preparedsurrey wrote:
Random question do you need a FAC to purchase/ store silver bullets?
Edit - a bit of googling seems to suggest they are just lumps of silver in the shape of a bullet - sorry for being thick I thought people might actually sell live ones.
Going a little off topic but I can recall a programme , myth busters I think , where they tried actual silver bullets and they have different ballistic properties to lead and were much more difficult to hit a target with.
Back on topic , the small amount of silver I have is either coin or in the form of hall marked items such as jewellery and domestic items.
I currently have 105 silver maple leafs. From the Canadian royal mint.
The difference between silver rounds (buffalos etc) and bars, with coins is that coins are minted by a national mint - a country. So they are viewed as more reliable (w.g. less like to be fake or under weight etc).
They sometimes have tax, sometimes don't. An advantage though is that they are capital gains tax free, as they are regarded as currency. Whereas bars and rounds are just commodities.
I buy my silver from, Silvertogo.com. they are based in Germany and so are VAT free. It is an off-shoot of coininvest.com;.
I really like them. I buy my gold from Atkinson's though, which someone else posted on here. I find the prices are just a bit better for gold. I say, I buy my gold. I currently have just 2 gold soverigns, a small fraction under a 1/4 troy ounce each. I couldn't afford full oz gold coins at the time. I debated whether or not to buy a half oz maple or two 1/4s. But I decided against it.
Firstly, I wanted a 'whole' - not a half or quarter. I have two sovereigns, not two quarter maples.
Secondly, they are British, and so more easily recognised for selling, bartering, pawning etc.
As and when I can afford full ounces of gold, it will be the Canadian maples for me.
This is due to several reasons. Firstly, they are recognised internationally, very big in USA, Europe etc. Second admittedly to USA eagles. But with the queens head, they have extra appeal around the common wealth.. Thirdly, 0.9999 pure. Better then than the eagles. Same as Britannia's and Australian Kangaroos (where else huh??) but cheaper, usually 10-25 pence cheaper per coin than either the Brit or 'roo.
They are all much of a much-ness though, Eagles, Maples, Kangaroos, Britannia's, Kruggerands, pandas etc.
For me, I want something minted by a country, with good reputation.
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Do not buy from ebay (unless going for something rare). The coins you can buy for 14.20 ish from Germany cost 17 or 18.50 on ebay. Just because they can buy in quantity and flog them to people who don't shop around.
One piece of advice I would consider is this: have multiple strategies for off-loading your PMs if you need fiat currency fast, that will be a pawn shop, the web sites you buy them from, jewllers, whatever. I love PMs but if that value is needed urgently in normal currency and you cant liquidate it, it could be a disaster, so keep a bunch of numbers, addresses etc handy for a fast liquidation, if only as an emergency measure.
