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Do you have any questions? We have the answers!

Which precious metals should I buy? Coins or bars? Many questions - you will find precise and honest answers here.

 

We recommend gold and silver, at best in a value ratio of approx. 2/3 gold to 1/3 silver.

Platinum and palladium have no monetary history; these metals are mainly required by industry. If industrial production weakens, this has a negative impact on the price. Platinum and palladium are therefore recommended for investors who are willing to take risks in order to diversify their portfolio by a maximum of 3-5%.

In the gold sector, this is a matter of personal taste. In terms of acceptance, there is de facto no difference between gold coins and bars from certified manufacturers. These forms can be converted into legal tender worldwide at any time. However, it is important that you only buy LBMA-certified products.

INFO: Silver is subject to statutory VAT of 19% in Germany and 20% in Austria. Therefore, please note the gross sales price in our price list when purchasing.

Basically, the smaller the unit, the higher the premium on the precious metal value. Ergo: the larger the unit, the cheaper the price per gram.

For example: for the purchase of 100g of gold, you pay minting costs once for a 100g bar; for 10 10g bars, these costs are 10 times higher. However, smaller units can be sold more easily and quickly if required.

Testing the authenticity of precious metals requires many years of experience as well as complex technical equipment or chemicals (X-ray spectrometer; acid test; ultrasound), making it almost impossible for a private investor to do it himself.

GOLDINVEST vouches for the authenticity of its products. This is guaranteed, among other things, by the direct purchase of brand-new bars and coins from the producers. Coins and bars from the secondary market are checked technically or chemically by our experienced staff using the dual control principle.

Are you unsure whether one of your products is genuine? Simply bring your "problem child" to us and we will be happy to check it.

Are you the owner of osmium and would like to sell your osmium?

There are a number of ways to sell osmium on the international market. It makes sense to sell directly to a jeweler or precious metal dealer in your area. You will be shown the respective price if you enter the osmium identification code OIC. In this way, you can also show the current price to the jeweler, precious metal dealer or private customer.

If you want to sell via a dealer, please enter all codes that are to be set to "for sale" in the field shown above (which field shown above?). Then set the products to the new status by simply clicking on them.

As soon as you change the status to "for sale", you authorize the forwarding of your contact details to the sales partners.

With the exception of the Osmium Institute's trading partners, no one will see that you intend to sell. If such a partner has a customer for your osmium, they will contact you.

Private purchase request:

If someone has received the code for your piece of osmium because you have activated the sale, this person has the option of entering the OIC to send you a text indicating their intention to buy.

The corresponding text can only be entered in the database. Your contact details will not be passed on in this case. You will receive an e-mail from an osmium institute which may contain the text you have entered. Please make sure that this e-mail really comes from an osmium institute so that you cannot fall victim to phishing.

In this case, you can then contact the potential buyer if there is interest in a sale. https://www.osmium-identification-code.com/de/mid,39155,Osmium_verkaufen/?fbclid=IwAR2v0EtQDo-enx1N0Uzb8GpsVU5O8tn-6ulzgYBEyA-DW58Ms02Cynqlv0k

If you have lost your Osmium Identification Code (OIC) or your Owner Change Code (OCC), please follow the instructions below:

Owner Change Code lost:

Please enter your Osmium Identification Code in the box above and press "assign new Owner Change Code". A new OCC will be sent to your e-mail address.

Osmium identification code lost:

Please contact the nearest Osmium Institute. Your code can be traced via ownership and possession. Please send us a high-resolution image by e-mail to oic@osmium-institute.com. Give us all the information you have, for example the previous owner, a telephone number or an e-mail address.

If your code is found, you will receive it by e-mail. If your code cannot be reproduced, your item will be recertified. In this case, you will be charged 70 euros, which must be transferred to the certification body upon receipt of the invoice.

Each piece of crystalline osmium is scanned in high resolution by the German Osmium Institute using Keyence microscopes, measured, weighed using analytical scales and stored in a database. As the crystalline structure on the surface of each object is unique and cannot be reproduced, it is also known in specialist circles as the "crystalline fingerprint".
All high-resolution files of the scans are linked in the Osmium World Database with the assigned Osmium Identification Code (OIC for short) and a QR code. The code concept was created for use by international customs authorities. The background to this is the rapid availability of surface scans for comparison with a real piece of osmium when crossing the border. For customs clearance, the Osmium Institute can also actively confirm the owner from the database.

The price quoted always corresponds to the price that would be charged for a comparable new piece on a daily basis.

The osmium world database can be found at www.osmium-identification-code.com. By entering the OIC, you can find the master data for your own osmium here. The OIC and QR are printed in white on the black foil box in which the osmium is delivered.

When purchasing osmium, you must provide an email address. The email address is required in order to receive your own new Owner Change Code (OCC) for a newly purchased item. Every buyer can be listed invisibly in the database if they wish.

To use the Owner Change Code, enter your OIC on the page www.osmium-identification-code.com or use the QR code to access the page. The menu guides the user to the fields for the owner or owner change.

Entering the owner change code opens up three options:

 

  1. If you temporarily give the osmium out of your own hands but wish to remain the owner, you can transfer the item to other owners several times. This makes sense if, for example, you want to store the osmium in a safe deposit box, lend it out or give it to a processing company.
  2. An item can be reassigned to a new owner once. This applies in the event of sale, donation or inheritance. With the item and the transfer, the rights to transfer the item again are also transferred to the new owner, who receives a new OCC to exercise them.
  3. In the marketplace, you can express a wish to sell a piece with a desired purchase price. This information is passed on to wholesalers willing to buy in the osmium marketplace. The offer is made anonymously for data protection reasons. Marketplace agents carry out the match and broker sales when supply and demand meet. There are no guarantees for a match. Osmium is generally subject to very long holding periods. It is not a speculative object or financial product, but a precious metal and tangible asset.

The osmium price is a spot price that is determined daily.

It is based on a server system that is fed with daily data from Switzerland.

The algorithm determines the price in the morning. It changes to the new price every 24 hours.

In the past, the algorithm has been repeatedly adapted and improved in order to incorporate as much relevant data as possible into the pricing process.

 

 

  1. The main influencing factor is the so-called harvest rate, which is determined daily. The harvesting rate is the percentage of crystallized osmium that can be used according to the applicable quality criteria. All material that cannot be used because the material has spikes or surface irregularities must be returned to the recycling process.
  2. The recycling process and the amount of returned osmium is included in the pricing, as recycling is only carried out with material that could not be used when it was harvested from the furnaces and from osmium that remains as offcut after cutting. Unfortunately, the process is time-consuming, complex, very expensive and also associated with risks in the laboratory.
  3. The raw osmium stocks in crystallization, the stocks at the mines and processors are included in the price, provided they are known. A figure that cannot be used because it is not known is the quantity of osmium that is not extracted from nickel or platinum and remains as an impurity during the further processing of the two metals. Unfortunately, these quantities are permanently lost to the osmium market. They can only be estimated and are not valid.
  4. Orders, pre-orders, stock levels and the quantity of certified goods are also processed in the algorithm. Inquiries from the marketplace for osmium play a subordinate role in pricing, but are nevertheless taken into account to a lesser extent.
  5. The known quantity of certified osmium available on the overall market has a far greater influence. This figure is determined and made available via the Osmium World Database. The uncertainty factor in this figure is the amount of osmium that was already in circulation before the database was introduced. These goods are recertified over time by the institutes if the owners so wish. This makes the database of total stocks more accurate and also more meaningful from year to year.

 

Osmium is a tangible asset that is not traded on a stock exchange. Efforts to this end are underway, but are not subject to the control or influence of an osmium institute.

At first glance, this seems to be the case, but in the real world it is somewhat different. Because yes, there is an obligation to pay VAT on osmium. Every private individual must pay this tax when purchasing.

Exceptions are companies that can reclaim this tax as input tax and companies based in other European countries that have a VAT identification number for foreign payments.

And, of course, companies in more distant foreign countries that have to pay their country's tax at the border as import VAT when crossing the border.

The major exception is the storage of osmium in a duty-free warehouse when crossing the border into a non-EU country. In such a warehouse, the osmium is considered not yet imported. For this reason, customs duty is not yet paid and neither is tax. However, if the metal is to be removed one fine day, it is essential that duty and tax are paid.

Either way, one day someone pays the tax and then owns their osmium. And the tax is seemingly lost at first. However, this changes on the day of the sale. Because now the following figures face each other.

A buyer who wants to purchase osmium from a dealer or institute must also pay tax there. It is therefore wise for him to buy a few percent below the gross price from a private individual. This means that the amount of tax is effectively distributed to the private individual. However, this is not tax avoidance, but the seller must now pay tax on the resulting profit. However, this only applies to the actual profit and not to the VAT. What's more, in many countries the sale of a tangible asset is simply tax-free after one year if the seller is not acting commercially.

This means that in the final instance, the seller gets his money back almost in full, even if the price does not change. Of course, many people still speculate on a higher selling price, which promises a profit in addition to the value retention of a tangible asset.

There are basically many ways to invest in precious metals and invest your money. A distinction should be made between a small amount of precious metals as an "emergency stock" for at home or money/gold investments in precious metals, which should be stored securely in a precious metal deposit or safe deposit box, for example.

Invest paper money in gold coins:
A range of different gold coins (bullion coins) are available to you here. Gold coins such as the Philharmonic, Krugerrand, Maple Leaf or Kangaroo and Brittania are particularly popular. These can be purchased in the sizes 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, 1/10 ounce, 1/20 ounce or 1/25 ounce. One troy ounce of gold is equivalent to 31.1035 grams of gold.

Invest paper money in gold bars:
Precious metals in bar form are available here. Precious metal bars are popular in a wide range of sizes: 1000 grams and 500 grams, 250 grams, 100 grams, 50 grams, 20 grams, 10 grams, 5 grams, 2.5 grams and 1 gram. The larger the bars, the lower the minting premiums on the SPOT price. However, the 400 ounce gold bars that you see in various films are rarely bought by private investors.

Investing paper money in funds that invest in gold mines:
The vast majority of funds do not invest in physical precious metals, but in gold mining shares or gold certificates. Shares are investments in companies such as mining companies: Mining companies. These can be subject to greater fluctuations in value than the gold price.

Investing paper money in gold certificates - Not all that glitters is gold:
With certificates, you acquire a bearer bond whose price moves in line with the price of gold. However, you do not own a gram of gold, but assume the risk of whether the issuer of the bond will be able to repay your money one day. If the issuer goes bankrupt (e.g. Lehman Brothers in 2008), the investor has lost all his money.

In order to protect their savings in the current situation and maintain purchasing power, we believe that customers should invest at least 15 to 20 percent in precious metals, of which approx. 1/3 in gold and 1/3 in silver. Depending on the risk appetite, investments can also be made in platinum, palladium and osmium and thus hedged.

In addition to collecting your order from our offices in Vienna and Berlin, we also offer you the option of having your order delivered to any address in Europe.

Delivery is by courier service, post or cash-in-transit, is fully insured and, if required, within an agreed time window.

Many banks and regional savings banks offer safe deposit boxes. If you would like to store your precious metals at home, please ensure that you have sufficient insurance cover in your household insurance policy. If in doubt, check this with your insurance company in advance.

GOLDINVEST also offers you convenient and secure storage at various locations once you have purchased your precious metals:

  • Precious metal depot at GOLDINVEST in Vienna
  • Safekeeping in a bonded warehouse

Gold: bullion coins and bullion bars are tax-free.

Silver: 20% VAT in Austria - 19% VAT in Germany on selected coins and bars.

Platinum: 20% VAT in Austria - 19% VAT in Germany on selected coins and bars.

Palladium: 20% VAT in Austria - 19% VAT in Germany on selected coins and bars.

Osmium: 20% VAT in Austria - 19% VAT in Germany

Medals of any type of metal: 20% VAT in Austria - 19% VAT in Germany


Please note that private customers are not refunded the VAT on their sales to us.

(All VAT rates as of January 2023)

 

A precious metal deposit is a high-security vault at GOLDINVEST in Vienna. You can hand over physical gold, silver, platinum, palladium and osmium for safekeeping. This means you do not have to store your "treasure" at home. Even with a safe in your own four walls, there is still a residual risk and usually "underinsurance".

The precious metal custody account is used by private customers, companies, banks and precious metal dealers alike. The basic requirement for natural persons is that they have reached the age of 18. In the case of legal entities, the beneficiary/representative must be authorized.
Deposit value (in EURO) Stock prices silver (p.a.) Stock prices gold, platinum, palladium (p.a.)
5.000 - 30.000 1,75 % 0,75 %
30.001 - 250.000 1,50 % 0,60 %
250.001 - 1.000.000 1,25 % 0,40 %
> 1.000.001 1,00 % 0,30 %
The warehouse prices do not include the applicable statutory VAT.

Precious metals weigh a lot. The weight of your investments in gold, silver, platinum and palladium can quickly add up to several kilograms. With the GOLDINVEST precious metal custody account, however, you remain mobile and flexible at all times. The proceeds from your sale are paid directly into the bank account you have deposited.

You will be invoiced immediately for any purchases made. This allows you to react quickly to market fluctuations. You have the option of buying immediately or selling to obtain the necessary liquidity worldwide, no matter where you are.

Your precious metals are fully insured - they are stored in ultra-modern, certified vault facilities.
Leave your precious metals to your Viennese specialists: the GOLDINVEST precious metal depository is the right and secure home for your valuables!


See the description points 1-3 (black boxes). You can also find the instructions under: Service - Precious Metal Depot.

You can open your custody account on site, at our locations in Vienna and Berlin, or by contacting us by e-mail.

The procedure by e-mail would be as follows: After a request to open a precious metal deposit account, we will prepare the contract for you and send it to you. You must then return the signed contract to us. The contract will be countersigned by us and is therefore valid.

You can have your products stored in your precious metal custody account for an unlimited period of time, without a minimum contract period and terminable at any time.
You can find more details in your custody account contract.

You can authorize other persons to have access to your precious metal custody account at any time.
Contact your GOLDINVEST team in Vienna or Berlin and we will guide you through the process.