nicejim

That sounds a lot like my local dispensing chemist

What are your views on lesser known or commemorative coins and what's the maximum markup you'd pay for a coin? I got a proof Fijian $10 commemorative silver coin on ebay, with delivery, for the equivalent of £9/oz when goldmoney was charging about £6.20 plus their markup. Even if I overpaid, it's still nice to look at ;-) I keep getting outbid on the Britannias over there.

They're still more expensive than sovereigns if you're looking at the per-gram cost. The special offer on the 1/10th ounce maple looks good value if you want smaller denominations though. krug-special £506.97/31.1g = £16.30/g 1/10 maple-special £55.06/3.11g = £17.70/g half sov £67.59/3.66g = £18.47/g sov (Elisabeth) £119.14/7.32g = £16.28/g

I think all coins will, and the tone of the ring should be a function of the metal and the size/shape. A pre-1992 2p has a much nicer ring to it that gold, it just doesn't have the same allure in other ways.

Guys, I've got a question about half-sovereigns. I received my first one today, an ebay purchase, and whilst it looks fine I've nothing to compare it to. With Sovereigns I balance the coin on my finger and gently tap the edge with a penny to hear the "ting" they make. When I do this with the half-sov the tone of the ting is lower. When I compare a pre-1992 (copper) 2p and 1p coin the smaller coin has a higher pitched ting, which makes sense to me. Is the ting of my half-sov right?

Clearly there is not enough liquidity in the gold market. Just as taxpayers have had their savings and earnings given to the banks to ease liquidity problems there, the gold hoarders should have their gold handed over too. It stands to reason. When the homeowners have their houses taken from them to ease liquidity in the housing market, everything will start working again. There is no liquidity problem in the market for Ducal palaces and 20,000 acre estates of course. Why is the $700bn bail out not being put out to competetive tender? I reckon I could do it for only $650bn

Interesting question. If you have an ounce of gold you're richer than average and an ounce of silver makes you a freak! Gold ever mined: 158,000,000,000g (end of 2006 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#cite_ref-14) People on earth: 6,000,000,000 (or more) Grams/person: 26.333 Silver: 300,000,000 ounces (excluding the <5% that's left in the ground and the stuff that's in landfill) for 6,000,000,000 people. http://www.monex.com/prods/silver.html

Thanks Steve!

I thought they only did this for US residents. How do you transfer a UK pension there?

The spreads on Bullionvault were the largest I think I've ever seen them 30 minutes ago. It's a lot more normal now, and the mass of flickering red and blue has gone. Panic time over?

I saw that on ft.com http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/271257f2-83f1-11...?nclick_check=1 but it's from yesterday, updated today. Is this monetisation?

I developed silver cahunas in January. I'll gladly swap my "gains" on silver for what you made on your cash ISA ;-)

Being ripped off in the UK is something we all get used to, and it's not just because of the VAT on silver. The price of physical remaining at close to peak levels is the same story both sides of the pond it seems.

Below £10? I check Ebay from time to time and make a watchlist of silver/gold coins to see what they go for. The cheapest Britannia or Maple in my last list was this one for £15.79 (including postage): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=250288180983 If you click on sellers' feedback you can see what else they've sold lately and at what price. This seller sold another Maple for £18.98 (with postage) on Friday. I've not kept records but I think this is roughly what coins were going for when silver was closer to £9.50/ounce. Royal Mint hasn't changed its price on Britannias since at least February I think, and at £16.95 delivered I would think this should be a lid on the price, especially considering the increased risk at Ebay. It doesn't seem to work that way though. People either don't know about it, can't be bothered waiting or don't want the government to know what they're doing ;-) A quote from the ebay auction page above: "Have you tried to get one of these from a dealer recently?? Sold out ??? Not a surprise!!!!!! 1 oz of .9999 solid silver. Every investor knows that in tough times Silver is the right choice to protect your wealth. $100 dollar silver is predicted." So why sell then?

Yes, gold and silver 3-day charts on kitco look very similar as usual, until about 12 gmt. Ratio @12ish: 62.8 Ratio now: 65.8 This inflation/deflation argument is a lot like how HPC used to get (probably still does?). It may be in the wrong thread but it's good to see that it hasn't devolved into an argument about whether taxation is theft and countries exist.

The 6th G: Grin "You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun." ~ Al Capone

The media uptick has been going on for a while now and the uptick in the uranium companies doesn't seem to have started yet. The stories you quote are about infrastructure projects as much as they are about demand for uranium, so which will be the bigger story in the next decade - the uranium miners or the engineers which build the power stations? First post, I'm a new convert from the HPC forums. I'm always late for a bandwagon!