Another new silver collector from the UK

[paulmerton]

Hi all,

I've been on here a couple of weeks and this is how the slippery slope started for me...

I've been collecting bank notes, coins and stamps for years just for personal pleasure. The niche themes I collect are merely things I like and I do not expect to get rich from this or even have any intention of selling anything, but I suppose some items in particular might be pretty rare.

I have no idea why exactly, but earlier this year I randomly thought it would be cool to just own a bar of gold! Something chunky and shiny to behold!

Anyway, after I found out how much a 1kg bar of gold actually costs (and how small it is!), I just as suddenly decided that maybe a 1kg silver bar might be more realistic

But then I put myself off the idea after seeing how the price of silver has varied over the past couple of years. Oh, if only I'd splashed out at the start of the pandemic instead of spending that first week worrying about potentially more important things, like where I was going to be able to get some bog roll from! But months later, I just couldn't bring myself to buy a hefty bar of silver knowing that it would end up being almost twice the price as it was a year earlier.

Okay, so that didn't last long and I decided to buy one anyway. But hmm, where should I go to buy a quality bar that is guaranteed to be genuine? My spidey senses guided me towards the Royal Mint website, which I often frequent but for some reason had never bought any bullion from there before.

Okay, this looks quite straightforward.... WAIT, WHAT? These prices don't include VAT? Laugh if you must, but this was the moment I discovered about VAT on silver but not gold (but somehow I was still not quite in a position to convince myself to buy a 1kg bar of gold, no matter how much I'd be "saving").

Then I discover the world of prices that change while you are literally looking at them. It does down a bit. It goes up a bit. It goes down a bit more and I decide to take the plunge. Oh my word, it feels like such an archaic system. I have to transfer money to a special pot on the website, and then hope there's still enough money in that pot to be able to buy the thing I want 30 seconds later? Madness! It seems like other bullion dealers have mastered the art of accepting payments by card, and some of them offer the same products for less. Oh well, I'm committed now, so I upload my money via a dusty debit card (which I literally only use when a credit card is not accepted).

Unsurprisingly, my online banking app suddenly requires me to approve the transaction by furnishing the cloud with some biometrics. It's actually the very first time I've ever had to do this (not including systems I've tested before), but it seemed like a pretty slick process and after approving the transaction I immediately get a text message from my bank to tell me that my card has been blocked and that I need to confirm who I am. WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ME APPROVING THE TRANSACTION?! I try to confirm who I am, but by this stage I'm starting to have doubts about that myself.

It only took a few minutes to sort out, but I had to make the payment again, by which time the price had gone up by a stonking fiver! Oh well, let's go for it.

Two days pass...

The bar arrives. It was impressive to hold but I fear that merely touching it has infected me with some kind of bug that makes me want to buy more shiny things made out of silver. Has anyone else experienced this? Should I seek help?

So that's how it all started. In the run up to buying that bar, I had of course discovered @BackyardBullion on YouTube (how is it possible for one human to make so many videos about silver) and that of course led me to this forum. I have since bought stuff from a few people on here and directly from other bullion dealers including Chards (only mentioning this because @LawrenceChard seems a bit of a legend and personally I think it's great to have people like that taking part in this sort of community).

I have to go now, the F1 highlights are about to start  

[daca]

Welcome aboard!

[LawrenceChard]

34 minutes ago, paulmerton said:

Hi all,

I've been on here a couple of weeks and this is how the slippery slope started for me...

I've been collecting bank notes, coins and stamps for years just for personal pleasure. The niche themes I collect are merely things I like and I do not expect to get rich from this or even have any intention of selling anything, but I suppose some items in particular might be pretty rare.

I have no idea why exactly, but earlier this year I randomly thought it would be cool to just own a bar of gold! Something chunky and shiny to behold!

Anyway, after I found out how much a 1kg bar of gold actually costs (and how small it is!), I just as suddenly decided that maybe a 1kg silver bar might be more realistic

But then I put myself off the idea after seeing how the price of silver has varied over the past couple of years. Oh, if only I'd splashed out at the start of the pandemic instead of spending that first week worrying about potentially more important things, like where I was going to be able to get some bog roll from! But months later, I just couldn't bring myself to buy a hefty bar of silver knowing that it would end up being almost twice the price as it was a year earlier.

Okay, so that didn't last long and I decided to buy one anyway. But hmm, where should I go to buy a quality bar that is guaranteed to be genuine? My spidey senses guided me towards the Royal Mint website, which I often frequent but for some reason had never bought any bullion from there before.

Okay, this looks quite straightforward.... WAIT, WHAT? These prices don't include VAT? Laugh if you must, but this was the moment I discovered about VAT on silver but not gold (but somehow I was still not quite in a position to convince myself to buy a 1kg bar of gold, no matter how much I'd be "saving").

Then I discover the world of prices that change while you are literally looking at them. It does down a bit. It goes up a bit. It goes down a bit more and I decide to take the plunge. Oh my word, it feels like such an archaic system. I have to transfer money to a special pot on the website, and then hope there's still enough money in that pot to be able to buy the thing I want 30 seconds later? Madness! It seems like other bullion dealers have mastered the art of accepting payments by card, and some of them offer the same products for less. Oh well, I'm committed now, so I upload my money via a dusty debit card (which I literally only use when a credit card is not accepted).

Unsurprisingly, my online banking app suddenly requires me to approve the transaction by furnishing the cloud with some biometrics. It's actually the very first time I've ever had to do this (not including systems I've tested before), but it seemed like a pretty slick process and after approving the transaction I immediately get a text message from my bank to tell me that my card has been blocked and that I need to confirm who I am. WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ME APPROVING THE TRANSACTION?! I try to confirm who I am, but by this stage I'm starting to have doubts about that myself.

It only took a few minutes to sort out, but I had to make the payment again, by which time the price had gone up by a stonking fiver! Oh well, let's go for it.

Two days pass...

The bar arrives. It was impressive to hold but I fear that merely touching it has infected me with some kind of bug that makes me want to buy more shiny things made out of silver. Has anyone else experienced this? Should I seek help?

So that's how it all started. In the run up to buying that bar, I had of course discovered @BackyardBullion on YouTube (how is it possible for one human to make so many videos about silver) and that of course led me to this forum. I have since bought stuff from a few people on here and directly from other bullion dealers including Chards (only mentioning this because @LawrenceChard seems a bit of a legend and personally I think it's great to have people like that taking part in this sort of community).

I have to go now, the F1 highlights are about to start  

Question for you: Are you the Paul Merton? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Merton

If so, then welcome.

If not, then welcome anyway.

Is is widely believed that @BackyardBullion is one of identical twins, triplets, or that he has a hand double, possibly also a voice double. There is a further rumour that nobody have ever seen his face, and that he wears a Lone Ranger mask if and when he ever ventures out.

I hope you didn't get over-excited watching the F1 highlights. It was one of the least exciting GP races since the 2005 United States Grand Prix, famous for the tyre controversy. Spa 2021 was like watching paint track dry.

After your "legend" comment, I may change my avatar again, this time to a few of my toes. 🙂

 

[paulmerton]

2 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

Question for you: Are you the Paul Merton? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Merton

If so, then welcome.

If not, then welcome anyway.

Is is widely believed that @BackyardBullion is one of identical twins, triplets, or that he has a hand double, possibly also a voice double. There is a further rumour that nobody have ever seen his face, and that he wears a Lone Ranger mask if and when he ever ventures out.

I hope you didn't get over-excited watching the F1 highlights. It was one of the least exciting GP races since the 2005 United States Grand Prix, famous for the tyre controversy. Spa 2021 was like watching paint track dry.

After your "legend" comment, I may change my avatar again, this time to a few of my toes. 🙂

 

I had a feeling the race was going to be a damp squib as soon as I noticed the highlights show had been moved to much later than normal and shortened to an hour in length - and even then, the race had still "finished" within the first 15 minutes of the programme! With all the rain, I was secretly hoping for something as exciting as Spa 98, but it was not to be.

I am not the real Paul Merton, but yet I still found it strangely humbling to see everyone on here proudly talking about their PM collections. (That's what it means, right?)

PM.

[LawrenceChard]

39 minutes ago, paulmerton said:

I had a feeling the race was going to be a damp squib as soon as I noticed the highlights show had been moved to much later than normal and shortened to an hour in length - and even then, the race had still "finished" within the first 15 minutes of the programme! With all the rain, I was secretly hoping for something as exciting as Spa 98, but it was not to be.

I am not the real Paul Merton, but yet I still found it strangely humbling to see everyone on here proudly talking about their PM collections. (That's what it means, right?)

PM.

What else? 🙂

[trp]

Hello and welcome to the forum!  

[Arganto]

Best introduction post I've read in a long time for any forum 😁

Welcome to TSF

[Gordy]

2 hours ago, paulmerton said:

I had a feeling the race was going to be a damp squib as soon as I noticed the highlights show had been moved to much later than normal and shortened to an hour in length - and even then, the race had still "finished" within the first 15 minutes of the programme! With all the rain, I was secretly hoping for something as exciting as Spa 98, but it was not to be.

I am not the real Paul Merton, but yet I still found it strangely humbling to see everyone on here proudly talking about their PM collections. (That's what it means, right?)

PM.

You could have went overboard and called yourself Pirate Micky or even more ridiculous Piers Morgan!!!

[CadmiumGreen]

Welcome aboard The Silver Forum!

[GoldGodfrey]

Welcome to the Silver Forum!

[Jvw]

On 29/08/2021 at 21:00, paulmerton said:

Hi all,

I've been on here a couple of weeks and this is how the slippery slope started for me...

I've been collecting bank notes, coins and stamps for years just for personal pleasure. The niche themes I collect are merely things I like and I do not expect to get rich from this or even have any intention of selling anything, but I suppose some items in particular might be pretty rare.

I have no idea why exactly, but earlier this year I randomly thought it would be cool to just own a bar of gold! Something chunky and shiny to behold!

Anyway, after I found out how much a 1kg bar of gold actually costs (and how small it is!), I just as suddenly decided that maybe a 1kg silver bar might be more realistic

But then I put myself off the idea after seeing how the price of silver has varied over the past couple of years. Oh, if only I'd splashed out at the start of the pandemic instead of spending that first week worrying about potentially more important things, like where I was going to be able to get some bog roll from! But months later, I just couldn't bring myself to buy a hefty bar of silver knowing that it would end up being almost twice the price as it was a year earlier.

Okay, so that didn't last long and I decided to buy one anyway. But hmm, where should I go to buy a quality bar that is guaranteed to be genuine? My spidey senses guided me towards the Royal Mint website, which I often frequent but for some reason had never bought any bullion from there before.

Okay, this looks quite straightforward.... WAIT, WHAT? These prices don't include VAT? Laugh if you must, but this was the moment I discovered about VAT on silver but not gold (but somehow I was still not quite in a position to convince myself to buy a 1kg bar of gold, no matter how much I'd be "saving").

Then I discover the world of prices that change while you are literally looking at them. It does down a bit. It goes up a bit. It goes down a bit more and I decide to take the plunge. Oh my word, it feels like such an archaic system. I have to transfer money to a special pot on the website, and then hope there's still enough money in that pot to be able to buy the thing I want 30 seconds later? Madness! It seems like other bullion dealers have mastered the art of accepting payments by card, and some of them offer the same products for less. Oh well, I'm committed now, so I upload my money via a dusty debit card (which I literally only use when a credit card is not accepted).

Unsurprisingly, my online banking app suddenly requires me to approve the transaction by furnishing the cloud with some biometrics. It's actually the very first time I've ever had to do this (not including systems I've tested before), but it seemed like a pretty slick process and after approving the transaction I immediately get a text message from my bank to tell me that my card has been blocked and that I need to confirm who I am. WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ME APPROVING THE TRANSACTION?! I try to confirm who I am, but by this stage I'm starting to have doubts about that myself.

It only took a few minutes to sort out, but I had to make the payment again, by which time the price had gone up by a stonking fiver! Oh well, let's go for it.

Two days pass...

The bar arrives. It was impressive to hold but I fear that merely touching it has infected me with some kind of bug that makes me want to buy more shiny things made out of silver. Has anyone else experienced this? Should I seek help?

So that's how it all started. In the run up to buying that bar, I had of course discovered @BackyardBullion on YouTube (how is it possible for one human to make so many videos about silver) and that of course led me to this forum. I have since bought stuff from a few people on here and directly from other bullion dealers including Chards (only mentioning this because @LawrenceChard seems a bit of a legend and personally I think it's great to have people like that taking part in this sort of community).

I have to go now, the F1 highlights are about to start  

It looks like you will fit right in!

Welcome to the forum!