yuanqufucius Posted September 11, 2015 Posted September 11, 2015 Greetings folks. I am contemplating on buying gold. Not ETFs but actual physical gold bars. A quick google search yields many websites, and within each website there are many options available. It seems there are many sources in which they are produced from, Credit Sussie, Panda Coins... And there are many retailers that distributes these. Navigating them are kind of intimidating. What are your experiences in gold purchase and ownership? Is there like an "official" grade gold, or an "Official" channel? In my mind, this is what I assume the process is like: mining -> minting -> distribution/retail/packaging/marketing and that each process could be done by a same business entity, or different ones. Of course this extends to silver and other precious metal as well.
shirgall Posted September 11, 2015 Posted September 11, 2015 There is a premium for numismatic (collectible) coins, and there is a premium for physical shipping, typically. You might be better off finding a local supplier, sometimes a pawn shop, sometimes a coin dealer, that has stock, run-of-the-mill gold American Eagles, as these would have the lowest premium. There are other more recognizable (and therefore harder to fake or inflate) coins. For example, there was a time when Krugerrands were the most popular. The American Gold Buffalo is good too. (Eagles are 22-karat gold, Buffalos are 24-karat, but they have the same amount of gold content) Little known fact: (in 1oz, 1/2oz, 1/4oz, and 1/10oz varieties) the Krugerrand, the American Eagle, the Britannia, and the Isle of Man Angels are the same dimensions. The British have another coin called the Sovereign, and it's the same size as a South African "2 Rand". 3
MagnumPI Posted September 11, 2015 Posted September 11, 2015 I generally go to the local coin shop, get .999 silver rounds and .999 gold quarter oz.'s. $1500 or more at a time but less than $9000. 70/30 split Silver/gold. The silver ends up being whatever, replicas, 2 oz coins, bars even. Gold is usually American Eagles. I don't play markets, or have any deeper strategy to coins. Silver is silver, for the most part. They trade at spot/bid(plus or minus markups) always.Gold has more nuance so I just stick to whatever is most common to keep the guessing game out of it. I don't buy for collector value. It's just s a store of wealth so volatility is my enemy.
st434u Posted September 11, 2015 Posted September 11, 2015 Kitco has good prices. Also Euro Pacific Precious Metals. Both are trustworthy. What you want is at least 99.9% fineness (purity) and as little over spot as possible. (spot is the international going market rate for large quantities of gold, which updates every second) Also beware of fake gold. There's mainly two ways go get scammed with fake gold. One is getting sold something that looks similar to gold, but isn't. Another way is to get sold another metal that looks nothing like gold, but has been plated with real gold. Finally, while larger pieces will usually cost less over spot, they can also can have their own problems when it comes time to liquidate them. It's usually not a big deal either way, and more of an added nuisance, but it's up to you to decide that depending on your expected future circumstances.
shirgall Posted September 11, 2015 Posted September 11, 2015 Also beware of fake gold. There's mainly two ways go get scammed with fake gold. One is getting sold something that looks similar to gold, but isn't. Another way is to get sold another metal that looks nothing like gold, but has been plated with real gold. Indeed. There's help here: http://thefisch.com/?content=home
yuanqufucius Posted September 12, 2015 Author Posted September 12, 2015 Thank you for all the info, a little search did reveal couple of Local gold dealers, who also have good ratings. I'll be sure to check them out. Kitco has good prices. Also Euro Pacific Precious Metals. Both are trustworthy. What you want is at least 99.9% fineness (purity) and as little over spot as possible. (spot is the international going market rate for large quantities of gold, which updates every second) Also beware of fake gold. There's mainly two ways go get scammed with fake gold. One is getting sold something that looks similar to gold, but isn't. Another way is to get sold another metal that looks nothing like gold, but has been plated with real gold. Finally, while larger pieces will usually cost less over spot, they can also can have their own problems when it comes time to liquidate them. It's usually not a big deal either way, and more of an added nuisance, but it's up to you to decide that depending on your expected future circumstances. Is Euro Pacific Precious Metals same as Schiff Gold? It was the first search result on google.
st434u Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 Thank you for all the info, a little search did reveal couple of Local gold dealers, who also have good ratings. I'll be sure to check them out. Is Euro Pacific Precious Metals same as Schiff Gold? It was the first search result on google. Err, yeah, it looks like they changed the name.
J. D. Stembal Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 1 oz. Valcambi Combibar is cheaper than ten 1/10 ounce eagles. I bought mine from SchiffGold, LLC. Talk to Dickson. Or you could go fleaBay and save on shipping. This is the APMEX weekend deal.
shirgall Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 I got the combibars in silver, but I haven't tried the gold one.
Susana Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 Search your neighborhood/city for "Bullion dealers" but also moneymetals exchange which you can find online is very cool because they have small sized .9999 gold so you can get some 24k pure gold for just 60+ or 130+ at current prices rather than the 1200+ you need for the valcambi etc
shirgall Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-23/why-are-premiums-physical-silver-25-above-paper-spot-prices Silver Eagles are in the 25+% range, and bags of 90% silver coins are a little over 24%.
mlsv2f Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 I have been using Apmex. SchiffGold has cheaper prices if you don't mind waiting 4-8 weeks I usually get bars since they are the cheapest, but then again the bigger the order, the more risk of it getting lost in the mail.
Magnetic Synthesizer Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 Indeed. There's help here: http://thefisch.com/?content=home Awesome, are their such things for silver too?
shirgall Posted September 23, 2015 Posted September 23, 2015 Awesome, are their such things for silver too? Yes, available at the same site, for example.
Mike C. Posted September 24, 2015 Posted September 24, 2015 Even better than all that might be this LEGAL gold or silver-backed currency (available in the US only): http://popularliberty.com/8671/i-am-divorcing-my-bank-and-so-can-you-conveniently I am gonna get an account here soon as the divorce is done.
mlsv2f Posted September 24, 2015 Posted September 24, 2015 I've read that buying gold in South Africa is extremely cheap, and you can often get it 10-20% less than "spot" price. I am going there for work in a month or two and was considering stocking up. Does anyone have experience buying metals/diamonds or other valuables outside the country for a discount and bringing them back? My worry is declaring it at customs as well
shirgall Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-01/us-mint-sees-record-silver-sales-q3-physical-demand-absolutely-through-roof US Mint Sees Record Silver Sales In Q3 As Physical Demand "Is Absolutely Through The Roof" Having recently pointed out the surging premiums for physical gold and silver relative to the 'paper' prices spewed forth by the mainstream media, it will likely come as no surprise that, as Reuters reports, "silver [coin] demand is absolutely through the roof," according to the Perth Mint. Confirming the demand side is the U.S. Mint sold 14.26 million ounces of American Eagle silver coins in the third quarter, the highest on records going back to 1986. Dealers and mints trace the supply squeeze to a burst of buying by mom-and-pop investors in the United States, who scrambled to scoop up coins they considered to be at bargain levels after spot silver prices in early July sank to six-year lows.
DaVinci Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 Indeed. There's help here: http://thefisch.com/?content=home That's awesome. i guess Uncle Scooge was right. A giant building made out of gold would go "BONG" when struck by another equally large object.
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