Buying Silver in the UK

[ReklessMember]

Hi Guys,

Long time reader, first time poster!

I am finally in a postion to stack some silver andbased on what i have been reading, hearing i want to do it soon!

Problem is I am based in the UK and therefore are subjected to 20% VAT rates, this coupled with the dealer fees makes me buying silver bullion at least £10  over spot per coin.

Anyone else UK based? How do you stack your silver?

Thanks

 

[silverbullionMember]

Have you tried the charity shops?

[ChiefMember]

@Rekless, I have experience of the UK, and I recommend you buy from The Guernsey Mint in Guernsey.  As you know, there is no VAT in the channel islands, so you don’t pay it. The Mint is a 5th generation family business and currently run by father and son (Bruce & Simon Russell), with a few helpers. They have all the coins and bars you would want. I sound like an advertisement for them, but I have bought quite a bit there, and I can tell you everything went very well and the service was great. I was totally new to it when I started and got all the help I needed. It’s definitely the best place for it in the UK. I also bought a few things from Bairds, London, and they are horrible to deal with and charge more. http://www.guernseymint.com. If you buy gold, Bruce comes to London every 2 weeks and will arrange to meet with you there (no VAT on gold so that is easy for him), but with silver, because VAT is chargeable on entry to UK, you must collect it, or receive it by post with the possibility that customs may realise and charge you the VAT (sometimes yes and sometimes no, in my experience, for small packages). With big amounts, you would need to go and get it.  For transport of small amounts, the plane is fast, but for larger amounts, go by car on the boat from Weymouth (Condor Ferries – cheap and good). If you want to know my experiences of the transport, pls send me a message on this site with your email and I will tell you how that works aswell. Glad to be of help. Good luck.

[ChiefMember]

Also, old British silver coins on ebay (92.5% and 50%). I also bought some sterling silver spoons there too – can be used for barter without much attention, as I could have inherited them from my Grandma, and not prepared at all (coins send a different message entirely)

[ReklessMember]

Great, thanks for your replies.

Was aware of Guernesy mint but obviously once i get in to the UK i have to pay the VAT.

@Silver bullion  – How can i tell if things in charity shops are proper silver or if they are plated?

[Marchas45Member]

I have a couple of rolls of Silver Thruppennies what do they go for over there?

@Rekiess always take a magnet with you, also listen to the sound when you drop one on the counter. Most silver will be marked Sterling Silver or plated.

[ChiefMember]

@Marchas45 … if <1920, they are 92.5% and they sell for £1 or £1.50. If >1920 and <1946, they are 50% and sell for £1 or 75p. >1946, they are not silver. I think it’s 1946 when they stopped the silver. I am sure of the rest.

[RocketsRedGlareMember]

Can you use your computer and order it from another country and skip all the gov. theft? Couldn’t hurt to try right.

[JRMember]

try goldmoney.com  The key is not to bring it into the UK. Or if you do so, do it surreptitiously ie, not through x-ray machines.

[TawnyardMember]

For me, taking possession wasn’t as important as getting the most silver ounces for my money. Therefore, I used GoldMoney and BullionVault to bypass the UK’s VAT rules. I also believe that the dealer markup on silver bullion is ridiculous in the UK compared to the States, and I wanted to buy as close to the post price as possible. Having said that, any silver you can buy today is cheap as chips compared to how much it’s going to cost in the future.

Having done my best to spread the word, I have a number of friends in the UK who are physically stacking. Many regularly buy from Guernsey Mint. I’ve kept tabs on their success rate. About two thirds to three quarters of small shipments slip through. Small packages are best. No more than 10 coins per order, or a single kilo bar. Metalor are great, because their kilo bars are serialised and come with a little certificate.

In my opinion, small is better than big. If silver goes to £400 an ounce, imagine trying to sell a 32 ounce kilo bar. I’d recommend that you buy Britannias, if they are available, because they are legal tender in the UK and therefore - hopefully – will be still CGT free when you sell. If you plan to liquidate overseas, Maples and Eagles are the best bet. Yes, coins are ‘expensive’, but they keep their premium when you sell privately. If at any time you can’t find Britannias, just buy any silver you can get. It’s better than buying none.

I wish you luck.

[ChiefMember]

When I started a few years ago, I had some at home, some in storage at Network Securities in Guernsey, and some with goldmoney. Network Securities in Guernsey is a horrible organisation; the family that runs it (last name Goater) only cares about making money and they are unhelpful in the extreme. I changed my address after starting the storage contract, and it took them 6 months to change the address on the contract, despite all my calls, emails and letters. So I thought if this is what it’s like when all is normal, how will it be later? So I removed it all from there and have it with me now. It wasn’t just them, it was the fact that it was out of sight and in someone else’s control, and the change of address problems just brought that home to me. Goldmoney is as good as it gets for what they do, it runs just as it should, great customer service, and I trust James Turk and his son, Geoffrey, BUT, why would centralised power allow an outfit like that to continue to function, while currencies are out of action. The point is that they want chaos, and paralysis, so that a new system can be created. James Turk admits that this is his one weakness, that TPTB may not allow such autonomy during the chaos of currency collapses. It is easy to take goldmoney out of action, as it is a centralised system, but items at home are completely at your disposal. So, sadly (because I love goldmoney), I sold all I had there, and now have everything with me, and I feel alot better.

[RocketsRedGlareMember]

Peter Schif launched a new kind of bank, a Precious Metals Bank!  U.S.  citizens have been prevented from using it. However a U.K. citizen maybe able to!

[I save silverMember]

I have found the best place to buy in the uk is http://www.atkinsonsthejewellers.com still have the vat and dealers markup but prices are excellent. just bought 5 armenian noahs ark 1oz coins and even with postage it was £127 (this was on december 22 after the smack)

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