If I can't feel the gold or silver than I'm not interested. If I want to feel plastic than I'll grab a bottled water.
Premium is too high for the Valcambi, and I've seen too many counterfeits of the Pamp Suisse. I would go for coins - Maple Leafs or Buffaloes.
Both Valcambi and Pamp Suisse come with ridiculous premiums ! And i would have to ask the question why? i dont here much talk About them or see anybody buying these, staying with Gold coins Such as these is the hot ticket
The beast is a hot series right now and it doesnt come wrapped in plastic..LOL But if your going to invest in these buy them when they first come out as There closer to spot the dragon and the lion especially are over $2,000 right Now, talk about inflation.
My favorite is the Krugger ! usually always around spot, the coin isnt Really to exciting though only the year changes..LOL.
There is no difference in value between a Krugger and lets say a buffalo Which is 24K, being 22K only means there are other metals present. 24K is more of a presentation piece and very delicate, where the Krugger And Eagle are more durable and used for commerce.
Pamp Suisse gold bars are now sold in Veriscan packaging, which adds a measure of security and authenticity - these have also been counterfeited, so buyer beware
I really detest that kind of packaging. Makes it impossible to test the item w/o destroying it (the packaging that is). Pamp does have same extremely nice plastic protective packaging for their larger bars though which allows easy bar removal. So that’s what I get. Tests I do include: - basic weight - strong magnets and a very sensitive scale to measure the diamagnetic effect.. which gold has and tungsten has the opposite - specific gravity - ultrasonic thickness measurement The 2nd test is useful for gold to eliminate the possibility of tungsten presence. Not so useful for platinum. Fortunately for platinum, it is so dense, the weight & specific gravity tests are practically enough to prove it’s Pt. Anything more dense than Pt usually costs MORE than Pt. At great expense someone could try to counterfeit a Pt bar with something denser like iridium or osmium and alloy w/ cheap tungsten, but that alloy might cost more than pure Pt and even then could be defeated with the ultrasonic test.
I really don't understand why someone would want an ugly gold bar, besides the fact they are so easy to counterfeit.