Best way to buy Gold bars or coins?

bery_451

with banks all going bust what if bullionvault goes bust and run off with gold?

has anybody actually been to the vault in person and able to withdraw their gold?

if they dont allow this i think its a fraud and all cash and gold is electronic form instead.

jauntyangle

From bullionvault's FAQs

Cash & Gold - understanding the differences

While it is in a BullionVault client account at the bank your money - like all money held in bank accounts - is subjected to a risk of the bank's own insolvency - but not BullionVault's.

But BullionVault gold is yours outright, so there is no credit exposure either to Lloyds TSB, or to Via Mat, or to BullionVault. All three could fail, and all your gold would still be yours and would be returned to you in full by a liquidator. This is the essence of direct physical ownership of gold held through BullionVault's custody arrangement.

As for whether you could just turn up at the vault and collect your physical gold - I couldn't find anything on the site, but if you're serious you can 'phone them up and ask them. Please let us know what you find out!

jauntyangle

Oh wait - there is this from their T&Cs:

Your right of withdrawal

You have a right of withdrawal of your gold from BullionVault, but you acknowledge BullionVault is not designed primarily as a service for those who wish to take physical possession of bullion.

Your wish to withdraw bullion will be accommodated only in the form of whole numbers of appropriate bars of varying sizes and, of generally accepted bullion coins, to be selected at BullionVault's discretion.

The withdrawal fee for good delivery bars will be not more than 2.5% of value.

The withdrawal fee for other gold will be not more than 7.5% of value.

To make physical withdrawals you will be required to provide reliable forms of identification and may in addition be required to indemnify BullionVault against identity fraud through the purchase of appropriate insurance.

Your understand that you cannot claim withdrawal directly from ViaMat. Your right to withdrawal is to be effected through BullionVault who have the means and responsibility for identifying you reliably. Depending upon the quantity withdrawn you may be required to identify a local bank or equivalent institution to which your gold can be delivered.

Upon withdrawing bullion you accept that you may lose anonymity where these transactions are monitored by appropriate authorities.

Upon withdrawing bullion you accept that you may become liable to taxes which you would otherwise not become liable to, and you permit BullionVault to deduct those taxes appropriately.

bery_451

hi,

i want to buy silver coins. gold is too expensive for me and i believe its expensive for the lower to middle class. only the rich can afford the gold asset.

so it looks like silver for us. which reputable site sells the cheapest silver coins?

thanks,

bery_451

anyone can help?

agsnu

Silver is subject to VAT, so probably unwise. ATS Bullion sell it though.

Asheron

Buy 1oz gold maples from Ebay

jon3001

bery_451 wrote: »

i want to buy silver coins. gold is too expensive for me and i believe its expensive for the lower to middle class. only the rich can afford the gold asset.

so it looks like silver for us. which reputable site sells the cheapest silver coins?

As mentioned - the VAT on silver (and platinum, etc) is a big drawback compared to gold. I got my silver coins on trip to the USA (and managed to smuggle them back in ). Premiums over spot have been fairly high lately too.

I've not personally used them but CoinInvestDirect.com seem to have competitive prices (from a UK perspective).
http://www.coininvestdirect.com/main.php?a=10&id=160&country_id=225

If you want gold them maybe smaller coins like the sovereigns could be of interest?

shaun_from_Africa

If you don't feel too safe buying from overseas and doing a bank transfer, Chard are expecting a shipment of 2009 Sovereigns in the next couple of weeks. I had a quote from them on Friday, and they were going to be £168 (but no doubt this will change by the delivery date).
This works out at about £4 more per coin that coininvestdirect.com.

Chard did tel me that they can possibly get hold of older sovs which will be slightly cheaper, but they didn't know how long it would take, and they couldn't quote an exact price.

kinglouie_2

I have just been enquiring regarding this for a client of mine ... been advised to use an ETF due to lower costs, no need for insurance and transportation costs.

Supposedly, HSBC use PHAU (do a search on stockbroker account) for their clients with smaller amounts to invest/low trading levels.