Tonyb959

Why did it fail you so?
edit: I read in the news that the inventor of auto-correct had passed away.
His funnel is tomato.

1. Place a piece of folded bubble wrap or packing bean(s) inside the tube to stop the coins rattling.
Give it a good shake ( keep your thumb on the lid though ! ) to check before wrapping further.
2. Either wrap the tube in several turns of clingfilm or place in a polythene bag, wrap tightly then tape to close.
I never tape the bare lid because many tapes leave a disgusting sticky residue.
3. Assuming you are posting special delivery, package dimensions are less critical so wrap the tube in multiple turns of bubble wrap giving several centimetres of thickness all round.
Alternatively a small cardboard box is a good suggestion but fill it with packing - paper, bubble wrap, polystyrene beans etc. so the tube doesn't have room to move.
Job done !

I see you have already received a few replies from like-minded people, and as usual the advice contains a number of varying opinions.
There are probably similar posts and questions most days.
I sometimes give some input, but I prefer to give answers which are as complete and comprehensive as possible. This means they are long and time-consuming.
In the pre-historic early days of the internet (1998), I started to add advice and opinion pages to our "new" website. Now it belongs in a museum, and not all of the old content has been ported over to our newest site.
I thought about giving you a link to our "Newbie" advice page, but realised it needed updating, so I just wrote the first draft of it, which will get added to our site soon.
Here it is: https://www.chards.co.uk/blog/precious-metals-information-and-advice-for-newbies/1008 (link added 18th June 2021)
Meanwhile I am happy to give you a preview, complete with typos:
 
Newbie Information and Advice
For people thinking about starting to collect, invest, or stack coins or precious metal bullion.
 
First, ask yourself some questions:
What is your prime goal?
Interest in the historical or numismatic aspects of coins.
Investing to make a maximum return.
Investing to protect wealth against inflation, etc.
 
Most interested in:
Coins as numismatic items.
Precious metal content of coins and bars.
 
Metal Preference:
Most interested in:
Gold
Silver
Platinum
Palladium
Open minded
 
Budget
How much do you intend to invest?
Lump sum or regular purchase?
 
Timing
Want to start now, or ASAP
Wait until prices come down.
Wait until prices go up.
 
Home Base
Where do you live, which country, state, etc.
Legal considerations. Is what you want legal to buy or import in your country.
Tax considerations.
In the UK and EU, “Investment Gold” is exempt from VAT.
Other precious metal coins and bars are subject to VAT in the UK and EU.
In the USA, there may be sales tax in some states.
 
Secure Storage
It is worth thinking about how and where you intend to store your stash. For small amounts, this might not be much of a problem, but for higher values, you might need to think about a safe, alarms system, and insurance. Some banks may still offer safe deposit boxes, and safe deposit companies also exist. Check whether your insurance can include these. Alternatively, some companies now offer secure storage usually including insurance. If the storage is in a favourable tax regime, this may also legally avoid VAT on silver, platinum and palladium. Charges vary.
 
Bear / Bull Market Cycles.
Very few people can accurately forecast future precious metal prices, including many people who think they know. If you don’t know, then you are not alone, and at least your are not deluding yourself that you do know.
 
Relative Merits of Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium
As a UK based dealer, we obviously concentrate on the UK market, but we do have a number of non-UK customers and suppliers, so while we are aware of some international markets, most of our thoughts relate to the UK.
Gold is the only one of the four precious metals which is exempt from VAT in the UK and EU, so it is the most obvious metal to choose for investment. Its unique VAT status is probably because it has historically been a monetary metal, renowned for retaining its value, and a range of other factors.
Silver is the other historic monetary metal, but because it is subject to VAT, we do not recommend it as a prime investment metal. It does have its enthusiastic supporters though, and it is relatively affordable.
Platinum and palladium are the other two precious metals, although both metals are newbies compared with gold and silver. Both are also subject to VAT.
Gold:Silver and other ratios.
The ratio of gold to silver prices has had a profound influence on monetary systems for thousands of years, until the last century, when “fiat” currencies have prevailed.
It is worth getting familiar with the current, and also historic gold:silver ratios. This will help you to decide between gold, silver, a different metal, or a combination.
 
Production Costs
Gold has a well-established international market, as does silver to a lesser extent, platinum and palladium markets are smaller and less liquid.
Mining is the most obvious production cost of any metal, but refining and other processing costs also come into play. Gold is cheap and easy to process in relation to its value. Silver is worth much less than gold, but the cost to manufacture a one ounce coin, for example, are not much less than for a similar gold coin, which explain why the percentage premium for silver coins or bars is generally higher than for gold. Platinum and palladium are more difficult to process, so their percentage premiums are also usually higher than for gold. Transport costs are also a higher proportion for silver than for gold. Silver requires more space to store compared with its value, so storage costs are also higher.
 
Coins or Bars?
I’m primarily a coin dealer, so I prefer coins, but there are other good reasons to choose coins rather than bars. Coins have tax or legal advantages in many countries compared with bars. Coins are issued by countries, bars by companies. I hesitate to suggest you trust governments rather than companies, but think about it. Coins are mass produced, and are usually available in a selection of different weights at competitive prices. One ounce coins are a universal choice in modern bullion coins, and hit a “sweet spot” for premiums, but historic coins such as British gold sovereigns (approximately quarter ounce) are also available competitively. Many other countries have their own traditional historic coins which are worth considering.
Bars are also made in many sizes, and you should expect to pay slightly lower premiums for bars rather than coins. The biggest “small” gold bar is one kilo, and should usually be the cheapest bar to buy (in percentage premium terms), however the differential is quite small, and for most investors, smaller sizes such as one ounce, as a better long-term buy. They are more liquid, as more people can afford them, easier to post (and insure), an important consideration when you want to sell.
 
Premiums
Whenever I talk about premiums, unless otherwise stated, I mean percentage premiums. This is the simplest way to compare value. If you don’t understand percentages or simple maths, then I recommend getting a few quick lessons, and a little effort. Education is always a good investment.
 
My general advice:
Buy at the lowest premium within reason. If you have read most of the above, you will understand what I mean, and why.
Changes
Most of the advice I give is generalised. There is a good reason for this. Things change. When I wrote this paragraph heading, I started singing the David Bowie song. Markets are constantly in a state of flux. For this reason, what is good specific advice on Monday morning might not be the same by Friday night. Changes occur over long timeframes of centuries and decades but also happen on shorter timescales of years, months, weeks, days, hours, and even minutes. Gold went up about $10 in a few seconds after the first plane hit on 9/11.
These changes include political, financial, fiscal, personal, local, international.
 
News and Hype
I spend a lot of time reading news. I call it working. In recent years, I have become more aware that most of what I read is written by vested interests, lobby groups, “influencers”, and the like. It is not easy, but try to discern whether facts are accurate, and to work out whether the “news” is coming from an “interested party”. It is often easy to detect hype and bullshit. Be aware that we are all prone to believe what we want to hear rather than what we do not want to hear.
 
Big Spenders and Small Savers
If you have big money to invest, you should have more choice of “best buy” deals.
If you are a small saver, it will be harder for you to get the “sweet spot” for value, so you might have to work a little harder.
 
Big Dealers or Peer-to-Peer
If you want to buy 100 ounces of gold, then almost everyone would agree go to a big, reputable dealer. Chard in Blackpool, England are not the biggest, but are one of the best (I am biased). You can have confidence that what you are buying is genuine.
If you only have a few hundred dollars (more or less) to invest, then you might actually get the best deals shopping around, perhaps on a well-known forum. It is not quite as easy to be certain that what you buy is genuine, but as I said, you may need to work a little harder.
You may be able to find a dealer or scheme which will let you buy small amounts of gold, silver etc., regularly, then switch it into physical when you have enough metal in your account.
 
Who, What, and Where to Avoid
Although it is possible to buy on ebay, it is fraught with danger, riddled with fraudsters, ripe with hype, and probably better avoided, unless you like a gamble. Similar with other auction sites, and private advertisers.
Local auctions can work, and are probably better than ebay, after all it wouldn’t be difficult.
Local coins dealers might work out for you. Jewellers, pawnbrokers and scrap dealers are probably better avoided. Often they don’t know and don’t care if coins are genuine, and many of their coins are sourced from scrap jewellery, and are sub-standard.
Coin Marketing Companies (CMCs)
You will see national newspaper and television adverts for these. Most of them market brand new coin issues at (high) premium prices. Many of these are very gimmicky, the world’s first, biggest, smallest, weirdest, latest, rarest. If you want to buy this stuff, then reading what I say will probably not stop you, but make sure you really want to buy it, and don’t be surprised if nobody is interested when you come to sell, even at half your cost price or less. Most of the CMC’s do not make a market, and will not buy (or buy back) coins, possibly because they don’t want you to realise they have ripped you off.
Some CMCs offer introductory deals (only $49.99 for the next 30 days, $99.99 “normal” price), others do loss leaders, usually restricted to 1 coin per household. This is to get your name on their “suckers” mailing list. They may also try the highly unethical, sometimes illegal, “bait and switch”, in which your personal account manager will try to convince you to buy pre-1933 gold coins telling you they are non-confiscatable. Ask yourself has he really got your best interests at heart, or is he trying to boost his commission, or keep his job?
The guy at the local pub. Also best avoided.
 
 
Links and Resources:
Gold price https://www.chards.co.uk/gold-price/gold-price-per-ounce
Gold:Silver ratio https://www.chards.co.uk/gold-silver-ratio
Other prices and ratios are linked from the above.
You can select different currencies, units of weight, and timescales.
We also have hundreds of other advice pages on our site, as well as on our older “heritage” sites.
 
Errors and Omissions
If there is anything I have missed out, please let me know.
If there are any other questions you would like answering, please submit them on the back of a £50 note, $100 bill, €500 banknote or similar.
 
 
 

I had been looking for a suitable presentation solution for my Maundy collection that’s housed in Quadrum Capsules and found these ‘Leuchtturm Volterra’ on eBay sold by Dauwalders. A Nice way to display coins in Quadrum capsules.  
 

 

SIXPENCE GOLD COIN
1. (1) A new coin of gold of the denomination of sixpence shall be made, being a coin of a standard weight of 6.19 grammes, a standard diameter of 19.41 millimetres, a millesimal fineness of not less than 999, and being circular in shape.
(2) In the making of the said gold coin a remedy (that is, a variation from the standard weight or diameter specified above) shall be allowed of an amount not exceeding the following, that is to say:
(a) a variation from the said standard weight of an amount per coin of 0.05 grammes; and
(b) a variation from the said standard diameter 0.125 millimetres per coin.
(3) The least current weight of the said gold coin shall be 6.14 grammes.
(4) The variation from the standard weight will be measured as the average of a sample of not more than one kilogram of the coin.
(5) The design of the said gold coin shall be as follows:
‘For the obverse impression Our effigy with the inscription “· ELIZABETH II · DEI · GRA · REGINA · FID · DEF” and for the reverse a depiction of Our Royal Cypher surrounded by a floral motif with the inscription “SIXPENCE” and the date of the year. The coin shall have a grained edge.’
SIXPENCE ROSE GOLD COIN
2. (1) A new coin of rose gold of the denomination of sixpence shall be made, being a coin of a standard weight of 5.59 grammes, a standard diameter of 19.41 millimetres, a millesimal fineness of not less than 916.7, and being circular in shape.
(2) In the making of the said rose gold coin a remedy (that is, a variation from the standard weight or diameter specified above) shall be allowed of an amount not exceeding the following, that is to say:
(a) a variation from the said standard weight of an amount per coin of 0.05 grammes; and
(b) a variation from the said standard diameter of 0.125 millimetres per coin.
(3) The least current weight of the said rose gold coin shall be 5.54 grammes.
(4) The variation from the standard weight will be measured as the average of a sample of not more than one kilogram of the coin.
(5) The design of the said rose gold coin shall be as follows:
‘For the obverse impression Our effigy with the inscription “· ELIZABETH II · DEI · GRA · REGINA · FID · DEF” and for the reverse a depiction of Our Royal Cypher surrounded by a floral motif with the inscription “SIXPENCE” and the date of the year. The coin shall have a grained edge.’
3. This Proclamation shall come into force on the eleventh day of March Two thousand and twenty-one.
Given at Our Court at Windsor Castle, this tenth day of March in the year of Our Lord Two thousand and twenty-one and in the seventieth year of Our Reign.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN (Sponsored by the Sex Pistols?)
 

Oooh, lots to unpack here.
Yeah, I'm concerned about cash being discouraged. "Just use a card" is all well and good, but our kids don't have cards for pocket money to spend at the shop on the way home from school, and the card payments system restricts trade to people who are big enough businesses to be worth getting a card payment thing, or transactions big enough to wait for bank transfers - putting burdens on the little guy, as usual.
As for UBI - well, there's two different things to think about here.
Firstly, is some kind of welfare payment a good or bad thing?
The argument against is that people should be responsible for their own upkeep, and that welfare systems reward people for slobbing around at home rather than bothering to work, encouraging selfishness. I'm sure SOME people are like that, but most people on benefits I see are either disabled and can't work, or can't work enough hours, or struggling with caring responsibilities or something along those lines, and are generally (a) really stressed because they're barely covering the rent and bills and food and (b) ashamed about being on benefits. I'm sure there IS some piss-taking, but taking away the benefit system because of that just makes life a lot harder for the people who really need it. When we (this account is shared between a married couple, husband is writing this) had just had our first child, my wife was recovering from a bad labour and couldn't walk without crutches, I was self employed and working from home as an IT contractor - and our home was made uninhabitable for a year by a flood. We had insurance, but not for business interruption, and while it paid for repairs to the house and new furniture, it didn't cover the many extra costs of suddenly looking after a sick wife and a small baby without a house - and it was a year before the works were done and we could move back in. Our savings were gone pretty quickly, and we came out of it with massive credit card debts as the banks wouldn't give us a loan under those circumstances, and if we'd applied for benefits we'd have had to somehow make ends meet for months before we got anything - I didn't realise how long the trouble we got into would last for and thought it wasn't worth applying because I hoped we'd be back on our feet before it started to pay out, especially given the paltry amounts we'd have gotten, so never bothered, although in hindsight I should have...
So, the welfare system we have is still pretty miserly, and really didn't support us when we really could have done with it. I am happy that my taxes go towards supporting people who have had bad luck, both because I want people to be happy, and because I think that if you don't provide for poor people, they will be driven to rob you out of desperation, they won't have money to spend in shops to drive the economy, they won't be able to afford to look after themselves so diseases will spread through their population and then infect the rest of us, we'll just end up with ghettos/slums etc etc - it is not only *nice* but in our *selfish best interests* to look out for each other! Trials of UBI around the world have resulted in more people working in the long run, which seems to suggest that the "It encourages laziness" effect is outweighed by factors like making it practical for people to get more training and then go for jobs that were previously out of their reach, etc.
Secondly, is UBI a better kind of welfare payment than the current means-tested system?
Well, if we'd had a UBI when our house had flooded and I couldn't work for months, then we would have still had some income, without needing to argue that we're eligible or wait for it to come through or anything, which would certainly have been nice. A UBI funded from increased income tax is a net positive for people below some income threshold where the tax increase matches the UBI they get, and a tax increase for people above that, so it would do something to close the rich/poor divide, which I'd say is a good thing. The current welfare system is quite expensive to administer, with all the paperwork involved, and a UBI would cut that out, thereby being more "efficient" in the cost of the system turning into actual cash in recipient's hands.
As to whether it would just cause rents and food prices and so on to rise - I am not enough of an economist to predict that. Apparently that's not been seen in trials, but the trials are limited. I think it's worth doing larger trials to find ou!

Would you prefer to see those who are poor and in need to be staring at a blank wall or even better have nothing. Let's have them all running around in rags whilst we sit there and count our gold.

New ¼oz noah's ark to accompany my 1g

For me I like how thin they are. There is something about a decent width to thickness ratio. 1oz Brits in silver or gold are nice but they're so thick they don't have that piratey coinage feel that sovereigns have. The ducats are the same. They're so thin that you can put them in a bag, jingle them and offer them to people to do stuff like sell out Jesus or whatever. 
That's my well thought out technical analysis.
Also, the premiums and how widely recognised they are is a plus. But that's just an added bonus, really. Piratey feelings are the primary motivation. 

There is a reason why people always back to gold after fiat currency rant. I am simple man, I see them print like crazy, I buy more PM. Question is not, If it end up in mess, question is when. Situation right now look like pure madness. They "struggle" to get inflation of 2% but my shopping basket went up ~15%. No point of holding cash now IMHO. 

Well this is one heck of a delivery. I've saved all weeks up to do a bumper post 😀
The 6 Bombay sovs are outstanding 
7 dos peso 
2 gillicks sovs 
2 sovs 
2005 half 
1918 half 

So happy with this pick up, new favourite piece! Another one for the heirloom stack. Fingers crossed I’ll never need to sell 🤞

This did make me chuckle...
 

A gigantic leap of faith from modern coins in terms of receiving this 1902 Edward VII Matte Proof Set today.  

Bought from a local dealer.  Photos a little inconsistent, David Bailey I am not.
Thanks to @Elements, @SilverMike & @Roy for the advice and encouragement. 













 

Holy cow that's beautiful

I was going to keep this one private, but I've had a pretty rubbish day so thought i’d share what landed this morning and has given me some joy before it goes to the vault. A very special 2002 4 coin gold maundy set (2002 mintage), a beautifully soft Gillick proof head, look how good the 1p is 😍, its tiny at 0.8g (22ct) . Only showed the 4p and 1p so not to fill the thread 😄
All PF69UC. 

4p

1p 😍

 

 

What's in the box?

A  box!

My new favourite item in my growing Panda collection.

From my birth year, indeed!

No less than 5 ounces of  999 silver!

And in original packaging


Huge thanks to @DavePanda for this beauty. 

Something slightly different!

Delivery from @OlliesSilverBars to add to my animal collection. Absolutely stunning piece 

Nothing but a quick and dirty bullion double! 

1 kg silver Eule 2020, really beautiful and 1 Oz bar dragon 2019.

Love that treasure chest Jamesd! 
 
This rather lovely coin came in the post today from a dealer who shall remain unnamed. Not pictured is the sovereign that also arrived, but we all know what they look like at this point 😄
 

Love that treasure chest Jamesd! 
 
This rather lovely coin came in the post today from a dealer who shall remain unnamed. Not pictured is the sovereign that also arrived, but we all know what they look like at this point 😄