Coins & Bars: UK

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GoldMadeSimple 7.0 21
TaxFreeGold 7.0 NA
GoldLine 4.2 16

Online Purchase means you’re able to submit an order based on online prices. When this feature is not checked, any published prices are indicative only. Orders can only be placed after obtaining a quoted price by phone, email, fax or over the counter.  

Premium Over Spot is an estimate of the difference between selling price & spot price for one piece of 1 oz gold & silver coin or closest equivalent based on published prices. “NA” indicates bullion type is not available while “?” indicates bullion type is available but there is none in the 1 oz range available for fair comparison. See “Reviews” for premiums of other products.


Reviews

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GoldMadeSimple.com

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Products
Gold coins
: QE2 Sovereigns, S. African Krugerrand, Britannia, Australian Kangaroo, Canadian Maple Leaf
Gold bars:  Valcambi, Argor-Heraeus, Umicore (100g, 250g, 500g, 1kg & 12.5kg)
Silver coins: American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf
Silver bars: (1kg)

Pricing & Ordering
Online real-time prices (updated every few seconds) for each product group are displayed in a single table (order form) for easy comparison and product selection. For orders below £ 5,000, there’s a 48hr Price Hold policy while waiting receipt of your funds, provided you make a ‘same day’ transfer. To make larger orders at the published online pricing, you ‘ll need to pre-fund your account or pay with debit or credit cards (see payment & Delivery below).

Grand total for products, VAT and shipping charges within UK are computed on the fly as you select the products and quantities. VAT applies to silver and shipping charges, but not to gold bullion. Orders exceeding £10,000 for shipment outside of the UK require a manual quotation.

Payment & Delivery
According to the How to Buy and Payment guide,  payments can be made by CHAPS, wire transfer, a pre-funded account, debit card or credit card. Debit or Credit Cards (processed through Sage Pay) are accepted only if you choose not to take delivery but have your gold stored in their vault. There’s a 3% surcharge for credit card payments. UK deliveries are made through fully insured Royal Mail Special Next Day Delivery or a secure courier service at the following rates:-

  • Up to 250 grams £15.00
  • 250 up to 500 grams £17.00
  • 500 up to 750 grams £20.00
  • 750 to1000 grams £25.50
  • Full market bars and International delivery price upon request.

Currencies
Prices are quoted in GBP, EUR, USD and AUD

Premiums
There’s a published Schedule of Fees showing margins (premium over spot) for most gold products. Based on a random check for some common products, here’s a picture of their premiums range.

  • 1oz gold Krugerrand coin - 7.0% over spot
  • 1Kg gold bar - 2.35% over spot
  • 1oz silver Eagle coin - about 21% over spot (Minimum 20 pcs)
  • 1Kg silver bar - about 9.4% over spot

Storage
Free Storage & Insurance (for gold only) seems to be offered all over the web site. On the homepage, one of the Top 10 reasons to buy gold and silver bullion from Gold Made Simple is “FREE storage and insurance”.

However there are conflicting conditions stated in other places. According to the Help page, the following is said about storage:-

Can you store my gold and how much does it cost? Storage is free until January 2011. After January 2011 an annual storage fee is required. The annual charge for each bar stored is £45 per Kilo. There is a minimum charge of £45 for any bar in storage.

Do you store the Gold Bars? Yes we do offer a storage facility. If you choose to store your gold bar or coin in the Gold Made Simple vault it will be held in secure premises in London. Storage and insurance is free, GoldMadeSimple will pay all storage and insurance costs for you.

Can you store my gold for me? This is the option we would recommend. We have secure storage facilities located in London and you will be able to select this option when you buy gold. Our storage vault for bullion gold is secure and is run by accredited professional vault operators. For the first year storage is free. After the first year you will have to pay an annual rate to keep your gold bars in the vault. This cost is based upon the weight of your gold.

According to Clause 20 of the Terms & Conditions, the following is said about storage

Following your purchase of Product you may elect to have the Product stored, subject to your having purchased the minimum quantity.  We will arrange for the Product to be stored in the vaults of the supplier of the Product, independent vaults, or your own secure storage.  Once full payment for the bullion has been received by us, full legal title to the bullion is transferred to you. We will manage the storage on your behalf as your agent and will not loan out the bullion, or otherwise infringe your rights to obtain physical possession of the bullion upon demand. Our ‘storage only’ products, such as ‘pooled gold’ and  ’pooled silver’ do not have a delivery option and can only be redeemed for currency. Storage is subject to the ongoing storage and insurance charges outlined on the Website.  If you fail to pay the storage charges we reserve the right to sell all or part of the Product stored to cover the charge and to place any surplus proceeds in your Account.

However, minimum quantity of bullion (by weight or currency value) to qualify for free storage does not seem to be posted anywhere on the site.

No storage for silver (free or otherwise) is offered.

Due to apparent contradictions regarding their storage service, it is advisable to seek clarification from GoldMadeSimple if you plan to use their storage facilities.

- Updated: 11 Feb 2012 -
The apparent contradictions have been cleared up with a recent notification from GoldMadeSimple. Effective 1st April 2012, free gold storage is no longer available. The following rates apply to existing and new customers’ holdings.

Gold Grams

  • Gold Gram storage and insurance is 0.015% of the gold value per month
  • The minimum monthly charge is 0.1 Gold Gram per month
  • Charges are deducted from your Gold Grams account monthly in advance.

Allocated Bars and Coins

  • Gold storage and insurance is 0.03% of the gold value per month
  • Silver storage and insurance is 0.1% per month
  • The minimum monthly charge is £ 7.50
  • Charges are payable quarterly in advance by direct debit.
- End Update -

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Buy Back
You may sell your gold and silver back to GoldMadeSimple. Just like the buying process, an online real-time sell back schedule of prices for all products is also displayed in a single table for easy reference.

There is a guaranteed minimum of 98% of the spot price for gold and silver. For LBMA good delivery bars (400 oz gold bars) that have not left the accredited vaults network,  this amount can be as high as 99.7%.

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Chard - TaxFreeGold.co.uk

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Products
Wide range of gold coins & bars including the following:
Gold coins: Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, American Eagle & Buffalo, Austrian Philharmoniker, Australian Nugget, S. African Krugerrand, Chinese Panda (including 1kg coin!)
Gold bars:  Degussa, Credit Suisse, PAMP Suisse, Argor-Heraeus, Umicore, Ramico, Johnson Matthey, UBS, Argo-Chiasso, Baird & Co (from 1g to 1kg)

Pricing & Ordering
Products are very well categorized by brand, type, weight and mint date. Updated online real-time prices are clearly displayed along side premiums, together with excellent great product information and large high resolution pictures of every product. UK orders may be made online, by phone or by downloading a form and sending in by fax or post.

Payment has to be effected on the same day the order is placed to lock in the price. For large orders, though the threshold is not published, a deposit may be required to secure the order.

Payment & Delivery
According to the Terms & Conditions of Sale, they accept personal cheques, company cheques, and bank drafts as preferred payments for orders under £20,000. For larger orders, payments could be done through bank transfers. Cash by insured postal delivery is also accepted.

When ordering online, the check out page allows payment by UK registered Debit Cards as well (but no credit cards).

Currencies
Prices are quoted in GBP, although settlement in other currencies can be negotiated.

Premiums
An excellent feature of their ordering page is the listing of the premium for each item next to the selling price. So if you’re looking at a table of Gold Eagle Coins, you’ll see the premium being applied for each size of coin together with their corresponding selling prices. Here’s a sample of premiums for some popular items:-

Storage
No bullion storage services offered.

Buy Back
Offers to buy scrap gold and gold coins even if they are not purchased from them. No published Buy prices. May sell by going to their showroom or by post through a downloaded form.

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Baird & Co - GoldLine.co.uk

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Products
Wide range of gold coins & bars including the following:
Gold coins: QE2 Sovereigns, S. African Krugerrand, Britannia, Australian Kangaroo, Austrian Philharmoniker, Canadian Maple Leaf, Chinese Panda, American Eagle, Buffalo
Gold bars:   Baird & Co bars (2.5g to 1kg)
Silver coins: Britannia, Australian Koala & Lunar, Canadian Maple Leaf, American Eagle, Baird & Co Monarch, Peregrine Falcon, Rabbit silver rounds
Silver bars: Cast bars (1kg, 100oz)

Pricing & Ordering
Online real-time prices are updated continuously during business hours. Ordering can be made online or through the phone. Prices will be “locked” for 2 working days pending full payment.

Payment & Delivery
Payments can be made through sterling cheques and wire transfers according to the FAQ Page, although their Order Instructions Page indicates that cash is accepted as well. No credit cards are accepted for bullion products.

Local deliveries are made through insured Royal Mail Special Next Day Delivery service (Postage costs start from GBP7.50 and are generally no higher than GBP25). International shipping cost by FedEx will be advised upon placing order. Upon receipt of payment, goods will be despatched the next day or be available for pick up.

Currencies
Prices are quoted in GBP only.

Premiums
A random check for some gold & silver products from their online prices yielded the following premiums:-

  • 1oz gold Kangaroo coin - about 4.2% over spot
  • 1kg gold bar - about 2.2% over spot
  • 1 oz silver Maple Leaf coin - about 16% over spot
  • 1kg silver bar - about 11% over spot

Storage
With minimum bullion holding value of GBP5,000, Allocated Account storage is offered at the following rates:-
Gold: Annual fee of GBP550.00 per 12.5Kg bar, GBP60 per Kg for small bars and coins, payable per quarter in advance. Minimum annual charge: GBP175
Palladium: Annual fee of GBP60 per Kg for small bars and coins, payable per quarter in advance. Minimum annual charge: GBP175
Platinum: Annual fee of GBP75 per Kg, payable per quarter in advance. Minimum annual charge: GBP175
Silver: 1,000 oz silver bars at 0.5% of the average value of the silver stored billed quarterly in arrears on the average value of silver for the preceding quarter.

Buy Back
Offers to buy back your gold, but no rates are published. Need to contact them to fix a price. However, scrap gold & silver rates are published here.

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June 2011

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Disclaimer The above information is provided on a best-effort basis. It’s accuracy is not guaranteed, and may not reflect the most recent changes made by the service providers. Please perform your own due diligence and verify the information from their respective websites before making any decisions. The reviews are the personal opinion of the author and does not constitute any endorsement or recommendation. Neither does the author receive any compensation for writing this review.

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