In terms of online purchase where do you get your pre-33 coins? Most sites I see have the popular "our choice" Any sites show their inventory with actual pics to select from? Second question For $5, 1o and $20 coins what are your minimum grades to consider?
buy from reputable dealers. if you are gonna buy online like Ebay get them slabbed PCGS or NGC. make sure they have a return policy. buy what you can afford.
I have found a lot of pre-33 gold coins at coin shops. They sometimes have a hole in them, but that's okay because they usually sell for melt or a little more. Look around! You might find something cool!
you can try Heritage or Great Collections for graded and good pictures. I agree on ebay, only get graded coins. but they go for more than the auction house coins most of the time. for 'they pick' common coins JM bullion has good prices on graded bullion.
If I bought older gold (which I don't), I'd want to buy at a good-sized coin show, where you can "walk," and play one seller against another. Your LCS probably has a limited selection, and no particular incentive to discount; a show dealer has out-of-pocket expenses right up front, and may have a hundred $5s, $10s, and $20s to choose from -- as does the dealer set up right next to him.
that would be maybe the best, but many like me don't have any good shows near enough to make worth while. I wish there was.
I should have been more precise - I'm thinking at least 20 dealers, a level of participation you sometimes find with a combination stamp-coin show or a sports card-coin show, not necessarily a 50- or 100-dealer show.
The number of reputable dealers selling the coins you ask about is huge. There are several right here on this forum who could almost certainly sell you one right now. And yes they can show you pictures to choose from. As for what grades to consider, everybody is going to have a different opinion on that. You're the only one who can decide what grade is right for you depending on your budget, and what you like. Same thing goes for which type of coin to choose.
I always try to go for AU-55, AU58 or MS-62/63 - depending on your budget you could go higher of course
I agree with Doug444, go to a coin show if you can. That is where I have bought most of my older gold.
I usually go for ms61-62 in the $10 coins, seems like the best value for the bucks. with Saints for a lot of the coins a ms63 is only a bit more.
I have found most of my gold online. Always buy slabbed from known dealers or ebay with good feedback. I bought a $20 and a $10 from LSCs but I had some significant coins to trade towards them. I don't know where you live or what your state taxes are but to buy local for cash it would cost me an extra $100 minimum just on taxes for a $20. I really like AU55-58 gold for the price. MS60-63 can be pretty bag marked IMO.
