Gold

MIDUS

I'm planning to put some money into gold and as this is a first for me I am looking for some advice / information. Has anyone bought from irish gold billion.ie? Who would you recommend or not recommended? Anything I need to know? Thanks in advance

MIDUS

Can I ask why you wouldn't own again?

Tugboats

Have a monthly saver account with Goldcore and have used coin invest direct and Guernsey mint in the past to buy gold and silver coins. No issues with them apart from the rubbish spam that Goldcore send about gold going to the moon.

robp

greek_yogurt wrote: »

I made money on gold but there are two reasons

1. it provides no income

2. its impossible to objectively value , its only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it and while you can say the same about any asset , shares , bonds , property , have intrinsic value , gold has none , its a purely speculative buy

that's not to say it might become worthless , it wont but I don't know how to start to value it like I do a house , land or an index fund

The biggest attraction of gold is that it tends to hold value (not always though) and in a financial crisis gold would hold value in a way that property or shares won't. However in recent history economies have tended to grow and not to be in crisis. So while gold has held its value, property and stocks have increased in value. Over decades that increase can be very substantial. Risk tends to equal reward.

Tugboats

With Greek banks closing, capital controls and the fear of contagion poor gold still cant catch a bid

conditioned games

Tugboats wrote: »

With Greek banks closing, capital controls and the fear of contagion poor gold still cant catch a bid

You should invest in shares, I hear their undervalued.

Tugboats

conditioned games wrote: »

You should invest in shares, I hear their undervalued.

Are you a gold bug on the defensive? I have a little over 140k invested in shares are 7.5k in gold and 1k in silver. Do you have any thoughts on why the metals are struggling?

conditioned games

Massively manipulated down wards for past 4 years by big banks like Jp Morgan on behalf of US Fed using paper shorts. Can't c it been broken until late September this year.

Tugboats

conditioned games wrote: »

Massively manipulated down wards for past 4 years by big banks like Jp Morgan on behalf of US Fed using paper shorts. Can't c it been broken until late September this year.

That doesnt make any sense. Over the last 4 years there has been plenty of times when gold has had a rally in its downtrend regardless of who is short/manipulating it. We now have a western country closing its banks for a week and limiting access to citizens money and gold is on its arse

FortySeven

I have had a lot of dealings with suissegold.ch over the past 9 years. Very reliable. You can take delivery or use allocated vault storage.

Gold is manipulated, people call it a conspiracy theory.

They also said that about the forex market, the libor rate, high frequency tading etc, etc.

Gold is not an investment, it is security. It's really a hedge against inflation. Perhaps why it is not performing well?

Amirani

Tugboats wrote: »

Are you a gold bug on the defensive? I have a little over 140k invested in shares are 7.5k in gold and 1k in silver. Do you have any thoughts on why the metals are struggling?

China is the biggest consumer of Gold, Copper and a number of other precious metals. Take from that what you will.

FISMA.

I have typical investments, stocks, bonds, savings, ... However, I stay away from paper gold and buy the physical.

FISMA.

One other bit of advice for those getting in to buying gold, silver, or platinum coins. Buy money, not pamps.

A pamp is only worth whatever the current percentage of gold spot is. Coins, however, are legal tender and tend to hold their value more, even during a retreat in gold prices.

First, coins open up a secondary numismatic market which helps the value of the coin.

Also, in years when gold coins have a low mintage, collectors will again pay a premium.

True, you will pay a bit extra for the coin over the pamp, however, it will payoff in the long run.

The highest prices are often paid for the home country coins, not sure what you would do in Ireland.

In the States, a dealer will give more for an Eagle or Buffalo than a Maple Leaf or Philharmonic.

It is doubtful that many of us have the dosh for a monster box of American Buffalo, but a roll of silver dollars should be obtainable.

If you buy a roll of silver, they will be sealed. Do not open the seal and take them out. An unsearched roll of silver has the possibility of errors or collectibility. You'll get the highest price on silver by having them unsearched, untouched, and of course, uncirculated.

FortySeven

FISMA. wrote: »

One other bit of advice for those getting in to buying gold, silver, or platinum coins. Buy money, not pamps.

A pamp is only worth whatever the current percentage of gold spot is. Coins, however, are legal tender and tend to hold their value more, even during a retreat in gold prices.

First, coins open up a secondary numismatic market which helps the value of the coin.

Also, in years when gold coins have a low mintage, collectors will again pay a premium.

True, you will pay a bit extra for the coin over the pamp, however, it will payoff in the long run.

The highest prices are often paid for the home country coins, not sure what you would do in Ireland.

In the States, a dealer will give more for an Eagle or Buffalo than a Maple Leaf or Philharmonic.

It is doubtful that many of us have the dosh for a monster box of American Buffalo, but a roll of silver dollars should be obtainable.

If you buy a roll of silver, they will be sealed. Do not open the seal and take them out. An unsearched roll of silver has the possibility of errors or collectibility. You'll get the highest price on silver by having them unsearched, untouched, and of course, uncirculated.

As a numismatist I agree with your points. I will add a note of caution to the coin argument. Numismatic values can be wildly unpredictable. I have collected Chinese gold and silver coins for years and the valuations have been a rollercoaster ride to say the least, I have watched coins I paid 200 for suddenly rocket to a thousand only to fall back to 300 in a matter of months. Granted, these are specialist coins, not bullion coins but the distinction needs to be pointed out.

The o.p. was asking about metals essentially now there is a plus side in Ireland to buying bullion coins such as maples, philnarmonics etc. VAT on silver in Ireland is 23% for bullion (eg bars) and coins are more of a grey area. I did get hit with a large VAT bill once when importing silver, palladium and platinum. All are subject to VAT. I was charged 19% on coins, 23% on bars. This was years ago, now I do not take delivery of silver but hold it in a vault in Switzerland.

This difference in VAT can offset the premium charged for these coins compared to bars but this is only relevant if buying outside the EU. If bought within the EU then VAT is applied in country of origin. Germany is a good place to buy with 7% vat rates. Geigereddenmetal is a reputable supplier I have used regularly and they also stock a low premium 'Noahs Ark' coin minted by Armenia. It comes in a range of weights. (The 10oz is a good size) Again though,, there are issues. They can only supply so much until they reach their country specific VAT limit so at times you will not be able to buy.

I have bought silver from Switzerland before and it was sent to me direct from the mint in America. For some reason I was not charged VAT. I guess customs missed it.

Be aware that the revenue may take an interest in your activities. I once imported €12,000 of a mixed order and after paying the VAT was summoned for interview. After explaining how I funded the transaction they were satisfied and that was that but be sure to have documentation when investing in physical.

Also, storage. Make sure any storage of your metals by supplier is allocated storage, this means your metals are placed in a vault and cannot be moved without your permission, the value is also segregated from the company books so should the company fail they cannot use your bullion as an asset. Many so called vaults use fractional storage. Storing only the amount they expect to be withdrawn at any given time but not the whole. I have tested my suppliers claims to allocated storage many times by storing a variety of different bars and coins they would find it hard to buy at short notice and then requesting urgent delivery a year or two down the line. I got my coins in 2 days. This would not be possible had they not physically stored them at the time of purchase.

Supersonic42

I use europeanmint.com. Its very good and prices are competitive.

Tugboats

Some hammering this week. Sub $1000 on the way

moneymad

Tugboats wrote: »

Some hammering this week. Sub $1000 on the way

Good

FortySeven

moneymad wrote: »

Good

Agreed.;)

For ever odd

Tugboats wrote: »

Some hammering this week. Sub $1000 on the way

Bloomberg - Hedge Funds Are Holding First-Ever Gold Net-Short Position http://bloom.bg/1SGmpuM

moneymad

Smart move. If it breaks the psychological level of 1000, a lot of people will be selling.

YossiA

I've used celticgold.eu and merriongold.ie recently for Gold purchases. Topped up last week

pilgrim pat

has anyone bought gold from goldcoins.ni they are based in newry n ireland

Cute Hoor

MIDUS wrote: »

I'm planning to put some money into gold and as this is a first for me I am looking for some advice / information. Has anyone bought from irish gold billion.ie? Who would you recommend or not recommended? Anything I need to know? Thanks in advance

Article about irish gold bullion.ie in SBP today, CCPC and GNECB investigating