Buying silver

slopemaster

It will be our silver wedding anniversary later this year, and I was thinking a silver ingot or some coins would be a nice gift / investment.
Most of our money's in property so this would be a fun bit of diversification. If it went up dramatically in value that would be good, but if it fell dramatically we could stand the loss.

I've only just started looking around, and find it very confusing.

The likes of Bullionvault sell silver bullion for £380/kg, but you don't physically get it, and have to pay them $8/month to store (and insure) it.

Chard sell silver bars/coins for around £498/kg, and this is physically sent to you.
I'm not clear whether this large price difference is purely to do with physically having the metal or what? Can anyone explain?

VAT has to be added in the UK/EU, and obviously this would be the case if it was sent from outside. But what if, as in the case of Bullionvault, it is physically stored outside the EU? What happens when you come to sell?
Or is the best thing to buy silver coins which are UK legal tender, as apparently these are VAT and CGT exempt?
Also, I wondered about buying silver coins on holiday in Canada?

It's all making my head hurt, so any advice would be gratefully received.

Stevie_Palimo

I know if I was buying silver then I would at the least want it in my hands and not stored in a Company somewhere.


I did look into buying some gold a while ago and also had similar issues so gave up in the end as it was just to confusing to say the least.


There were lost of what seemed to be quite large UK Company's offering it for sale and prices did not alter a great deal from them, Spend a bit more time and do some research prior to buying from anyone.

somethingcorporate

Nice idea - I think if you are giving it as a gift (to your OH) then having it in your hand is far more preferable than numbers on an online portal.

shaun_from_Africa

The main reason for the difference in prices between BullionVault and Chard is down to VAT.

When buying silver bullion and taking possession of it you are charged 20% VAT but when you buy and the bullion is kept in storage, there is no VAT payable on the purchase.
If/when you take physical possession of it, you will then get charged VAT.

With regards to VAT/CGT on silver coins.
You are partly right. Provided that the silver coins are UK legal tender then they are capital gains exempt but not VAT exempted. It is only certain gold coins and bullion that are not liable for VAT (specifically called "investment gold").

slopemaster

Oh thanks shaun from Africa
for the explanation on VAT/CGT ; that's very helpful

ColdIron

If you are thinking of silver coins from Canada there are some extremely nice Hologram Canadian Maples

grey_gym_sock

i would forget about the investment aspect, and just treat it as something to commemorate your anniversary.

it could go up in value, but presumably you wouldn't want to sell it anyway, so that wouldn't really gain you anything.

also, if you look at it as half an investment, you might be tempted to over-spend on it. it's a very risky investment, at best. and shares are more obvious place to diversify away from property.

Drp8713

Does she like Pandas?

http://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/silver-coins/chinese-silver/2014-1oz-silver-chinese-panda/

Pitchshifter

How about 25 1oz Silver Britannia coins:
http://atkinsonsbullion.com/silver-coins/2014-uk-britannia-1oz

CGT free and fairly reasonable bought in this quantity.

planteria

i've bought a few kookaburras lately. they are an easy way of getting your hands on some physical silver.

Perelandra

In addition to the above comments-

If you buy physical bars the spread is far higher than for coins- there is effectively a high cost to check/confirm the bar is what you claim it to be. This is above and beyond the VAT impact. So not only would you pay more for a bar from Chard (VAT), you'd also get less back for it than you would through Bullion Vault if selling to a reputable buyer.

For example, check the spread on physical silver bars at Hatton Garden:

They will sell you a silver bar for £416 + VAT (£499)
They will buy a silver bar for £328

And they're one of the more reputable dealers. With coins, the spread is much tighter (harder to fake!), and doesn't have the VAT implications.


I think it's a nice idea, and think something physical would be much nicer than some electronic numbers.