Best way to buy Gold bars or coins?

tradetime

cloud_dog wrote: »

TT, wasn't sure whether to post this under this or your ETF thread....

Do you know if there is an ETF similar to GDX but tracking junior minors???

Thanks

Haven't seen one of those either, but will keep a look out, Marc Faber had mentioned some of the juniors a little while back as being interesting, a single one he mentioned was Ivanhoe which trades on the TSX. I personally would be a little wary of the juniors as they are less well capitalized, have less proven resources and I don't know what the failure rate of these would be. ETF's live and die by volume, I suspect the area may be a little too specialized for an ETF provider to set up shop, but then who knows, where there's interest there's money, I shall keep a look out.

cloud_dog

tradetime wrote: »

Haven't seen one of those either, but will keep a look out, Marc Faber had mentioned some of the juniors a little while back as being interesting, a single one he mentioned was Ivanhoe which trades on the TSX. I personally would be a little wary of the juniors as they are less well capitalized, have less proven resources and I don't know what the failure rate of these would be. ETF's live and die by volume, I suspect the area may be a little too specialized for an ETF provider to set up shop, but then who knows, where there's interest there's money, I shall keep a look out.

TT thanks for your response.

My thoughts on the PM miners (not minors as per my previous post - oops) is that I think there is opportunities for aquisitions from the majors (so as to continually replinish their reserves).

Yoshua

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

Vat would be only be there for new sales so yea your right. But buying silver on ebay seems iffy, make sure you get a good seller

What are the best VAT free alternatives to ebay?

I am after 1000 troy oz bars. Is there any other place to buy 2nd hand silver bullion apart from ebay?

What are the ways to check authenticity, apart from the sound test and magnet and of course weight?

DiggerUK

Yoshua,

Do you realise that 1000 oz bars are 6 kilos heavier than a sack of potatoes. :question:

I reckon the vat will be cheaper than the shipping costs.

Yoshua

DiggerUK wrote: »

Yoshua,

Do you realise that 1000 oz bars are 6 kilos heavier than a sack of potatoes. :question:

I reckon the vat will be cheaper than the shipping costs.

Yes they are just over 30KG but delivery costs are not that much when you are paying over 10 grand for something. I would go and pick it up myself. Then I could do all the tests, myself.

The problem is with a big bar like that the magnet test may not work if they hid some other metal right in the middle.

Can someone point me in the right direction to any information about more tests to check its genuine silver?

tradetime

Yoshua wrote: »

Yes they are just over 30KG but delivery costs are not that much when you are paying over 10 grand for something. I would go and pick it up myself. Then I could do all the tests, myself.

The problem is with a big bar like that the magnet test may not work if they hid some other metal right in the middle.

Can someone point me in the right direction to any information about more tests to check its genuine silver?

http://www.quicktest.co.uk/goldtesting.htm
Personally I'd say you are taking a risk buying from anyone other than a reputable dealer

Nylontokyo

You could buy 2nd hand off ebay, but only every now and then you get good prices. Most sellers are trying to get way over spot price.

The best option I have lately is this company in Guernsey.

http://www.guernseymint.com/category/Bullion-Bars.aspx

You can pop over by boat and buy as much as you like


Really though you should be paying VAT if you bring it to the UK, or local tax law which ever country you bring it to

As they say here in terms and conditions

5. Import of goods into your country may be restricted or subject to local taxation and it is your responsibility to ensure that your order can be legally received.

6. The Guernsey Mint Bullion Company Limited accepts no responsibility for your orders import specifics that are governed by your own geographical location. If you are unsure, please contact your local customs and excise office.

sabretoothtigger

You can get a physical silver holding via an etf. The reason for holding gold coins is they are tax free currency, so a 500% price rise while unlikely would be profitable but if silver is liable to CGT what is the advantage over an actual phyisical holding on your behalf.

If the counterparty or marketmaker goes bust you still own the asset afaik.
They arent using treasury bonds or future contracts so barring a marxist revolution its all good

http://seekingalpha.com/article/89209-comparing-etf-costs-and-counterparty-risk


Ive even read with some that you can cash in the holding not in a currency but demand the silver or gold held, its costs delivery and insurance but nice as an option

RDB

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

You can get a physical silver holding via an etf. The reason for holding gold coins is they are tax free currency, so a 500% price rise while unlikely would be profitable but if silver is liable to CGT what is the advantage over an actual phyisical holding on your behalf.

If the counterparty or marketmaker goes bust you still own the asset afaik.
They arent using treasury bonds or future contracts so barring a marxist revolution its all good

http://seekingalpha.com/article/89209-comparing-etf-costs-and-counterparty-risk


Ive even read with some that you can cash in the holding not in a currency but demand the silver or gold held, its costs delivery and insurance but nice as an option

The advantage is selling privately 2nd hand you dont have to pay CGT or VAT or anything if you keep it quiet.

There is risk either way, holding paper or physical.

If you hold physical you have the risk of losing it somehow, you could be tortured or your family threatened so you tell where its buried etc....

But with paper silver investment (anything other than holding the physical is paper investment, ETF`s allocated or unallocated certificates) you always have the risk of is whoever made the paper promise reliable.

If things go Mad Max I would prefer physical buried in several safe locations myself.

The interesting thing about Gold and Silver is that it gets dug out of the ground by someone and then bought and buried again.

novazombie

Do you think this would be a good buy for 10K?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JOHNSON-MATTHEY-Silver-Bullion-1000-oz-Bar_W0QQitemZ260416446732QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCoins_Bullion?hash=item3ca207a10c&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Its harder to sell the big bars, the small ones cost more but you can just sell them easier.