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A Short Guide To Buying Coins


id5

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Chards - United Kingdom 2009 QE2 Decimal Sovereign £185.00 (when buying 10)

 

Anyone used Chards before? Price seems OK, how is the service?

 

Their service is good although they are not the quickest to deliver but they are one of the most respected long term dealers out there.

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Gold coin shortage as demand soars

By Javier Blas in New York

 

Published: February 25 2009 19:37 | Last updated: February 25 2009 19:37

 

The rush by retail investors into bullion coins is creating shortages as mints across the world struggle to meet the surge in demand, dealers and mint officials say.

 

The scarcity is lifting coin premiums to as much as 5 per cent above the spot gold price, a level reached briefly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September, when coin shortages also surfaced.

 

Spot gold in London on Wednesday traded at $972 an ounce, below last week’s peak of $1,004.5.

 

“There is demand for double or triple what the US mint is able to produce,” said Michael Kramer, president of MTB in New York, one of the four US gold dealers authorised to purchase bullion coins directly from the government’s mint.

 

The US Mint has sold 193,500 ounces of its popular American Eagle gold coin in the first seven weeks of this year, the same amount it shipped during the whole of 2007 and about the same as in the first six months of last year.

 

“The demand is extraordinary. All the coins we got on Monday are gone today [Tuesday] and we will not be able to take any order until the following week,” Mr Kramer said. “It is the same with other mints.”

 

Bullion coins used to be bought mainly by collectors and gold bugs, but the financial crisis is leading regular retail investors to embrace them, dealers say.

 

Although the surge in coin demand is a bullish signal for gold prices, the fact that mints cannot match demand means that the potential extra consumption does not push spot prices higher, but just drives premiums above normal levels.

 

The Rand Refinery in Johannesburg, which mints the world’s most popular gold coin, South Africa’s Krugerrand, said demand was above its maximum capacity, even after doubling last month to 20,000 ounces from 10,000 ounces a week.

 

Johan Botha, head of precious metals sales at the Rand Refinery, said there was demand for more from international investors, pointing to strong sales to Switzerland, the UK and Germany. “If we were able to produce 30,000 ounces,the market would absorb it,” he said.

 

Mr Kramer said MTB had Krugerrand orders equal to three months of refinery supplies to the company.

 

The New Zealand Mint said it was doing as much business in a day as in a month a year ago, mostly servicing global investors.

 

Michael O’Kane, head of gold sales at the New Zealand Mint, said: “Most mints and bullion manufacturers are struggling to meet current demand levels.”

 

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Chards - United Kingdom 2009 QE2 Decimal Sovereign £185.00 (when buying 10)

 

Anyone used Chards before? Price seems OK, how is the service?

 

Ditto ID5's comment and they don't mind personal callers. Friendly and helpful office staff, providing you are not a total ignoramus as to what you require.

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  • 2 months later...

The answer to my question may already be in this thread, but to save me trawling through, could anybody tell me...

 

Are collectable gold proof coins with a face value; i.e 50p, £1, £2, £5 exempt from Capital Gains Tax like Sovereigns and Britannias?

 

 

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The answer to my question may already be in this thread, but to save me trawling through, could anybody tell me...

 

Are collectable gold proof coins with a face value; i.e 50p, £1, £2, £5 exempt from Capital Gains Tax like Sovereigns and Britannias?

 

Yes

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  • 1 year later...

Was interested to read this and thought i'd pin it here.

 

Do UK Coin Dealers REALLY purchase direct from Mints ?

 

 

 

You often see it advertised on Coin Dealer web pages and in adverts that stock is purchased direct from Mints both here in the UK and abroad - but HOW TRUE is this claim.

 

Well as an established UK Coin Dealer with a MAJOR BUYING POWER, we shall tell you the truth.

 

There are VERY FEW UK Coin Dealers that have DIRECT purchasing contracts with the Mints from around the globe. As a MAJOR UK Coin Dealer we hold an account with ONE ONLY - the UK Royal Mint. We have tried to set up accounts with others, but unless you can spend in the millions, most do not want to even enter discussions. In fact some of the Mints DO NOT WANT too sell direct to UK dealers.

 

 

THE ROYAL MINT

 

It is relatively easy as a UK company to set up an account with the UK Royal Mint and purchase direct from them. We ourselves have in the past purchased direct from them, and will possibly do so in the future. HOWEVER, we often find it more advantageous to purchase through a major distributor RATHER than direct from the Mint, because the way the trade discount is worked, the bigger the volume you can buy the better a discount you get. Therefore we often work with big distributors who can buy in bigger volumes that we can, and they in turn can give us the right prices.

 

THE ROYAL CANADIAN MINT

 

With the exception of Westminster (and you know how expensive they are ?) we do not know of a single UK dealer that has a direct contract to purchase from them. We are not even sure if Westminster buy direct from the Royal Canadian Mint. IN FACT we do know from personal discussion with the Royal Canadian Mint at trade fairs, that THEY DO NOT wish to encourage direct links in the UK

 

THE US MINT

 

Again, we do not know of a single UK dealer that buys direct from the US Mint. We have heard rumours that unless you can 'talk' in figures of £1M they do not even want to talk with you.

 

THE PERTH MINT - Australia

 

To our knowledge, at the time of producing this article, we know of only ONE UK Dealer that has a direct contract with the Perth Mint

 

THE AUSTRIAN MINT

 

Again we only know of ONE UK dealer that directly purchases from the Austrian Mint, and they happen to be the same dealer as above !

 

THE MEXICO MINT

 

We are not aware of any UK dealer having a direct purchasing account with the Mexico Mint.

 

 

We do know of a bullion dealer WORKING in the UK that DOES have major contracts with a number of the above Mints, but although working in the UK they are a European company - you can probably guess who they are !

 

SO - next time you see a company advertising that they buy direct from a Mint, so are able to offer you great prices, ask yourself - IS THAT REALLY TRUE ? Our opinion is that the claim is UNLIKELY to be the case !

 

If we are not purchasing direct from Mints with our buying power and over six years of trading accounts, there must be a good reason !!

 

DISCLAIMER: This article has been produced by our Director at Weighton Coin Wonders, and is based on his personal knowledge and experience. It does not necessarily reflect ACTUAL situations or circumstances, but is based on supposition from information collected over a period of time.

 

http://www.weightoncoin.co.uk/Dealers%20and%20Mints.htm

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  • 6 months later...

Been quiet for a while here, so I hope somebody (esp id5) is listening.

 

I was considering proof sets and wondered whether (and how easy it is) sellers would be willing to pop them from their protective plastic enclosures for the purposes of weighing, or would numismatists take a dim view of such a request (and demur)?

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  • 1 month later...

 

Look at pre 1947 50% silver and pre 1920 90% silver uk coinage. Sixpences, florins, shillings etc

 

These can be bought from ebay and I think Chards might sell them. You wont find them at spot tho, but saying that insurance always costs something :)

 

Guarenteed silver content

 

Here is a guide I have written on the silver content of British coins. You may find it useful when purchasing them:

 

http://www.silverpriceuk.com/2010/12/silve...tish-coins.html

 

An old English crown has 0.85 oz of pure silver content. I find them great to stack and you can find them close to spot if you dig deep.

 

 

 

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