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rap60
Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Posts: 53
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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 Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 6:35 am Post subject: buying gold/silver in china |
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| We are taking our first teaching post in China from Sept 1. November 29 happens to be our silver anniversary and we would like to buy each other a ring. Would we do best to buy in Australia before we go, hongkong on the way or weifang when we settle? Is gold/silver a good buy in China? We would be using saved Aussie funds not earned rmb. Thanks. |
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astrayalien
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 85
Location: China
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| Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 4:19 am Post subject: |
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Gold and silver should be fairly similar world wide, since it based on a spot price.
I'm starting a new job in China in a month, I was thinking to spend excess earnings on gold and silver coins. These will go up in value over time. Holding cash in any currency is risky.
Are foreigners able to buy gold and silver bullion coins in China? |
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Little Tiger
Joined: 09 Mar 2011
Posts: 58
Location: Zhongshan, Guangdong
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| Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 6:01 am Post subject: |
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The hands down best place in the world to buy gold (in coin form atleast) is Hong Kong, you can get 1-ounce Krugerrand coins from Hang Seng bank for around +0.15% current market value - that is the lowest premium you will find anywhere.
The listed values below are for May 19th when gold was trading at HK$11,597 an ounce (US$1,490).
Hang Seng Bank was selling a 1-ounce Krugerrand coin for HK$11,605.
Hang Seng Bank was quoting HK$12,130 (US$1,558.4 for 1-ounce Australian Kangaroo Nugget coins. That's a premium of 4.6% above the spot price of gold prevailing at the time. (I was on the phone to my friend who gave me the then prevailing spot gold price from Kitco.com)
Over at the Bank of China, just a few doors down from Hang Seng, they had the full complement of Canadian Maple Leaf gold bullion coins in stock... 1 Oz, 1/2 Oz, 1/4 Oz, 1/10th Oz, and 1/20th Oz were all available.
Prices were HK$12,127 for the 1-ounce size, HK$6,152 for the 1/2-ounce size, HK$3,158 for the 1/4 ounce coin, HK$1,325 for the 1/10th of an ounce coin, and HK$762 for the smallest of the lot -- the 1/20th of an ounce size coin.
In US$ terms, that translates into US$1,558.10 for the 1-ounce Maple Leaf. That was a 4.57% premium to the spot price. A very Good price..
Interestingly, the Bank of China's own preferred coin, the Chinese Panda, was only available in the 1/2 Oz size.
They wanted HK$6,114 (US$785.54, or US$1,571.08 for an ounce). That was 5.4% above spot gold for those, also a VERY GOOD price is you do some looking around |
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xjgirl
Joined: 02 Feb 2010
Posts: 242
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| Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:01 am Post subject: |
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wow, gold dealers are so desperate they're even targeting the china esl teacher market 
1500 dollars an ounce, i'll pass, let me know when it drops below 800 again |
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rap60
Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Posts: 53
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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| Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:35 am Post subject: |
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| ........ and all I really wanted to know is whether I should buy rings in Australia, Hong kong or China. Just want to get a good deal. All due respects I'm not looking for coins etc. Anybody help? |
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Salvatore
Joined: 22 May 2011
Posts: 119
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| Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 5:42 am Post subject: |
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I know where gold can be bought for 1300 USD.
Let me know what you need. The price could drop to 1200 if a large quantity is needed.
It comes fresh from Africa in nice bricks.
You could bring the brick to a jeweler, melt it down and have rings or whatever made. |
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fortunatekooky
Joined: 14 Apr 2011
Posts: 24
Location: China
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| Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:04 am Post subject: |
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The first answer was pretty spot on (lol). The price today will be about the same anywhere in the world, after you convert currencies.
A better question might be: what do you think the spot price will be after September 1st? The precious metals tend to rally in the fall, and given the current financial landscape of fiat printing, government bailouts, etc., more and more folks (and central banks) are buying gold/silver. There seems to be a larger chance that the price will be higher this fall, rather than lower in the foreseeable future.
If it is purely a question of saving a few bucks on buying the rings, you should buy them today. However, a ring is a highly sentimental purchase. If you like the idea of buying it here, then by all means go for it. The weight of two rings is less than one ounce anyways I assume, so even if the price were to appreciate 20% from today's level, it would not be a huge loss. But again, if you need those extra bucks, I'd buy now.
As far as silver goes, I have not done any pricing on silver jewelry, but silver coins are difficult to come by without paying a hefty premium. One place I went to had 1000g bars of silver on 'sale' for about 40% over spot. The bars were quite ugly with a sloppy matte finish, and I couldn't be convinced they were pure by appearance. I have not seen silver Panda coins on sale anywhere. Some commentators in the West say the silver Panda coins have been counterfeited to some degree. Silver (bullion) is probably a much better deal where you are. I hope this helps. |
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Happy Everyday
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
Posts: 268
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| Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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If you're looking to buy jewelry, then it is more likely to be authentic in Hong Kong even though some stores in the mainland have real gold and silver. When possible, many mainlanders prefer to buy the ring from a western country because they know the quality is real.
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/shopping/watches-jewellery-stores.html
Also ask your question in the HK teacher's forum. Since it's an anniversary gift while you're in China, you probably want something with Chinese characteristics. A reputable store in HK is your best bet. |
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rap60
Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Posts: 53
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:16 am Post subject: |
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| thans for that Happyeveryday |
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fortunatekooky
Joined: 14 Apr 2011
Posts: 24
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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| rap60 wrote: |
| ........ and all I really wanted to know is whether I should buy rings in Australia, Hong kong or China. Just want to get a good deal. All due respects I'm not looking for coins etc. Anybody help? |
I'm curious, what did you end up doing? Anybody else investing in gold? (Yes--even on teacher salaries, if you're not blowing it).
http://goldprice.org/gold-price-australia.html
On June 5th, when you last posted, the AUD price of gold was about $1440-$1450/ oz.
If you were lucky enough to wait a month, you might have grabbed the bottom on about July 11th, saving you 5% at about $1380 AUD.
The closing price on August 16th was $1707.68 AUD, representing a loss of about 18% from June 5th.
Hope you got a good deal.... |
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Dilton
Joined: 12 Aug 2011
Posts: 68
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Waste of money. Just save up your money. |
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fortunatekooky
Joined: 14 Apr 2011
Posts: 24
Location: China
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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Time of post, now the price is AUD 1760/oz
yeah...better to save up with a savings account and drink the Kool Aid |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Little Tiger wrote: |
| Over at the Bank of China, just a few doors down from Hang Seng, they had the full complement of Canadian Maple Leaf gold bullion coins in stock... 1 Oz, 1/2 Oz, 1/4 Oz, 1/10th Oz, and 1/20th Oz were all available. |
I have some of these coins already, but would like to buy more. I haven't looked into it yet but I'm curious about crossing the HK/Shenzhen border with ~ $10,000 worth of silver coins on me, and then getting them home one day in the not too distant future. Anyone with any advice on that? Alternatively I could have a family member purchase them for me in Canada and put them in cold storage till I get back. |
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JohnnyTrippia
Joined: 19 Sep 2010
Posts: 22
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:52 am Post subject: |
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| 7969 wrote: |
| Little Tiger wrote: |
| Over at the Bank of China, just a few doors down from Hang Seng, they had the full complement of Canadian Maple Leaf gold bullion coins in stock... 1 Oz, 1/2 Oz, 1/4 Oz, 1/10th Oz, and 1/20th Oz were all available. |
I have some of these coins already, but would like to buy more. I haven't looked into it yet but I'm curious about crossing the HK/Shenzhen border with ~ $10,000 worth of silver coins on me, and then getting them home one day in the not too distant future. Anyone with any advice on that? Alternatively I could have a family member purchase them for me in Canada and put them in cold storage till I get back. |
Very well said. Even top globalists (see how 'gloablist' isn't a spelling mistake?) admit that gold is the ultimate bubble, and it really depends what circles you run in. There is immense ignorance about what has made economies tick over the centuries. It was never just about gold.
Point being, if you are a rich and powerful senator that can depend on a helicopter to take you to the Caymen islands in a crisis, gold is for you. You may or may not have ever had to fend for yourself and in all probability may never have to. For ordinary Joe's to have gold is unnecessary. A small amount maybe - enough to make sure you can afford a future flight ticket or maybe a bunch of them, if you're very lucky, but gold will be the first thing to be thieved and sought after by thieves, it will leave you in the biggest mess if it's taken as of it's value / weight. Easily taken. If you do buy gold, it's probably better to buy half ounce or quarter ounce coins - a couple of American eagles would be nice but again - useless if you don't have a good float of silver, brass, copper, nickel or other useful metals as float for change.
Really, it's better to buy a heap of nickel, or bronze, and keep that as peace of mind for exchange during a crisis. Less sought after, easier to help out other people, better to re-ignite a real economy. People are just poorer nowadays. We are too far away from a gold standard timeline. Silver is the new gold, and that will be reflected in the markets before too long. If you're not very well connected, gold is useless. Many poor people will end up preferring the equivalent in silver, nickel, etc. as it's better for float. When you walk into a small Mom and Pop store with a 100 RMB note they aren't exactly happy about it. You're taking a big chunk of their float in exchange. They might not even let you buy. If they are poor and have only 1,000 RMB in shop at the time, you could disrupt later day business for them. Now imagine a shop in a future where paper-based currencies have collapsed and you walk into an oil-deprived shop with a gold coin worth 100 X 100 RMB notes. They now have far less money, and in no way can they turn over all their float to you for a gold coin, unless they are planning on going out of business, or running for it (which would probably be foolish - there would be nowhere to go).
For that same gold coin, you could have > 40 nickel coins which you could easily use for day-to-day living.
Again, we live in fallen, ignorant times, so I'm assuming a real economy can ignite in a post-plastic/paper world. Maybe not!
If you are in a society that is somewhere in between poor Mon&Pop, and rich gold master - a silver driven future, then some amount of gold would be useful as silver people might want to upgrade for saving, or simply to speculate on the value of gold, but again you'd still have to have silver or palladium or alloys to use for day-to-day living.
Or maybe, everything will completely turn around tomorrow, the markets will bounce big, gold will (temporarily?) fall again, and paper money will increase in value. I'd really like to see things pick up and it can happen, but it's good to have a back-up plan based on something real and tangible.
If things get very bad - then candles, matches, batteries and lighters, torches, seeds, water filters, plants, who-you-know locally, skills (fishing/foraging, textiles) etc. etc. and music skills, poetry, bard skills in a few remaining civilized parts.. - will be worth their weight in gold, literally! |
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Miles Smiles
Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1294
Location: Heebee Jeebee
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 12:57 pm Post subject: |
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| It almost hit $1,900.00 USD per ounce yesterday. |
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