Buying Gold - for savings

Harry227

I can see from reading older threads on the topic of gold, that it causes a fair amount of divided opinion.  Nevertheless, I'm currently thinking about investing a relatively small amount (say £10k initially, to test the waters ) in gold, as an additional form of holding my 'savings' as opposed to seeing this as an 'investment' per se.  Practically, all of my current savings are in cash ISAs, and I'm looking to have some of those savings, a small percentage (10-15%), in something more tangible.  Gold might be one option.

Searching on line, I can see that in the UK there are a number of online sellers / buyers of gold, who deliver to home addresses, and I wonder if someone can help with any recommendations about the most trusted sites.  I'm aware of the Royal Mint, but there seems to be quite a premuim mark up for their gold coins - Britannias.

Importantly, regarding the buying process, are there any pitfalls a 'newbie' might helpfully be aware of?

The top online site I've found are these I've linked below, which look to be established sellers/buyers:

https://www.gold.co.uk/

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/

https://atkinsonsbullion.com/gold

lohr500

I've bought Britannias from Atkinsons and their service was excellent.At the time their price was the lowest.

Another option I have used is the Royal Mint DigiGold service. For a small quarterly maintenance fee, they hold the gold bought from them in their own vaults. So no worries on having £10k of gold sat at home or in a local safety deposit box. You can buy and sell quickly, I think it took a day or two to receive funds into my nominated a/c when I sold. Using this service also avoids the challenges and worry of shipping physical gold/coins back to a trader when you want to sell. 

https://www.royalmint.com/digital-investments/digigold/digi-gold?amount=25/

Albermarle

Another dealer often mentioned is Buy Gold & Silver Bullion Coins & Bars | UK Coins | Chards

Rather than hold physical gold, you can buy cheap investments that track the price of gold. However I guess that might not be tangible enough for you.

It is less hassle though. No need to worry about security or insurance.

wmb194

Harry227 said:

I can see from reading older threads on the topic of gold, that it causes a fair amount of divided opinion.  Nevertheless, I'm currently thinking about investing a relatively small amount (say £10k initially, to test the waters ) in gold, as an additional form of holding my 'savings' as opposed to seeing this as an 'investment' per se.  Practically, all of my current savings are in cash ISAs, and I'm looking to have some of those savings, a small percentage (10-15%), in something more tangible.  Gold might be one option.

Searching on line, I can see that in the UK there are a number of online sellers / buyers of gold, who deliver to home addresses, and I wonder if someone can help with any recommendations about the most trusted sites.  I'm aware of the Royal Mint, but there seems to be quite a premuim mark up for their gold coins - Britannias.

Importantly, regarding the buying process, are there any pitfalls a 'newbie' might helpfully be aware of?

The top online site I've found are these I've linked below, which look to be established sellers/buyers:

https://www.gold.co.uk/

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/

https://atkinsonsbullion.com/gold

10% to 15% is a lot. A, “small” percentage of a portfolio is usually considered to be <5%.

ColdIron

I'm not familiar with the first one but they look OK. The other two are fine and I usually mention these along side them

https://www.chards.co.uk
https://www.bairdmint.com
https://www.hattongardenmetals.com

You'll pay a small premium to buy and sell, perhaps <5% for single coins. I wouldn't be too fussed about condition or date (though it's always nice to get one from your year of birth). Circulated good/fair condition will be cheapest, you may pay more for better/older ones but are unlikely to get it back upon sale. Bullion is bullion

UK legal tender coins are exempt from CGT and VAT so best to start there, Sovereigns and Britannias

Most coins come in 1oz, 1/2, 1/4 or 1/10 sizes. Sovereigns are under 1/4 oz at 0.2354% of an ounce

Gold is measured in Troy ounces (31.104 grams) which is more than a cooking ounce (28.35 grams)

Modern coins are usually 24K or almost pure gold, older ones like sovereigns and krugerrands are 22k but they will contain the stated amount of gold though be a bit heavier/bigger to account for the base metal

I would avoid bars as they are free of VAT but not CGT and not as recognisable or acceptable as coins

Keep your receipts and find somewhere safe to store them, they are small and dense so use your imagination

Gold is a diversifier but manage your expectations regarding growth, it is at an all time high right now. You would be right when you say - 'as opposed to seeing this as an 'investment' per se'

Harry227

Thankyou everyone.  That's really helpful advice.

Bigwheels1111

My friend purchased just over 100k In Britannia coins, due to no CGT.
They work well for his needs, Great to use for buying properties in his country or origin.
Saves using brokers of sorts.
You can spend the coins all over to world.
The only issue he had was they dropped around 8k in value 3 weeks after he purchased them.
They have recovered since.
Also good for pensioners if a little over savings limits.
Savings go down, coins are near instant access to cash in any gold shop.

Blackout05

What about gold bars? I was going to buy a couple low value bars as an alernative to having cash as I was initially told it was a good idea, but earlier someone i know said 'DO NOT buy Gold at the moment', hes done alot of buying and selling in the past, wondering if hes right?!

masonic

Blackout05 said:

What about gold bars? I was going to buy a couple low value bars as an alernative to having cash as I was initially told it was a good idea, but earlier someone i know said 'DO NOT buy Gold at the moment', hes done alot of buying and selling in the past, wondering if hes right?!

Why would you want to buy bars and expose yourself to capital gains tax? Gold is looking rather overpriced at the moment, but that doesn't mean it is set to fall in the short term.

ColdIron

Blackout05 said:

What about gold bars? I was going to buy a couple low value bars as an alernative to having cash as I was initially told it was a good idea, but earlier someone i know said 'DO NOT buy Gold at the moment', hes done alot of buying and selling in the past, wondering if hes right?!

Bars are harder to sell (and you should be careful when buying), they also attract Capital Gains Tax

What do you see as the advantage over coins? There would have to be some to offset the disadvantages, right?

jimjames

If 100% of your money is in cash then I would have thought a good way to diversify would be some share based investments rather than gold.