Blockhead

I have wondered this myself

Just a bit of info in case it helps anyone: Metro Bank specifically said their safety deposit box contentd are not insured since they don't know (don't ask) what's in them. They also said you must not store cash in it. Correct as at February 2018.

To be fair that's a bit unkind. It's Ming the Merciless

They have a sister site called Gold.co.uk which is cheaper but doesn't have quite the range. I discovered this when I bought some gold on BBP then found the same much cheaper on gold.Co.Uk and noticed how similar the Web site layout and content was. I wondered if it was the same outfit and on the off chance I tried my login details from BBP on gold.Co.Uk and low and behold it logged me in. The difference in price was about 30% so not insignificant. I emailed BBP about this and received a refund of the difference within an hour. I still use gold.Co.Uk as I was happy with their response.

Very nice indeed, especially the 'map' coin and those diamond shaped ones

As I'm new to the forum and working my way round the posts (many hours enjoyed here so far) I am wondering if people here tend to avoid ebay. In the earlier days I bought 1ozt silver bars and coins if they were cheap, as I didn't know much about what might do well in the future and just wanted low premium over spot. That is still pretty much my strategy a year later unless something really catches my eye. The only exception has been gold which I have much less of and have always bought from a reputable website given the cost ratio of silver to gold. I have been very pleased with my ebay purchases, especially on larger coins and bars recently, but I wonder if anything in my stack isn't what it purports to be and I can't quite get this niggling out of my head. I have one of those coin sizing cards on its way to me. I already have a neodymium magnet and everything passed that test. I have some acid (silver testing only) but I can't bring myself to damage any of my stuff, at least not till I'm ready to sell and that is hopefully many years away. I've never seen pieces tested this way for sale so far. I took some coins to a jeweller and he saw my reluctance to test this way and said "well they're nothing special".They are only bullion grade but I was strangely a little hurt by this. I didn't want him damaging my coins but he didn't have a twenty grand XRF machine!!

What about people's opinions on bullet point three of the original question? I have only been buying physical silver and gold for a year and have never sold. Assuming it was the right time to sell for your personal circumstances, EBay seems like a prima facie good idea for selling as you might reach a huge audience but I'd be wary of being scammed by the buyer with fraudulent claims that I'd sent a fake. I don't know how these claims would play out but I imagine ebay would do little investigation and generally side with the buyer. Has anyone got any experience of that? A trusted forum of members like this one might be better for that reason and maybe the potential customer base is not much reduced from ebay after all. Failing that, if a lot of your stack was low premium over spot at the time of your purchase then can you take it to four or five local jewellers and pick the best price? Surely the best liquidity if spot is well over what you paid.

New member here, saying hello. I found this place through Backyard Bullion's YouTube videos, and started watching those after a friend convinced me to take a tentative look at gold and silver. I have a modest stack (although everything is relative) of silver and an even more modest stack of gold. Despite not having anything numismatic and focusing on low premiums I do enjoy the different designs and the tactile elements of physical ownership of these precious metals. Looking forward to finding my way round the site.