Pete

"Cheaper" or "less expensive" ?
I cannot remember the glass half full or half empty meaning - one is an 'optimist' and the other a 'pessimist' but it gets confusing when you add the fact that a pessimist is actually an optimist with experience.

"Cheaper" or "less expensive" ?
I cannot remember the glass half full or half empty meaning - one is an 'optimist' and the other a 'pessimist' but it gets confusing when you add the fact that a pessimist is actually an optimist with experience.

"Cheaper" or "less expensive" ?
I cannot remember the glass half full or half empty meaning - one is an 'optimist' and the other a 'pessimist' but it gets confusing when you add the fact that a pessimist is actually an optimist with experience.

"Cheaper" or "less expensive" ?
I cannot remember the glass half full or half empty meaning - one is an 'optimist' and the other a 'pessimist' but it gets confusing when you add the fact that a pessimist is actually an optimist with experience.

"Cheaper" or "less expensive" ?
I cannot remember the glass half full or half empty meaning - one is an 'optimist' and the other a 'pessimist' but it gets confusing when you add the fact that a pessimist is actually an optimist with experience.

"Cheaper" or "less expensive" ?
I cannot remember the glass half full or half empty meaning - one is an 'optimist' and the other a 'pessimist' but it gets confusing when you add the fact that a pessimist is actually an optimist with experience.

Spotted this at the Tower of London this week.
The first examples of coin production by our Royal Mint.
Hopefully you can zoom the photos to read the text.

 

 

We all expect our wise informed decisions to buy precious metals mainly gold and silver to preserve value, our wealth and hopefully to grow.
Just in from APMEX today -
Gold and Silver prices have continued to edge lower as the U.S Dollar strengthens. Silver is currently down nearly 4.5% to $20.93. Gold is also seeing a decline, falling 1.71% to $1,831.00. Precious Metal prices have fallen over the last 30 days, with Silver down over 18.5% and Gold down nearly 7.5%.
Back to the drawing board !!

I wouldn't have paid £148 million for a Warhol painting of Maryln so what you pay for nice silver coins often doesn't bear much relationship to spot price. Sure if spot was to rise 50% then so would the price of coins but if spot dropped 50% then they wouldn't necessarily get much lower than they are today. Mass produced new release bullion however does tend to mirror spot and you are fortunate living in Belgium that you don't have the 20% killer VAT on top.

Yes but only if you believe sterling is going to drop against the currencies you buy.
The problem however is do you believe the Swiss franc is overvalued, the dollar overvalued and maybe the Euro undervalued ?
Impossible for us muggles to forecast and even the FOREX traders and speculators don't know and they deal in billions every day.
Okay if there is bad news in an economy by the time we know about it the traders have already adjusted exchange rates so we are always too late to the table. However if you are prepared to take a longer term view then speculating can work in your favour but it can also work against you.
Since many governments are printing money - QE - they are in fact deliberately devaluing their currency so maybe you would be better suited to buying something that isn't being devalued / manipulated. Wish there was an easy guaranteed solution to this problem and protecting against high inflation.

It is not helpful to collectors when you don't have a release schedule.
As far as I know the Lion is the first in the bullion Tudor series.
I am committed now and have the gold, platinum, silver and 10oz Tudor Lions.
I will not add a kg coin, if there is such a release, but would consider a "completer" at the end of the Tudor series if they issue one.
I called the RM this week to ask about the series and the agents themselves only get 48 hours notice - cannot understand this though.
It can be so annoying when you miss a coin, not knowing it has been released and then find out all stock has sold.
I only succeeded this week in finding a platinum Yale of Beaufort 2020 ( Queens Beasts series ) that filled the only remaining hole and I paid a hefty price for it.

I wouldn't have paid £148 million for a Warhol painting of Maryln so what you pay for nice silver coins often doesn't bear much relationship to spot price. Sure if spot was to rise 50% then so would the price of coins but if spot dropped 50% then they wouldn't necessarily get much lower than they are today. Mass produced new release bullion however does tend to mirror spot and you are fortunate living in Belgium that you don't have the 20% killer VAT on top.

I wouldn't have paid £148 million for a Warhol painting of Maryln so what you pay for nice silver coins often doesn't bear much relationship to spot price. Sure if spot was to rise 50% then so would the price of coins but if spot dropped 50% then they wouldn't necessarily get much lower than they are today. Mass produced new release bullion however does tend to mirror spot and you are fortunate living in Belgium that you don't have the 20% killer VAT on top.

When they (US) print dollars they tell the market the USD is stronger and most believe it hence the propaganda and price… Im not joking either this is how rigged it is @Pete

I came across this Youtube video showing some fake PAMP gold bars in Veriscan packaging.
Okay the expensive XRF tester showed the fake straight away.

BUT .....
Would you have spotted this ?
I know the fake bar is thicker but unless you had a genuine bar to compare alongside as in the video, I wonder ( and it is kind of scary ) how many people / stackers might have been fooled.
Appearance and packaging is excellent so be careful.
 
 

Looks pretty average condition so I would find it acceptable to add to my collection.
As for value that's a difficult one to answer.
Victorian Shields are sought after nowadays and in a private sale perhaps 25% over spot ?
As gold is at a high I wouldn't care to go much above this and if selling you might find this premium hard to get.
Definitely worth more than a non-shield in my opinion.
 

Looks pretty average condition so I would find it acceptable to add to my collection.
As for value that's a difficult one to answer.
Victorian Shields are sought after nowadays and in a private sale perhaps 25% over spot ?
As gold is at a high I wouldn't care to go much above this and if selling you might find this premium hard to get.
Definitely worth more than a non-shield in my opinion.
 

This is very easy to answer.
Nearly all fiat currencies are being devalued by quantitive easing ( basically printing more paper ) and rising inflation.
Your silver will hold its value so in effect will rise in fiat terms.
So to summarise - PMs will rise in price BUT this is due to the purchasing power of money falling i.e. devaluing.
Governments love this because taking out a 50 year loan at 0.1% interest means the billions borrowed will be repaid by peppercorns.

 

I usually stop for a few seconds in Costco, en-route to the meat & fish section, to drool over the 500g Baird bar that would cost you £24,500 then ask would a VIP card give me 2% cash reward plus a further 1% paying by AMEX ?
Pricing their 1 oz Britannias and sovereigns, although competitive, they are not the cheapest but with a couple of percent refunded ( if bullion counts ) that's a different matter.

I usually stop for a few seconds in Costco, en-route to the meat & fish section, to drool over the 500g Baird bar that would cost you £24,500 then ask would a VIP card give me 2% cash reward plus a further 1% paying by AMEX ?
Pricing their 1 oz Britannias and sovereigns, although competitive, they are not the cheapest but with a couple of percent refunded ( if bullion counts ) that's a different matter.

I still struggle to see why the premium on secondhand platinum ( and also on new plus 20% VAT on top ) is so much higher than gold.
Ok there is less of a market but maybe that's why ?
I did find the European Mint very competitive for Pt pre-Brexit but when there was a global shortage prices shot up and have never returned to previous levels.
Yes - this forum is probably the best place in the UK right now and I have bought from here in the past.

Having now read Martin's account of RM lack of QC and customer care I am speechless and very sympathetic to him as he is a great source of nice coins.
I also know some dealers that would just pass them on regardless.

I found the quality decline of silver bullion from the RM started with their first issue of 999 silver Brits in 2013.
Until then the Britannia silver coins were excellent but as soon as they cranked out the pure silver variety scuffs, abrasions and dings were a serious problem.
Some commentators blamed the abrasions by rubbing in tubes but my first 2013 Brits were in flat sheets so each coin was inside a flimsy plastic cell.
I ordered a few hundred and I would say 90% were badly scuffed on the Queen's cheek.
At the same time the usual eBay business sellers were adding a warning about marks and scuffs in their descriptions.
As the year progressed they got much better.
Currently however a lot of their coins ( I have multiples of Queens Beasts ) have lots of small milk spots.
Compare this with e.g. the Perth Mint or American Mints where it is extremely rare to receive a bullion coin that isn't MS69 at least.


 

The first in a new series following on from the very popular Queens Beasts - The Tudor Beasts.
The one ounce Platinum 2022 Lion of England dwarfed by its 10oz silver cousin.

Only worth scrap in this condition.
Shocking valuation but if you set a high price maybe some sucker will take the bait.
That’s why a few minutes research is valuable and another reason to discuss on this great forum.