Want to start buying gold

For that $67 a gram bar you are paying an insane premium to the spot price of gold


1 gram is approx .03215 tr - oz


so you are paying roughly $2080 a ounce for gold. Its going to take a while to break even. If you are really interested in investing in gold, save your money until you can afford to buy government bullion at the 1/2oz or larger sizes to avoid such a premium.

Personally, that's what I have to do. Remember investing is a marathon not a sprint. Research is your friend.

 

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I have to agree with sweeper. Small bars are not a smart way to buy gold. I can understand if you have little money to invest but wait until you can get atleast a 1/2 coin.

Have you ever seen a gram bar in person? It's about as big as the finger nail on your pinky finger. If you sneezed real hard, it might blow away.

Sure you may "prefer" to have a little bag of gram bars and it might be cool to impress your friends with but unless you are thinking "survialist" and paying for stuff when the world as we know it ends, this is a great way to OVER pay for gold. Say for example ...the world doesn't end and you go to sell in 20-30 years. It's a tough sell and chances are you will sell for less than spot with no numismatic value at all.

Here are various shapes and sizes of bars: http://www.apmex.com/Category/9/Gold_Bars__Rounds_1_gram___400_oz.aspx

Sadly as coins get smaller, you actually pay MORE:

Currently:

1oz coin - $1,318.95
1/2 oz - $ 705.88
1/4 oz - $362.39
1/10 oz - $151.00

If you buy a 1/10 oz coin ...you are paying $1,500 an ounce.

Yikes.

 

I couldn't agree more. The only thing I have to offer is do some historic research before you buy what you think is an investment. Most investors never buy anything at it's peak, if they want to make or even retain money. I won't elaborate further, as all the info is available and free everywhere.
Guy~

 

Yup that's about what they go for. But for someone starting out who doesn't want to stick his neck out too far I see nothing wrong with buying a tenth ounce AGE.

 

I agree. AGEs in any form should probably be the first form of gold anybody buys, and the 1/10 ounce coins have a reasonable premium. The small bars and "cool" stuff is a geat way to lose money when you find out that (1) you overpaid and (2) nobody wants the stuff except at a discount to spot when you go to sell.

 

I agree. You gotta start with baby steps but just don't make it habit forming to buy tiny gold.

Personally, I just can't look at the 1/10 ounces. I mean ..it's like a gold dime.

I have a hard time dealing with spending $150 on something the size of a dime...:crying:

When I buy gold, I need at least something the size of a nickel (20 Swiss francs) or a quarter (1/2 ounce AGE or a first spouse) to justify the outlay of cash.

 

Precious metals are sold in troy ounces so if you are set on buying small quantities do the math.
1 Troy oz = 31.1 grams
1 troy oz= 480 grains
RIght now gold is 1256.80 so a one gram bar is worth 1256.80/31.1= $40.41 or $2.61 per grain

 

I lucked out recently and got a 2006 tenth oz. graded by NGC MS70 First Strikes for $90.00 They sell on eBay for double that amount.
When it comes to selling, the 10th oz. is fairly easy to move.
It is important to think about liquidity.

 

I'm sorry i didn't mean that I wanted to buy 5 grains. I like the style of it.

For my first buy i'll buy like a half ounce, i just gotta find something in that style...what do you call that style?

 

It's called a "mistake.":loud:

 

Can you explain why? I don't see the harm in buying a half once tablet like dealy instead of a modern coin with the same value?

 

That style could be called a Pamp,credit sussie,or fortuna bar in which they all refer to the same. If you go with these I would suggest to buy the ones that are carded from the mfg, as they do have a serial # and are alittle easier to sell to the novice buyer

 

It is a mistake because:

1. You are buying non-standard products that might or might not have the weight and purity stamped on them. Government coins will always have the weight and purity promised.

2. You are buying gold in a form that will be more difficult to resell someday. If you do manage to resell it, the buyer will apply a significant discount compared to something like American Gold Eagles.

3. You are vastly overpaying for the items you've shown us. So even if you avoid the pitfalls of 1. and 2., your profit will be far lower as a result of buying the stuff you are interested in.

But it's your money. You seem determined to buy this sort of stuff. I wish you luck. I can't say it any clearer, so this is the end of this thread for me. It's too painful to watch.

 

If you are determined to buy bars, I would agree with everyone on here and tell you to stay away from the "garage assayers". You never know how many less nails and paperclips they have after making some of those things.

Here is a link to some bars from trusted companies.

http://www.providentmetals.com/bullion/gold/private-gold.html

or this


http://www.apmex.com/Category/9/Gold_Bars__Rounds_1_gram___400_oz.aspx

or this

http://www.goldeneaglecoin.com/Buy_Gold/Gold_Bars

and this

http://www.gainesvillecoins.com/category/292/Gold.aspx

From what I understand, you do not like the idea of coins, but there are some that can be bought for close to spot, you might want to check them out too.

I'd stay away from the ebay novelty items you're looking at. It's very risky and who knows what you'll be getting.

Let us know what you plan to buy or have bought. I'd like to read about it. I wouldn't worry too much about the criticism here, we've all made mistakes and are trying to help you avoid those same mistakes.

 

One calls them "First Spouse"....

###
Manufactured by the U.S. Mint, they contain precisely 1/2 ounce of 24 K( .9999) gold.
They are immediately identifiable on sight. They are easy to buy and sell because any darn fool may see what they are and what they are worth at 'melt' (bullion value).
They command no such premium as do American Gold Eagles, Maple Leafs, or Kruggerands, so rather than paying a premium to acquire them, then being subjected to an indecent discount when selling, one more-or-less buys and sells at melt. ('Melt' means spot price multiplied by gold content so in this case exactly one-half of spot equals 'melt'.)
This past week gold traded at $1260 an ounce ( troy, of course). Therefor the melt value of a First Spouse is $630. One must expect to pay a premium. The game is to pay the smallest premium. The mint will sell you one today for just under $800 shipped. Others are for sale on EBay and other places with widely varying prices. On this site I would expect to to see offers to sell at $650 or so including insured postal delivery. As Victor or I could tell you, shipping ain't cheap so that so-called 'premium' you're paying is hardly making us rich.
###
Grains, mills (sic, the word is 'mils'), and the most of the other links you've posted are indicators of deceit, duplicity, and the attempt to exploit the ignorance and credulity of the unwary. Blow'em off.

 

A Poor "Investment"

FUUUNY!! What a tactful exclamation for disclosing the truth. I believe that if one properly researches the best manner for acquiring Gold, they will find that acquiring a $50 PCGS or NGC MS69 certified 24 kt. Buffalo, when properly purchased, will provide the greatest international flexibility for acquisition/resale, at the lowest premium. I believe that eBay is currently the most competitive site for safe purchase of this commodity, as Paypal is a required payment source which gives great protection to the buyer.

 

a lil update...

i decided to wait on the gold because i still have to much to learn and read. I wasn't trying to be difficult in the firmness of what i wanted but after reading for few hours i understand WHY is why because why is why....

So i'm starting out with silver, i guess its the better route + when i buy i spend lets say a 150 on silver i have something show for it instead of 1/10 that is alot smaller than a dime lol i felt like i was goign to break the damn thing in the store.

I have bought (5) one ounce silver bars, bought all them for around 16 a piece and i bought (3) 5 ounce bars for 85 a piece. I think i'm going to buy a 10 ounce bar today for 150ish.

 

Can you post a photo or scan of the 1 ounce bars? Are they .999 or sterling?

 

Right. And after paying through the nose; don't hold your pee waiting for the package to arrive.
I am still waiting for a package to get here from Colorado that was supposedly sent Monday June 21st according to USPS tracking.
Priority my rump! Tracking is worthless.
Registered is super slow. I called USPS customer service and they don't even have a record of anything being shipped from that zip code of origin.
I could have hitchhiked to Colorado and back home by now and saved $28.00

 

yeah i take some pics later when i get home and can take a breathe. I got (10) one ouncers today and a 5 ouncer