DigiGold Compared to Other Precious Metal Investments

Buying a gold bar is an alluring prospect, but with larger gold bars costing upwards of £300,000, that’s not an option for all. That’s where DigiGold comes in. The Royal Mint’s DigiGold service offers an attractive alternative to purchasing precious metals online.

What is DigiGold?

DigiGold allows buyers to own gold, silver or platinum based on value rather than weight. That means that you can buy as much or as little to suit your budget, with investments starting at £25.

Will I own the Gold I buy?

Absolutely. It’s your gold, allocated to you. You own it and nobody else is able to purchase the gold. Unlike many unallocated gold bullion accounts, where you are ‘owed’ the gold, DigiGold is real, physical and fully allocated to you.

What’s the difference between buying gold bars, coins and DigiGold?

Bars and coins can be sent to you at home or stored for a fee at The Vault™- The Royal Mint’s onsite storage facility, guarded 24/7/365 by trained security staff. Alternatively, DigiGold is automatically stored at The Vault™, and you simply pay a management fee + VAT per annum based on the average daily value of your total metal holding that is stored with us.

The Advantages of DigiGold

1. Transparent pricing

The pricing of the precious metal is transparent and easy to understand. With competitive premiums, The Royal Mint allows you to buy bullion by price rather than by weight, so finding out what you have to pay is quick and straightforward.

2. Complete trust

The Royal Mint establishes that trust is made easier when the seller is one of the oldest organisations in the UK, with a history stretching back more than 1,100 years. The Royal Mint’s DigiGold has proved popular precisely because buyers can have absolute trust that their precious metals are safely under lock and key.

3. Economies of scale

There are also the economies of scale that arise from the fact that DigiGold is backed by large bullion bars weighing 400 oz. each, which do not need to be physically divided or cast into smaller bars.

4. Treasure for life

Buyers of DigiGold can take ownership of gold bullion, the bedrock asset that has been the foundation of monetary systems for millennia. This makes it a uniquely low-cost route into bullion ownership, and one that is quick and simple to access online.

That is not to say there aren’t good reasons for preferring to take physical delivery of gold coins or bars, but for many buyers, the benefits of DigiGold are considerable.

What about gold bars and coins?

With all that said, there will always be those to whom a gold bar ought to be more than an asset in a vault, however safely guarded and however secure the owner’s title to it. Indeed, it is to say that the allure of physical gold is one of the unchanging features of humanity’s interaction with the financial world.

This attraction is not merely sentimental. Physical gold, close at hand, is the ultimate in liquidity, able to be transported at a moment’s notice and accepted anywhere in the world. It remains a truly global currency, as seen by the fact that central banks and the International Monetary Fund continue to hold large quantities.

Capital Gains Tax on Bullion Coins Explained

In addition, all of The Royal Mint’s physical bullion coins are Capital Gains Tax (CGT) exempt, as they are legal tender. This includes coins such as The Sovereign and Britannia. Any profit made on their sale will not be liable for Capital Gains Tax.