Pete

In your position you need to ignore risky investments. The higher the return then usually the higher the risk. Sticking in cash i.e. premium bonds is the simplest suggestion if you will need your cash in say the next 2 years. Mortgage rates currently are the lowest they have ever been. Rents are about the same outgoings as mortgages but you are giving your monthly money to a landlord so getting on the property ladder as soon as possible is a good thing. However, this depends on where you live which relates to cost and value and how secure is your job and if you lost your job could you easily get another whilst remaining in your home without having to sell. Property prices in many towns are rising faster than people can save because of demand so building up a deposit often means the height of the bar is getting higher than you would like. Unfortunately a lot of properties are being sold to people with money and assets in order to rent so first time buyers find it tough. The best advice I can give is to see if your parents can help you secure your first home rather than wait a couple of years to build sufficient deposit. As for location - a castle needing renovation on about 200 acres of land recently sold in Scotland for £180 grand which might get you a parking space in London.
 

In your position you need to ignore risky investments. The higher the return then usually the higher the risk. Sticking in cash i.e. premium bonds is the simplest suggestion if you will need your cash in say the next 2 years. Mortgage rates currently are the lowest they have ever been. Rents are about the same outgoings as mortgages but you are giving your monthly money to a landlord so getting on the property ladder as soon as possible is a good thing. However, this depends on where you live which relates to cost and value and how secure is your job and if you lost your job could you easily get another whilst remaining in your home without having to sell. Property prices in many towns are rising faster than people can save because of demand so building up a deposit often means the height of the bar is getting higher than you would like. Unfortunately a lot of properties are being sold to people with money and assets in order to rent so first time buyers find it tough. The best advice I can give is to see if your parents can help you secure your first home rather than wait a couple of years to build sufficient deposit. As for location - a castle needing renovation on about 200 acres of land recently sold in Scotland for £180 grand which might get you a parking space in London.
 

In your position you need to ignore risky investments. The higher the return then usually the higher the risk. Sticking in cash i.e. premium bonds is the simplest suggestion if you will need your cash in say the next 2 years. Mortgage rates currently are the lowest they have ever been. Rents are about the same outgoings as mortgages but you are giving your monthly money to a landlord so getting on the property ladder as soon as possible is a good thing. However, this depends on where you live which relates to cost and value and how secure is your job and if you lost your job could you easily get another whilst remaining in your home without having to sell. Property prices in many towns are rising faster than people can save because of demand so building up a deposit often means the height of the bar is getting higher than you would like. Unfortunately a lot of properties are being sold to people with money and assets in order to rent so first time buyers find it tough. The best advice I can give is to see if your parents can help you secure your first home rather than wait a couple of years to build sufficient deposit. As for location - a castle needing renovation on about 200 acres of land recently sold in Scotland for £180 grand which might get you a parking space in London.
 

A real sneaky move by the RM.
The greyhound was the LAST Queen's Beast coin ref -
"The 2021 UK Queen's Beasts The White Greyhound of Richmond 1oz Gold Coin is the tenth and final release from the exclusive Royal Mint bullion range. "
So you completed you set and bought a nice wooden box.
Then out pops an ELEVENTH coin with this text -
The 2021 UK Queen's Beasts Completer 1oz Gold Coin is the eleventh and final coin in the highly popular Queen’s Beasts series of bullion coins from the Royal Mint.
Mea Culpa !!

Received this message today from eBay and it answers most questions I guess.
It used to be a jungle making any claims as eBay and PayPal worked independently and if you entered a claim on one the other didn't want to know.
Now all down to eBay but will you have the same buyer / seller protection ?
 

 

If you come across anyone who does know what is on the right-hand side, let me know, we can offer him/her a great job as an analyst, with fabulous bonuses, and free holidays in my Monaco mansion (which I have not bought yet), or my $1 billion superyacht (ditto).
On a more serious note, try looking at a 20 or 30 year chart, if you can find one.
Also look at the Gold:Platinum ratio. For most of the time I can remember, back to the 1960s, platinum tended to be priced higher than gold, on anerage by about 5% to 10%. Since 2011, platinum has been lower than gold. So, before 2011, most of the time Gold:Platinum was less than 1.000
Currently it is 1.432; about a year ago, it was briefly as high as 2.20 at which platinum was ridiculously cheap compared with gold.
My medium/long term "target" for it is 1.000 again, although I would probably go "neutral" when it get to about 1.100
In other words, I expect platinum to be close to parity with gold.

Excellent and they were supplied in capsules.
I wonder where they originated and does this mean perhaps next year we will see the elusive 2019 privy pig turn up ?

Excellent and they were supplied in capsules.
I wonder where they originated and does this mean perhaps next year we will see the elusive 2019 privy pig turn up ?

I have at the back of my mind a recollection that about 30% of regular bullion American Silver Eagles achieve a 69 or 70 grade.
That's the reason the premium on a graded ASE has been so low, often little more than the cost of grading the coin.
I have collected hundreds of Perth Mint and Royal Australian Mint bullion coins - everyone supplied in a capsule- and I honestly cannot recall seeing a single defect, scratch, pit, ding, reeded mark or scuff on any coin. Extremely rare also to see any spotting. My last tube of silver Queens Beasts from the Royal Mint - every coin was scuffed, marked and 20% showing small spots. When the 2013 Britannias were first issued the coins came in sheets with every coin in a thin plastic cell. I bought 100 and every coin, I repeat EVERY, coin was badly scuffed as if they had all gone over a wire brush. The RM at the time put the damage down to a fault on a conveyor belt or something along these lines BUT every coin was nevertheless shipped out with a QC sticker on each sheet.

I just ordered some Platinum Beasts from the RM and it hurts with the VAT but to be fair the European prices without VAT weren't much cheaper.
I haven't checked prices recently but I pre-ordered my 10oz QB White Horse from Chards

I just ordered some Platinum Beasts from the RM and it hurts with the VAT but to be fair the European prices without VAT weren't much cheaper.
I haven't checked prices recently but I pre-ordered my 10oz QB White Horse from Chards

The high  premiums on silver ( and platinum ) right now are governed by availability of coins and what the market will bear.
Spot price is not so high and the cost of mining continues to rise so what we pay for our coins in a kind of way is not connected to spot, unlike gold.
When supplies are restricted most dealers will increase their prices because people will still buy.
In the UK we are screwed with 20% VAT but on the resale market the price of silver can still be competitive, albeit everyone's prices are higher.
As for newbie stackers or collectors of date run sets you can place a "wanted" on this site and you will generally find a seller but it always helps to state a price for the quickest responses.

The high  premiums on silver ( and platinum ) right now are governed by availability of coins and what the market will bear.
Spot price is not so high and the cost of mining continues to rise so what we pay for our coins in a kind of way is not connected to spot, unlike gold.
When supplies are restricted most dealers will increase their prices because people will still buy.
In the UK we are screwed with 20% VAT but on the resale market the price of silver can still be competitive, albeit everyone's prices are higher.
As for newbie stackers or collectors of date run sets you can place a "wanted" on this site and you will generally find a seller but it always helps to state a price for the quickest responses.

I think what is more interesting rather than a piece of card or paper with a number on it which cannot be traced to the coin, are minted bars with engraved serial numbers.
Whether this is accompanied by a certificate is less of concern, nice if it does, but a low serial number stamped / engraved on the bar makes it unique and the genuine item.
 

I think what is more interesting rather than a piece of card or paper with a number on it which cannot be traced to the coin, are minted bars with engraved serial numbers.
Whether this is accompanied by a certificate is less of concern, nice if it does, but a low serial number stamped / engraved on the bar makes it unique and the genuine item.
 

I think what is more interesting rather than a piece of card or paper with a number on it which cannot be traced to the coin, are minted bars with engraved serial numbers.
Whether this is accompanied by a certificate is less of concern, nice if it does, but a low serial number stamped / engraved on the bar makes it unique and the genuine item.
 

Does anyone believe the Mint matches a CoA to a coin ?

I would guess they run a batch, maybe 1,000 then a worker randomly picks a coin from a tray of coins, places one inside a box and adds a CoA from a printed stack of cards.
Just because the CoA states number 10 doesn't mean the coin was the tenth minted.
I could be wrong but does anyone really know ?

So back to the question about a low CoA making a coin more valuable - only to someone who makes it so by paying a higher price.

I had this set and ended up selling at a great loss.
The reason for selling was that several coins were showing milk spots and creeping stains and I also noticed that the capsules were glued shut.
They were all 925 silver and looked great but through lack of market interest they were only worth scrap value or even less.
At the time of issue they would have been priced much higher but like so many similar sets just lost their appeal in time.
If you like the set and it is priced near spot then pursue your dream but from an investment / value point of view I would avoid if that's what is more important.
 

I only sell on eBay when they have the £1.00 max selling fees as I would be selling below my initial cost.
If silver went to £30 spot then that's a different scenario.
This offer has been appearing regularly so I guess they are actively seeking new business.
PayPal has been taking 3.5% so 2.8% is a better deal and would eliminate the mess of any claims when there can be confusion between eBay protection and PayPal protection.
I prefer to pay for eBay purchases via PayPal because payment is linked to a credit card providing another layer of protection that would not be offered using a bank account.
 

I had this set and ended up selling at a great loss.
The reason for selling was that several coins were showing milk spots and creeping stains and I also noticed that the capsules were glued shut.
They were all 925 silver and looked great but through lack of market interest they were only worth scrap value or even less.
At the time of issue they would have been priced much higher but like so many similar sets just lost their appeal in time.
If you like the set and it is priced near spot then pursue your dream but from an investment / value point of view I would avoid if that's what is more important.
 

Historic reasons from coinage, jewellery, gilding of ornate furniture, buildings etc.
This is a malleable, highly electrical conductive inert, non toxic metal with a nice colour.
Gold plated onto electrical connectors ensures optimum long term connectivity because it does not oxidise.
It does not rust or tarnish and will not dissolve in anything but aqua regia.
It has only a few industrial uses so is not consumed in any quantity compared to other metals.
It can easily be bashed to such a thin layer ( gold leaf ) that you can actually see through it.
Platinum is a similar precious metal and was until fairly recently considered even more valuable as a coin or jewellery.
Credit cards were rated according to status like medals - silver / gold / platinum with platinum being the top.
As for gold price, because it is traded as a commodity, its price reflects the market which in turn is also determined by the amount of gold that exists and the cost of obtaining more out of the ground. Most metals are priced according to scarcity and cost of mining and refining. Many metals are much more expensive than gold some up to $5,000 per gram.

I have at the back of my mind a recollection that about 30% of regular bullion American Silver Eagles achieve a 69 or 70 grade.
That's the reason the premium on a graded ASE has been so low, often little more than the cost of grading the coin.
I have collected hundreds of Perth Mint and Royal Australian Mint bullion coins - everyone supplied in a capsule- and I honestly cannot recall seeing a single defect, scratch, pit, ding, reeded mark or scuff on any coin. Extremely rare also to see any spotting. My last tube of silver Queens Beasts from the Royal Mint - every coin was scuffed, marked and 20% showing small spots. When the 2013 Britannias were first issued the coins came in sheets with every coin in a thin plastic cell. I bought 100 and every coin, I repeat EVERY, coin was badly scuffed as if they had all gone over a wire brush. The RM at the time put the damage down to a fault on a conveyor belt or something along these lines BUT every coin was nevertheless shipped out with a QC sticker on each sheet.

I too have used them in the past.
Another German company I used extensively and who was excellent before GS.be and the European Mint arrived on the scene is Aurinum and their website's front page first line states - 
 
NOTE: No Delivery to United Kingdom until further notice !
 

I want everyone to focus on £1,000 gold so a collective brainwave distorts the quantum field and opens an opportunity to get some before it bounces back to £1500.

I have at the back of my mind a recollection that about 30% of regular bullion American Silver Eagles achieve a 69 or 70 grade.
That's the reason the premium on a graded ASE has been so low, often little more than the cost of grading the coin.
I have collected hundreds of Perth Mint and Royal Australian Mint bullion coins - everyone supplied in a capsule- and I honestly cannot recall seeing a single defect, scratch, pit, ding, reeded mark or scuff on any coin. Extremely rare also to see any spotting. My last tube of silver Queens Beasts from the Royal Mint - every coin was scuffed, marked and 20% showing small spots. When the 2013 Britannias were first issued the coins came in sheets with every coin in a thin plastic cell. I bought 100 and every coin, I repeat EVERY, coin was badly scuffed as if they had all gone over a wire brush. The RM at the time put the damage down to a fault on a conveyor belt or something along these lines BUT every coin was nevertheless shipped out with a QC sticker on each sheet.