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New member from Guernsey


tin

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Hey everyone,

I'm fairly new to precious metals, and trying to immerse myself in learning as much as possible! A few weeks ago I started researching and perhaps surcame to a little bit of fear mongering about the economy, or messages that gold/silver are going to rocket, and there is a fear of missing out. I've perhaps sobered a little now with more information, but for sure still wish to invest a little looking more at the long term. I've already purchased a little silver, and am eagerly awaiting the arrival so I can put my coins into a little pile and stare at them like a hoarding dragon.

As a first purchase I was planning on buying a little silver or gold locally from BullionRock.com (formerly the Guernsey Mint), but to my surprise they are completely out of silver with the exception of a monster 30kg bar which is way out of my range (and really, I don't know if a big lump is a great idea despite the better value per ounce). I'd be interested to hear if anyone has experience of buying through Bullion Rock. With them out of the equation, I am somewhat restricted in purchasing online as shipping in some cases tips a purchase into a bad investment, but some retailers are able to remove the VAT for postage to Guernsey which can balance the scales or even tip it into my favour.

I'm looking forward to getting to know the forum a little better, cheers!

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Fairly new myself, and learning tons of stuff every day, thanks to this forum also. 

Kinda tough to find good gold or silver these days.

Welcome from the Netherlands.

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  • Founder & Administrator

Hello and welcome to The Silver Forum :) 

Guernsey is a great place to live, you get to enjoy VAT free silver :) Bullion Rock are a well established dealer, I have ordered from them in the past. 

My posts are my personal opinions, they do not constitute advice or financial advice.

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Thanks for the welcoming messages chaps :) I've made a few purchases of silver now, so have initiated the stacking, now it's time to suck up information from the forum and not go crazy with purchasing out of stack envy!

@ChrisSilver have you been to Guernsey?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi tin,

My family have bought from the Guernsey Mint, it was the favourite destination on a few holiday jaunts. Met the owner a true gent called Bruce Rowan, maybe he sold out and that’s why it’s name has changed? He was there 10 years back when my father decided to educate his grandkids. Bruce gave us all a tour and even let them have their photo taken holding a gold bar in a bit of a museum there. Saw his business card in his collections, that’s how I remember him. Used to be a family business.

Would love to go back some time, as occasionally visit St Peter Port and Herm. There was a smashing little restaurant he opened at the side, is it still open?

One other operation there used to be in the Channel Islands was Sarnia Silve4, I remember it because atone time there used to be envelopes frequently arriving through the family letterbox, until the postie got a bit too nosey for my old mans liking. They were VAT free up to I think it was around £15, bit of a tax loophole for U.K collectors he told me. We used to get bundles of single packets through the door 😂. Might be worth looking to see if they are still open.

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@ZigZag that's interesting to know, I didn't even realise that Sarnia Silver existed, albeit their website looks a bit ancient, and frankly it's the most un-imaginitive name for a Guernsey company! ('Sarnia' is the name of the island in our traditional language). To buy locally we shouldn't have any VAT whatsoever, but in terms of exporting the loopholes have tightened, so I'm still working out what an exist plan might look like one day, i.e. if I will need to pay tax on sending second hand silver to the UK. Could it have been Bruce Russel perhaps? The restaurant is still there, and it's always busy, being in the wealthier part of the island!

Thanks everyone else for the welcome messages. I'm doing a lot of lurking, made a few purchases off members, and I'm trying not to let the stack grow faster than my knowledge!

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1 hour ago, tin said:

@ZigZag that's interesting to know, I didn't even realise that Sarnia Silver existed, albeit their website looks a bit ancient, and frankly it's the most un-imaginitive name for a Guernsey company! ('Sarnia' is the name of the island in our traditional language). To buy locally we shouldn't have any VAT whatsoever, but in terms of exporting the loopholes have tightened, so I'm still working out what an exist plan might look like one day, i.e. if I will need to pay tax on sending second hand silver to the UK. Could it have been Bruce Russel perhaps? The restaurant is still there, and it's always busy, being in the wealthier part of the island!

Thanks everyone else for the welcome messages. I'm doing a lot of lurking, made a few purchases off members, and I'm trying not to let the stack grow faster than my knowledge!

Yes familiar with the Sarnia link, they exploited the loophole before it was closed, now like everyone else as you say they have to charge V.A.T but there was a time when you didn’t have to up to a certain value. Know this because once 1oz coins got to expensive, my father switched to buying 1/2 ounce to get under the V.A.T requirement; for a good while they were cheaper than any U.K dealer for obvious reason; surprised they survived once the loophole was closed.

My bad, you have made me look at the card and it was Bruce Russell, don’t know where the name Rowan popped into my head from. Nice to hear the restaurant is still open, would be interested to know if Bullion Rock is still owned by Bruce, bought some lovely Victor Hugo gold doubles for my kids whilst we were there.

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