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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;krispy, post: 968407, member: 19065&quot;]In 2008 the US Mint tried a couple of <u>marketing</u> ploys with the collectible 24k AGB coins. At the time the Mint had also just introduced fractional AGB coins, the first year for these since the gold buffalo coin program began in 2006. In one incarnation, the Mint offered the 24k 1 oz. <a href="http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&amp;storeId=10001&amp;productId=14399&amp;langId=-1&amp;parent_category_rn=14239" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&amp;storeId=10001&amp;productId=14399&amp;langId=-1&amp;parent_category_rn=14239" rel="nofollow">2008 American Buffalo Celebration Coin</a> suggesting it as &quot;the first product to be introduced&nbsp; in the series&nbsp; and is being launched in time for the 2008 Lunar New Year&nbsp; – a traditionally&nbsp; important gift-giving time of year for&nbsp; Asian-Americans&quot; The US Mint went on in another package-oriented marketing scheme to offer the <a href="http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&amp;storeId=10001&amp;productId=14560&amp;langId=-1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&amp;storeId=10001&amp;productId=14560&amp;langId=-1" rel="nofollow">8-8-08 Double Prosperity</a> set, which contained two one-half ounce gold&nbsp; coins, an American Eagle Uncirculated Gold Coin (22k) and an American Buffalo&nbsp; Uncirculated Gold Coin (24k). The concept here, once again, being that, &quot;The number &quot;8&quot; is traditionally&nbsp; associated with wealth and prosperity in Asian cultures. Furthermore,&nbsp; this date only occurs once every 100 years.&quot; These sales tactics were used to solicit to a particular demographic, one that the Mint thought they might appeal to, helping boost popularity with the, then still new, AGB coin program and based this on certain assumptions that Asians and/or Asian-Americans would be particularly drawn to these coins due to the use of pure 24 karat gold, a red box in one format and two (double) &#039;08 coins in another, both in gold. While the Mint toyed with these cultural notions they were really laying the ground work for the existence of 24k gold coins that they were committed to offering. The Mint despite their ploys and large retail mark up for collector versions of coins, had the double prosperity coins selling together under one bundled price which had little to do with pricing a bargain on the value of actual compositional purity. These collector version coins were very successful but not for their retail price nor the marketing reasons noted above, rather for their limited mintage and new collector driven interest. This success helped establish the AGB coins in the mind set of collectors and investors alike.</p><p><br /></p><p>For all intents and purposes, with the 24k AGB (bullion as well as collector versions) the Mint is actually competing with other nations&#039; bullion products like Canada&#039;s .9999 fine pure gold Maple Leaf coins. The US did not previously have a 24k pure gold coin to offer and simply wanted to branch out, stealing away a piece of this market. Chief amongst that market the Mint sought to utilize marketing efforts of their new 24k gold coins to the Asian-American collectors and investors of gold coin. </p><p><br /></p><p>Compare the price of the AGB 1 oz. bullion coin (non-collector version) to that of the 1 oz. Canadian Maple Leaf and you will often find that even selling a foreign issue of gold coin in the US, most domestic dealers are offering the Canadian 24k pure gold coin for less than you can acquire the AGB 1 oz. 24k gold. I believe that in terms of what you should buy for investment purposes is the finest purity coin backed by a sovereign nation for the lowest price you can acquire the bullion for, because they will be the easiest to liquidate should you need to sell. In this light the Maple Leaf is the better buy although the AGB quickly rose to carry with it a reputation backed by the USA that investors demand, proven by years of success with the AGE program.</p><p><br /></p><p>The increased price over spot one must pay for the AGB from bullion dealers seems to carry with it some extra mark up the Mint is charging dealers and in turn to the investor due to this quickly acquired reputation and demand for the coins. Despite a similar purity of gold coin, the Canadian Maple Leaf, US coins continue to command a higher premium over spot than it&#039;s long established competitor of pure 24k bullion gold coins. This happens even though Canada is a well known, stable nation offering bullion products, and at a lower price point.</p><p><br /></p><p>For resale the AGB then seems to prove the easiest and most familiar with dealers/collectors to accept or liquidate and recover a higher premium while the Canadian coin is equal in every regard but a slightly better price, priced less over spot than AGBs. It&#039;s hard to suggest which coin to purchase but both are probably easier to liquidate than are 1 oz. 24k gold bars with an even lower price over spot but not backed by a government. </p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s really up to the individual investor to weigh these <i>seemingly</i> minor differences and reasons for which to invest in, which &#039;risk&#039; to take and what best interest is being served them by paying a bit more or less for choosing one over another. Aesthetic reasons should not interfere but they probably do for some investors. Being wise to the other factors of what helps make these coins easy to liquidate when you need to is a most important one to remember even though it is impossible to know which will be more accepted later on for resale. Having&nbsp; narrowed it down to these choices, it appears pretty safe which ever way&nbsp; you elect to go.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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