Gold and Silver advice

NotRichAtAll

First off i am not super rich and don't have loads of cash to throw away. Recently i have thinking seriously about buying some gold and silver coins and bars little bits from time to time all done legally from places like bullion by post.

I quite fancy buying some silver coins first the likes of 1oz american eagles and chinese pandas etc in link below
https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/silver-coins/

I was then going to branch out into gold bars again starting small 1-2 grams upto half ounce.

having never done this before and not really clued up on the whole gold/silver markets i was wondering if anyone on here has purchased coins and bars, do you think it would be very risky or a safe investment for the future (more my sons future than mine)

thanks

masonic

Any reason for deciding on gold/silver and not the myriad of other things you could invest in?

jimjames

You want advice?

If you're not super rich then it's a crazy idea. Far better, easier things to invest in.

SailorSam

Check carefully which coins you're buying. I think (but not sure) that British coins are VAT free,

Gadfium

I thought that you paid VAT on all silver purchases, including coins. So you are 20% down as soon as you buy them.

I know nothing about bullion, but buying at £24.54 and selling at £6.51 doesn't look like the best investment ever....

puk999

How much have you put away so far in ISAs, pensions, and high interest current accounts? Precious metals are very speculative so best to avoid or use them only for a bit of fun with a very small percentage of your portfolio.

Gold and silver don't provide an income.

NotRichAtAll wrote: »

I was then going to branch out into gold bars again starting small 1-2 grams upto half ounce.

If you do buy gold bars, I'd steer clear of the low weight "bars". The price per gram is very expensive. Buy quarter ounce as minimum, preferably half ounce or an ounce. I prefer* coins myself and quite like the Perth Mint Kangaroo coins. I figure they are harder to counterfeit than bars because they're more intricate and the designs change annually. The kangaroos seem to be lower in price compared to the lunar and other series.

* I should probably say preferred coins over bars because I haven't purchased PMs for ages and have no plans to. Accessing the stock market via funds is much better. Use tax shelters like ISAs and SIPPs to avoid taxes. Great liquidity. Dividends. Ease of trade. Small/zero spread. No P+P. No storage issues. Etc.

NotRichAtAll

Gadfium wrote: »

I thought that you paid VAT on all silver purchases, including coins. So you are 20% down as soon as you buy them.

I know nothing about bullion, but buying at £24.54 and selling at £6.51 doesn't look like the best investment ever....

Your right, thanks for linking me that

markj113

If you are buying silver get it VAT free from silver-to-go, same company as coininvestdirect so well known and trusted -

https://www.silver-to-go.com/en/

If you are buying gold I use these companies which are pretty much the cheapest -

http://www.hattongardenmetals.com/buy/cid0/all-stock
http://www.goldline.co.uk/goldsavers.page
http://www.atkinsonsbullion.com/

If you dont have a lot of cash to splash out in one go look to buy sovereigns and 1/2 sovereigns. They have a low premium, very liquid, VAT free, CGT free and internationally recognised.

atush

jimjames wrote: »

You want advice?

If you're not super rich then it's a crazy idea. Far better, easier things to invest in.

I agree, you need a good global tracker instead.

but given I own both gold and silver, I will give you my advice. Buy gold when it is low (and it isn't very low yet). I bought mine when the price was in the $600s. And I sold half once it went over 1400. The way to make money on a non interest bearing asset is to buy when no one else wants it, and sell when everyone does.

For silver, I have never bought as an investment (but did buy a few coins at auction as a graduation present for my boys as a sentimental thing). I bought silver that could be used. Mainly at auction for its melt price, I bought silver spoons, cutlery and other things you can actually use if not daily on special occasions. And unlike their modern silver or steel counterparts, they hold their value (as long as the underlying metal cost does so only buy them when it is low).

puk999

markj113 wrote: »

If you are buying silver get it VAT free from silver-to-go, same company as coininvestdirect so well known and trusted -

https://www.silver-to-go.com/en/

I'd seen that Silver-To-Go company advertised on CoinInvest but couldn't see how they could deliver to the UK without the silver attracting UK VAT. Have you used them? If you import the silver from another member state, doesn't the VAT in UK apply?

markj113

puk999 wrote: »

I'd seen that Silver-To-Go company advertised on CoinInvest but couldn't see how they could deliver to the UK without the silver attracting UK VAT. Have you used them? If you import the silver from another member state, doesn't the VAT in UK apply?

No VAT to pay when delivered to the UK, all legal and above board.

Taken from the F.A.Q page -

"
Do I have to pay VAT when the goods are delivered?Our company EPM Trading GmbH guarantees the correct clearance (taxation) of the coins when they are purchased or acquired.
If your residence or delivery address is within the European Union, you receive fully taxed goods.
The goods are delivered to your doorstep, so you don't have to pay any taxes. The price that we display on our website, is the final purchase price. Only the shipping costs are added to it. Due to the German tax legislation, no tax (VAT) is indicated on your invoice (cf.. § 25a UStG).
We've even set up a UK based bank account for UK customers."
https://www.silver-to-go.com/en/faq/