What are your thoughts on current Pre-1933 U.S. Gold premiums?

My own personal experience in the past, when I needed some $$$, I sold bullion coins, not my numismatics.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

True, but right now with the price of gold steadily moving upwards I won't be selling any at all, not anytime soon anyways!

 

Ditto.....if anything, I was going to consider selling bullion for some numismatics but not sure it's worth it for 2 ounces.

 

So true, but not right now!

 

The gold sovereigns I ran into last week were selling above $500! Last time I bought one was sometime last year and I paid a little over $300. Good luck finding a cheap one, I don't know if they exist. That said, your LCS is your best bet either way!

 

I stopped buying back when gold was like $1250. I paid just a few dollars over melt for each one.

 

Actual bullion spot for 1 oz. or the equivalent Saint for 0.9675 ounces ?

 

In the past, when gold surged, the oppportunity cost of holding gold was very high. We're in a new era where these costs are practically non-existent and you may see institutional and individual allocations to gold change from what they would in the past.

In 1979-80, you could get 12% in a money market fund and 12-15% on long-term Treasuries. For most of the 1980's and 1990's, you could get 5% in a MMF and 8% on Treasuries.

In 2011, money funds yielded only 1% or less but you could get 3-4% in bonds and Treasuries.

Today, you get 0.1% in a money fund and less than 1% for a 10-year Treasury !

This means that holding gold costs alot less !

 

Actual bullion spot.

 

Exactly what I was thinking... in 2011.

(Okay, there was the coin show where I bought a bunch of quarters at something like 25x face, picked out a couple I wanted to keep, and sold the rest to a dealer in the next aisle at 26x...)

 

Unless of course you do the math of what that money would have done if it was invested into Apple or Amazon instead

 

Well, here's another first:


Gold bullion value reaches 100x FV.

 

Doesn't list Saint Double Eagles for some reason.

 

It was just scrolled off the bottom of the page when I did the screen capture.

Source: http://www.coinflation.com/gold_coin_values.html -- currently back down to 99.49x FV. SELL! SELL!

 

I think many people -- at least the PT'ers I talk to -- sometimes forget that Saints and Liberty's are NOT 1 full ounce of gold and that they are paying a 3% premium right off the bat if they go by the price of 1 ounce of gold.

That's why I asked about it above.

If you don't discount 3%, you're paying a bit more than spot relative to modern bullion coins. Not saying that's a BAD decision -- and for aesthetic reasons including being slabbed/graded you get other benefits -- but that 3% now means $60 at $2,000 gold.

At $5,000 gold...it's $150.

 

So let me ask you dealers a question that I've never understood, not being a trader or business owner.....you buy up here a bunch of common Saints, Liberty's, and other bullion coins at $2,000 or so....you replenish your inventory....then gold falls back to $1,700 and lays there for months...what do you do ?

You have to sell at market prices and "lose" $300 a coin, right ?

And if the price were to go lower, you'd buy some at $1,700 and still lose more on those coins, right ?

Or do you wait for the price to move up on those coins and hope to make $$$ to live on by selling other coins that you are in at a lower price ?

To free up inventory/cash, you have to be willing to "lose"
money on coins, am I right ? Is this the flip-side of making $$$ when the price is rising over a long period of time ? Sort of the portfolio equivalent of buying some stocks that won't make money or will lag the market knowing you will make it up with your winners ?

 

I assume you tap into some of the money you made on all the gold you bought at $1500 or less.

More seriously, I assume you keep buying and selling as fast as you can with your standard buy/sell spread, rather than gambling on holding something that might go up or down.

 

Must be more treacherous with numismatics, even commons, as you deal with premiums depending on the grades (if they go high enough, they elevate above bullion).

At least with bullion, you just have to track 1 variable -- the price of gold. With numismatics, you have 2 variables with the price of gold AND the premium for the coin and grade.

 

As a pragmatist, I sell when buyers are interested, and sellers are withholding, waiting for a higher price, offering junk with an attitude, at a seemingly elevated price.

Young buyers seem to be looking for quality material at a fair price, with sufficient cash.

A simple Craigslist ad selling quality products at a price slightly above spot, results in a busy day.

I've been contacted by numerous young individuals wanting to sell their Silver products at close to melt, wishing to acquire quality Gold at a fair price.

BM "Dealers" are offering a Silver buy at close to half of spot, and selling raw junk Gold at spot + plenty. .Just look at eBay pricing

I love it, as do my buyers.

I will not be able to replace the sold inventory in my life-time, but other replacements will be found.

JMHO

 

Depends on the dealer. Premiums go up a lot faster than they come down and many will keep trying to get the old price for a while, some will even just stash it until next time. It's not smart but there are plenty of dealers out there that refuse to take a loss on anything