Hey guys, I'm a total newb on gold and would like some help from you guys on what I should get. If it's a modern gold coin, an ancient one, or just buying gold in weight, etc. Any advice would be great and I'd like to first start out purchasing some gold for around $400-500. Thanks.
For investing as opposed to collecting, you want bullion coins, which dealers generally will buy at a bit under melt, and sell at a bit over. ("Bit" often being 10-15%.) With gold melt in the $570 range, that means buying fractional ounce pieces to stay in your price range. Not my personal cup of tea, but I believe you can obtain US, Canadiian, Chinese, South African and other bullion coins in 1-tenth, quarter and half ounce sizes. IMHO fractional gold is not a good investment vehicle, simply because the total cost of an ounce is smallest when you buy an ounce coin, higher for two half-ouncers, even more for four quarter-ouncers, and a whole bunch more for 10 tenth-ouncers. It's pretty much the same principle as buying small, regular, jumbo and giant size boxes of soap powder - the per ounce price goes down as the package size goes up.:rolling:
Hey Ryan. Well for $400-$500, here's what I might offer up... For a bit less than that, you could get a modern 1/2 oz Gold Eagle. For a bit more, you could get a 1 oz Gold Eagle. For around that price, I might recommend getting a nice $10 gold Liberty from the 1880's or 1890's. It really depends on what your interest are. If you are more interested in buying some gold just to have gold, I'd go with the modern coins as they can be bought for a small premium over melt. You'll pay more for the older coins per oz of gold, but in my opinion, the numismatic value of the coins you'd be buying is greater. For numismatic coins, I'd keep in mind that you might want to value quality more over quantity...just a thought.
Roy and Tcore hit all of the important points. I would just add that recently I've noticed that my usual gold sources have increased their prices even though gold has dropped a bit from its recent high price. So the spreads are a bit greater now than I would like to see between price and bullion value. So just remember to be very price conscious and don't get gold-fever.
How's this: http://cgi.ebay.com/1901-S-10-Liberty-Eagle-PCGS-MS62_W0QQitemZ8398820615QQcategoryZ39471QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Hello Ryan... While you have seen some honest post and the opinions of others that have some experience in this and passed along some solid advice, you must consider this! 1. What is your objective 2. What is you risk threshold? 3. What coin series would you be interested in collecting? 4. What coins have you studied? 5. Are you investing for the long term? 6. Do you have children you are investing for as in when you pass on? 7. Have you researched the marketplace? 8. Do you or are you prepared for proper storage of these coins? I personally have some different viewpoints on so called Gold Bullion Coins! American Eagles in particular. I have been collecting these for many years now during good gold time and low gold time as far as the $$$ of gold itself. If you look on the mints website you will find mintages for both proof and uncirculated Gold Coins. I am 14 coins away from completing the entire American Gold Eagle Series and let me be the first to tell you that the most valued denomination of these coins is the 1/2 oz uncirculated gold eagles! Hands down! Try finding them..no way it has taken me years to finish the 1986-2006 1/2 oz coins. The key dates for this denomination is 1989, 1990 and 1991 try finding those and paying just a little over melt! NO way in the World that will happen. The same goes for all of this series...there are some 1/4 oz gold going for near $400per coin. Granted that most 90% of my collection is PCGS MS69...even if these coins are rated as bullion they carry a numismatic price tag! The 1991 1/2 oz AGE in MS 69 will cost you near $1300.00 if you can find one! The point I am trying to make is this...discover what it is you want to collect, eat,sleep and drink it! Knowledge is power! Ask others opinions and you will find a thousand different likes and dislikes..that is what makes coin collecting so much fun! Everyone has their own style! I know guys on here that have some of the most beautiful coins in the World! It is what makes them happy to have, hold and collect. Do what makes you feel right and learn everything you can about what you want to accomplish. Always buy the key dates first, they are the most expensive for any coin series you want to collect. I have just recently completed the 1/10 oz American Platinum Eagle coins in both proof and uncirculated all MS and PRF69 PCGS...that took me just over 8 months...the rarer ones are later date coins like 2004 and 2005. I hope this helps you out..remember, there are some very knowledgeable people here and they also have their preferences, just like me..my entire motivation is collecting for my 4 yr old son to have it better than I did one of these days! :loud: Find your passion and go for it!! RickieB
If i were you,i would save that $400-500 till you have about $1000-$1500 saved up. Buy some of the older series. Coronet $2.5 & $5,Indian head $2.5,$5,$10,St.Gaudens double Eagles. Or better yet the Classic Head series 1934-1938 $2.5 or $5. But first and foremost REASEARCH ALL OF THE ABOVE.You must know what you are about to get into. For these kind of coins,buy them slabbed. (PCGS or NGC) The higher the grade, the more potential for future profits. You can get some nice "saints" ($20 double Eagles) in 64 or 65 grade for about $900-2000. The classic head series Au coins run about $900-$1700( not including the D or C mint ,these run in the price range of $3000-$5000 in au)Uncurculated coins start at $3000 for the common dates.!! The coronet and Indian Head series prices for MS62 and up are around $600+ Personally, I would'nt buy anything under ms62 in all of the above excluding the Classic Head. Then again, the $3 princess IMHO is a good buy(pretty rare or hard to come buy)but expect to pay upwards of $3000. If you save your money,and buy 64's and 65's ,you will have fewer coins but much nicer ones.. Then again, if this is not your ticket, and you just want gold, buy bullion. Bullion coins only appreciate when gold goes up or down Older series have a numismatic value along with gold value in their favor. There are some rare instances where the modern gold eagles caryy a hefty price.( ask RickieB) You would be better off in the long run purchasing the older series in higher graded (ms-63-ms65)SLABBS But remember, you must put these away for a minimum of 4-5 years. The series I'm trying to complete ( the Classic Head) have almost doubled in three years.And I expect them to keep moving up. Lastly, you must research and buy what you like.( gold is much harder to grade and harder to tell if they have been cleaned, so stick with PCGS & Ngc certified coins) Hope this helps!!! CLAW
I agree with RickiB's comments about the half ounce eagles being possibly THE ONE to collect. It also has the virtue of being the only $25 coin ever minted, so someday a lot of people are going to need one for various types of sets even if they don't collect the series.
My advice in anything is the standard line of never invest what you can't afford to lose and diverse your investments so not all of your nest eggs are in one basket. Pretty standard stuff but something always to keep in back of anyone's mind when they are hot on something.
