The Best Investment Gold Coins

By David W. Baker

Investment gold coins, gold coins pursued and purchased for investing purposes, are many and varied. They range from those struck this year as legal tender in obscure, out-of-the-way places to the pale gold amalgam (electrum) coins of the ancient Lydians.

But which are the best investment gold coins?

Are they the rarest gold coins? Are they the ones most in demand? Are these one and the same? How difficult are they to obtain?

With any investment, gold coin or otherwise, one would hope to have some level of liquidity. There should be enough of a market, that is, enough people with interest, knowledge, and the necessary funds to buy the coins when it comes time to sell them.

US gold coins struck prior to 1933 are highly collectible, and include many issues that have performed well over the years as investments. There are several important factors to which the demand for these pieces is attributed:

1. They are common enough to have been available to a relatively large group of people over many years.
2. They are scarce enough to experience disproportionate price increases when the price of gold has gone up. Prices for rare US gold coins, plotted over the last half century, describe an ascending sine wave of overall increase.
3. US gold coins are historic, tracing their origin to the earliest years of the United States Mint. They are artifacts of American growth and US financial history.
4. Of course, these coins are beautiful to own and possess. They have the divine heaviness cited by Goldfinger in the long ago movie of the same name.

But here a word of caution should intrude. Investing in traditional US gold coins is not day trading. Numismatic investment in general is best accomplished using a Buy and Hold strategy. The coin market does not proceed upward without interruption, as anyone who held coins through the 1980s will attest. In time however, even the most ill-timed of US gold coin investments has worked out well for one with patience, moving from losing proposition to a worthy capital conservation tactic and ultimately to the fruits of what, in hindsight, was a brilliant decision!

How to Invest in Gold, Right Now

By Scott Kintraw

In the current financial crisis, many people are concerned that their paper dollars are no longer safe. They are turning to physical assets which have stood the test of time, namely precious metals. How to invest in gold then becomes a practical issue - how to you actually do it, and can it be done online? (If you just want to jump to the online service I recommend, use the link at the bottom of this article.)

Gold is currently available at a fairly low price in historical terms; but in the medium to long term, it is expected to rise in value. Many financial advisers now say that about 10% of your assets should be held in precious metals like gold.

But for some people, potential high returns from gold investment are not really the issue - they simply want to preserve their wealth. Traditional investments like shares and property are falling in dollar value currently, and they would be happy to have some of their wealth in a commodity which is less likely to erode this way.

If you are one of the people whose thoughts are turning to precious metal investment, whether it is for small or high dollar sums, then you need to know about the easiest way to do it. You need to know specifically how to invest in gold, and where to do it.

As you would expect, there are now many services which offer the ability to buy gold bullion online.

One of the best and most popular of these online services allows you to buy gold bullion (in amounts from as low as one gram upwards), store it safely in a vault (in New York, London, or Zurich), and sell it again whenever you wish. It should take you less than fifteen minutes to register, fund your account, and buy the gold bullion you want.

What about the price of gold on offer there? This service bases its gold price on the current world spot price for gold, plus a small fraction. Thus, you are getting your gold much closer to the ‘wholesale’ cost. This compares very favorably with other ways of acquiring physical gold, such as bidding for bullion coins on eBay or similar auctions, or buying gold sovereigns from a coin dealer.

Currently, the online service I recommend is offering a free gram of gold (worth approximately $20) for those who register a new account.

I have investigated other gold buying services online, and can say that this is the easiest and most secure way to own and store physical gold. This service already has 40,000 customers, and has extensive online help available for those who are buying gold for the first time.

Any gold you buy is held in a safe and very secure vault of your choosing. It is also insured for you.

Gold and Silver Investment Choices

By Chris Ralph

Gold and other precious metals have been moving rapidly upward in the market, and investors wonder what investment vehicles are the best choices to capture that upward price appreciation in the precious metals market. Many wish to buy and hold the precious metals themselves, but there are a number of alternatives. Each of these different options has its own strengths and weaknesses. This discussion gives some basic information on the most common possibilities. Depending on what your goals are, you may choose to use one or more of the available options described below. I’m not an investment counselor, nor am I offering any investment advice, but here is a brief explanation and introduction to each of the best known opportunities for precious metals investment:

US and international gold bullion coins

The US and many other countries have made and are continuing to make gold bullion coins for sale. These are not coins which are rare and have numismatic value, but are coins made for investors interested in their bullion value. The American gold eagle coin is available and denominations of 1/10 ounce, one quarter ounce, one half ounce and 1 ounce. The great advantage of bullion coins is that they are easily available, liquid and portable. Most coin shops buy and sell them. If you plan to buy small amounts of gold, perhaps half an ounce a month for investment purposes, this is the kind of thing you may be interested in. The disadvantage is that they have a significant cost of getting in and out. It will cost about $25 plus the spot price for 1 ounce coin, and if you sell it you will receive a few dollars less than the spot price. The cost for a buy and sell combined is about $30. Foreign bullion coins, such as Canadian Maples or Krugerrands are slightly less liquid but may also have lower buy and sell costs. There are also one ounce silver bullion coins, which are available with a similar significant cost to buy and sell.

US 90% coin silver

Until 1964, all US coinage other than nickels and cents were made of 90% silver. These coins also have a bullion value based on their silver content. You can normally purchase from just a few to a big bucket full, and they are sold both by weight and by face dollar amount - by weight is probably the better deal as some old coins are worn. These coins are available at most coin shops. Like other bullion coins, there is a significant cost to buy and sell.

US Gold numismatic collector coins

Many investors are interested in gold collector coins. These are coins with a large numismatic (coin collector) value premium in addition to their bullion value. These coins will fluctuate somewhat with precious metal prices, but many times they also contain a significant price premium due to their desirability as collector coins. Sometimes the collector price appreciates significantly, but for those who really wish to invest in the appreciation of precious metal prices, these coins are probably not the best vehicle.

Investment Methods in Gold

By Jon Elton

With the rising prices of gold in the bullion market, investors can embark on investment of gold either directly through ownership or through shares, spread betting, accounts and certificates.

Apart from storing gold at the safe deposit box in home or at a bank, investors can also place gold in unallocated or allocated storage with a dealer or a bank. In the event of the latter becoming bankrupt, the client can claim the gold to become a general creditor, whereas the gold held in the allocated storage has to be returned to the client in full.

Purchase of bullion gold bars is the most conventional method of investing in gold. In some nations such as Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Argentina, dealers can easily sell or purchase them over the counters of major banks. Instead, there are bullion dealers providing the same form of service. There are various sizes of gold bars available in the bullion market. Typically, in Europe, these are either available in 12.5 kg bars or 1 kg bars. However, other weight units also exist such as 1oz bar, 10 oz bar and the Tael.

More about gold investments:

The popular way of holding gold is by purchasing gold coins as an investment. Usually, the prices of bullion coins depend on the weight, with no or little premium above the price of gold. The most popular bullion gold coins include the Australian Gold Nugget, the American Gold Buffalo, the American Gold Eagle, the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf and the South African Kruggerrand.

Miscellaneous Methods of Investments in Gold:

Gold Certificates: Investment in gold does not mean storing the actual gold bullion. Rather, the gold investors can hold certificate of ownership. The Gold certificate permits the investors to sell and buy the security without any hassles involved in the transfer of the actual physical gold. The only government guaranteed gold certificate program that exists in the world is the Perth Mint Certificate Program. It offers the investors the ability to store platinum, silver and gold in an unallocated account without any storage cost.

Gold Accounts: Majority of Swiss banks provide gold accounts, wherein investors can easily sell or purchase gold just as a foreign currency.

Exchange-traded Funds: Investors can trade GETFs or Gold exchange-traded funds as shares on the major World Stock Exchanges including Sydney, New York and London.

ETFs in gold denote simple method of gaining an exposure to the price of gold sans the inconvenience of placing physical bars. Typically, for trading in gold ETFs, authorities charge a small commission along with a small yearly storage fee. By selling a small amount of gold, the annual expenses such as management, insurance and storage fees are balanced. Hence, the amount of gold held in each certificate of gold declines gradually over a period.

In some nations, gold ETFs indicate a method of avoiding the VAT or sales tax that may apply to physical gold bars and coins. Ease of purchase, sale and liquidity make ETFs a popular method of gold investment.