bluemoon

24 minutes ago, KitchenCollector said:

I sold almost all my bog standard sovs and 1oz brits to Atkinsons this weekend, (at a shade under 98% spot), which will raise the majority chunk of the mortgage deposit. 😔

Their buying and selling spread for QB's was just too big to swallow, so they will be staying with me for a while until things 'normalise' a little, then I'll list them on TSF (for much better value than you'd get from a dealer). 😉

I also want to check if this large deposit of money into my account triggers any sort of investigation. I don't think it will, but I've always kept a record of receipts, just in case. 😉

Would also be interesting to hear if it triggers an investigation.

Lab grown gold could undermine its status as a store of value. https://goldzouq.in/blog/science-of-lab-grown-gold/. I'm watching the diamond industry as a guide to how gold could go. So far, real diamonds retain their value over lab grown. We'll see if that changes. Question is is gold is no longer a store of value in the future, what could take its place?

21 minutes ago, PhilB said:

The quip Clive Thompson is making in his own ironic style is that Gold is not making all time highs in every currency. The Rouble to gold exchange rate is not at its ATH due to its earlier very weak period od exchange following the strict sanctions applied following the Ukrainian invasion./ special operation. It's a statement reflecting more on the strength/volatility of the rouble than on the gold price. 

Ah, you're right. Well it's only Monday and I'm already being dense.

This comment on LinkedIn was interesting. Anyone done this? I assume you would need a way to get Russian rubles?

"If you hate buying gold at the top, change your money to Russian Rubles and buy your gold at 20% below the high point. It’s still early."

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7183112077811552256?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A(urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7183112077811552256%2CFEED_DETAIL%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse)

Never researched this, but I assume tubes are ABS plastic? Does anyone know? It's obviously not PVC. One could just keep them in tubes with maybe a silica gel pack. I opened a tube last week after 5 years since buying it and the top coins had milking, but the dealer had been handling them when he put them in.

3 hours ago, AndrewSL76 said:

I do not feel superior to silver stackers. Quite the opposite. I am envious of their ability to find a safe space to store it all!!!

It's not just the storage space either, but how you store it also brings up issues. Store it within PVC plastic and the silver will turn black. Keep it expose to air and it will milk. In fact it seems if you even sneeze in the presence of silver while in storage, something will happen to it.

I've seen YouTube sponsors of the "Dirtyman Safe" and the concept is excellent, but it's getting too well known to the point that burglars will know to scan your garden with a metal detector at night while you're asleep. It's also way overpriced.

This should see them off.

Could someone explain why the GBP spot price of silver is dearer in China? I thought the spot price of silver is the spot price of silver.

Gold is doing its best cocoa impression right now.

Come on silver my attention span is short. I need my dopamine hit.

21 minutes ago, Silverlocks said:

Rule #1 of buying silver in the UK - VAT really ganks the value of investment in silver.  Buying and selling through conventional dealers will get you a spread of 30% or more, which makes it not worth doing this way.

But . . .

You can buy and sell on the secondary market at manageable spreads.  If you keep an eye out here and the various other places where folks buy and sell silver, you can buy and sell at a far more sane spread.  The going rate for 1oz coins is somewhere about £23 (give or take - maybe a little more with silver going up), and there are people you can buy from around this price point.  Bars in the 10 oz to 1kg range are also worth buying at the right price. 

You need to understand your exit strategy, which is just a fancy way of saying 'How do I flog my coins?'  With silver, buying and selling to dealers isn't cost effective, so your exit strategy for silver will have to be based off selling back to the secondary market.  Therefore you have to pay attention to liquidity - i.e. what people will buy, and at what price you can make a quick sale.  As a starting point, think of tubes of 1oz coins, and bars in the 10 oz to 1kg range.  Take a look in the UK ungraded section for sales to get a sense of the going rate for these on the open market.

Consider also buying gold in the portfolio, unless you really want to bet on silver going to the moon.  The folks in that video are notorious for circulating clickbait about how silver is about to jump in price, and have been running this schtick for years now.  

A rational-talking silver stacker, that's what I like 👍. Seems almost novel after spending a couple of hours on YouTube.

On 23/03/2024 at 01:06, Dalriada83 said:

I know I shouldn't but I've been watching Youtube again and if all of these American demagogues forecasting the destruction of fiat currency turn out to be right, how are we going to value Gold and Silver? I would like to announce the formation of the Dalriada Precious Metal Exchange: opening at 20 Turnips for 1 ozt fine Silver and a Friesian cow for 1 ozt fine gold. Of course there will have to be side markets for equivalence, eg. 2 Swedes to the Turnip; 2 Longhorn to the Friesian etc. Everybody welcome - fees apply. According to these American chaps I could be trading by next week. Anybody in? For a limited time only you can join the Exchange for the introductory offer of just one 1 ozt Gold Britannia. This offer comes with a 30 day cooling off period to let you try and find me. Your statutory rights are not affected . . . in Bolivia. Join now to avoid the Christmas rush!

Those American YouTubers are nuts! Their target audience are naive enough to part with money for the "advice" on Substack and various newsletter courses. Money they could have spent buying silver.

I would wait for a dip on gold for now, unless you can get a good deal on a Sovereign or something.

8 hours ago, Agaupl said:

Not if you have to pay 20% vat. Makes it completely un investable imvho. Unless you can sell for spot +20% .. which you can’t. Would need a serious serious boost to get a return. 
unless… as a wise man once said .. it’s got pretty pictures on which people will buy anyway almost independent of spot price. 
I think that may be the way tbh. 

Perhaps we're speaking at cross purposes. Are you a registered VAT business? Because yeah that sucks. I'm just a nobody stacking silver, so I wouldn't need to collect VAT from someone I flog a tube to. I do feel for the businesses. The government imposing this VAT cause a great deal of trouble through their socialist greed.

What on earth is it doing.

Given that silver has yet to reach its previous highs like gold has, there is decent upside potential when it comes to sell. It depends when people bought. Anyone buying at current premiums should be in a better position than when buying at full premiums.

Are we certain that all this cheap silver is always real silver? Have there been any horror stories from TSF buyers during all this?

So are we saying these are unlawful activities from these sellers? I assumed it was a lawful loophole being used like the old Estonia method. I haven't bought silver in years so I wouldn't know.

7 minutes ago, Fenlander1 said:

Byb did a vlog on this issue last year I believe

Do you have the video link?

1 hour ago, Fenlander1 said:

Unfortunately a lot easier than you may think and payment can be clawed back.

They'd be on a wild goose chase. It's more likely they will force the seller to pay.

I haven't purchased on this forum for a while, when did these cheaper silver prices start coming in? I used to do the Estonia group buys with BYB. About a year ago I saw a controversial sales thread with someone selling the silver cheap, but he was previously banned so got banned again, but partly also because the prices seemed "too cheap" considering VAT.

I've been buying Special VAT Scheme silver from reputable bullion dealers to buy cheaper silver anyway.

26 minutes ago, BritStacker said:

yes, its pretty self explanatory if you read the listing.

It's not clear, but thanks anyway.