How we compare prices

We read prices from the product pages of 9 UK dealers through the day. Each price shows when it was checked. A price is shown less prominently once it is more than an hour or so old, and removed once it is a day old, so you are not shown a price a dealer has stopped charging.

Every price is for one coin or bar. Where a dealer charges less per unit for larger orders, we use the price for one.

We only compare the same product: the same metal, weight, maker and design, and the same year. A coin sold as a particular year is never compared with one sold as “any year” or “best value”, where the dealer chooses the date. Pre-owned, proof and gift-set items are left out.

Investment gold carries no VAT in the UK. Silver prices include 20% VAT; where a dealer shows silver without VAT, we add it. The premium is how much a price is above the value of the metal in it, using the live spot price. Gold is ranked against gold and silver against silver.

At the moment we do not earn anything from the dealers listed, and the order of prices is always cheapest first. If that changes, for example through affiliate links that pay us a fee when you buy, we will say so on this page and next to the links, and it will not change the order prices are shown in.

If a price or a product looks wrong, please tell us through the contact page. See the terms for the limits of what we can promise.