How best to start my stack ?

[Brennypenny]

Hello all

I would like to start stacking and was thinking of buying old scrap pre 1920 coins on Ebay but I am now wondering: are many of those coins offered for sale FAKE ?

And what would be the going rate per gram for scrap coins ?

Also, is buying scrap jewellery a good idea at all ?

And then again, how much of that is fake?

I am just getting started, I hope any of you chaps can point me in the right direction. Much appreciated

 

 

 

 

[Pete]

Forget all the junk and risk ( you don't want to loose sleep worry about fake stuff, plated base metal, brass made to look like gold etc. and get looking at some proper fine silver bullion coins like Maples, Eagles, Britannias etc.
Best place to start is right here - place a free Wanted post in the UK & Europe Trading section asking for silver coins but set a budget say £100 and you will get 4 ounces at least.

Alternatively I can send you a box of stuff that I have in my garage heading for the skip.
Has copper wire, bits of pipe, scraps of lead etc and some costume jewellery - that's your alternative 😄😆

Congratulations on your first post on this site.

[Brennypenny]

Thank you Pete,

What is the average mark up on the silver price generally?

Roughly, If you say i get 4 ounce for £ 100 that makes it £ 25 per ouch, todays price is £ 14.82. again roughly, 60% mark up. Is that the going rate? 

Green as i am i was under the illusion you would pay around the day rate ...

 

[HerefordBullyun]

I would look at getting premium membership also you will get better deals on here.

[Brennypenny]

Thanks for you replies, 

There is a lot more to it then then just having some silver bits and bobs ...

Good old VAT... 

If you would resell (or buy second hand) would you still deal with the VAT ? On normal goods I believe you only have to pay it once, buying second hand you would'nt.

What is your opinion on holding futures in relation to holding coins?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[trp]

17 minutes ago, Brennypenny said:

If you would resell (or buy second hand) would you still deal with the VAT ? On normal goods I believe you only have to pay it once, buying second hand you would'nt.

If people have bought their silver with added VAT they will be looking to recover it when selling (otherwise they’d make a loss on everything they sold).

However, if someone is fortunate enough to have bought outside the U.K. VAT free, their margins would probably be lower.

You will always pay a premium over spot and if you are buying new you will have the unattractive bonus of paying the VAT too!

Buying second hand doesn’t usually attract VAT, some dealers do ‘special rate’ coins which are secondary market which you can pick up for less. 

Premium membership for the forum is definitely a good way to go, you will see listings as they are posted and there are currently some good deals for 1oz coins (depending on what interests you).

[Stacktastic]

25 x 1 oz Brittanias I would say. It will soon build up. 

become a silver member on here, you can find anything you want & the members are top notch. 

Buy on a consistent basis so you spread the costs changes. Unless we are heading for a worldwide depression that is
Even if its 1 coin every week, that better than nothing. 

Don't know about junk, it's OK for the long haul, but it would be hard to sell I think in a crisis, unless it's melted down. Dont collect it so i dont know really. There is certainly a bonus in buying desirable coins if you need to sell in a moments notice or just want to collect for the value. I rate the Queens Beasts for UK based buyers as they are quite cheap & will accrue value in time, especially a full set. I have several sets that I dont intend to sell ever - ideally. Nice to know i have something to pass to my children that actually has some form of value. They look stunning too. 

Gold sovereigns would be the next best option to buy consistently as they dont cost much & you can shift them fast. Thats my next move if or when the gold spot goes down when/if businesses get back to normal, before the next session of scare mongering from the British Brainwashing Corporation. Not sure that will happen, so mainly buying silver bullion now (Brittanias). 

[Yetiwatch]

Just to give you an idea of price, you can easily pickup silver for £20 an ounce on the forum (not including postage). They will probably be bullion grade, but it's a good price when you're only buying a couple of time. If you are willing to buy a tube (25 coins) you can often see European dealers, where you can get 25 ounces new in the tube for under £500 delivered. It is worth exploring the forum to see what information you can get.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Precious Metals!

[Aknot]

@Brennypenny I was and still am in your shoes except on the other side of the pond. Im spending "x" amount a week and only going to sites like SDBullion, MoneyMetals, etc.

I also have what is described as junk silver (from my aunt) which would equate (I assume) to the scrap silver you refer to? Assumptions would be like anything else if the person on Ebay is reputable then I dont see the issue I just wouldnt buy the farm first time. Maybe buy a a small amount from a few people spread it out. Find a person you like. I have not bough JS from Ebay I did buy some penny rolls and may go from there depending.

Quite honestly if you are that worried about being burned the only thing to do is get it from a true dealer either coin shop (pawn shop you guys have those I assume?) where you can actually see it, touch it and have them test it in front of you OR just get the silver coins/bars/rounds etc from a direct site like mentioned above but of course in your area.

Since you are "over there" premium is probably worth it. It seems (and this is not a dig) that the majority of people are from across the pond from me. I want to pull the trigger just because I like to support places I frequent be it game related or another hobby. I just dont use CC. 

So yeah dip in a toe go slow if you are worried find someone you trust then invest in them. (as for the people here they all seem really nice! )

Welcome and Good Luck!

[Brennypenny]

Thank you all for your very helpful comments.

I am not overly worried but I was just wondering if there are in your experience are lot of fake old pre 1920 or pre 1947 about or not really,

There probably quit a bit of fake bullion coins on offer.

I buy and sell a lot of vintage silver jewellery, I know what to look out for by now. But not with coins just yet.

I would buy bullion coins form reputable seller, definitely. But I was thinking that it would be possible to get old coins closer to spot price.

But that might not be the best way forward. If bullion coins are more in demand and all the rest is just sold for scrap, under spot.

 

 

 

[Yetiwatch]

You can get earlier UK coins for closer to spot, especially 3 pence's and half crowns. I haven't seen many fakes, just steer clear of the high value ones and they probably wouldn't even be worth faking.

Bulk is usually the key to get it closer to spot.

[cdrematt]

I have not had any problems with Ebay, but I use it very sparingly. I generally use it only for numismatics. You can look at pictures of coins and assess reasonably well whether they appear the way they should. With rounds and bars, it is harder to determine authenticity visually. I would be unlikely to purchase anything if I couldn't see clear photos of both the obverse and reverse. Also, I only use Paypal for Ebay purchases. If the order does not show up, or is not as described (eg. counterfeit) you can file a dispute, and if the seller doesn't act to make things right, it can be escalated to a claim to get your money back. (In the case of counterfeit, I would likely get the authorities involved as well. The US Secret Service takes a dim view on people making fake coins. I'm sure their British counterparts feel the same way)

[Gibson96]

I've bought a fair amount of pre-1947 scrap on ebay and not had any issues with fakes - it simply isn't worth the time to fake something like a 1942 half crown which is worth something like £3.50. I'd be a bit more wary about things like Victoria crowns in suspiciously good condition, but buying scrap coins generally is a good way to add silver to your stack at (or even below) spot price. That said, pre-1920 seems to carry a more of a premium at the moment, hence my focus on pre-47.