Hey everybody, I'm pretty wet behind the ears on coins so bare with me. I'm just getting back into collecting after about 15 years. I collected sports cards over that time, and found myself burnt out on them. So i fired up the coin collection again from when i was a kid, and its been great! So my question is about bullion coins. I have been cruising around at govmint.com and its somewhat unclear what exactly you get. At the prices the offer i would assume its 1/10 ounce gold in the 2007 $5 Gold Eagle BU and 1 oz silver in the 2008 $1 Silver Eagles UNC. Is this a correct assumption. Are coins like this encased or just loose coins? The reason my new interst in bullion is a little more diversification in my investments. After taking a 20 percent hit so far this year in the markets, I get a little worried if it all went wrong. Plus...the coins look sweet! Is there a better way to purchase bullion? Sorry for so many questions...more came as i kept typing!
1/10 oz is $5 gold - and it's encased whether BU or Proof. 2008 $1 silver is proof and encased. If you want burnished unc you have to purchase those from a dealer unless the mint issues the 2008 W burnished unc (as they have just began issuing the SAE in unc the past two years) You can get BU SAE's from a dealer and depending upon quantity usually get them 25 to 50 cents over spot. If you just want 'bullion' there are silver rounds that may sell right at spot because of the lack of numismatic value. And if you want 100 oz bricks of silver you get those closer to spot as well. Again.. it's all in the quantity. Me personally.. I'd stay away from 1/10 oz gold unless thats all you want to budget weekly / monthly because you pay more per each coin than buying one solid ounce of gold. Again.. that's if you want bullion vs coin. The coins look sweet, I agree, but you are paying $35 for a proof silver coin that's more than double silver spot so you are investing a LOT more than bullion. I think you need to decide ... do you want to buy nice coins, possibly rare coins that will improve in value over time) or bullion. With bullion - Keep in mind you're going to pay over spot going in, and sell under spot coming out. If the market spikes you could make some good money but again, it's all about the quantity. Do you want to / are you able to tie up $18k in a roll of gold eagles and sit on those in the hopes that gold spikes to $1000 an oz and you make $2k? Small amounts... very risky. I have several friends who try to rationalize that they've bought ONE gold coin on a credit card hoping to get rich. So they've charged $900 to $2000 on a few gold / silver coins on the hopes that market spikes.. but don't take into account the interest they pay on that card monthly until they do sell.
one thing to keep in mind, is aside fromt he mention in the web addy of the site - it is NOT the US mint website. just a fella trying to sell coins. for current bullion coins, try www.usmint.gov as for street bullion, i am not sure, but am sure others will point you to vendors they trust.
You can have fun numismatically as well as accumulate bullion by buying 90% silver pre -64 US coins at a very small premium over " melt"..... welcome to the forum !!!
Thanks for the fast input! This would definitely be less about coins and more about bullion. I did think it would be nice to kill 2 birds with one stone, but that premium over market prices makes it pretty unattractive. This would be seperate from my hobby. I will be doing more research into the bullion market. This isn't something i would be looking to turn over for a profit. More of a tangible investment i can keep safe in case it all goes rotten. Keeping at 5 percent of my overall portfolio seems to make sense to me. Thanks for pointing out that site wasn't government, I didn't think much about it when i was looking, but i did think it was odd they were in minnesota!
