May 27, 2026
While precious metal prices on the exchanges appear to be stagnating, the physical market is showing unprecedented momentum. The British Royal Mint reports the highest trading activity in its history for the past fiscal year. While short-term interest rate fears are slowing down the paper markets, physical investors are consistently using the consolidation to diversify their portfolios—with almost unprecedented momentum in the silver segment.
Online trading at the state-owned mint reached an all-time high. Although the Royal Mint traditionally does not disclose absolute tonnages, the percentage increases quarter-over-quarter illustrate the scale:
- Gold Boom: Sales of capital gains tax-free gold bars and products rose by 94% compared to the same quarter last year.
- Silver sensation: Demand for physical silver bars skyrocketed by 1,000% during the same period.
- Online activity: Transaction volume on royalmint.com climbed by 130% year-over-year.
The Silver Phenomenon: Profit-taking Meets Massive Buyer Demand
Silver attracted particular attention in the first quarter (January through March). Due to the temporarily high prices, some investors locked in profits, causing the value of silver products sold back to the Royal Mint to rise by a spectacular 3,300%.
However, there was no broad market pullback. Buyers continued to clearly dominate the market: For every ounce of silver that customers sold back to the Royal Mint, two ounces were newly purchased (a buy-to-sell ratio of 2:1). This underscores the fundamental and long-term optimistic stance of physical investors toward the silver trend.
Structural Change: Record Number of New Customers and Digitalization
The record figures are based on a massive expansion of the investor base in the 2025/26 fiscal year:
- Customer Growth: The number of active precious metal buyers and sellers on the platform rose by 49%.
- New Customer Ratio: A sensational 60% of all active customers in the past year were first-time buyers. The fourth quarter marked the quarter with the highest number of new customers in the history of the Royal Mint.
- DigiGold as a Driver: The duty- and VAT-free digital offering “DigiGold” is establishing itself as a key pillar and already accounted for 54% of all transactions.
The precious metals market is showing a clear dichotomy: on the one hand, there are short-term macroeconomic headwinds such as interest rates. On the other hand, there is a determined, long-term-oriented group of buyers.
Stuart O’Reilly, Private Wealth Consultant at the Royal Mint, sees this as a fundamental and lasting shift in asset allocation: Private investors are increasingly viewing gold and silver not as speculative investments, but as strategic protection against inflation and stock market volatility. In his view, the fact that the influx of new customers continues despite the recent price consolidation demonstrates the long-term investment horizon of this new generation of investors.
