Selecting most liquid gold coins...

why not just use cash?

 

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Cash is good, but then for the tax savings you would have to mis state the sale price and that can have consequences for irs or court wise if there are later problems with that closing- anyway this is just one example, which im not sure if it in fact works.

 

whether it be cash or gold there's not paper trail unless someone talks.

 

The especially cautious will note that even cash (beyond coins) is serialized by individual note.

 

I started out with Sovereigns because I was thinking (like OP alluded to) there is an intrinsic numismatic value in addition to the bullion value. Plus, it just seemed 'cool' to have such a historic piece of gold, and the premium was uber-low.

Fast forward to now... I have learned [the hard way] that unless it states ON THE COIN and IN ENGLISH the exact amount of gold contained, it is much, much harder to unload on the open market in the U.S. If liquidity is a major factor for you, and you live (and plan on staying) in the U.S., stick with the three biggies: AGE, Krugs, and Maples (not necessarily in that order). Forget about snatching any numismatic premium (IMHO), unless you can get a modern commemorative (gold spouse?) as close to the bullion equivalent as possble. The older numismatic gold already has the collectible premium baked in, and it is unlikely to rise dramatically (relative to bullion).

All that being said, I have a Sovereign for sale if you're interested!

 

No they wouldn't. Trying to use the face value of a gold coin for capital gain calculation has been found repeatedly and consistently to be a tax scam. If you attempt it, the penalties are increased greatly. The people who have tried this all wish they never had.

As for most liquid gold, it all depends on who you are selling to, right? That's the bottom line, who you would be selling to, and what form of gold they prefer. That is what I would wish to own.

 

Very good advice. It's also the reason to stay away from bars if the idea is liquidity.

 

I would say that 20 years from now, some of the modern gold coins will have numismatic value. We just don't know which ones yet, or why. If you can figure that out, the investment return can be greater than the change in bullion value.

 

Very true. Lots of people have tried, many successfully. Its been like trying to catch a falling knife, though, with mintages plummeting continuously throughout the modern commemorative program. Even right now there is a lot of buzz about the Army half, but if you spend a ton of money loading up on these and in a year or two there is one with even lower mintage, where will you be? That is the danger of trying to predict. If a guy wanted to spread his bullion purchases around and try to cover many bases, I would say that is a great idea. If he was going to bet everyone on one "hunch", he may be right but its riskier. I bought some pandas in the early 90's I wish I would have bought more of, but at least I bought a few. We had no way of knowing back then how collectible those would become.

 

For liquidity you want widely accepted coins like the AGE, Mapleleaf or krugerrand.
K-rands have to lowest buying premium of the three but also sell for less when it's time to cash in.
American commemorative gold coins (generally $5/half eagle) many times sell for close to their bullion value and can be a good deal for an alert buyer.

 

Establishing "Real Market" Interest

If you want to ascertain "real market" interest with an international volume clientele, I would suggest that you visit tulving.com to determine the largest premium Gold coins. The premium paid/offered is a general indicator of real market interest. I believe you'll find that personal choices are usually based on subjective collector criteria rather than real world net investment potential.

My personal experience is that U.S. and foreign Gold moderns have a very limited resale market unless appreciably discounted. I've personally offered "Top Tier" TPG certified Eagles and Buffaloes in this and other venues at melt, without a proper response.

I've found the Gold moderns exception to be certified proof coins, which virtually always have an interested potential purchasing audience. I'd recommend advanced viewing of eBay past auctions to ascertain actual international interest.

My observation is that the most stable Gold investment has been, and currently is, certified generic U.S. Gold pre-1933 coinage. My observations can be verified through Heritage archives, or advanced viewing of eBay past auctions.

Just my humble opinion, based on experience/observations. :thumb:

 

I agree. But...

As medoraman mentions, this is a tricky thing to pull off. Part of the trouble is that the 'old' numismatic stuff already has a premium and it's not likely to change dramatically, and the modern stuff isn't issued for circulation. Therefore - it is assumed to be nearly perfect from the start. It's quality can only go down.

Imagine finding a 1921 MS-66 $20 Double Eagle offered for roughly spot today. (For reference: http://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/CertResults.aspx?CertNumber=1851013-001). My reaction would be euphoria.

Now imagine finding a 2007 MS-68 Martha Washington gold spouse coin offered the same number of years later for roughly spot in the year 2098 (whatever the price of gold happens to be then). It would still be a killer deal, but because this was a commemorative and NEVER circulated, my first thought would probably be "MS-68??!! Wow, what a dog. I wonder what's wrong with it? Of course I'll only pay spot for that."

Modern gold is expected to be perfect (and probably - to stay that way, because it either gets slabbed or stored... it never gets circulated like the old coins did). If you have the money (a LOT of money), and if you're young enough and don't die unexpectedly), you could probably play the game and make some big profits by buying modern gold as a numismatic play. But then you also have to also consider the opportunity cost of what you could have used that money for.

Ahhh... everything is about compromise....