Hi guys
So ive tried to find the appropriate forum for this topic, so admin, if this is wrong, could you please move it, thank you.
I would like to buy a few gold coins. I have been looking at the Royal Mint, but from what Ive been told, they add a massive markup on their items from market price.
Can anyone recommend a legit store to buy gold coins in the UK?
There seems to be a few out there but I don't recognise the names.
Thanks guys.
I know this is an old thread, but I thought my input might be helpful to anyone who comes across it in the future.
Disclaimer I work with Goldealers, where we primarily buy precious metals as scrap from the public, but we also purchase and sell bullion in the form of coins and bars, including pre-owned bullion.
A few things to consider:
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) – If you're in the UK and looking to invest in gold coins, it's worth focusing on British Bullion Coins, like Sovereigns and Britannias. These are exempt from CGT, making them a tax-efficient choice.
Dealer Margins – Many people prefer to buy new bullion, but new coins usually come with quite high margins from both bullion dealers and the Royal Mint.
For example, you might pay 7-10% (or more) over the spot price for new bullion coins, and when it’s time cash-in your investment, you’ll often only get back around 90-95% of the spot or fix price, depending on the dealer—sometimes a bit more if you’re lucky. That’s a spread of around 15-20% I personally think that's a bit crazy...
If you're primarily interested in gold as an investment, it’s often worth considering pre-owned bullion. You’ll typically sell at similar rates to new bullion, but when buying pre-owned, you can often find deals at 2-5% above the spot or fix price.
Some dealers also offer a buy-back scheme - meaning that if you purchased from them, they will promise to buy-back what you sold them at a much better rate than those who are just selling.
Here’s a real-world example:
On Friday, October 18, the AM LBMA fix was £2,079.25 per ounce. Rounding to whole numbers for simplicity from hereon:
- A full sovereign would have a bullion value of around £489.
- Buying new, you might pay around £525 for each sovereign at a very-well-known dealer, which is about 7.5% over the fix.
- Buying pre-owned, you could pay around £520, saving about 1% compared to buying new.
With a bit of shopping around wink wink, you can even find deals on pre-owned sovereigns for as low as £510, roughly 4% above the fix.
And don’t forget, pre-owned sovereigns often come with a lot of history, making them much more interesting from a collector’s perspective and potentially for resale too!
Also, we may be talking about savings of 1-4% here, but in reality - folks rarely just buy 1 sovereign... and that's where the margins really add up.
