As of this writing: Apmex are currently selling common gold commems for $336.35 (34.99 over spot) (The coin contains .24187 oz of gold) Provident are currently selling their common gold commems for $318.42 Both of these dealers sell them with no grade guarantee, and no original packaging in most cases. Don't forget to add to these costs above whatever they charge to ship. === Gold spot ask now @ $1,225.50
So Krispy, why is a 1/4 ounce eagle so much more than a common date gold commem when the difference in actual gold is only approx $9.5 a coin? Also have you had good luck with Provident?
From the stuff I have read- the commems. are not very popular. I picked up two of them on a dealer's bid board. There were not a lot of bids on either. For some reason people don't care about them. The gold eagles are very popular.
My main goal here is; I sold a Gold Panda for a good mark up. I want to get some smaller pieces of gold so in the future I don't have to sell a full ounce if I need to sell some gold for cash. I like the idea of the 1/10 ounce eagles but the price above spot is just crazy.
Sorry i was out since my last post... yes, as stated already, popularity primarily is the reason. As for Provident, I can't speak highly enough about them. While Apmex are premium quality and very customer service oriented, Provident are every bit as competitive and on the ball, even quicker to process orders and provide tracking. I have ordered from them a couple times this year and have had no problems. Others here such as PeacePeople have also used them and had good things to report.
AGEs are the easiest to liquidate when you need to sell. This helps drive demand for them in addition to the assurance of their quality. They simply command a higher premium that dealers can make money on. A pure investor will be buying for the best price without excessive mark up and can identify that an AGE and a commemorative gold coin, while slightly different in weight, are both the same material, one selling at a better price for the material alone. Buyer or Seller should realize this and pay accordingly to best take advantage of their investment funds. Those with some or a lot of numismatic interest in the coins may be more likely to pay more for these, even if considered bullion, esp. if there is some aspect of higher grade or limited mintage carrying with it the potential for further numismatic premiums. Good move on your Panda coins. I think there is a slight demand with more Chinese or Asian investors gaining the ability to buy and own gold, and the general hype for everyone to own physical. They seem to be doing a little better these days so you may have taken a good timing opportunity and benefited from the sale. I sold my remaining pandas earlier this year and was happy with the return. I had four 1989 pandas that I owned since '89: one silver the other three fractional gold. The silver panda was toning inside the sealed plastic and both gold pandas had (unsightly) red spots developing. Common for some gold to have these spots, but to me, they were likely due to low quality control during minting. I was happy to sell them and reinvested the money in other things.
I had a 2000 1oz and have a 2001 1oz which will probable get sold in the next week. I just want some small sized coins, but retain the real gold. The one I sold was an awesome coin but like yours was getting red spots on the inside of the original package, for that reason it was dumped. The other I just want to take advantage of the market and move it into small denomination US gold. I've owned both pandas since 2001.
Ease of getting out your money is a factor in price. You might think that an ounce of gold is an ounce of gold, regardless of how it is coined. Unfortunately, that's the sales pitch you hear when buying, but first time SELLERS discover that you often have to discount some coins more than others and almost always below spot. They have to make their money after shipping and melting costs. American Eagle and Buffaloes are selling at a premium above spot because of numismatic premiums above spot and ease of disposal and minimal discounting required to the spot price. The smaller the margin between buy and sell, the better for value in bullion. This can be done by buying and selling right and never buying a sales pitch. If you're buying, find a bonafide price you can sell it for. If you're selling, find a bonafide offer you can purchase it for. You might be surprised when you pin down actual offers verses sales pitches. Supply and demand drive the market and manipulators have a short lifespan. I learned by buying silver and paid a premium which I was told would cover the entire dealers spread (difference between buy/sell prices) and would then be able to sell back at spot. When I decided to get out, suddenly the spread completely reversed and I had to discount the silver to 70% of an already falling spot and pay the entire spread again. I called the market, but barely broke even. Lesson learned.
I prefer to accumulate gold by buying modern US $5 commems at melt value or slightly below melt value. Virtually all of these raw pieces should certify MS69 or PR69 or higher, in my opinion, but I would not pay a premium for a certified example. In fact, I might pay a bit less for a coin without its original government packaging because it is my experience that many folks at shows want the original government packaging. Currently, APMEX is showing gold at about $1,217 and this puts the melt value of modern $5 commems at about $295. Therefore, I would purchase these at slightly below $295, but would not pay anything near the $320 quoted since it is nearly 10% above melt value.
