Britannia's overrated compared to cheaper offerings?

[universalcurrency]

I was recently thinking that Britannia's are over rated: as they are also suffer milk spot, dealers wont necessarily pay the premium over generic silver and lastly is the CGT advantage that much of an issue?

If you take the silver pumpers view that Ag is set for at least 10X gains then the CGT exemption might come in handy.  However if you expect silver to make only modest gains, perhaps it could be argued that most investors will be lucky to see gains within their tax allowance...

Considering the grater quantity of silver you could hold in other generics such as philis, maple leaves, or kangaroos, isnt that a better alternative?

Also in a prepper situation, eg buying your groceries goods directly with silver, who is going to care if its CGT free or not?

I'm certainly not wishing for a Venezuala stile colapse any time soon btw. 😉

 

[blackadder]

34 minutes ago, universalcurrency said:

I was recently thinking that Britannia's are over rated: as they are also suffer milk spot, dealers wont necessarily pay the premium over generic silver and lastly is the CGT advantage that much of an issue? 

If you take the silver pumpers view that Ag is set for at least 10X gains then the CGT exemption might come in handy.  However if you expect silver to make only modest gains, perhaps it could be argued that most investors will be lucky to see gains within their tax allowance...

Considering the grater quantity of silver you could hold in other generics such as philis, maple leaves, or kangaroos, isnt that a better alternative? 

Also in a prepper situation, eg buying your groceries goods directly with silver, who is going to care if its CGT free or not? 

I'm certainly not wishing for a Venezuala stile colapse any time soon btw. 😉

 

Dealers don't normally pay you the premiums anyway,So people buying higher premium coins aren't going to be buying them with the aim to sell at a high street dealer.maples and other coins milk spot aswell,Plus you'll always be able to sell a britannia in the uk

Not to say the cheaper owls and the like don't do well here,and would be the cheaper option for weight stacking.

[flim]

there are just too many alternatives:

change the law (other people are paying no tax on the same product else where)

hold the metal in another country

buy from where the tax is lower

[sixgun]

Since when were Kangaroos, Philharmonics better quality silver? Agreed Maples are 9999 but this has never figured in prices paid.

There is way too much talk about CGT here - i don't believe anyone has ever paid CGT on their coins on the silver forum. In my view no-one here should be paying - there are ways around it. Who knows what is sold in private sales - i only would ever be selling 'Britannias' - don't need to declare those.

i wish Britannias had the different designs on the BU coins - this would be a big plus. Kangaroos are in my mind one of the nastiest looking coins out. Maples are virtually guaranteed to spot but are good silver and you should pay prices that match their spottiness. Philharmonics - good silver but again boring same old same old design which might spot. i would possibly say the Britannia is the best of the bunch.

[danmc82]

4 hours ago, sixgun said:

 I would possibly say the Britannia is the best of the bunch.

My favorite Silver coins are probably Panda's. Cheap to buy when they first come out, then attract a small premium over time.

I've only just started collecting Brit's, but only as a date run.

I've gone off collecting bulk of the same coin, theres no fun in it for me. I also think IMO that Numasmatic SIlver is the way to go.

[vand]

I think they're a solid option. Brits don't command an especially high premium. I've personally stacked a lot of them, and most of them have escaped spotting.

I don't expect much premium growth, but that is what makes them good as the base of my stack that I'm happy to liquidate without too much emotional attachment if and when the time is right. 

[KitboyE17]

9 hours ago, vand said:

I think they're a solid option. Brits don't command an especially high premium. I've personally stacked a lot of them, and most of them have escaped spotting.

I don't expect much premium growth, but that is what makes them good as the base of my stack that I'm happy to liquidate without too much emotional attachment if and when the time is right. 

Britts are a solid foundation metal for the moment. You can pick them up at reasonable prices and stack them away. Forget about them and flip them every so often into gold (or other numismatic coins as is your prefernce). 

[QStack]

Silver Kruggerands are cheaper than brits. Would these not be better to purchase?

[Pete]

The Britannias that were 958 silver ( pre 2013 I think ( too lazy to check )) rather than the softer 999 silver were definitely collectible and in great demand.
They were lovely coins and you might want to check prices before condemning them to Maple or Philly status.

The big mistake in my mind was when the RM decided to make the Brits fine silver and truly cocked up.
The way they were minted and handled resulted in very poor quality - big scuffs, reeded dings and the rest.
To get round the QC they moved to the patterned fields which don't show the scratches so readily.
I agree the newer fine silver Brits are no more desireable than the Perth Mint Kangaroo and other cheaper bullion but the earlier Brits will always attract premiums.
The oriental border Brit however, supplied in a cap, from the Mint is a good looking quality coin so they can make 'em if they choose to do so.

@QStack - the silver Krugs are a real quality bullion coin.

 

[QStack]

@Pete Might get a couple of tubes of Krugs instead of Brits on my next silver purchase

[Pete]

2 minutes ago, QStack said:

@Pete Might get a couple of tubes of Krugs instead of Brits on my next silver purchase

Good choice

[Coolsmp]

Britannias are tried and tested over many years. Silver Krugerands are new to the market

[FFkook]

On 13/11/2018 at 14:54, sixgun said:

Since when were Kangaroos, Philharmonics better quality silver? Agreed Maples are 9999 but this has never figured in prices paid.

Indeed, I recently got my first "Philly", and it's spotting like crazy!!

[Bimetallic]

4 hours ago, Pete said:

The Britannias that were 958 silver ( pre 2013 I think ( too lazy to check )) rather than the softer 999 silver were definitely collectible and in great demand.
They were lovely coins and you might want to check prices before condemning them to Maple or Philly status.

The big mistake in my mind was when the RM decided to make the Brits fine silver and truly cocked up.
The way they were minted and handled resulted in very poor quality - big scuffs, reeded dings and the rest.
To get round the QC they moved to the patterned fields which don't show the scratches so readily.
I agree the newer fine silver Brits are no more desireable than the Perth Mint Kangaroo and other cheaper bullion but the earlier Brits will always attract premiums.
The oriental border Brit however, supplied in a cap, from the Mint is a good looking quality coin so they can make 'em if they choose to do so.

@QStack - the silver Krugs are a real quality bullion coin.

 

I wish we saw more alloys instead of pure silver, especially modern alloys like Argentium. But one disadvantage would be that several countries' VAT or GST tax exemptions stipulate a particular fineness, like 999 or 995.

[AppleZippoandMetronome]

I think the Britannia coins fit in exactly where they should here in so far as I would expect a countries bullion coin to be the most popular in the country it is from. As it is a national symbol it will likely always be popular and in demand here - that popularity drives the premium (though as others have pointed out you won't get that premium selling to a dealer). I don't think it is any better or worse quality wise than the other generic bullion coins - pre 2018 maples are notorious for spotting as an example though it will be interesting to see how the Mintshield technology holds up long term. If that works out it could certainly give maples and other RCM bullion coins a future advantage though that being said the maple will never be as iconic a symbol in the UK as Britannia for very good and obvious reasons.

If you are purely in this to stack weight then your best bet is to just get whatever bullion coins are cheapest. I agree complete with @sixgun with regards to CGT.

[ilovesilverireallydo]

The CGT angle is pointless for low volume stackers. I have a couple of investment banker friends that stack only Brits, but their typical orders are monster boxes, at least a couple a month. If you equate that to annual buying it’s nearly £150k a year. 

Selling that much volume privately is not easy, but can be done in the right networks. However they happily declare those sales and pay no tax on them. 

One guy said that when silver hit £9 in December 2015, he basically bought £200k worth of Brits from Europe. Sold them just after the July 2016 peak to another private stacker of his calibre and cleared a reasonable profit, all legal, all tax free, all declared. 

So the CGT thing has its place,when you playing at the right volumes. 

Edit: I forgot to say that the lot he bought in July wasnt the lot he sold, instead it replaced the lot he did sell.

[999Ag]

I think GCT or not, Britannia's have there fit and are a fine (excuse the pun) option. 

You always pay a premium when buying coins what ever the coin, in the uk the britannia is one of the most recognised and understood coins with a healthy pool of buyers in the market who continue to keep this premium healthy, for example over time Iam not sure we could say that about the "kangaroo".