Investing in silver

[DevilPigeon]

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Hi all

Does anyone have any hints/tips/recommendations/dealers etc for investing in silver, from a UK perspective if possible?

It will be a modest amount at most, I'm not the best when it comes to money :) I'm thinking a couple of hundred £ tops. I'm not looking for super-shiney collector-edition coins with an uplifted price tag, ideally I'd like a larger number of coins rather than a single ingot for example... Obviously the closer I can get to the spot-price the better (but taking account of a reasonable dealer margin, plus the 20% VAT that also needs to be applied)

Any help would be appreciated!

[Czarek]

You are right about getting a large number of coins rather than a single bar. As Pete Peterson said, if you want to buy one loaf of bread from him, he'll take one coin or one bar of silver or gold, does not matter to him. As far as the price goes, unless you are buying hundreds of thousands worth, whether it's $20,30,40 should not make a difference so don't get hung up on the price. If you plan on keeping it till the markets get decimated, so please do keep that in mind. The more time goes buy, the less of it is out there. That's the only problem I see for common folk.
HTH
I should add, that the billionares are bypassing the dealers, they are getting it straight from the source.
HTH

[Dawn]

I have bought some as a precaution. I didn't spend more than I could afford to 'lose' and I researched good companies to order from through the internet. You'd be surprised how many companies have bad reputations, and how many have glowing reports from past customers on the net. In America a good company to buy from for the 'little investor' is APMEX. And for larger purchases you can get better prices from Tulving, but you have to invest in a minimum amount of 500 1-oz coins. There was no problem with delivery, which came in a discrete plain brown cardboard box and was insured by the company I bought from. Hope this helps.

[The Truth Is In There]

buy physical silver and many small coins (1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz) instead of a few large ones (5oz, 10oz, 1kg). i collect mostly australian ones (lunar II, atm. the new coins are for the "year of the dragon" (2012) and the dragon is the favourite motif of most collectors so the prices will go up even more than usual after they stop manufacturing them.) perth mint coins are of the highest quality imo, each coin comes in its own little plastic box and they're not as easily affected by price fluctuations as others (us, canadian, british, mexican, austrian etc.)

[conk]

I also buy mine from APMEX.com. Trustworthy, safe, quick. Buy generic rounds. The markup over spot price is much lower, and it's still .999 silver.

Sorry, just noted you are the UK. Shipping may be expensive. Check it out anyway.

[DevilPigeon]

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Thank you all for your input, very much appreciated! :)

[ThePythonicCow]

I also buy mine from APMEX.com.Me too.

[risveglio]

I use APMEX too but also check out bullion direct. The prices are a little better and they have an option where they will store your metals for you, which is good if you want to try the buy the lows and sell the highs.

[Maia Gabrial]

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Hi all

Does anyone have any hints/tips/recommendations/dealers etc for investing in silver, from a UK perspective if possible?

It will be a modest amount at most, I'm not the best when it comes to money I'm thinking a couple of hundred £ tops. I'm not looking for super-shiney collector-edition coins with an uplifted price tag, ideally I'd like a larger number of coins rather than a single ingot for example... Obviously the closer I can get to the spot-price the better (but taking account of a reasonable dealer margin, plus the 20% VAT that also needs to be applied)

Any help would be appreciated!

There is a company called Rio Grande that sells tools, equipment, gold and silver wires, grains, sheets and jewelry.... The price would depend on the current market value of gold and silver which changes daily. But you'd have gold, silver and argentium in your possession. I'm a lapidary and I have some already to work with. I'd like to get more, but I can't at this time. For me, this is the only way I can get it.... And I'm sure not many people know this is a good source....

You can ask for their free catalog at riogrande.com. Or call their toll free number at 1 (800) 545-6566. They're located in Albuquerque, New Mexico...I've got the catalog titled: "Tools & Equipment"....

I know this is different from what you were expecting; but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do....right?
Good luck.

[lake]

Hey Dp,

Cheapest which I can find so far for silver coin is:

http://www.atkinsonsthejewellers.com/shop.php?sec=cat&cat=2

You can also collect and pay in cash if wanted. They are in Birmingham.

Have been thinking about buying silver but always then feel this is fear induced by the ego?

Which would I prefer, silver or food and water?
Have bought a Life Saver bottle kit, not cheap £220ish, but 4000 ltrs water from any source!
http://www.lifesaversystems.com/
When tshtf would I be better to have 10 of these rather that 100 1oz Canadian maples???
What would the value of clean water be? (no I would give it away, not barter on a beings thirst) But which is more important to have?

[Camilo]

Gold is the way to go...

[Simonm]

Hey Dp,


Which would I prefer, silver or food and water?
Have bought a Life Saver bottle kit, not cheap £220ish, but 4000 ltrs water from any source!
http://www.lifesaversystems.com/
What would the value of clean water be? (no I would give it away, not barter on a beings thirst) But which is more important to have?

A cheaper way is a millbank bag and a kelly kettle.

[Anchor]

Does anyone have any hints/tips/recommendations/dealers etc for investing in silver, from a UK perspective if possible?

It will be a modest amount at most, I'm not the best when it comes to money :) I'm thinking a couple of hundred £ tops. I'm not looking for super-shiney collector-edition coins with an uplifted price tag, ideally I'd like a larger number of coins rather than a single ingot for example... Obviously the closer I can get to the spot-price the better (but taking account of a reasonable dealer margin, plus the 20% VAT that also needs to be applied)

I am not a financial advisor.

When I was in the UK 7 years ago I did invest in physical Silver.

Warning: Its heavy!

As you observe you have to pay VAT on bullion Silver. Not on second hand silver though.

In the end the way I did it was buy from resellers in the Ilse of Man who work a loophole that they can each trade 1/4 mill per annum VAT free. You simply get it in the post from an annoyed postman who delivers heavy packages. I did it via ebay!

The resellers over there do this by registering each member of their families as bullion dealers and they each have a tax free quota.

Selling it is a pain. I sold all mine before I left the UK. I remember dragging 20Kg of the stuff to a dealers in London in a flight case trying to look like it wasnt that heavy LOL.

In the two years I did it, I made twice what I would have in a high interest savings account - and it was all done without any records - this may have changed.

Its not what I originally intended, I was really aiming for the longer term, but I didnt know I was going to get the chance to quit the UK when I started off - and the logistics of getting it out the country were just too hard.

I no longer invest in metals because I have lucky enough to have a farm now - and so I figure getting that working is an even better long term investment.

[Lost Soul]

Go to http://www.Goldshark.com to compare prices. Goldshark doesn't sell anything, but does a price comparison of various online vendors. Apmex is very reliable, but tends to mark up their prices more than other vendors. Some vendors want a check and will hold it. Others prefer 5% down on your credit card with the balance paid via wire transfer.

BTW, selling isn't so hard either. You contact the vendor and they'll email you a mailing label. You take it to the Royal Mail and post it from there. When the vendor receives the package, they send you your ducats (or pounds or euros or dollars).

I've bought from Rio Grand, but that was for silver wire and I was learning how to inlay it into wood. Apart from silver wire, I generally only buy coins and not ingots. Coins are easy to use as cash as they don't need to be assayed.

Good luck and thank you for going into PM. It's cheap right now and the more we as individuals buy, the less there will be for J.P. Morgan and the other manipulators.