Ushao

No recent pics, but a pic to keep you going 
 

All my overseas minted Sovereigns - nothing from the RM!!
Sydney = 6,  Melbourne = 5, Perth = 2, Canada = 2, South Africa = 2, India (Bombay) = 1, India (New Delhi) = 2 and finally,  Isle of Man (Pobjoy) -Yes, its in the Irish Sea!
 
 
 

Managed a quick snap when I went to storage yesterday. The rest isn't as 'uniform' 

Not much of a pic as always feel a bit rushed at the SDB but bit of an update to end the year.

41.6 oz Gold
20 oz Silver
 

I love these hand cast bars in denominations from 1oz to 5oz. I appreciate this skillful craftsmanship and gladly pay one or the other euro more.
Also these two sets of Angel and Noble in Proof and Reverse Proof from 2017 each in an edition of 500 pieces inspire me very much. And the 5€ coin from Malta - Knights of the Past - is an absolute dream piece from the Germania Mint.
Greetings from Maxe

Only been stacking a few months so not got much of a stack yet. Gonna stack gold now and have a sovereign coming in the post. 

my stack to date...... it is after all... 'Treasure Look at Sunday'

Well getting close to another year gone collected a few bits to add to last year's pics concentrated more on the harder to get years 

From 1st January dealers in europe would zero rate the sale, meaning you pay 0% tax to them but when it arrives in the UK you pay the 20%.
They won't sort it out quickly, VAT is extremely complicated and any changes or harmonisation will take a long time to negotiate and or implement.
As to getting rid of it, no chance. It will change in name to "purchase tax" or something like that, but it won't change and the rates won't change, if anything they will go up and new taxes implemented on things like gold.
It's too much of a potential money maker for HMrC

It's actually quite complex when you consider the different VAT schemes in operation on silver in Europe.  Estonia had for a long time (and it may still be) a totally VAT free scheme.  Germany had a 7% VAT rate if I remember correctly and then also had a dealers margin scheme with VAT on the dealers profit only.  Quite how the UK HMRC would treat Silver that had had VAT applied in Germany at 7% I don't know.  Would they regard it as VAT paid? Or would they work out 13% that they would then collect?  Or would they slap a full 20% on it?
The UK government is going to have to get this part of these proceedings worked out fast.  There are plenty of other goods for which the VAT is mismatched and slapping full UK VAT on top would be like adding trade tariffs.
The truth of the matter is that the biggest trade tariffs from the USA to UK are usually the VAT.  Now that we don't have to play with this dreadful EU invented tax, lets just hope that the government chooses wisely to abandon it and to let the brakes off the economy.  Abolishing VAT now would be very bold and it would be a massive shake up.  It would certainly give people a lot more money in their pockets and give the whole economy an enormous boost.  The ability to act in this kind of bold way was the very reason for leaving in the first place.  I'm not sure if the Tories realised this when they took the policy off UKIP.

Well said.... I agree fully .. the small businesses and people like myself who also (like many) will bear the burden of the "virus that shall not be named" funding will get hit in many numerous ways.... Also off topic but ... I must say a very warm thank you to HMRC who have been their usual caring selves.... Bah Humbug

Also, businesses in the UK that are not VAT registered will be uncompetitive to European customers. 
Prior to 31st December a business that was NOT Vat registered charged no Vat on products to customers in the EU. 
From 1st January those customers will be charged VAT when the goods are imported into their country. 
It gets worse because if, like my business you were not paying VAT on the raw materials before, you will be forced to procure raw materials with VAT on them now. This means passing on the costs to the customers and price increases. 
So, following through, previously I may have charged £35/oz for my silver. Now I would look to increase this to account for the higher material cost incurred with VAT, so lets call it £40/oz. Then the EU customer is charged VAT on the import - so they are doubly taxed and hit - not to mention the handling fee of €15 that couriers charge to calculate your VAT on import.
Bottom line, it makes small businesses that were underneath the VAT threshold a minimum of 20% less competitive with their prices at a time when we should be doing everything possible to keep our British businesses and entrepreneurs competitive. 
The ignoring of VAT harmonisation has truly made this Brexit deal next to useless and it sickens me to hear politicians herald it as "free trade" when it is nothing but free trade. 
Not to mention all the added bureaucracy and admin work that businesses will have to endure. 
Sorry, that turned into more of a ranty post than intended. 
Its sh it

Any goods entering the UK from 1st January 2021 onwards will have VAT applied to them regardless of the approval of this deal or not. 
It is very unlikely that group purchases from Europe will be saving people enough money to warrant even doing them. 
Yes, you might be able to save £1 - £2 per coin (because UK dealers are still uncompetitive compared to EU sellers) but the added costs of shipping, VAT and postage costs would negate those savings. 
Not to mention I think there will be a greatly reduced appetite for people to even want to buy silver at close to 40% over spot price for the foreseeable future. Certainly when you compare to buying Gold at 3% over spot - makes very little sense to buy silver at all. 
Nationality will make no difference at all. 

Read the link on metals across borders i posted.  There is a discussion there or on a link in the page that discusses this cash legal tender value rather than metal value.   It would appear that if declared as a monetary cash instrument you might get away with it but personally I doubt it.  It's very hard to determine what they mean by cash and financial instruments given that other items such as gold bullion have different and vague definitions.  It all goes round in circles and I think it's deliberate to be honest.  The legal tender argument only really works for circulating legal tender is my assessment but it would be great if that was different.  I wouldn't want to take the risk but if you do and it works out please do let us hear about it.  It would definitely result in a big discussion with customs and you'd need your legal case carefully laid out to demonstrate to them.

Royal Mint to recycle gold found in mobiles and laptops to reduce e-waste
This interesting - pointing to much higher metal prices perhaps.
https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2021-10-20/royal-mint-to-recycle-gold-found-in-mobiles-and-laptops-to-reduce-e-waste

Hello silver friends,
Here is something cast, I always find it very beautiful, handmade. Maxe wishes you all a relaxing weekend.

A few boxes...

My Gold stack 🤠

While definitely not anything special, these are the lowest premium I have been able to get since I recently started stacking. Getting more for my money makes me happy. 

Diversified starter stack

Got my coins back today 

100oz of silver - nice and diversified. The unopened tube is 2021 type 2 ASE’s 😍 

How much is enough depends on your investment strategy, your portfolio and last but not least on what you're stacking for.
Do you have a plan on how much of your portfolio you want in precious metals? Do you hold other cornerstone assets, like real estate? Are you on a run to convert your fiat money to something more substantial? From your savings or from your income? The answer lies in the answer to questions like these 🙂
Buying then sitting back sounds like you at least wanted to have some silver in your portfolio, I think three kilos is very nice for that. It would be a speculative position for a silver to the moon scenario.
Personally I think it is a good foundation for more. After an initial 100 ounce I could take it slower and look around. Buy a little to cost average my cost? What about VAT? What about diversifying in gold a little? Some or more semi collectibles for fun?
Yearly purchases would go against cost averaging, meaning you could be lucky if your purchase falls on to a dip or unlucky if you buy on a rise. If you decide to make it a regular investment I advise to split your yearly budget and buy monthly.

Picked up these for just over spot.
 

Ok maybe not to everyone's taste but I have a thing for Ruthenium, maybe it's because my GFs name is Ruth?