I've been looking to buy a little bit of gold with some spare funds and trying to find the lowest premium for fractional amounts of gold (1/4 ounce or less). I discovered that Apmex has a sale on "random" US Mint $5 Gold Commemorative coins. Cash price is just $326 this moment for .24187 oz of gold. This is only $10 over the spot value of the coin. The full ounce value is $1347.66 and the ONLY fractional gold I could locate delivered under $1400 per full ounce. Who knows, it may end up being something with a bit of a premium or at least interesting for little over melt. That's the lowest I found today with some extensive looking online. Also, shipping was free! I have one ordered and wanted to pass along the information in case anyone else is interested. (FYI...I considered ASEs, Maples, Half Sovereigns...everything BUT generic private mint) Rob
I don't disagree. If I wanted modern gold, I think its a much more interesting way to stack than AGE's.
If you're very, very patient, you can do a little better on eBay -- sometimes they'll be listed BIN at a lower price, and snatched up in minutes; sometimes they'll languish in a regular auction, and be sniped right at or barely above melt. If you don't want to make the shopping process itself into a hobby, though, the deal you found is pretty darn good. At our big local show a week or so ago, there was a guy buying them at 305 and selling at 325. I think APMEX runs their margins a bit tighter than that. I'm surprised that they'll do free shipping on an order that small, especially given their thin margins. Good find!
I got mine yesterday and it is a 1986 Liberty $5. I was hoping for something more interesting, really, but why ISN'T this coin more interesting? (I actually already have the Silver/Clad proof set from that same year and series. My dad bought it for me back in 1986.) I'm going to start a new post about the gold and "why no love for the 1986 gold". Rob
The commemorative gold (and the American Arts medallions sort of fit in this assessment) tend to not grow in value, if they haven't already. What I mean is, there are certain coins in the series (Jackie Robinson uncirculated, as an example) that sell for huge premiums. The rest of the coins, as a rule, languish near melt. This has been the case for a while. If you ever *need* to sell, major bullion dealers will offer three back of spot (97%) for these types of coins. That noted, it's also quite likely that the coins being sold would be MS-68 or PF-69 and lower grades. The coins have been thoroughly searched, with higher grade ones being graded. If, however, you want cheap (cost relative to intrinsic value) coins, these are tough to beat. Just realize that they sell at a minimum premium due to their history of selling at a discount to gold value when it comes time to sell. The main reason is the lack of a fineness stamp/hallmark on these coins. Yes, we know that they should have .24187 troy ounces of gold per coin, but a non-coin person probably wouldn't know that without researching it. By contrast a gold eagle is clearly stamped with X ounce fine gold. To place all of this into actual numbers: Current spot value (according to coinflation) on $5 gold: $312.90 Price through APMEX: $326 Net premium: $13.10 Percentage premium to spot: 4.187% Standard bid for commemoratives: -3% In order to recapture your entry cost, we need to solve for N: .97*N = 326 N = 326/.97 N = $336.08 With the future spot of gold to sell at $336.08, you would need gold's spot price to rise $23.18 (7.41%) to break even. This doesn't account for the actual costs of holding, nor the costs related to liquidation (shipping out). If the spread on a 1/4 ounce AGE is less than $25, it probably makes more sense to buy one of those rather than the commem series counterpart. The spread is currently ~$31, based upon Kitco's prices, so at the moment, yes, the $326 commem is a slightly positive purchase expectation. (Edit: Typo)
When the 1986W Centennial of the Statue of Liberty [Enlightening the World] was issued the whole 500,00 (yes, 500,000!) sold out. The first half eagle since 1929. Now it is unloved? I guess in 28 years some collectors can be mighty fickle. It was a BIG DEAL when it was issued back then. I was one of the lucky people to obtain the three-coin proof set by mailing in the order form almost immediately.
Great thoughtful and analytical responses! I didn't know there were half a million of these minted and sold. I know in my family at the time, the gold never would have been considered. I was thinking that it being the first gold $5 since 1929 would have made for a high value, when in fact it made for high mintage and sales! Good to know. Thanks. BTW...I wonder what percentage of Apmex's "random" $5 coins are in fact the 1986 liberty? Rob
