What Is The Royal Mint?
There is no more prestigious purveyor of precious metals and coins than the Royal Mint, an organization that arguably dates back to 880 AD when coins of Alfred the Great were struck with the name “London” in the form of a monogram. William de Turnemire was appointed master moneyer throughout England, confirming the subordination of other mints around the country to London in 1279, when the mint was located in the secure walls of the Tower of London. It stayed there for 500 years. In 1561 there was a visit of Queen Elizabeth I to the Royal Mint on 10 July on the completion of the recoinage of debased coins. In 1812, with technology inexorably crushing the past with its steam and coal power, the Royal Mint moved to custom built premises in Tower Hill. With steam presses, dwellings for army officers and staff and patrolled by military guard, it was state of the art for the time. Over time electricity gave way to steam, and the Tower Hill building was acknowledged as unfit for purpose as the twentieth century strode on. The need to build again was clear to all. In 1967 it was announced that a new Royal Mint would be built at Llantrisant, near Cardiff and the first phase was opened by the Queen on 17 December 1968. The new buildings house some of the most advanced coining machinery in the world and it has a larger capacity than any other mint in Western Europe.
The Royal Mint is not the only mint in Britain but it is certainly the biggest and most prestigious. That “Royal” part of the Royal Mint is not a trivial thing. The history and constitutional importance of the “Royal” part is a significant barrier to political interference. Of course, with that “Royal” comes responsibilities. It is subjected to the freedom of information act 2000, and has a board of oversight to crystallise its values. The Royal Mint supplies around 100 issuing authorities around the world with coins and blanks. Blanks are metal discs, which are minted into coins. It is the leading export mint, with around 15 per cent of the worldwide market.
All this means that the respectability level of the Royal Mint is beyond doubt. Therefore, when it unveils a product it is accepted as a high quality product. That is why, in 20014, the Royal Mint released a new digital gold product called Signature Gold, eyebrows were raised. It has been the producer of coins for over 1000 years and with this product it has stepped into the 21st century. However, it is also apparent that, judging from the volume of coverage in the press anyway, that it is too new to be popular.
Signature Gold
Signature Gold is a share of a 400 oz 999.9 gold bar with shares divided down to a minimum of 0.001 oz and a minimum purchase (as of 2016) of £20. The 400 oz bar is the standard way to store gold and is the most cost effective way to purchase it. That, of course, would give you a price tag of around £400,00 ($500,000), way beyond most people. The bar will be kept in the Royal Mint vault under the protection of their security and never leave the vault. The gold in the vault, according to them, is reconciled, in other words accounted for, daily. They also claim that they will never issue more shares than they in fact have in their vaults, so no leveraging, no hypothecation and it is fully insured. The same vault is used for London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard gold bars. Signature Gold™ management fees are charged at 0.5% + VAT per annum based on the average daily value of your total gold holding that is stored in The Vault™. Selling the gold back to the Royal Mint is easy, with the cash going into your Royal Mint account which can then be transferred to a bank account or used to spend on other Royal Mint products.
My Experience
First I had to open up an account. Transferring money from my account into the Royal Mint account was slow taking a couple of days to show up. Once the money was in, buying signature gold was instantaneous. The option to redeem the gold to sterling in the Royal Mint account and then use it to buy other RM products is a huge attraction for those interested in precious metals, coins in your hands. Instead of saving the money in a bank account, buying signature gold allows you to take part in gold ownership without the risk of keeping valuables in your home and, whilst money parked in this way is not exactly liquid, it is liquid enough to sell and get cash in the bank within 5 days. The price spread is perfectly reasonable and updated every 15 seconds or so.
Conclusion
This is a superb product for those interested in investing in gold. It is easy, safe and versatile. You can start with very little money (minimum £20) and whatever your budget you can at least participate in gold investment. The option to change the investment in signature gold to real coins or bullion bars from (probably) the most prestigious and reputable source of bullion in the world is a very attractive option that always gets some interest when I tell others about it. Most think the Royal Mint as a vastly lofty organisation that the government uses to print our currency. That is true, it is owned by the United Kingdom Treasury, but it is more than that. It is a trusted national institution that is keeping abreast of the times.
