Looking to invest in Gold

Okay, after very long thought...I have decided, and my wife agrees, that it might be an okay idea to invest in gold coins....to look upon it as an investment that might bring some return in the long run. This is instead of playing the stock market (we do have SOME investments in this area) in the traditional sense and I had hoped to do so in gold coinage.

Now I have just been a casual collector of world and ancients and never looked upon them as an investment as much as just a hobby, passtime, and a pleasure. If I AM going to invest in gold I would like to do so in coinage.

Now because it has never been a big interest of mine and I have am completely new to this side of collecting I was looing for a bit of advice and what type of coin would be good for this, how is the best method of aquiring such coins, and where. What I guess I am looking for is to buy the gold at as close to bullion value as possible.

Any hints one can give? helpfull links, I have browsed the coin chat foums but havent seen a thread that scream this information and I think people here probably know quite a bit and can point me in the right direction and give me real helpful advice. Thanks

 

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You can probably accomplish your goal with some of the modern gold coins. Look at American Gold Eagles. Look at the Canadian gold maple leafs. The color contrast between the two is interesting. Krugerrands are cheap. There is a lot to choose from and I'm sure others will have different suggestions. Stick with the uncirculated and away from the proofs and you can get most of them for pretty small premiums to the price of the bullion. It's pretty easy to invest in gold. The primary danger is buying a counterfeit, so stick with reputable dealers and avoid Ebay.

 

well, we have decided to start with a thousand dollars, maybe I will start with a krugerrand. When I do a search for gold coins a get a huge amount of hits...do you buy gold coins? who do you buy them from?

 

here are some places I have found...I assume for US gold coins, the mint is the best place.

<https://online.kitco.com / >

www.golddealer.com

http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Pro...

 

I always found APMEX to be the cheapest.

http://www.apmex.com/shop/buy/gold_american_eagles.asp?orderid=0

The prices listed are for cash or check purchases. If you want to use a credit card, add 3% to the price.

 

that looks good, I can get a good variety and satisfy the world collector in me, just one quick question. I am looking at the mint and APMEX

mint price for 2006 American Eagle Gold 1 oz coin is 720.00

APMEX price for mixed year American Gold Eagle 1 oz coin is 647.00

Both are uncirculated is this price difference because one is brand new?

 

Why stay away from ebay. If you know what you're doing you will be ok. You can also by PCGS , NGC, ANACS, ICG graded coins and be ok as well.

Best bet, buy eagles and maples from the respective mints.

Tom

 

You can sometimes get saint gaudens double eagles for melt if my understanding is correct. If you do go with this route, I would recommend buying a slabbed coin as several very deceptive counterfeits exist.

 

I've been very happy with APMEX and their service, though I've also heard good things about Kitco. APMEX had the best prices when I was looking earlier this year, and I've stuck with them since.

To answer your question about the pricing, APMEX usually offers the "mixed years" for gold and silver bullion as the best price, since they get to pick whatever year is in plentiful supply. If you want a particular year, then you pay a little extra for that. At least that's how I figure it. Some years are rarer than others, and it apparently matters even for bullion. Notice also that APMEX has PCGS MS-69 2006 Gold Eagles for a little more than the "mixed years" price - save yourself about $50 over the mint price and you have the authentication to put your mind at ease (may also make it easier to resell if that matters to you).

Maybe the mint coins will come in fancier packaging? I figure the mint charges a premium because they hold their price fixed for longer periods, whereas APMEX updates their price all the time as the spot price changes. We'll see how the mint reacts when/if spot approaches $720! And yeah, coins are way cooler than the little bars.

Scott

 

Whenever I decide to invest in gold, I take out my metal detector and hope for the best.
The sad part is that I normally don't find anything. Although I did find a nice 10 kt. ring two weeks ago.
Bad part: it wasn't slabbed.
Good part: It only cost me gas money that day.

 

The Mint does not sell "Uncirculated" American Gold Eagle bullion coins to the public directly (at least the kind that you're probably thinking of) and you can not buy them through their website. Notice that under the descriptions that the Mint gives for the Uncirculated coins they sell on the website, it says that those coins are struck on specially burnished blanks and are a collectible version of the regular bullion coins. If you want to buy the plain bullion AGE's, you have to buy them from a dealer and they will be less that $720 for the one ounce (unless it's a low mintage year, etc.). The other thing to note is that you usually pay a larger percent premium for the smaller denominations than the large ones. So, you may pay a $30 premium over spot for a 1 ounce coin and a $15 premium over spot for a 1/10 oz coin. The $15 premium is a much greater percent of the 1/10 oz coin, than $30 for the 1 oz...make sense? Also, yes, I'd look into other world coins as well to add some interests. I personally just bought a smaller denomination Canada Maple Leaf and I'm really enjoying it. I would also consider older coins (as zaneman mentioned) that you may have to pay just a small premium over spot for. Most of these will be in circulated grades, but they have a lot of numismatic interest too. Good luck!

 

I want to thank you guys for all the advice. I think we have decided to buy an american gold eagle 1 oz from kitco (cheaper) and a 1 oz gold Krugerrand from APMEX and see how that works out. After that I think I might look into a Maple Leaf and gold 100 corona for diversity.

again, many thanks and let me know if there might be a problem with the corona or this plan in general. We plan to hide these away and hope their value goes up.

 

Nowadays that's the good and bad news.

 

Boy, if these were mine, I sure wouldn't hide them away. I would have them out and enjoy looking at them every day.

 

Well I would and with many of my coins I do but they are so valuable that I think they might need to be in my safe. I WILL photograph them and put them on my website with the rest of my collection for people to see.

 

okay, we have changed our mind and have decided to invest in ancient Roman gold coins. Thanks for all the help though, this info might still come in handing later on.

 

Drusus,

Just keep in mind that you just strayed pretty far from your original goal -- to invest in gold. You are now involved in a hobby, not an investment pursuit. Never confuse the two. It can be costly.

 

Sorry to bump an old thread...I am still wanting to buy some gold...thing is...I want to buy OLD gold coins...Now I know that this might stray into hobby from pure investment...but wouldnt a fine old gold coin like say of napoleon or a Roman gold coin also be an investment? If I were to spend 2000 USD on a gold vespasian or a coin like these:



http://www.vcoins.com/world/rosenblumcoins/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=79&large=0

http://www.vcoins.com/world/beastcoins/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=144&large=0



would these not still be good investments? I just want a gold coin I find interesting.

 

You can go here; www.goldbay.com .Have you thought about buying some fractional Krugerrand coins? I've got a couple of the 1/10 Krugerrands - 1984 & 1990 so far.I would like to get one dated 1994 & later.

Aidan.

 

when i purchased gold i was able to get slabbed((dates around 1900) liberty half eagles for $160 xf/au w/ gold @ 620...also was able to get a nice slabbed saint(mss62) for about $30 more than an eagle. my personal preference is for nice historical coins for the same price as bullion. at the indiana state show there were quite a few you could have purchased around that price.