Can we really by .999 silver at spot price?

[Shane1985]

Hey all, thanks for your help on the Assay process, I’m currently planning my apparatus setup to start melting and casting rounds which I will submit through the Assay process.

My question really is, is there a cheaper way to buy 999 silver for the purpose of melting and casting?

The reason for my ask is because I don’t think I could bring myself to buy Britannia’s for the purpose of melting. They just feel too precious the way they are.

Is it even possible to buy silver closer to spot price these days? 
 

Thanks all!!  

[billysilver]

You can buy .925 at spot price and if you refine it then you would be getting .999 at spot, you would have to factor the cost of refining into it but it's certainly possible to get .925 at spot. You will not get .999 silver at spot unless you have worked out some miraculous deal privately somehow. I'm not saying nobody is capable of working out a deal with an individual to get silver at spot because they are it's just not something that is going to be a definite or consistently reliable source. V.A.T means importing from Europe isn't a cost effective method either. Certainly wouldn't go melting Britannia's and pre 2013's are .958 but you could have a look into building a silver cell on youtube and find out if the refining route is of any interest to you. The silver cell method of refining is really cool. 😎

Anyway that's all that comes to mind for acquiring silver at around spot for melting and casting from my mind...

[Shane1985]

Thanks a lot buddy. I guess it would be a good idea for me to start with 925 that work my way up. I will certainly have a look at that way of refining. I have tons of space and am really keen to setup and get practicing

[billysilver]

No worries mate. If you wanna pour and cast and sell it you are gonna want to use .999 silver. Make sure you work out the costs involved in refining to see if getting .925 at spot and refining it into .999 fine is economically viable for you. 

Cheers @Shane1985

Best of luck mate ✌️

[KPW82]

43 minutes ago, Shane1985 said:

Thanks a lot buddy. I guess it would be a good idea for me to start with 925 that work my way up. I will certainly have a look at that way of refining. I have tons of space and am really keen to setup and get practicing

@HighlandTiger was selling loads of 925 silver (cutlery, bowls etc and some coins) at spot price the other day. Probably good for refining and melting down? (I have never done it before so could be wrong) 

[dwreck]

Maybe look into .999 silver shot. It has very low premium and i would think to be perfect for casting. I am from the US though so i don't know your situation in obtaining it.

[HighlandTiger]

11 hours ago, KPW82 said:

@HighlandTiger was selling loads of 925 silver (cutlery, bowls etc and some coins) at spot price the other day. Probably good for refining and melting down? (I have never done it before so could be wrong) 

The last of my silver has just been put up on the sales thread. 

[billysilver]

3 hours ago, dwreck said:

Maybe look into .999 silver shot. It has very low premium and i would think to be perfect for casting. I am from the US though so i don't know your situation in obtaining it.

U.S and U.K stacking is very different because of the premiums and taxes we pay. 1kg of silver shot has 20% tax applied to it, like all silver sold and the premium is already high on all silver. Buying silver shot in the U.K will not get you anywhere near spot, far from it. £871 total for 1kg silver casting grain. 87p per gram. Nowhere near spoy which is 64p per gram at the time of writing. Even with the high premiums now, you guys across the pond have it so much better and since leaving the E.U access to cheap silver for us is non-existent.

[Pete]

I had initially thought that maybe you should register your embryonic 'business' for VAT to be able to buy silver VAT free.
When I did the back of the envelope calculations it transpired that this was not such a good idea as shown -

Unregistered for VAT           Registered for VAT
Raw silver £20
VAT paid   £4
Other costs £2
Total cost £26                     Total cost £26
Selling price £39                 Selling price £32.50
Profit £13                             plus VAT £6.50 to keep the price to your customers at £39
                                             VAT difference due to HMRC £6.50 minus £4 = £2.50
                                             Cost £26 + £2.50 = £28.50 so profit generated £39 minus £28.50 = £10.50

This VAT registered calculation can also be done another way - 
Total cost VAT deducted £22
Sales price VAT free £ 32.50
Profit £10.50

I guess being VAT registered you can claim VAT on your other costs but it was interesting to see that if trying to sell an item at a set price, unless "other costs" are a significant component, then remaining outside the VAT scope and paying the 20% on your raw silver is financially better.

If I have made some incorrect assumptions or my maths is erroneous then please comment.

[Kraittos]

Yes it is and even under spot, I buy French coins 0,9 silver in some Facebook groups and people sell that coins under spot .

[Robda1986]

Look for the larger bars if you budget will allow I've seen some 5k bars going reasonably cheap per oz due to their size it puts some people off given the struggle you'll have cutting melting them into a manageable size