Gold: cost effective way to drip feed into a monthly gold investment

dunstonh

EdGasketTheSecond said:

No investment has FSCS protection; only the broker/platform organisation. Halifax and AJ Bell have FSCS protection so if they go bust or run off with your cash you should get it back. If Glint goes bust, it's only the receivers that you might get anything back from.

UT/OEICs get £85k FSCS protection per fund house
Insured funds (life and pension) get 100% FSCS protection with no upper limit.
Financial adviser recommendations, even if using unregulated investments with no FSCS protection on the investment, get FCS protection to £85k (or FOS to £355,000 from April)

poto

Hi @diggeruk, thank you for your reply. I have just checked atk, they currently sell sovereigns at 390 and buy back at 317, a spread of  18%. Does it sound right? 
I think that the cheapest in that respect are Chards.

EdGasketTheSecond

Yeah that's what puts me off of coins; the spread and difficulty of actually selling them for cash in a situation where they have significantly increased in value. It's great to think you've got a few physical coins stashed away somewhere but lets say you think gold has spiked up and suddenly want to sell; how would you do it diggeruk or anyone else? I imagine as you or I are just a joe off the street then someone is going to have to verify the coins are genuine for a start?

Old_Lifer

I agree with EdGasketTheSecond.   When gold was on a high  and I tried to sell my Krugerands the bank I had bought them from didn't want to know.  They wouldn't buy them off me but they said they  would be happy to sell me more.   I remember walking around in my lunch- hour  with the  Krugerands in my pocket before I eventually managed to sell.them.  I suspected that nobody wanted to buy on a high when they expected the price to fall shortly afterwards.     Gold is very dense and heavy   and I remember being particularly struck at the time by how heavy were these gold  coins in my  pocket.

DiggerUK

poto said: thank you for your reply. I have just checked atk, they currently sell sovereigns at 390 and buy back at 317, a spread of  18%. Does it sound right? 

They are showing two half sovereigns at £365 (at the moment there are supply problems) and buying back at around £315. The scrap gold content of a sov is worth £325.

If you are buying at this moment the market is not to your advantage, normally the spreads are much narrower, between 5 and 5.5%. 

I have used Chards once, as a gold buyer of over 15 years experience I hope that gives you my honest opinion of them. 

Do you use eBay?, I never have but many people are happy with the prices they pay..._

Edit for you and EdGasket, selling is easypeasy. I sell to Atkinsons. On MSE, Hatton Garden Metals of Covent Garden has a loyal following..._

poto

Thank you @DiggerUK, I do appreciate your experience and value your feedback. Anyway, even at lower level (say 5%), the spread while dealing with coins will eat into your return considerably. I do like the idea of having physical gold  coins with me, but I guess I will have forgo that and buy ETFs (maybe 4 times per year to cut the dealing charge)  instead as more profitable and less stress to deal with it.

DiggerUK

@poto, I have never seen such activity amongst the gold dealers, it is unprecedented. The reason is of course due to the lockdown. The shops are shut, they have no staff on duty doing their normal trading.
They are also  businesses, high demand means high prices. But that isn't much use to them when they can't trade. Silly prices are being paid on eBay, way beyond the premiums you have found.

After looking at the evidence available,  given the quantities you are after and the state of affairs that exists, I suggest you hold tight for now. If you're happy for me to post back as and when let me know..._

EdGasketTheSecond

The other reason for shortages of physical gold is that the mines are mostly shut because of the virus so supplies are drying up.

Have you considered BullionVault for investing in gold? I believe they will also deliver gold if that is what you want.