Pete

Based on the gold ratio - yes. There are no guarantees that your silver will fetch more than you pay for it primarily due to 20% VAT. Selling back to any dealer will cost you heavily but the VAT part sticks with the selling price to private sales as essentially built in to the price.

When I started my stacking addiction I read lots of reports, listened to podcasts, followed the "experts", looked at the charts etc. etc. Turns out most of this was B.S. and this is especially so when people look around for reasons to explain very short term PM trends up and also down. When gold is high the sellers advice is to buy more because it will rise in value. When gold falls the same sellers will advise this is a great time to buy more to take advantage of a lower price. I have never seen these people advise to sell because the metal will likely decline in value. No-one can predict this and hindsight is wonderful for writing blogs and trying to look smart and informed. If you search around you can always find a geo-political or fiscal event somewhere so just fit that - many will believe this. It probably doesn't have anything to do with the fluctuations of gold and silver. The "big greedy bankers" trading using "algorithms" make the markets fluctuate and these folks make money either way, up or down i.e. the first derivative in calculus is good for making fast bucks. The same holds for trading Forex and stocks & shares. That's my thinking anyhow but others may disagree. Holding PMs is a diversification to fiat and is more likely to maintain wealth rather than grow it in terms of purchasing power, whereas fiat loses value daily due to quantitive easing and inflation.

Keep on hoping !! ... from the European Mint .... Throughout this surge, gold has dominated headlines with record-breaking prices, whereas silver has not surpassed its peak 2021 price of $30.13, much less its historical high of $49.81 set in 2011. Despite silver's underperformance in recent years, several factors suggest it could be on the cusp of entering one of the strongest bull markets ever seen. Silver Demand Growing Rapidly: Silver has long been cherished for its dual role as a monetary asset and an industrial commodity. However, recent developments indicate that its value may be poised for a significant upswing. And why is that? Industrial Demand: With its unparalleled conductivity and reflectivity, silver is indispensable in a wide range of industrial applications, from electronics to renewable energy. As global industries continue to expand, the demand for silver is expected to soar. Monetary Concerns: In an era of unprecedented monetary stimulus and currency debasement, investors are increasingly turning to precious metals like silver as a store of value and a hedge against inflation. Silver's historical role as money makes it a trusted safe haven in times of economic uncertainty. Supply Constraints: Despite its essential role in modern society, silver production faces numerous challenges, including declining ore grades, geopolitical risks, and environmental regulations. These factors have led to supply shortages and may exert upward pressure on prices in the coming future.

Premiums usually stick to high quality bullion silver coins supplied in capsules from the Perth and Royal Australian Mints. Cheap bullion includes popular Britannias, Maples, Philarmonics and many others from all over the World. For some reason American Silver Eagles can often be priced higher than other bullion. Mexican Libertads can sell for high premiums based on mintages. Chinese Pandas also come in caps and are collectible and easy to shift.

Not selling Pt - sorry - long term investment. Thanks @ArgentSmith

As soon as you inform eBay that an item is not as described, eBay almost automatically takes the side of the buyer. Fortunate in your case but if you are the seller and shipping the correct items etc. it can be a frustrating and stressful experience. Judging by your seller's apology it suggests a library or downloaded photo was used which is naughty as you want to see exactly what you are purchasing, not a representative sample. This is especially true with coins as you want to see condition.

Not in the UK unless it remains vaulted unfortunately. Another problem with Pt is the margin which I don't fully understand but it's down to supply and demand. When Pt is relatively cheap there is very little around to purchase. Considering that Pt historically was more precious than gold ( and higher priced ) you would expect margins to be similar to gold, or perhaps a little bit more, but not as high as they tend to be. Having said that people will still purchase Pt with its high margin and VAT included ( me being one ) and you would only loose out big time selling to the trade.

Are these promising signs for those of us steadily growing old, but still nursing big silver stacking losses ? Will this trend continue ?

I had this happen to me also but it was resolved in a week. I guess when a package is x-rayed it draws suspicion as to what could be inside. Unfortunately with all that's going on around the world we all are greatly inconvenienced - e.g. checking-in at an airport.

Silver is a commodity and priced like any other commodity, including coffee and orange juice, according to global demand. Like the UK CO2 emissions effect on the planet, we stackers will not influence the price of silver even if a monster box is up for sale. Only the big boys exchanging paper contracts in the thousands of tonnes make a difference on bullion spot prices. Currently silver is taking a back seat. What is interesting though were the American "experts" ( hah hah ... ), a few years ago, with their daily metals videos on Youtube hard selling silver. Silver was being forecasted to over $100 per ounce - so get it while you can - before China and India take the lot and the mines cannot fill the orders. Platinum is another example. Not so long ago ( in investment terms ) Platinum was priced higher than gold i.e. it was more precious and definitely rarer and more expensive to mine. Why therefore is it less than half the price of gold ? Could it possibly be that gold is overpriced and will face a massive correction at some stage ? Gone are the days of buying a silver coin from the EU at £13 then flipping it in the UK for £25 but whatever you hold hopefully should retain value unlike fiat due to inflation. With the unavoidable VAT on silver ( and platinum ) in the UK you definitely lose 20% immediately selling back to any dealers - unlike gold. Importing silver into the UK is subject to VAT also unless transporting in person within your allowance.

Your minimum price target should be spot + 20% ( to include VAT paid ) so £590 per tube of 25. A dealer will only give you spot and most a bit less so this isn't a good route for you. I would never take a chance on SD shipping goods substantially above their insurance limit. You may find in the small print that doing so invalidates any insurance. Selling at £590 should attract lots of buyers on this site and hopefully they will move fairly quickly. Unfortunately as you are in a rush to sell all your silver then you will need to take the hit on price. If you can hold out longer then ask for higher prices.

Since silver has a fixed well specified density and the weight of 1 Troy ounce is precise, mathematically this means the volume is also fixed. Coins are stamped from blanks rolled into sheets of specified thickness so the only explanation is variable rim thickness. Maybe too much pressure during stamping squeezes a tiny bit of silver to the rim which then protrudes slightly. Measuring centre thickness of coins using a micrometer is tricky due to surface cameo but you might detect a difference. I've seen quite pronounced rims on some coins and also seen rims with a thin shard that peels off like swarf. I wouldn't associate this to a specific year but specific batches.

So true. Great for buyers, less so for sellers. Silver ( and platinum) compared to gold are crazy, so add if you can but is gold likely to see a big correction ? Maybe with geopolitical sh!t, wars etc. gold will continue to rise but I don't understand why the other PMs don't follow.

My suggestion is to check the past few weeks of sold coins on eBay for prices. Unfortunately selling a complete set might result in a lower price that the total of the individual coins whilst you would assume that it would be the opposite. Knowing this I still make up and collect full sets of various coins including the QB. The earlier beasts were at one point getting a high premium but I haven't checked for about a year.

Can I take the RAM Kangaroo 2007 at £35 please.