FAQs

Buying online.

If you are a private individual, register for an account. We then ask that you supply your ID if buying £5000 or more of gold. We need two items of I.D.

1. Photo ID – one of the following:
   Passport
   Full UK Driving licence
2. Proof of address – one of the following:
   Bank statement ( dated within the last six months)
   Utility Bill ( dated within the last six months)
   Council Tax bill
   Full UK driving licence ( only if not used as photo ID)

We do not accept mobile phone bills or credit card statements.

If you are buying online, we only accept UK debit cards and credit cards which can be verified by the 3D authentification/3D secure process. Please note that we will only accept credit cards online for a maximum of £5000.

We take your ID to comply with HM Customs & Excise anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism legislation. Please note, we may ask for ID for smaller transactions if we need to do further due diligence checks. Please note that every transaction will be verified through a fraud screening process which will also verify your address.

Your order will be delivered by Royal Mail Special Delivery or a courier of our choice. It will be fully insured and you will need to sign for your order when it arrives. You may need to show ID to take delivery of the parcel. We will only deliver to the billing address of your card.

Buying In Person

Our bullion department is open from 9.30-5.00 Monday to Friday and you can come in and buy over the counter. We accept payment by UK debit card or small amounts of cash ( under £7000 per annum from the date of your first purchase), but not credit cards or overseas debit cards.

We ask for one form of photo ID ( passport or full UK driving licence) if you are purchasing up to £5000.

We require two forms of ID if you are buying £5000 or over ( or if your cumulative transactions reach £10000 over the course of a year from your first purchase.)

These ID requirements are the same whether you are paying by card, bank transfer or in cash.

If you are a company wanting to purchase gold, there are enhanced due diligence checks. These can take longer than checks for private individuals and we suggest that you contact our bullion dealers on 0207 930 6879 to discuss this further before placing an order.

We take financial crime very seriously and we have a legal requirement to comply with UK regulations regarding money laundering, anti terrorism and fraud.
Please note, we may ask for ID for smaller transactions if we need to do further due diligence checks. Every transaction will be verified through a fraud screening process, which will also verify your address.

We take your ID to comply with H.M. Customs & Excise legislation regarding money laundering and to verify your identity to combat fraud. The information you provide is never sold or used for marketing purposes. Please view our privacy policy to see how we store and use your data.

No, you can buy our silver products from about £25 upwards – ideal as a gift or as a small investment. Gold products tend to start from about £70 upwards.

You will not pay VAT on purchases of gold bullion coins or gold bars, however all silver bullion bars and all new silver coins are subject to standard rate VAT @20%.

The most important thing for UK taxpayers to know is that all British legal tender coins such as the gold Britannias and gold Sovereigns are not subject to Capital Gains Tax when you sell. Other coins and gold bars are subject to CGT if you exceed your annual allowance – currently £6000 for the 2022/23 tax year reducing to £3000 for the 2023/24 tax year. Capital gains tax is payable on the profit you have made when you sell, not the value of the goods and you don’t pay CGT if your total income is below the personal allowance in that tax year.

We do not charge any commission for bullion coins and bars, but there is a margin between the buying and selling price which is how we make a profit. All bullion coins and bars trade at a premium above the gold price when you are buying. This covers the manufacturing costs, shipping etc from the producers. The premium depends on the size of the item you are buying – for example a one gram gold bar will have a much higher premium than a gold kilo bar because the manaufacturing costs are higher.

Yes, we would be happy to buy back your gold, assuming it is in the original condition. You can either bring it in to our offices or send it to us by Royal Mail Special Delivery. See our separate ‘Selling to us’ page for further details (link).

Bullion coins and bars are generally issued in large quantities and trade very closely to their intrinsic precious metal content. Unlike numismatic coins which normally attract a high premium over their metal content by virtue of their rarity and condition, bullion items are usually minted purely as an investment

Baldwin’s are a highly respected numismatic dealer with a history dating back to 1872. We are members of the British Numismatic Trade Association and have to adhere to a code of ethics. Everything we buy and sell is examined by our experienced and knowledgable specialists. Don’t forget that any coins you purchase from us are covered by our lifetime guarantee as long as they remain in their original condition. All the gold bars we sell are from LBMA ( London Bullion Market Association) approved ‘good delivery’ refiners

We do offer secure fully insured storage facilities for gold. Our current charges are 1% of the total value held plus VAT, per annum, but we have a minimum charge of £100 + VAT. This is calculated on the metal prices on the nearest trading day to 31st December each year. If you put your gold into storage, we will calculate your first payment based on the metal price of the date we accept your goods until 31st December of that year. You will then be charged for the full year from that date onwards. Please note if you sell or remove your holdings during the course of the year, there will be no refund.

We do ask for two forms of ID if you are putting your coins or bars into storage.

Generally, we only accept gold bullion coins or bars for storage.

You can find out more about our storage options here.

Yes, if you wish to sell your gold we can fix a price over the telephone. We then ask that you send us a signed letter of authorisation to sell your gold together with photo identification. Once we have received this we can make payment to you by cheque or bank transfer. Alternatively, you can come into our offices with your photo ID and we can arrange payment to you.

If you wish to collect your gold, we ask for a minimum of 24 hour’s notice. You must bring photo ID with you. If you wish us to deliver your gold to you, we require a signed letter of authorisation and your photo ID with confirmation of your delivery instructions. Please note that we will not release your holding to any third party

The gold price can be volatile and so gold should be considered as a medium to long term investment. Most investment advisors recommend that 10% of your investment portfolio should be in gold. Gold is a traditional safeguard in times of economic uncertainty, as it has proven to be a good hedge against inflation and against currency fluctuations. It comes into its own as a balance against other investments, as typically it performs well when the stocks and bond markets are struggling. Gold investment has always been seen as an ideal way to protect wealth.

The main reason that investors purchase physical gold, is to have it close at hand in times of economic unrest or times of conflict. There is no reliance on any third party if you want to liquidate your investment and it is easily portable if you move. It is also one of the few investments that is universally recognised – physical gold can be sold all over the world. It is also a store of wealth outside the banking system if there is a time of financial crisis

These days it is very easy to follow the gold price. The current price is quoted by most dealers on their websites. The price is always quoted in US dollars and converted to Sterling for the UK market. Do bear in mind that this is purely an indication of the price of gold per ounce on the market and that the buying and selling price of coins and bars will be different.

You will see the gold price quoted in most daily newspapers, but that is a day behind and is usually the price for a very large quantity of gold.
If you would like to check the value of your coins or bars, you can always give our dealers a call on 0207 930 6879

The London gold fix was a method of fixing the price by the five main Bullion houses ; NM Rothschild & Sons, Mocatta & Goldschmid, Pixley & Abell, Samuel Montagu & Co and Sharps Wilkins, who formed the London Gold Market. On 12th September, 1919, the first gold fix took place at the offices of NM Rothschild & Sons. This process originally took place once a day, in the morning at 10.30. Each representative would have a desk with a telephone and a flag. The chairman would announce an opening price which was relayed by telephone to each of the dealing rooms of the bullion houses at the fixing. They would then pass the price on to their clients around the world. Each member would disclose their buying or selling orders for a number of bars. The flag was kept raised while the price was negotiated and until the representative was happy with the price quoted. If there was a balance of buyers and sellers and only when all the flags were lowered, could the chairman declare a ‘fix’. This process originally took place once a day, but from 1968 it took place twice a day at 10.30 am ( the morning fix) and 3 pm ( the afternoon gold fix).

N M Rothschild & Sons Ltd announced in 2004 that it was withdrawing form the fixing. The process continued until 2015, when the historic London Gold Fix was replaced by the LBMA Gold Price. There are now fifteen participants who contribute to the LBMA Gold Price and which is now an electronic auction process. It is still set twice a day at 10.30 and 3pm.