Hi hope you guys can help me out; I've been lurking around reading posts for a while but now time to ask a few questions! Firstly; I guess whilst my knowledge is quite limited I have built up a modest stack of approx 200oz but in need of a bit of direction as to how best to push on in this market. All my questions really stem from the fact I'm in the UK, so here goes... 1) Of the relatively few forums I've found there doesn't seem to be any which are particularly geared to UK investors and on the more popular ones such as this not that many people from the UK posting. Is there somewhere obvious I've missed where they are all hiding or due to points below are there just not as many?! 2) As you know silver in the UK attracts VAT @ 20% so when I read threads of buying at spot + 1, or + 2 I get quite jealous. I obviously have to pay spot + 1 + 20% which is quite a premium compared to what others can get it at (If I'm buying physical which I want to). Unless I'm mistaken this makes the game a much longer one; it needs to go up significantly to be able to sell at close to spot and make a profit, or to sell earlier your market is limited to the likes of ebay where people will buy close to the market (spot+vat) price but then you have all the ebay fees and risks of selling as well. I wonder if this part answers my question in 1. It is a different form of investing; investing in Physical cannot be for the short term. 3) Perth Mint coins. In my opinion they seem to have gone a bit over the top in terms of the number of different series that they have out there seems to be hundreds of coloured coins available. Very very occasionally I'll find a couple in a coin shop in the UK and if they are 3-4 above the price of a non coloured coin I'll buy it for the variety. Everytime I look at the Perth Mint website though there are at least 20 coins I'd like to get my hands on but the only way seems to be ordering direct from the Mint which seem very expensive (64 ish for a typical 1oz coloured compared to 30 for a non coloured coin in the UK) which would then have shipping and import duty added on, or by buying at vastly over inflated prices on ebay (typically twice the price Perth Mint are selling for). The Royal Mint in the UK doesn't really have the same series going on and when they do they are vastly overpriced. I'm really quite jealous that a lot of you have easy access to a number of sellers for the Perth Mint coins! Does anyone know of a supplier in the UK selling these on at an albeit inflated, but not crazy price or is my best best to order a big stash from the mint then sell on excess on ebay myself?!! 4) Finally, whilst I like a few 'pretty' coins most of my silver is just fine silver for investment. However of the coins available the prices can vary quite a lot. Taking the prices from coininvestdirect.com tonight they are as follows 2011 Koala 33.07, 2012 Kookaburra 28.87, 2011 Grizzly bear 31.75, 2011 Maple Leaf 29.78, 2011 Panda 29.75, 2011 Britannia 29.90, 2011 Libertad 27.35, 2011 Eagle 27.85. given the variation in prices is there any reason why I should spend 1 per oz more on Kookaburra's than Eagles or 6 more on Koala's than Libertad's or should I buy whatever is cheapest at the time? Currently I've been buying say 5 of each at a time but don't know if this is a good or bad strategy. I can understand previous years goin up in value slightly, or of course Proofs and limited editions but for the standard coins why such a variation? Sorry for all the questions but hopefully some of you can help me with answers to some of the above! Thanks - Sunny
