Pete

You are correct that silver plating on copper would make sense but cheaper connectors may just be lead / tin / silver dip - I don't know. I have some audio and video connectors that are gold plated but the value of the gold, if it could be extracted, is next to nothing. I read somewhere that you could coat the roof of the Albert Hall in gold using only 2 sovereigns. Back of the envelope calculation ( I am very rusty in maths these days so forgive any error ) I worked out that an ounce of silver essentially worth £17 these days would coat electrical conductors with a 20 micron plate thickness an area approximately 40 x 40 cm. If a connection measured say 5 x 5 mm that is approximately 6,400 connectors !! You need to do the maths but is seems an awful lot of expense, not including labour to get an ounce of silver from a big bag of bits. Good luck and keep us posted.

I would not be able to tell if an electrical contact was silver, tin or some other alloy. Even if silver, it would be a microscopically thin layer so in terms of value - I doubt it would cover the cost of raw chemicals or energy to melt. There are numerous Youtube videos of people risking their life, fire, explosion and serious life-changing burns using boiling nitric and sulphuric acids etc. Ask yourself if it is really worth it vs selling it as scrap metal.

I use a coin album which has small pockets on each sheet for many of my sovereigns. The others are in coin tubes and none in caps. I used to believe that shiny new unmarked coins would fetch a higher price than scuffed dirty ones but that isn't the case. My experience of selling FDC ( perfect and would likely grade to 70 ) proof sovereigns, near spot, and below spot to the likes of HGM in London, educated me into not worrying about storage or condition any more for bullion.

I agree that the upside potential, maybe even in the short term, is likely to supersede the 20% VAT but that isn't any reason to buy when we should be able to find a solution to not paying the unfair VAT in the first place. Cheap flight to Estonia perhaps ? Maybe pick up a few ounces when we can travel to the USA.

Might find all sorts of stuff in coins from our Royal Mint knowing their QC these days. 😅

I too am sitting in the starter's box ready to buy Platinum BUT .... dealer margins are way over the top .... AND ... how can you circumvent the 20% VAT I was buying Platinum coins - Queens Beasts for example - before Brexit from the European Mint and GS.be as the cheapest but even they are marking up Platinum way too high. Pity Atkinsons, Chards and others cannot sell used Platinum at the differential VAT rate and with similar percentage gold premiums over spot.

Seeing that Platinum has "tanked" I was hoping to see this as a buying opportunity. However the premiums are way over the top so wondering what is going on in the market and why the consistently high premiums. Then on top the dreaded VAT. Message to @Chards how about accepting a margin similar to that on gold coins and using the differential VAT ?? That would place you in a favourable position compared to all the "vultures" out there.

I would buy Platinum BUT not with 20% VAT added and I don't have any interest in the storage option.

Rant fully justified and I feel your frustration. Definitely an interesting opportunity for someone in the UK to deal in the zero VAT ( or differential VAT ) secondhand silver market. Should apply to Platinum as well I guess.

Only needs a rumour to state that silver is an incredible metal that defeats Covid and recommends all hospital equipment is plated with silver and rewearable gowns etc are impregnated with silver. Designer expensive face creams and body lotions can also contain nanoparticles of silver to keep the skin sterilised ....

Rory, Have you used your coin tester on silver 1 oz Britannias ? Would you be able to detect the difference between 999 silver ( Brits dated 2013 to present ) and the earlier Brits which were 958 alloy called Britannia silver ? Also, in terms of sensitivity can you detect any difference between 22ct and 24 ct gold ? You could compare the 1 oz Britannia gold coins which are both 22ct and 24ct depending on mintage year. The 22ct version is slightly heavier as it must contain a full Troy ounce of fine gold. Same goes for the early silver Brits that weight slightly more. I am assuming the mass of a coin is also important so maybe a slightly heavier 22ct coin will give a similar reading to its 24ct equivalent but I don't known how sensitive and repeatable your pendulum is. When I get time I am tempted to build a home-made tester and do some comparisons and include platinum coins. If I ever construct this I will be more than happy to share the data if it seems useful.

I would imagine most serious stackers have these ( or similar ) tools to measure coin diameters and centre thickness. Thin protruding rims on some gold coins can be an issue in passing through fixed slots and some coins don't have an exact thickness specification because of this.

Rory, Your polished brass instrument is something that would perhaps appeal to the well-heeled as a special gift for sitting on their mahogany desk. For us 'simpletons' I would imagine this lovely looking "instrument" would be rather pricey. If you are looking to sell modest quantities of instruments then it is the price vs volume trade-off. There are more and more fakes, both silver and gold, turning up on mainly sites like eBay. Experienced collectors can generally spot a fake BUT as the fakes get better and buyers trust their judgment then there is still a risk so some might want a reliable detector. A full sovereign costs around £320 today and if someone is planning to accumulate say 100 gold coins over the years then paying £300 for a reliable tester seems reasonable as the cost of only one sovereign. With silver coins typically costing £25 - £30 then unless the collector is stacking maybe 500 then paying more than £50 for a tester might have them hesitate. Of course I am assuming the production model is made of aluminium or plastic and not brass. The lovely brass instrument is, in my opinion, the unusual deluxe special present rather than a stackers "tool". It will be interesting to see what others think. Good luck with your venture. PS - have you considered manufacturing a coin tester using the "ping test" ? Coins have resonant frequencies that can be recorded - audio spectrum analysis. The difficulty in testing using this method is striking the coin and suspending it to give an undampened ring. A simple tap, microphone and spectral analysis using free software like Audacity will generate easily identifiable resonant spikes that can be used to characterise each coin. I spent some time several years ago exploring this method with very good results just for fun.

Very nice video. Simple idea of using a swinging magnet to induce eddies and use the back emf to oppose the magnet. Worked extremely well in your presentation and often simple ideas are the best so congratulations !! Couple of points since you asked - This is a product that would look nice in a glass case in a nautical museum along with brass clocks and telescopes. For hobby stackers ( i.e. mainly us SF folks ) metal testers should be much more basic ( and less expensive no doubt ) and would work fine. I may build my own simple rig using a suspended Nd magnet and stop watch to test the principles. As I don't have any fakes of course I cannot compare results. If you wanted to test a specific gold coin you would need to have some sort of reference to determine authenticity. At some stage a database would be important so users can check their coins against target numbers. I assume this pendulum would similarly work for silver coins and bars ? Many magnets loose some of their magnetism over years and how they are stored, so how would this affect your instrument and with use ( or not ) would people be able to share their data and expect the same results ?

There is a relatively cheap insurance you can buy on line and covers you provided you use a tracked shipping service e.g. Royal Mail Tracked 24. Forgot the name but it was mentioned on the SF not so long ago and definitely would be worth checking.