More Britons are choosing to invest in gold as the price soars – even if that means buying in tiny amounts, research shows.
Gold prices are at near-record highs of around £1,850 an ounce, due to global tensions and high demand.
In response some are selling their gold to the Royal Mint for a profit, while others are choosing to buy the precious metal, seen as a safe haven for money in times of uncertainty.
Research by bullion dealers BullionByPost shows more Britons are investing in modest sums of gold.
A 1g gold bar — about the size of a mobile phone SIM card — is worth about £60 and sales have increased 340 per cent in the last four years.
It’s not all about size: Britons are choosing to snap up smaller gold coins and bars like these
BullionByPost figures reveal a little gold goes a long way, with a record 86 per cent of orders below £2,000 over the last year.
The average order value at BullionByPost is now around £1,400 – less than a 1oz bar or coin – with the top 10 most popular product weights sold all being 1oz or lower.
The data is based on sales of almost 50 tonnes of gold bars and coins worth £3billion, sent to more than a quarter of a million customers across the UK over the last ten years.
The demand has also been fuelled by the increasing prevalence of physical gold, and the fact gold bars are VAT-free.
British coins such as gold sovereigns and 1oz gold and silver britannias are also exempt from capital gains tax.
BullionByPost managing director Pete Walden said: ‘Gold bars and coins are no longer the preserve of the wealthy, but are instead an increasingly popular investment choice in more modest amounts for many people across the length and breadth of Britain.
‘A little physical gold goes a long way, and by tucking some away in a safe place at home, investors know they have more control and can actually get their hands on it, if need be.’
Full power: A 1oz gold bar such as this one will set you back the thick end of £2,000
Good as gold: This tiny 2.5g gold bar is worth £170, though prices change twice a day
Although some people buy up to £1million of gold in one order, a 1oz bar – smaller than a 5cm USB memory stick – or a 1oz gold Britannia coin, are currently the most popular gold purchase, worth roughly £1,900.
A 2.5g gold bar, which is a little larger than a SIM card, is worth about £170, and has seen sales increase 214 per cent.
A 20g gold bar, slightly longer than an AAA-size battery, is worth £1,268, and has seen sales increase 265 per cent.
A 1oz gold Britannia, the most popular 1oz coin for investment — about the size of a 20p piece — is worth £1,850 and saw an increase of 62 per cent.
For those who have a more to invest, a traditional 12.5kg bar — made famous by the likes of the Bond film Goldfinger — is worth around £750,000.
All that glitters: A 20g gold bar sells for almost £1,300 – the price of many second-hand cars
Where do gold buyers live?
Research compiled by BullionByPost also identified the top 50 areas in the UK for sales of gold bars and coins – by analysing the average total number of grams of gold sold, per customer, cumulatively over the last ten years.
It found the highest is in the London borough of Camden, where the average amount of gold sold per customer is 369g — or £22,343.
Not surprisingly, six other London boroughs feature in the nation’s top twenty, including Kensington & Chelsea (292g or £17,673), Hammersmith & Fulham (247g or £14,936) and Richmond (239g or £14,474).
Sovereign ruler: The traditional gold sov’ is the favoured coin for British investors
How to invest in gold
There are a few main ways you can get exposure to the precious metal.
One way to invest in gold itself is through physical bars and coins, as BullionByPost has found.
Another way is through exchange traded commodities. Tracking the gold price in this way is no different from holding a passive investment in a stock market index.
These are funds, listed on the stock exchange, that provide investors with exposure to the gold price, backed up by physical holdings in bars of gold held in secure vaults.
You can hold ETCs in a Sipp or Isa to protect gains from tax. Investors need to be wary of ETFs that gain exposure through derivatives rather than physically holding the precious metal, as these are complex and can include costs that are not immediately apparent to the naked eye.
Lastly, investors can get exposure to gold through multi-asset funds.
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