pjohnp

Am I alone in finding some of the racist comments on this thread very offensive?

No, you're right.

That's the outfit that I usually use, and I'm very pleased with them.

I like to follow the gold price in sterling. Does anyone know why the real-time graph I've been using for a couple of years now only seems to work for about half the time -- it's been that way for a month or more. It's this one: http://www.goldpreciousmetals.com/charts_historic_gbp.asp Is there a good alternative?

Thanks for the reminder. In fact I'm very careful about condition, and am interested that at the auction unopened proof sovereigns (for example) seem to sell for the same price as bullion ones in indifferent condition. Often there's only me and one other chap bidding for them, and we tend to end up with about half of them each -- with £5 bidding steps I think we're both working to the same maximum bids. I bought one recently for £160 and sold it that same day to Chards for £220 (a date they were wanting). Not quite in Dr Bubb's league, but it made me feel pleased!

Keep the faith. I'm a poor man, but I don't trust the system any more. I've bought another eight sovereigns today – as a regular buyer I've negotiated a discount with a local auctioneer who does house clearances and seems to have gold coins every month: it's amazing how many old people have them stashed away.

I'm not clever at these things, and my strategy is simple: when it doubles, I sell half. And as a stop-loss, when it halves I sell half. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't see how I can lose.

Er, most of them until fairly recently. I was very tempted by a nice golden guinea at a local auction recently, but it went for more than I could justify paying.

Hmm. He tells of a golden goose with very deep pockets. You just have to hope his economic understanding is better than his literacy.

Ah yes, but some of us choose to put our hard-earned money into gold and leave it there ... and then to spend our time doing something more worthwhile, and useful to others, than increasing our own wealth still further. So we win twice as well.