Anyone make a point in buying these? I really can't get into buying ounce pieces right now, but I can on occasion swing one of these. I realize the premiums are higher, but none the less its gold.
1/20 ounce!? Wow, how small is that? LOL.... This topic was brought up before. I've bought a couple of 1/10 oz coins when I was first starting out, just to get my feet wet. I suppose any gold is better than nothing, but at the same time, you might get more bang for your buck if you went the silver route. If silver is to explode anyways like some people are predicting, you'd be better off holding a bunch of 1 oz silver coins than 1/10 or 1/20 oz gold... The premiums on the smaller coins are higher as you mentioned, so I just really don't know what anyone would want to do with 1/10 or 1/20 coins...
I've seen some gold coins as small as half a gram. It would probably be better to buy a one ounce silver coin or bar rather than tiny gold coins.
Is the obsession to buy gold so strong that you actually want to buy a piece so small that it would blow off the table if you sneezed? Buy an overpriced silver eagle. It has weight to it.
I wouldn't buy less than a half eagle........which is about 8 grams or 1/4 of an ounce. The fineness changes based on the year you buy do some research. The costs are about $400-450. Look for a deal.
I prefer foreign (some small U.S)gold fractionals(ducats, francs, pesos, iran pahlavi fractionals, and sovereigns) from the 1830's-1950's. There are several reasons why I seek these out. 1) They can be purchased at spot or +0.5%-1%. (often times found in PCGS/NGC plastic) 2) They are just as liquid as "bullion" or "trade coins"(AGEs, Maples, Harmonics, and Rands). 3) They have limited mintages. 4) They have very small buy/sell spreads compared to modern "bullion".
I've bought many 1/10th oz gold coins. The deal is to wait it out long term if you want to sell them. I wouldn't call the ones I have a bad deal at all. I bought some for around $45 -$50 per coin back a few years ago. Look where they're at now. They do have a heftier premium, so yes, you will get more bang for your buck with a larger coin, but I wouldn't say they're a bad deal. Also, if they're what you like, then go for it! I totally know where you're coming from with being able to pick one of these up every once in a while vs. buying the big ones.
If you live in a major metropolitan/cosmopolitan area like NYC, then the more esoteric foreign gold might be "as liquid as bullion" coins. But it has been my experience, out in the hinterlands, that there is a sort of mindset as it pertains to foreign gold. First, there are people who avoid foreign gold because they fear it might be subject to confiscation, as the Krugerrands were to a certain extent in the '80s and some late-date foreign gold was in the '60s. Second, most collectors in the US prefer the US gold coins. If they're interested in investing, they will gravitate toward the bullion coins that are made in convenient, easy-to-remember units. Third, there seems to be a hierarchy of sorts as it pertains to foreign gold coins that are not bullion per se, but are traded as bullion. The most popular foreign gold coins that are not fractional bullion pieces seem to be the Mexican coins-- perhaps because of the large Mexican population, and the close similarity with equivalent US coins (2 pesos= 1 dollar, 5 pesos= 2 1/2 dollars, 10 pesos = 5 dollars, 20 pesos = 10 dollars). Following Mexican gold coins, British/Australian/South African sovereigns seem to be pretty liquid, as are French and Swiss 20 francs pieces. German 20 marks are also up there, but they might not be quite as liquid. Other European gold coins have varying degrees of liquidity. I was recently in a coin shop in the South, and the dealer was offering one of his regular customers an Austrian 4 florins for $450-- less than "melt", as it were. But the customer wasn't interested in it-- "I don't know nothing about them" was his reason. As for the more esoteric gold coins, I have my doubts about coins like the Pahlevi and its fractions. First, they are not widely traded coins. Second, the lettering is all Farsi, and the date is not only in Arabic/Farsi numerals, but it is the Persian year, which makes it doubly difficult to convert into the equivalent Christian year. Third, with all the hullabaloo about Iran today, there are people who won't touch them for fear of confiscation and/or stigma.
I have never purchased 1/10 oz (or less) of gold bullion but would consider it if the price was right. TC
Yea I'm thinking the price usually aren't that bad till you consider the premium... I mean if you could buy 10 (or maybe 9) of them for the cost of an OZ... I thinkI'd be all in... Never did the math, I need too I'm just guessing...
I have stated my gold accumulation method on previous fractional gold threads... I prefer foreign (but, some U.S common circulated $2.5 & $5 gold) gold fractionals(ducats, francs, pesos, iran pahlavi fractionals, and sovereigns (retrikes and originals) from the 1830's-1950's. There are several reasons why I seek these out. 1) They can be purchased at spot or +/- 0.5%-1%. (often times found in PCGS/NGC plastic) 2) They are just as liquid as "bullion" or "trade coins"(AGEs, Maples, Harmonics, and Rands). 3) They have limited mintages. 4) They have very small buy/sell spreads compared to modern "bullion". Read more: http://www.cointalk.com/t86789/#post785013#ixzz0dT2EpX2Z
over priced eagles?,blowing off the table?? ,too small??? Please! Eagles are over priced entill you sell them then you get 10-20% over spot! 1/10oz of gold is better then NO GOLD at all! and deserving got nothing to do with it!
we have canadian maple leaf 1/15 ounce gold coin issued on 1995. we also have australia koala 1/25 ounce gold coin.
Hi, I have a question for CappedBustDimes. I have been wanting to buy some fractionals although I usually buy full ounces, and I found your post very convincing. I noticed the other day that even on Apmex the premiums for some of the pesos were much lower than I expected for a fractional coin --- until you get to the 2 peso sizes, of course. Particularly attractive is the small buy/sell spread that you mentioned. I rarely hear this discussed, and I think it's very important. Otherwise, the round trip gets to be very expensive. Can you recommend any dealers who offer good prices on these kinds of coins? I haven't looked around for these yet, but the premiums you describe are lower than anything I recall seeing. I'm learning a lot here already, and appreciate all the conflicting and differing points of view.