Pete

Exactly what @BackyardBullionsays - and don't get hung up on a fancy box, limited mintage or certificate as all essentially worthless.

£599 but FREE POSTAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

My worst purchase ( and not an accident ) was winning a 1 kilo silver Kookaburra at a great price on eBay.
What arrived was a tiny thin silver replica about 12mm diameter weighing a gram or two.
The seller used a library picture and claims not to have known the difference.
Luckily the seller accepted it back but there were some tense moments for sure.

As @sovereignsteve says anything that involves rubbing is likely to introduce micro-scratches unless you have skills in polishing using e.g. jeweller's rouge.
You cannot polish a frosted finish as it changes the surface and this will definitely ruin the matt finish.
E-Zest gets rid of tarnish ( not milk spots / stains ) by dipping the coin for a couple of seconds only before rinsing immediately in water.
Unfortunately it is relatively expensive in the UK compared to the USA but I've used it very successfully on heavily tarnished bullion.
Silver turns black when it is exposed to pollution containing sulphur - cigarette smoke, woodburning stove, open coal fire, industry nearby, traffic etc.

Well done on the video however I don't agree with you when you rank this error above the Horse Mule.
The horse mule used the wrong pairing of dies not just a rotation of 90 degrees.
When the first Horse mules were discovered they were initially selling for around £1,000 each ( maybe twice this in the USA ) before rapidly dropping to nearer £100.
Then some German sellers started dumping them and the price came back down to Earth with a nominal premium.
Not sure current market value but pity those few early collectors that paid an enormous amount for them.
Only wish I had sold mine ( discovered months later after I opened the tube ) whilst the price was high.

 

Exactly what @BackyardBullionsays - and don't get hung up on a fancy box, limited mintage or certificate as all essentially worthless.

Exactly what @BackyardBullionsays - and don't get hung up on a fancy box, limited mintage or certificate as all essentially worthless.

Well done on the video however I don't agree with you when you rank this error above the Horse Mule.
The horse mule used the wrong pairing of dies not just a rotation of 90 degrees.
When the first Horse mules were discovered they were initially selling for around £1,000 each ( maybe twice this in the USA ) before rapidly dropping to nearer £100.
Then some German sellers started dumping them and the price came back down to Earth with a nominal premium.
Not sure current market value but pity those few early collectors that paid an enormous amount for them.
Only wish I had sold mine ( discovered months later after I opened the tube ) whilst the price was high.

 

Well done on the video however I don't agree with you when you rank this error above the Horse Mule.
The horse mule used the wrong pairing of dies not just a rotation of 90 degrees.
When the first Horse mules were discovered they were initially selling for around £1,000 each ( maybe twice this in the USA ) before rapidly dropping to nearer £100.
Then some German sellers started dumping them and the price came back down to Earth with a nominal premium.
Not sure current market value but pity those few early collectors that paid an enormous amount for them.
Only wish I had sold mine ( discovered months later after I opened the tube ) whilst the price was high.

 

We Brits are now totally screwed ( along with everything else these days it seems ) but I believe the EU has tightened up on VAT as well.
Higher margins and VAT seem to be integrated into silver when selling peer to peer and only lost if selling back to dealers.
Often best prices for silver are on this forum and some sellers are offering full tubes rather than single coins.
As a regular member only you will never get the bargains as stuff gets sold instantly, days before regular members see the listing.

Sadly none of us can predict the future prices of PMs.
Silver seems to lag and remain too low and I don't understand the reasons other than to speculate that the market is rigged by the big players.
We stackers don't really count in making a difference as we are not buying in the thousands of tonnes per order.
Platinum used to cost more than gold and I find it hard to understand why a once more expensive, possibly more useful and certainly rarer PM than gold is relatively inexpensive to gold. My mathematical genie points to gold being over-priced so do you buy gold, wait for the fall / realignment or miss the boat ?

Predicting gold price is about as scientific as predicting winning lottery numbers and it is always easy to pick a global event and link it back to a price change.
Gold went up because the USA downed a foreign spy balloon, no it is something Putin said, no it went down after the earthquake, it will rise because of the friction between China and Taiwan, it will rise as the coffee harvests failed, price of orange juice, missiles landing in Israel, sun spot activity .... take your pick and match it after the event - easy and mostly BS !! The computer algorithms of the big players buying and selling contracts according to the third derivative of spot triggers speculation. I think this also happens with crypto and as soon as something is seen to be rising, money and contracts pile in and for no other reason than greed then at some stage the bubble bursts. The conservation of money means for every winner there is a loser so do you bet red or black on the roulette table ?

There's a good reason why PMs don't behave like Lego.
 
First
Lego, model cars, proper antique numismatic coins - all have a limited issue (some rare, some not).
Some get used, played with, broken, damaged, destroyed or melted down.
Not everything survives. The pool of what is left is what collectors have to choose from.
Their value comes from a combination of three key points:
RARITY / CONDITION / DEMAND
If you have all three covered you have something that will hold value.
You will have seen this at play with Lego.
 
Second
Modern commemoratives issued for collectors.
These, like Lego will have issue limits - however, the issue price of such material will be so high that their future market value may well be lower or at best struggle to maintain the original sales price.
Also - much like Royal memorabilia - how many actually get used and destroyed to reduce the pool of survivors?
Only 5000 issued - but how many of those 5000 will still be around in 20 or 30 years? Probably most of them, maybe all of them.
Not a good way to invest money.
 
Third
Generic PMs have all their value tied up in their scrap metal value. They will be melted down as required. Any additional 'premium' for what it originally was be it Maples/Brits etc. Will not be factored into the value as pure bullion. That premium will be lost.
The other issue with pure PM investment is that there are also paper markets that are loosely tied to them.
Derivatives are basically contracts that claim to hold silver and gold. A lot of the time, that metal however doesn't even exist.
When these are bought and sold they in turn affect the price of the metals which do exist.
To explain it in the context of Lego - imagine there was a 1000 issue limit of a certain Lego product and that all 1000 of these models were locked in a vault. Now imagine that 5000 ownership 'shares' certificates were issued and sold, giving each purchaser a claim on a model in the vault.
Unfortunately, as you can see, there are 5x as many ownership claims as there are actual models that exist.
Well that's how the PM markets work.
Now imagine I was an investor bank who could withdrawn and destroy these claim checks, or alternatively issue 100x as many.
The 'spot' price - based on the claim checks would rise or fall. However it may bear no relation to the price required to purchase the actual model itself - as these are rarer.
The value would be in holding the real model, not the claim check.
 
Finally 
The value of your Lego models is the complete model itself. What do you think the melt value for them would be?
I believe most PM investments that make money make it on something other than their melt value. Plenty of profits made on sovereigns (especially numismatic / rare ones), far fewer profits made on 9ct gold chains and Argos jewellery / or overpriced 'collector' specials which far exceed the bullion value.

If selling to a bullion dealer it often makes no difference.
You get paid on the weight of gold and they don't care if you are selling a coin, bar or scrap.
Selling sovereigns to other stackers and collectors will likely get you a better price ( margin over spot ) however you will already have paid more to purchase a sovereign.
Atkinsons recently was buying sovereigns at 2% over spot but that suggests the demand was exceptionally high and therefore the likely selling price also high.
Look for the best deals at the time of purchase and remember to compare fine gold ( 24ct and not 22ct ) prices to spot to see how much extra you are paying for gold.

I share your pain and frustration.
We coin fanatics often come across the term "First Strike" where the first minted coins achieve a marginally better impression.
Whether this affects softer gold coins or not I don't know.
Some proofs also have a serial number and some collectors like to obtain low numbers.
With that in mind if you were first in line to order then you would assume you would get a First Strike AND a low serial number.
Good luck pursuing you mission but I would imagine the stress and frustration you will encounter isn't worth it.
 

Sadly none of us can predict the future prices of PMs.
Silver seems to lag and remain too low and I don't understand the reasons other than to speculate that the market is rigged by the big players.
We stackers don't really count in making a difference as we are not buying in the thousands of tonnes per order.
Platinum used to cost more than gold and I find it hard to understand why a once more expensive, possibly more useful and certainly rarer PM than gold is relatively inexpensive to gold. My mathematical genie points to gold being over-priced so do you buy gold, wait for the fall / realignment or miss the boat ?

Predicting gold price is about as scientific as predicting winning lottery numbers and it is always easy to pick a global event and link it back to a price change.
Gold went up because the USA downed a foreign spy balloon, no it is something Putin said, no it went down after the earthquake, it will rise because of the friction between China and Taiwan, it will rise as the coffee harvests failed, price of orange juice, missiles landing in Israel, sun spot activity .... take your pick and match it after the event - easy and mostly BS !! The computer algorithms of the big players buying and selling contracts according to the third derivative of spot triggers speculation. I think this also happens with crypto and as soon as something is seen to be rising, money and contracts pile in and for no other reason than greed then at some stage the bubble bursts. The conservation of money means for every winner there is a loser so do you bet red or black on the roulette table ?

Sadly none of us can predict the future prices of PMs.
Silver seems to lag and remain too low and I don't understand the reasons other than to speculate that the market is rigged by the big players.
We stackers don't really count in making a difference as we are not buying in the thousands of tonnes per order.
Platinum used to cost more than gold and I find it hard to understand why a once more expensive, possibly more useful and certainly rarer PM than gold is relatively inexpensive to gold. My mathematical genie points to gold being over-priced so do you buy gold, wait for the fall / realignment or miss the boat ?

Predicting gold price is about as scientific as predicting winning lottery numbers and it is always easy to pick a global event and link it back to a price change.
Gold went up because the USA downed a foreign spy balloon, no it is something Putin said, no it went down after the earthquake, it will rise because of the friction between China and Taiwan, it will rise as the coffee harvests failed, price of orange juice, missiles landing in Israel, sun spot activity .... take your pick and match it after the event - easy and mostly BS !! The computer algorithms of the big players buying and selling contracts according to the third derivative of spot triggers speculation. I think this also happens with crypto and as soon as something is seen to be rising, money and contracts pile in and for no other reason than greed then at some stage the bubble bursts. The conservation of money means for every winner there is a loser so do you bet red or black on the roulette table ?

My 2023 Britannia arrived today with King Charles on the obverse.
I also have the 2023 Britannia with our former Queen.
So fellow stackers which coin of the two are you predicting will be the more sought after in a few years ?
(a) the very last Brit struck with Queen Elizabeth, or
(b) the first with King Charles ?
My apologies for the image quality taken in dull conditions under a desk lamp.

There are several well known brands of clear capsules available and you basically get what you pay for.
If you have a precious ( not necessarily super expensive ) coin that you want to house in the best capsule then a direct fitting AirTite is the best.
They are more expensive than most and you should seek out a forum seller otherwise you will have to buy from the USA and shipping is very expensive unless you buy in bulk.
A nice feature is the edge quality, rounded and transparent making it difficult to see the junction between top and bottom so making it a great capsule to show off a coin.
Next best is Lighthouse / Leuchtturm superior rimless caps and you can buy these in boxes of 20.
They are a good quality and have a small thumb point to prise open - that's fine for some users but it is visible.
Then there are a range of decent quality caps that tend to have more noticeable or prominent small rims.
Finally the very inexpensive caps are good for just protecting your coins but they generally have rub marks and fine scratches on them when brand new, scratch very easily and dissolve / get cloudy if you try to clean them with some solvents like acetone.
 

All goods purchased from the EU are no longer in free circulation since Brexit.
They are subject to 20% VAT plus a processing fee determined by the courier or Royal Mail.
What you also need to look out for is double taxation.
A seller in Germany for example may already have included German VAT so your invoice is coin plus local VAT.
UK customs then charges UK VAT on the full declared value so in effect you could be paying up to around 40% in tax.
If you are purchasing from the EU then you need to insist the seller ships VAT free but some won't do this because it involves extra paperwork.

There are several well known brands of clear capsules available and you basically get what you pay for.
If you have a precious ( not necessarily super expensive ) coin that you want to house in the best capsule then a direct fitting AirTite is the best.
They are more expensive than most and you should seek out a forum seller otherwise you will have to buy from the USA and shipping is very expensive unless you buy in bulk.
A nice feature is the edge quality, rounded and transparent making it difficult to see the junction between top and bottom so making it a great capsule to show off a coin.
Next best is Lighthouse / Leuchtturm superior rimless caps and you can buy these in boxes of 20.
They are a good quality and have a small thumb point to prise open - that's fine for some users but it is visible.
Then there are a range of decent quality caps that tend to have more noticeable or prominent small rims.
Finally the very inexpensive caps are good for just protecting your coins but they generally have rub marks and fine scratches on them when brand new, scratch very easily and dissolve / get cloudy if you try to clean them with some solvents like acetone.
 

HMRC has launched a new 'one-to-many' letter campaign from the week commencing 16th January.
It is expected that thousands of letters will be sent out to individuals who have earned a certain amount of money from selling items or services online.
The first letter is aimed at those who have sold items or services through online marketplaces, such as eBay or Etsy.
HMRC has stated that they only intend to contact those whom they believe have earned more than £12,570 from their online sales.
However, the exact time period that these earnings were generated is not specified in the letter.
In addition, HMRC will only be able to contact individuals whom they have correctly identified, which may prove to be challenging due to people not always operating under their full given name, or not providing all the necessary information when registering on a marketplace or platform.
The nudge letters state that HMRC believes the individual has not declared all or some of their online income, and ask them to make a disclosure using the digital disclosure service (DDS) if this is the case. It is important to note that the gross sales figure provided by HMRC does not necessarily equate to taxable income.

HMRC has launched a new 'one-to-many' letter campaign from the week commencing 16th January.
It is expected that thousands of letters will be sent out to individuals who have earned a certain amount of money from selling items or services online.
The first letter is aimed at those who have sold items or services through online marketplaces, such as eBay or Etsy.
HMRC has stated that they only intend to contact those whom they believe have earned more than £12,570 from their online sales.
However, the exact time period that these earnings were generated is not specified in the letter.
In addition, HMRC will only be able to contact individuals whom they have correctly identified, which may prove to be challenging due to people not always operating under their full given name, or not providing all the necessary information when registering on a marketplace or platform.
The nudge letters state that HMRC believes the individual has not declared all or some of their online income, and ask them to make a disclosure using the digital disclosure service (DDS) if this is the case. It is important to note that the gross sales figure provided by HMRC does not necessarily equate to taxable income.

HMRC has launched a new 'one-to-many' letter campaign from the week commencing 16th January.
It is expected that thousands of letters will be sent out to individuals who have earned a certain amount of money from selling items or services online.
The first letter is aimed at those who have sold items or services through online marketplaces, such as eBay or Etsy.
HMRC has stated that they only intend to contact those whom they believe have earned more than £12,570 from their online sales.
However, the exact time period that these earnings were generated is not specified in the letter.
In addition, HMRC will only be able to contact individuals whom they have correctly identified, which may prove to be challenging due to people not always operating under their full given name, or not providing all the necessary information when registering on a marketplace or platform.
The nudge letters state that HMRC believes the individual has not declared all or some of their online income, and ask them to make a disclosure using the digital disclosure service (DDS) if this is the case. It is important to note that the gross sales figure provided by HMRC does not necessarily equate to taxable income.

My 2023 Britannia arrived today with King Charles on the obverse.
I also have the 2023 Britannia with our former Queen.
So fellow stackers which coin of the two are you predicting will be the more sought after in a few years ?
(a) the very last Brit struck with Queen Elizabeth, or
(b) the first with King Charles ?
My apologies for the image quality taken in dull conditions under a desk lamp.

I would like to see a two headed "mule"
😎