[jasode]

I didn't downvote your comment but a lot of regular people do buy physical gold (coins & bars)[1] and store the precious metals in a safe.

That said, I don't know how much the gold price is affected by gold ETF vs physical transactions.

[1] example of gold coins that are very popular with easy liquidity: https://catalog.usmint.gov/coins/precious-metal-coins/gold/

[2] example of liquidity via ebay sales: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=gold+eagle+co...

[tomalpha]

One interesting advantage for UK buyers of gold coins specifically, is that if they're legal tender they're exempt from (Capital Gains) taxation[0]. Even if the gold content is worth significantly more than their face value, which is almost universally true.

[0] https://www.royalmint.com/invest/bullion/discover-bullion/ca...

[alasdair_]

This reminds me of the guy who paid his employees in silver dollars and paid taxes on the nominal value paid instead of the market price. He also ran a separate business that bought all the silver dollars back for the market price right next door.

It all went well for him until he started a payroll company to do the same thing in multiple states.

[refurb]

Potentially kooky website (many gold bug sites are), but it has some details for anyone interested.

https://www.fff.org/2013/12/09/the-u-s-vs-robert-kahre-a-hor...