Hi. I bought the Canadian Maple last month when the price was $1260. Today, the price of gold is $100 higher, but I still want to buy the American Eagle. In your opinion, will the price of gold keep going up or will it go down? Should I buy the gold coins now or should I wait? I'm just starting to buy coins so I'm not familiar with the price trend.
Don't try too hard to to time your purchase . . . you might miss your opportunity. Buy the coin when you can afford it without strapping yourself for cash after the purchase.
Exactly. Also, do you want to buy the AGE because you want to buy gold or because you want to have an AGE? The reason I ask is even though AGEs are "bullion coins" they are also popularly collected and thus often carry a premium as a result. If you just want gold, there will likely be cheaper options out there. As for the price trend...it's nearly impossible to predict the short term changes of metals.
Like tough said, buy when you can, don't try to play the market. I never even look at spot when I buy gold, but then I don't buy as an investment, so it really is inconsequential to me.
Thanks for your replies. Camaro, initially I wanted to buy just gold bars. But I have some coin colletor friends who said that bullion coins like the American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, and also the Gold Panda hold more 'value'. So they suggested that I invest in coins instead.
I think you should be really careful...the collectible coin market and the bullion market are different. If you want bullion...I would buy bullion. Don't try and buy "bullion coin with more value." I think that is very risky unless you can get them for the same amount you can get gold bars.
I would advise that if you are interested in gold an/or silver that you purchase regularly and over the long haul barring any unforeseen need or outside event. In this way you do not drive yourself crazy in an attempt to buy at the absolute, lowest local bottom and you do not paralyze yourself into inaction. Also, if you purchase over time, you will cost average the metals and, if buying with disposable income (which is what you should be doing) you will eventually realize you have put away a sizable amount of money. I do not like gold bars because of decreased liquidity and would suggest someone purchase bullion coins instead.
Why would bars be less liquid than coins? My concern with (government issued) bullion coins is that most people that sell them want a premium because they are "collectible" but my experience is that they pay them as if they are just melt. Perhaps private minted gold rounds are the away to go?
I don't like gold bars because it has been my experience that unless you find a buyer specifically stacking bars, or one who will buy most any bullion, then they are a much more difficult sale than bullion coins. In other words, the pool of buyers is often smaller for bars than for bullion coins and this can reduce liquidity if timing is important.
OK, that makes sense. When you say "bullion coins" do you only mean government issued bullion or any bullion rounds?
So then...government issued. The only reason I ask is I have found most people try and sell these for a premium over melt because they are "collectible" (whatever that means) but then when it comes to selling them they pretend they are nothing more than bullion.
You can't go wrong with roosters and angels IMO. They are fractional, neat, carry little to no premium for most dates and are a great bullion vehicle. Plus you get history as an added bonus.
Yes, government issued. In truth, I would expect anyone to attempt to make a spread on the buy/sell for these. The local coin shop around here sells one ounce gold eagles at spot+$50 and buys them at spot+$20 so their spread is $30 per ounce (about 2%). Similarly, they sell one ounce bullion rounds at about spot+$20 and buy them at 98% of spot, which is actually a larger spread than the eagles. Again, in my experience more folks will buy an eagle than will buy a bullion round and the difference in acquisition price can be washed away during the sale. Additionally, improved liquidity (faster sales) can be had with government issued pieces.
As TomB said, bars are a little less liquidable than government issued coins. Govt issue coins are more popular and when I say govt, I'm specifically talking about US gold eagles, Canadian maples, Chinese pandas, Austrian philharmonics, and the Australian kangaroos.....not some govt coin like lets say ethiopia, iran, etc. I noticed that at a coin show, bars don't sell as fast or the buyers want the assay card that some come with it.
They are 20 Franc gold coins containing .1867 oz gold. so almost a fifth of an ounce. the Angel was minted in between 1871-1898 and the rooster was 1901-1914. They are worth about $255 melt right now and I think silvertowne has them for less than $265 (wire price)
One area where you might do well is to buy certified damaged classic gold coins . . . Half eagles, quarter eagles, and gold dollars are great for this purpose. There is no shortage of cleaned, bent, scratched and otherwise damaged gold coinage out there. You can derive multiple benefits from purchasing in that form . . . They're already authenticated; The premium will be quite low for a real coin, as opposed to a round; They will draw more attention than much more common rounds, Maples, AGE, Rands, etc; They are widely available in small sizes, which I endorse for many investors because they can be redeemed for normal expenses without getting back tons of depreciating cash in change; You might even get hooked as a collector . . . not a bad thing at all. Best of luck to you . . . - Mike
