.  So if you look at the charts observe the the periods when it settles into a range as an indicator to buy.

This is not an infallible method but it might provide a rough indicator.  In the long run over 5+ years gold is probably the best inflation hedge or to put it another way a preservation of wealth.

7 hours ago, sovereignsteve said:

I ordered some yesterday morning, order in account was showing as "in process" until just recently. It's now showing as "complete"; ordered 3, shipped 3

I haven't even had an email confirming the order let alone one informing me of shipping.

 

Waiting for a phone call now to try to up-sell to me. Oh what fun I'll have😂

Is this your 2nd order?  I got a similar messege when I tried a repeat order however I checked my bank balance to find they had refund my account, hence cancelled order.  Worth checking if you havnt already done so.