Do you own physical gold as an investment?

FirstTimeSolo

India has not banned crypto. They are discussing it... have been for months now. This news first came out over 2 months ago. 

davelewis

I own an ounce of gold. I bought it for my 40th birthday from 'Bullion by post'. I love it! I don't consider it an investment but something I just 'wanted'. I paid around £860 for it and I'm now aged 46!

musehead

I bought some gold sovereigns and a Britannia a few years ago - I used an eBay promotion to get them at spot rate (think it was a x10 nectar points promotion). I don't see them as an investment, it's just a curiosity really.

Thrugelmir

FirstTimeSolo said:

India has not banned crypto. They are discussing it... have been for months now. This news first came out over 2 months ago. 

Seems to be far more advanced now than just a discussion. 

David713

Eyeful said:

So on top of the cost of buying the gold you will need to get insurance as well. Are you going to buy a safe? Or is it going to be a few coins? Will your household insurance cover any loss? Remember buying by post, you are going to supply your name and address. How secure is your house? 

I've a reasonable collection of Sovereigns stored in my house and to be honest, I've not bothered with insurance.
They are stored hidden away somewhere in my property and I doubt if a team of burglars would find them even if they had all day to search.
I bought these in a face to face transaction from a bullion dealer in London and although I was required to show ID and proof of my address, I no longer live at that address.

Would I advise others to do the same.
No, definitely not. It's fine for me and I'm willing to take the risks involved but anyone else considering doing it has to weigh up the pros and cons of keeping the gold themselves or paying for it to be stored somewhere more secure.

sheslookinhot

A few years ago my son gave me a 100gram bar in lieu of £3000. I see a pre owned bar on Bullion by post is available at £4,200.

pbartlett

when civilisation collapses and i am wandering the ruins, my krugerrand might buy me a nice can of soup. your etf note, on the other hand, will mean you will be reduced to eating caterpillars.....

aaj123

Thrugelmir said:

India it seems will be the first country to legally ban ownership of cryptocurrency. More to follow? 

It will be the test case that will set an example for others of why such a ban is useless and counterproductive. All it will do is open up ability of the influential to launder and evade taxes while the govt there will be completely clueless one how to track these illegal flows without having any KYC information from local exchanges. This is why a thinking government will not ban Bitcoin. 

Nebulous2

I was offered some money by a relative in my teens, and asked for a krugerrand instead. It cost £70 at the time. Worth about £1300 now. The £70 would be about £455 today adjusted for inflation. I doubt if I’ll ever sell however. 

masonic

aaj123 said:

Thrugelmir said:

India it seems will be the first country to legally ban ownership of cryptocurrency. More to follow? 

It will be the test case that will set an example for others of why such a ban is useless and counterproductive. All it will do is open up ability of the influential to launder and evade taxes while the govt there will be completely clueless one how to track these illegal flows without having any KYC information from local exchanges. This is why a thinking government will not ban Bitcoin. 

It's an environmental crime, which can't be allowed to continue unchecked. You could argue the war on drugs has been futile, yet governments around the world have persisted in that for decades.