You need much more space to store silver because of its lower value-to-weight ratio

In Hong Kong the story is much the same. LPM caters to local customers, both wealthy and less so, and to frequent international travellers wanting an offshore location for gold or other metals. LPM does not have its own facility, but for customers wanting to store their stash it uses the Brinks vault (located near Hong Kong airport).“We also use Brinks for larger deliveries when we ship, and of course everything we ship is fully insured, either by our own blanket policy or with a third party such as Brinks,” says Retief.“Shipping around the world is fast, reliable and a lot more straightforward than most people realise.”

LPM focuses a lot of its energy on online business. Potential customers can go on the company’s website, view products from all of the mints, purchase it at the spot price that is shown online (it’s updated every minute) and LPM will arrange shipment worldwide to the location of their choosing.

“Our customers can lock in a price, and we then take a 10 per cent block on their credit card, just like a hotel would, which secures that price; they can then pay by bank transfer, and once full payment is made we remove the block and it doesn’t even show up on their statement,”says Retief.

LPM, like Degussa, does have a showroom for its products, which range from coins and bars of varying size and weight to figures and even jewellery (in Degussa’s case). Deciding what to buy will depend on your motivation and personal finance strategy. “We sell a mixture of bars and coins, but mostly we sell coins because they are more liquid, easier to sell when you want to, and the buy-sell spread for coins is smaller. You might pay more of a premium to buy them in the first place, but you will get over spot price when you sell them,” explains Retief.

Minted coins will often have a legal tender value that is much less than their actual worth, and this allows you to carry them across borders, declare them at customs From top: A “combi” gold bar divided into single gram blocks; Degussa’s safe deposit box facility; and 1oz coins in fine silver and gold from Australia, Austria and the UK a greater margin though following the same general trends.” Platinum is slightly different.“It’s rarer and has many industrial uses, but it’s never been used as a form of currency, so it doesn’t have the same mainstream following as gold and silver,” says Retief.“Gold and silver have a strong correlation with the US dollar, but platinum does its own thing, so as part of a portfolio it adds a useful hedge.” And for those who like the idea of a beautiful figure in solid gold for the altar table or mantelpiece? Though a much less liquid prospect, Kempinski says: “There are people who want to buy an ornament or jewellery as a gift or just because they like it and want to show it off. But it’s still pure silver or gold, and therefore represents a safe haven investment at the same time.” Degussa Singapore: degussa-pm.sg Lucius Precious Metals: lpm.hk