sixgun

This is most of an email sent today to a friend of mine who is in the metals business.
Why would Betts contact its customers to say they aren't charging them to refine their scrap (precious) metal?
Are they short of business or are they desperate for metal?

i call it a draw and will leave it there. 

i see claims there were $50 trillion in gold in Iraq. This is clearly nonsense. i see claims there were $20 trillion in gold. This is also nonsense. $50 trillion would be about 1.7 million tonnes of in 2003.  All the gold ever mined is nowhere near that amount and unless Bix Weir is right with the Grand Canyon full of gold, there probably isn't that much gold on the planet.
It is claimed there was 6 tonnes gold which was sent to Kuwait for analysis and then returned to the Iraqi treasury. But they would say that wouldn't they. 
A good delivery bar of gold is 400 oz of gold - 12.5kg. These bars look a bit rough, to me they look bigger than a 400 oz bar. But if we say the bars in the photos weighed 12.5kg, then 6 tonnes would be 480 bars. 
Looks like there are a good deal more that 480 bars.

1.Learn to walk before running
2.Knowledge and understanding
3.History
4.Dont F*ck with the Silver Forum old boys...
 
 

i call it a draw and will leave it there. 

i call it a draw and will leave it there. 

I came across this 10 ounce bar, sterling. I think it might have some historical significance, value.  The engraving looks to be superb. Anybody come across one of these or have thoughts on value.  I did send an email to the Park City historical folks. They liked it and felt it had historical value but had no history. They thought I might have somebody date it by the engraving work and then they could look deeper into the city records. 
 

I have already posted this link in a response to you earlier this year but I can post it again: http://anysoldier.com/brian/iraq/92.html.
In that article, finds of gold in two trucks are mentioned, 1000 and 1183 bars in each, value of which is given at around $350 million per find, which based on approximate price at that time $350/oz means bars could have been 1000 oz. That would seem right given that a 400 oz bar size is cca. 27×10×5 cm and these indeed seem bigger. So just based on that article cca. 67 tonnes were discovered by 'Gozy' plus another 2000 bars are refered to in the CNN report. BTW all allegedly returned to the new Iraqi government.
As a side note, a standard truck can carry around 25 tonnes so over 30 tonnes would seem on the upper side of the load (but not impossible).

If nothing goes wrong with your sale it would seem like an unnecessary waste of time but if you got a scammer on the other end then the more evidence you have the better.
i would get the buyer to confirm the name and address via ebay messages. They cannot claim it went to the wrong place. Get them to confirm there are no special delivery requirements. Ideally i would have the parcel delivered to a post office near them - then they cannot claim it never arrived b/c it is tracked to the post office and they have to pick it up. The post office is very lax about parcels since COVID - now the postman signs and then anyone could have taken it or not as the case may be.
I would have a video of the item going into the packaging - clearly showing the item(s) as they go in - show the address label from Royal Mail with tracking code. i would show the parcel being handed over at the post office. Showing the label and that it was the same package the items went into. Then it is tracked and the tracking code is put into ebay as well.
Anything else?

This video is repeating controlled financial media news - it is better not to watch it. The US quite probably has no gold. Russia isn't exporting to the West but what about the rest of the world? Many Americans have little idea about the rest of the world, so if Russia isn't exporting to the West they think Russia isn't exporting.

Russia and China have massive gold reserves. He says there is no way of knowing how much gold China has. Agreed not exactly but China has been the largest gold producer for years but doesn't export it. When you look at the exports of gold from London/ US to Switzerland and then on to China we can see the West is being drained of gold. Maguire has said China has around 40 000 tonnes. i think this guy wants to believe the US has the most gold. The US will have had more gold than it should have b/c significant amounts have been stolen from the countries the US has invaded. This might go someway to explain where the gold is coming from that leaves the West. It is stolen gold.

If nothing goes wrong with your sale it would seem like an unnecessary waste of time but if you got a scammer on the other end then the more evidence you have the better.
i would get the buyer to confirm the name and address via ebay messages. They cannot claim it went to the wrong place. Get them to confirm there are no special delivery requirements. Ideally i would have the parcel delivered to a post office near them - then they cannot claim it never arrived b/c it is tracked to the post office and they have to pick it up. The post office is very lax about parcels since COVID - now the postman signs and then anyone could have taken it or not as the case may be.
I would have a video of the item going into the packaging - clearly showing the item(s) as they go in - show the address label from Royal Mail with tracking code. i would show the parcel being handed over at the post office. Showing the label and that it was the same package the items went into. Then it is tracked and the tracking code is put into ebay as well.
Anything else?

There are shortages all over the place. i am still waiting for an order to complete at Goldsilver.be which i placed on 19th September - i see a banner on the site saying products won't ship for 6 - 8 weeks. Lots of the coins on their site are sold out or pre-order (most of the time code for sold out). 
i just checked some of the prices on sites well known to us, they are simply stratospheric. A single Philharmonic on Atkinsons is £30.71 - granted delivery will be included so this bumps up the price but if you bought several different single coins you would be stung. Chards is cheaper +delivery but nevertheless retail silver coins dropping through your letter box are now expensive. The spot price bears little to no relation to what you have to pay - and people are paying accepting demand is very strong.

As Laurence quite rightly says, the average member of TSF is not buying 'Good Delivery' silver bars. You are talking about 1000 oz bars. The question is irrelevant to the situation the vast majority of silver stackers find themselves. It is like looking at the list of approved truck manufacturers when you want to buy a family saloon car - it doesn't really help.
You are buying in the retail market - so get to know the manufacturers in that area.
i have vintage bars where the makers don't exist anymore, some of them i don't fully know who the maker was. i see Geiger is not on the list of good delivery bar makers but is very highly respected in the silver bar world.

Wonga say he go down hard.
But seriously steady buying - look out for good deals especially on TSF. You won't catch the bottom but if you try to as sure as Hell you'll miss it. 

As Laurence quite rightly says, the average member of TSF is not buying 'Good Delivery' silver bars. You are talking about 1000 oz bars. The question is irrelevant to the situation the vast majority of silver stackers find themselves. It is like looking at the list of approved truck manufacturers when you want to buy a family saloon car - it doesn't really help.
You are buying in the retail market - so get to know the manufacturers in that area.
i have vintage bars where the makers don't exist anymore, some of them i don't fully know who the maker was. i see Geiger is not on the list of good delivery bar makers but is very highly respected in the silver bar world.

This video is repeating controlled financial media news - it is better not to watch it. The US quite probably has no gold. Russia isn't exporting to the West but what about the rest of the world? Many Americans have little idea about the rest of the world, so if Russia isn't exporting to the West they think Russia isn't exporting.

Russia and China have massive gold reserves. He says there is no way of knowing how much gold China has. Agreed not exactly but China has been the largest gold producer for years but doesn't export it. When you look at the exports of gold from London/ US to Switzerland and then on to China we can see the West is being drained of gold. Maguire has said China has around 40 000 tonnes. i think this guy wants to believe the US has the most gold. The US will have had more gold than it should have b/c significant amounts have been stolen from the countries the US has invaded. This might go someway to explain where the gold is coming from that leaves the West. It is stolen gold.

This video is repeating controlled financial media news - it is better not to watch it. The US quite probably has no gold. Russia isn't exporting to the West but what about the rest of the world? Many Americans have little idea about the rest of the world, so if Russia isn't exporting to the West they think Russia isn't exporting.

Russia and China have massive gold reserves. He says there is no way of knowing how much gold China has. Agreed not exactly but China has been the largest gold producer for years but doesn't export it. When you look at the exports of gold from London/ US to Switzerland and then on to China we can see the West is being drained of gold. Maguire has said China has around 40 000 tonnes. i think this guy wants to believe the US has the most gold. The US will have had more gold than it should have b/c significant amounts have been stolen from the countries the US has invaded. This might go someway to explain where the gold is coming from that leaves the West. It is stolen gold.

Here is the 10 year price chart for gold in GBP -

As we can see the price hasn't tanked, agreed it hasn't been this low since the middle of July 2022 but do not confuse spot price with the price of coins at dealers. i took a look at Goldsilver.be last night to see what was available - there is relatively little available for immediate delivery. i have heard and seen from several sources that premiums on silver coins in the US are as high as they have ever been and yet the spot price is falling. When stock is generally short you will not see retail prices reflect spot.
i almost think you are trying to big up the products of Tavex.

Have you counted your Geigers?
😎

Here is the 10 year price chart for gold in GBP -

As we can see the price hasn't tanked, agreed it hasn't been this low since the middle of July 2022 but do not confuse spot price with the price of coins at dealers. i took a look at Goldsilver.be last night to see what was available - there is relatively little available for immediate delivery. i have heard and seen from several sources that premiums on silver coins in the US are as high as they have ever been and yet the spot price is falling. When stock is generally short you will not see retail prices reflect spot.
i almost think you are trying to big up the products of Tavex.

As Laurence quite rightly says, the average member of TSF is not buying 'Good Delivery' silver bars. You are talking about 1000 oz bars. The question is irrelevant to the situation the vast majority of silver stackers find themselves. It is like looking at the list of approved truck manufacturers when you want to buy a family saloon car - it doesn't really help.
You are buying in the retail market - so get to know the manufacturers in that area.
i have vintage bars where the makers don't exist anymore, some of them i don't fully know who the maker was. i see Geiger is not on the list of good delivery bar makers but is very highly respected in the silver bar world.

This video is repeating controlled financial media news - it is better not to watch it. The US quite probably has no gold. Russia isn't exporting to the West but what about the rest of the world? Many Americans have little idea about the rest of the world, so if Russia isn't exporting to the West they think Russia isn't exporting.

Russia and China have massive gold reserves. He says there is no way of knowing how much gold China has. Agreed not exactly but China has been the largest gold producer for years but doesn't export it. When you look at the exports of gold from London/ US to Switzerland and then on to China we can see the West is being drained of gold. Maguire has said China has around 40 000 tonnes. i think this guy wants to believe the US has the most gold. The US will have had more gold than it should have b/c significant amounts have been stolen from the countries the US has invaded. This might go someway to explain where the gold is coming from that leaves the West. It is stolen gold.

i got these from @GoldShack - now there is a beast with claws guarding them.
    

i got these from @GoldShack - now there is a beast with claws guarding them.
    

i got these from @GoldShack - now there is a beast with claws guarding them.