Building on the successful launch in September of its new bullion trading website www.royalmintbullion.com, The Royal Mint is to expand its offering to include fractional gold bullion coins for the first time as part of its core range. The new additions – the Britannia Half-Ounce, the Britannia Quarter-Ounce and the Britannia Tenth-Ounce gold bullion coins – will offer a choice of increments to customers looking for versatility and a more easily divisible portfolio.
The Royal Mint’s Director of Commemorative Coin and Bullion, Shane Bissett says, “We are delighted by the tremendous response www.royalmintbullion.com has received since its launch. Whilst The Royal Mint is already a key player in the UK bullion market, we wanted to strengthen our proposition further by making the purchase of gold even more accessible to customers by offering Britannia gold coins at a range of price points.”
The fractional coins are expected to be popular with customers, who can access The Royal Mint’s bullion trading platform 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in order to buy, store and sell bullion coins directly from The Royal Mint quickly, effortlessly and securely.
Unlike its competitors, The Royal Mint’s trading website www.royalmintbullion.com provides constantly updated live prices for gold and silver at a rate linked to the current precious metal price.
How does it work?
Once a customer has set up an account on The Royal Mint’s trading platform, they will be able to buy brand new Royal Mint Britannia, Sovereign and Lunar bullion coins. The flagship coin, The Sovereign, is struck in 22 carat gold. Britannia coins are available in 999.9 fine gold (24 carat) in One Ounce, Half-Ounce, Quarter-Ounce and Tenth-Ounce weights, and Britannia One-Ounce coins are also available in 999 fine silver. The UK’s newest Bullion coin, the Lunar coin, is also struck in either 999.9 fine gold (24 carat) or 999 fine silver.
Once the transaction is complete customers can then opt to have the coins delivered to their home through an insured postal service, or store their gold coins in The Vault™, The Royal Mint’s on-site precious metal storage facility – which is protected at all times by the Ministry of Defence.
The Royal Mint introduced The Vault™ in response to increased demand for its bullion coins and market demand for additional vaulting capacity. The Royal Mint is the only Mint to enable customers anywhere in the world to arrange secure, on-site storage directly with the mint, at any time of day or night.
The Royal Mint has also guaranteed that it will provide all customers with a quotation to buy back any gold coins bought from its website and stored in The Vault™ – this money will then be deposited directly into the customer’s Royal Mint Bullion account, ready for them to withdraw or to make a new purchase.
Research conducted by The World Gold Council has suggested that there is potentially £4 billion* latent demand for gold investment within the UK alone, but consumers have been deterred from taking the plunge because of the perceived barriers to purchasing precious metals.
Historically, these have included assumptions that the services of a reputable broker are required to negotiate the fairest price, that there is limited access to local bullion coin dealers, or worries about shipping and storage.
With the introduction of www.royalmintbullion.com The Royal Mint hopes to address these concerns and introduce the bullion coin market to a wider audience.
At the time of the launch, Shane Bissett, The Royal Mint’s Director of Commemorative Coin and Bullion, said, “Where the average consumer may have shunned gold due to perceived complexities, The Royal Mint can help make this option a much more accessible opportunity. We want to help expand the bullion market in the UK, particularly as coins offer a relatively affordable introduction – and believe we are well placed to do so.
“The Royal Mint is responsible for manufacturing all UK coinage and has long been trusted with the currencies of other countries too, supplying to more than 60 worldwide. The quality of our bullion coins is of an extremely high standard which cannot be rivalled. We have been a highly respected and trusted source of coins for kings, queens and governments for over 1,000 years, and this proud heritage is means that we are globally recognised as a reliable source for bullion coins.”
The Royal Mint gold bullion coins enjoy VAT-free status in the United Kingdom. The Royal Mint’s Britannia, Sovereign and Lunar bullion coins are Capital Gains Tax (CGT) free for residents of the United Kingdom as they are sterling legal tender.