Advice needed for my first silver coin purchase.

[smokestack]

Hi everyone, on wednesday i am going to make my first purchase of two one ounce silver coins. These will be the start of a long term investment plan. I have noticed that the Canadian maple leafs are an incredibly cheap price from Atkinsons. Do you think these are ok, as a new investor i am terrified of buying coins and holding on to them for years only to find out they are fakes. I know Atkinsons is a reputable dealer, do you think that by buying from shops like this we eliminate the chance of ever buying fakes, is there no chance of a shop such as this ever accidentaly selling fakes. No disrespect to Atkinsons is meant, i would ask this question if i were thinking of buying from any retailer.

[HighlandTiger]

First of all, you will get lots of people saying maples are rubbish because they can have what is known as milk spots, Greyish patches on them that have occured during the cleaning process at the mint. Ignore these people. I've yet to have any blemished maple, and if you do get one, it soons cleans off with a jewellers cloth. To me they are a great bullion coin. Cheap and contain the exact same silver as all the other coins going for vastly inflated prices. Get them and Austrian Philharmonics. Both great and cheap. If you are just into investing silver I would stick to the cheapest coins, as worse comes to the worse you can always sell them for scrap. The higher priced coins will have to rely on other collectors to buy them in order to keep the price premium up

 

Always buy bullion from the big companies, in the UK, try Atkinsons and The Gold Bullion co. They are the cheapest in the UK but you are paying VAT on your coins. Once you get the buying bug, (and you will), you will find it cheaper to buy in Europe. In Germany you have Silver to Go, who have a very small built in VAT amount,  and in Estonia, Europe Silver Bullion, who are VAT free but shipping is a bit more than Silver to Go. It all depends on how much you order to see who is the cheapest.

 

 

Oh and good luck, welcome to the mad world of silver 

[Danny-boy]

I would doubt you would get a fake from Atkinsons.

Have a good read of the forum, there are many endorsements, my own included.

If you are a stacker, go for the cheapest. If not, pay a few pence extra for a nicer coin.

There is a whole lot of coins out there.

And congratulations in advance on your first purchase, stacking / collecting is a great pastime.

[silversword]

Welcome SS. I can relate to your post, i found myself thinking exactly the same things before buying my first silver.

 

Firstly the fake issue. A reputable dealer like Atkinsons would have nothing to gain by selling fakes - they'd very quickly be found out and it would put them out of business. I can tell you from experience they are a good company to deal with and they get their coins direct from the mint, so you will get brand new coins. They are also one of the better value UK suppliers and their customer service is pretty good. For small purchases like a couple of ounces you cannot go wrong with them.

 

For peace of mind, you could get yourself some calipers, a neodymium magnet, and a weigh scale, you can check the dimensions and weight of your coins yourself against published specs.

 

Now the Maples. There are a couple of reasons they are cheap; they are produced in massive numbers, so they have no scarcity value, and they are prone to developing milk spots if exposed to air for any length of time. You may get lucky with this, you may not. A pristine coin could overnight get spotty or develop blooms. this doesn't affect the silver content, and that's what you're buying them for. If the appearanc bothers you, the Austrian Philharmonic is equally cheap and less prone to spots. The American Silver Eagle is a little more expensive and spotting is not likely at all.

[smokestack]

Wow thanks highland for your very unformative reply, i am indeed purchasing purely for investment, i think i will stick to one ounce coins as i heard someone say on you tube i think, if the price does go high in the future it might be harder to sell bigger bars.

[HelpingHands]

You might like to know that Australian  coins and the Chinese Panda come in their own plastic capsules.  Everything else will come loose in plastic bags so you may want to add capsules on to your order for some coins.

 

Bullion by post usually put them in capsules for you but they are more expensive.

[smokestack]

Also thanks to dannyboy and silversword i posted my previous post before seeing your posts, sorry about that.

[Keithoil]

In a word yes, but there is still always a chance although the risk should be minimum. You will find most everyone here still does their own checks on the coins they purchase from anywhere!!

 

You should also consider the Austrian Philharmonic as these should be not much dearer than the Maple and will not get milk spots on them.

 

I also suggest you ask if anyone is ordering from Europe as you may be able to jump on the wagon so to speak and get them cheaper.

 

I have ordered things for people of this forum when I have put an order into STG, which I will be doing again but not until early July or unless silver drops dramatically over the coming week or so. So if you can wait you are welcome aboard.

 

Currently £20.32 for a Maple as opposed to STG £13.81 plus say 50p ish ( depend how many I order, delivery cost divided by the total coins) delivery from Europe then £2 or so UK delivery, that would be £31.12 for two coins. You could almost buy another coin.

 

You should also perform your own checks when you get the coin, i. e. The magnet test, weight, diameter etc. I do even when I order from Europe.

 

Good luck with the stacking.

[HelpingHands]

Oh, the Aussie croc and shark don't come in capsules.

[Shamatti]

Buy something you like to look at.

 

Canadian Mint bullion will milk spot. If you clean it you will scratch the coin, but none of this is of any importance, as maples will only ever be worth the silver content. You could play tidily winks with them if you wanted to! So if you just want to stacka heap of cheap silver go for maples.

 

However! If you want to collect some good looking silver avoid the maples. They will probably spot up at some point, and most people just don't like the look of them.

Buy what you like the look of that you can afford to buy. I got some Mexican Libertads recently, they are gorgeous!! And They won't spot, and they should always have a slightly higher premium than some bullion.

 

Did I mention to just buy what you like?

 

At the end of the day are going to end up with 2 ounces of silver. How much you pay in entirely up to you, but get something you like too look at!

[smokestack]

Thanks helping hands, it looks like i have come to the right place for help. Is this forum always this freindly.

[morezone]

If you are just after 1 or 2, you could try the classified section.  KLacey, one of the site sponsors has a current sale thread with a few coins.  You'll probably save around £5 on 2 budget coins when compared with Atkinsons,

[Danny-boy]

Is this forum always this freindly.

Yes buddy, it is, it's the way we roll.

[smokestack]

Thanks to everyone who has replied, everytime i post a new post someone else has replied its great. I thought i had set my heart on maples but now i am not sure,  when buying only 2 coins i guess i am not too botherefdabout a pound here and there. I will let you know what i decide. I have till wednesday to make up my mind as that is when i will have the money. Thanks again everyone.

[HighlandTiger]

  when buying only 2 coins i guess i am not too bothered about a pound here and there

Wait till you are buying 20 coins at a time, That pound here and there could add up to a couple of extra coins for your stack

[smokestack]

Wait till you are buying 20 coins at a time, That pound here and there could add up to a couple of extra coins for your stack

I know your right, i suppose as a new buyer i will just be excited to get my first coins.

[Danny-boy]

I know your right, i suppose as a new buyer i will just be excited to get my first coins.

I remember my first bullion coins, they were britannias (old ones) and I was gobsmacked by the size and weight of them.

You have an awesome experience ahead of you buddy.

[Cointreau]

And don't touch the silver coins with your bare hands. Put gloves on. And start thinking about where you're

going to hide the bloody things.

[HighlandTiger]

At the end of April, I bought my first silver coins. 5 Britannias and 5 Maples. This week I passed the 100 oz's of silver. As I said, welcome to the mad world of silver

[smokestack]

You guys are scaring me now, what have i got myself into. I know i am going to regret asking this as i have enough to yhink about already, but do most people around here prefer coins over bars and if so why?

[smokestack]

And don't touch the silver coins with your bare hands. Put gloves on. And start thinking about where you're

going to hide the bloody things.

Hi cointreau, thanks for the tip. Can you recommend the best place to get some suitable gloves please.

[HighlandTiger]

They'll cost you a few quid on ebay. Just search jewellers gloves

[smokestack]

Thanks highland, i will have a look on ebay, how do i know that the gloves are genuine and not fakes from china? (only joking, hope thats allowed on here).

[Danny-boy]

Thanks highland, i will have a look on ebay, how do i know that the gloves are genuine and not fakes from china? (only joking, hope thats allowed on here).

Lol.

You need to weigh them and then dip them in water - the Chinese fakes fall apart.

And if they are blue, they are definitely fake white gloves.

[Dave]

Forget the gloves for your first bullion coins, handle them ,feel the weight, ping them to hear them ring, after a while you will get a feeling and an insight as to what is real and what is fake, the more you handle them , the better, when you get used to your first couple of coins , then wear gloves all the time ,