is there any "cheap" gold coin, i dont have any but i'd like one. when i went to a little coin shop today the guy was selling a "gold" coin from 1886 for 10 dollars. Is that as cheap as they start?
Well if you're looking for 1 oz. coins, then if around $1500 is cheap to you, then sure there are. You can get gold plated coins that are much, much cheaper. I think you can still get 1/10th oz. gold coins too which are obviously much cheaper than 1oz. bullion. If this guy was selling a gold coin for $10 than it was definately not a gold coin. Gold plated maybe but definately not a true gold coin. Gold value is in the $1400s right now so anything less than that is not a full gold coin.
It was probably a California gold fractional token. Tons of reproduction ones were made and were either brass or had a gold wash.
If the dealer is representing it as a gold coin, not golden, not gold plated, but an honest to goodness gold coin, then he is actually making you a present, since the smallest denominated california fractional gold coin was retailing for 15 dollars back in 1965 when gold was about 35 an ounce.
If you want a cheap gold coin, some of the $1 liberty gold coins sell around the $100 mark on ebay. They usually have some sort of flaw which causes to grade lower. Gold content in the coin is around $67 right now.
Considering that real ones start at $400+ the chances of it being real is about zero. A fair price for one of the novelty copies would be more like $0.50 - $2. If you want a real gold coin cheap, look for a Mexican 2 or 2 1/2 peso. Or if you want a really cheap one try locating some India gold fanams. I saw a couple in a dealers case this weekend at around $30.
