Hi Folks, I am just getting started into coin collecting for the following reason. The economy is stalling and I'm trying to diversify into some Gold and Silver. I have about 500.00 bucks cash to START buying and I'm willing to liquidate a 5000.00 IRA in Mutuals to go with more Gold and Silver. My question is two fold. Can anyone recommend a good, reputable dealer to me that maybe doesn't have a huge minimun investment or will sell coins as small sets OR individual coins? Second, As I AM looking at these for long term holding and hoping gold continues to climb, are there any coins that I should key in on? Or are things like 5 dollar gold Eagles a good start? ANY advice I can get would be most welcomed and appreciated. Thanks Rick
The reasons you described are not collecting but investing. While as collectors or accumulators, we all like our stash of coins to increase in value, In my mind, they are two totally different concepts. To answer your question though, aren't there funds that are gold/silver funds that might offer quicker liquidation than stockpiling bullion?
You may be right. As I said, I am completely green and completely lost. I did however figure that folks that collect do in fact get them from somebody, so I fugured who better to ask when looking fro a decent dealer. Nothing beats word O mouth
Yeah I fiuged that MIGHT be the way to go, I was looking for some confirmation on it. Do you have a particular dealer you like?
Well you can do both if you're so inclined lol... pick out a few gold coins to collect that can also be an investment. Downside to that is you may get attached to them and not want to sell them even if gold goes way up lol... Anyway let's not start another investing vs. collecting argument OK? Seen too much of those lol... Anywho, American gold eagles not a bad way to go... can purchase recently minted unicruclated ones for barely over melt, easy to store, easy to liquidate later, if investing is your primary goal for acquiring gold. http://www.apmex.com/ is a great place to buy (or sell) precious metals and can even acquire coins this way... very reasonable prices, usually just barely over melt value, and the deals get better the more you buy at one time.
Yes Apmex is a good way to go for gold and silver. TPG is a third party grader, such as PCGS, NGC, ANACS, who grade and or authenticate coins. Searching these forums will provide a wealth of info and opinions on that subject, both good and bad. Welcome to the forum.
TPG....Third party grader. You send them your coin and they asign a grade (thier opinion) to the coin and put it in a plastic slab. There are a few reputable tpg,s and a lot of shady ones. They can be good to authenticate key date coins.
As a long time, and long term investor in precious metals and NOT coins(I collect those do NOT invest) I believe one gets more bang for less bucks with silver. I started buying silver in mass when it was something ridiculous like $4.50 an oz. lots more at $6.50 and the last load at 12.50, now it pushes $20. Gold gives bang for the buck if you were in about 2.5 years ago, but it will not appreciate like silver will.
For the $500 I'd look at collecting American Silver Eagles by date. For the $5000 in the IRA, my advice would be DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not a qualified financial advisor but I can't think of a worse blunder than that would be. Instead, you can invest the money in something like GLD, SLV and especially CEF inside the IRA and get the same protection much more efficiently. Ask your advisor. Also, I should add that CEF is probably not good to buy outside of an IRA because it is subject to PFIC tax rules. But you should ask a tax and investment advisor about these things and not trust a disembodied offhand comment by an internet identity like me. My advice is worth exactly what you paid me for it.
TPG's are irrelevant in this scenario - he only wants bullion. As far as gold goes, I'll give you the same tip I give to bad waiters, "Buy low, sell high." Gold is pretty high right now, be patient.
Whwn you say dont do it. you mean dont liquidate the IRA to buy gold? The reason Im thinking this way is because of the bottom dropping out of the dollar, and this time, other countries are RUNNING away from it too. My IRA is getting to be worth les and less every day, that's why Im looking at it in this light. I dont know if can get gold through my present IRA. It seems like a pretty generic situation and I'm 100% invested in Mutual Funds
To do what you want to do with your IRA, you have a couple options. 1. buy the Gold and Silver ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) The tickers are GLD and SLV. 2. Buy Gold Eagles in an IRA. Gold Eagles are legal to own in an IRA, although you might have to transfer your account to a custodian willing to invest in Gold Eagles for you. Ask your IRA custodian if they will do it.
My guess is that you have been reading too many gloomy articles. If your mutual funds are equity oriented and your view is long term you'll probably be fine unless you have been unfortunate enough to choose unwisely. But if you liquidate the IRA, you'll pay ordinary income tax rates plus 10% on the proceeds. Then you will put it into something like gold coins with a high bid/ask spread that might cost you another 10-20% when you cash out. Then assuming you even make a profit, it will be taxed at collectible rates that I believe are 28%. Add all of that up and you probably will lose more in taxes, spreads and fees than you'll lose by doing nothing. But it's your choice.
As noted. DON'T DO IT. In the past I've seen way to many people panic and dump an IRA. Now they are old and have almost nothing. Remember money in an IRA if easily asked for and received. If you have Gold, Silve, etc and need money, just where are you going to sell it? Just how long will it take to get cash for Metals? Will you get what it's worth or what someone will pay you for it. If you have an IRA and are afraid of stock investments, ask the holder of the IRA if you can dump all moneys into a Money Market account. Oh yeah that $500. Just send it to me so no more problems.:smile
I used to know someone that worked for a very large organization. Thier retirement fund was either a 401K, an IRA or stocks. He chose stocks. He eventually over 70,000 shares of the compan's stocks. During a rugh time the stock value plumeted down from the $40 dolllar range to below $1. His bosses told him this is the time to purchase as much as possible. They knew something. He paniced and sold it all for cash. Not much for a retirement, had to pay taxes on it. That stock is now back in the $40's. Keep your IRA.
