Gold/Silver Purchases

[TJericho]

I'm thinking about buying some. Yeah, I know it's high at the moment, but I talked myself out of buying gold at $685/oz when it was selling at ~$750 spot, and am regretting it today, obviously. Now I'm getting the feeling that I had then that now's a good time, regardless of its peaking.

Anyone here invest in physical gold or silver?

And, any advice? Reputable coin shops / places to purchase?

 

[WinChoke]

I've been slowly putting coins away for a long time. Mostly top tier (NGC & PCGS) professionally graded/slabbed uncirculated morgan and peace silver dollars and GSA Carson City morgans. I've found the best deals on ebay. I haven't bought anything notable from a coin shop since I was a kid.

As with any investment, it is wise to do some research first.

 

[karlsgunbunker]

E-bay, Try to buy as close to Spot price as possible.
US and Canadian Gold coins are .999 and Krugerands are .92% gold.
Silver eagles are 90% silver.

 

[ar15_dude]

E-bay, Try to buy as close to Spot price as possible.
US and Canadian Gold coins are .999 and Krugerands are .92% gold.
Silver eagles are 90% silver.

I agree with shopping Ebay, but don't expect to pay spot. There will be some premium.
Watch the gold or silver percentages on any coins. Go for .999 or .9999 % pure.

I understand online stores require a SSN for gov't registration / future taxation / confiscation purposes, so ebay is better. Remember it was not legal for U.S. citizens to own gold in the form of gold bullion between 1933 to 1974. May not always be in the future.

IMO the dollar will soon be worthless due to the abuse of the federal reserve and the deficit spending of the U.S. gov't, so the best places to store wealth are PM and land. Even firearms / ammo are risky due to potential future bans.

Start a plan to buy so many ounces every month or paycheck, regardless of price. You can "price average" that way.

 

[melensdad]

Buy "GLD" the gold spyder index on the stock market. Its been climbing for the past week, will likely continue, and we may see gold actually top $1000 sometime this year (roughly $900 now) but don't expect it to be a steady climb. Expect ups and downs and buy on the weaknesses. GLD trades are roughly 1/10th the price of 1 ounce of gold and is backed by bullion.

The advantage to buying GLD is that you can buy and sell it at whim. I've got a sell order on GLD now that trails the prior days price by 50-cents a share. So if it closes at 89, I my sell order would be at 88.50. If it goes up (as it has been doing) then my sell order simply tracks the daily climb. The advantage to that is that if gold does begin to drop I sell at 50 cents below its peak and bank the profits automatically. I got back into GLD at $80.60 last week.



FWIW, in nations where the economy has actually collapsed people say that buying bullion grade .9999 gold is not the best bet. They say that 'jewelry gold' also known as junk gold is the best investment because it is virtually impossible to pay someone with a gold ingot and if you trade it you won't get full value, but rather you will get jewerly/junk value for it.

 

[karlsgunbunker]

I prefer to have Gold and Silver I can lay my hands on.
If you are buying for an investment the graded coins are best.
If buying simply for metal value look at Junk silver.
I have also purchased blemished coins (Small Scratch) for less than spot.

This guy is a good man to do business with.
silver-bars-gold-bars Store=

He sells a lot on e-bay.

 

[james e]

silver and gold

ive been collecting coins for a will.because the dollar is not going to be worht the paper it is written on.

 

[WETSU]

I haven't bought any silver or gold since gold was below $300 an ounce. Mostly Eagles, 'rands and some Pandas and other stuff thrown in. It is my border crossing, exfil cache. Not for investments.

 

[jsgolfman]

Check out this story:
The Future of Gold - Naufal Sanaullah - Mises Institute

Silver may be easier to obtain.

 

[Flaregun]

I have always wondered, who will determine value for this stuff if paper money is not worth anything? I would think chickens would be worth more to a hungry person...maybe fuel for the guy that wants to move ?

How are you gona buy a few gallons of gas with even a single gold coin if nobody else knows what it is? Are you going to assume that the guy at the station can tell a real gold coin from a fake? Are you willing to give up an ounce of gold to get a tank of gas?

 

[melensdad]

I have always wondered, who will determine value for this stuff if paper money is not worth anything? I would think chickens would be worth more to a hungry person...maybe fuel for the guy that wants to move ?

How are you gona buy a few gallons of gas with even a single gold coin if nobody else knows what it is? Are you going to assume that the guy at the station can tell a real gold coin from a fake? Are you willing to give up an ounce of gold to get a tank of gas?

Your scenario above assumes a worldwide SHTF and that is not as likely as a nationwide SHTF. There are examples of national collapses and in those scenarios then gold does come in handy as a hedge against inflation when the national currency devalues due to hyper-inflation (look to some of the South American nations as examples). However, what I have seen in my travels is that people can't barter 1 ounce pure gold locally. You can use it on the international market. But locally to buy something or to barter, you basically have something that is worthless unless you are bartering/trading for things that are very valuable. This is one reason why people who've lived through SHTF national scenarios suggest 14 and 18 Karat gold rings. Simple wedding bands are often considered good choices.

I'm not a fan of buying gold ingots for potential barter.

 

[jsgolfman]

From my standpoint, the precious metal is more for when things start getting put back in place. I agree, if the dollar folds (probably will), the best type of currency to have is foodstuffs, ammo, etc. Once things begin to brighten, I predict the value of gold, silver, platinum, et al will brighten right along with it.

 

[Indy317]

I'm thinking about buying some. Yeah, I know it's high at the moment, but I talked myself out of buying gold at $685/oz when it was selling at ~$750 spot, and am regretting it today, obviously. Now I'm getting the feeling that I had then that now's a good time, regardless of its peaking.

Anyone here invest in physical gold or silver?

And, any advice? Reputable coin shops / places to purchase?

My advice:

For Gold: I would only purchase gold coins that come in 1/10th of an ounce. Yes, you will usually pay more, kinda like a premium/fee, for having your gold coins at a lower denomination than the usual one ounce coin. The reason is because you don't have to toss someone a huge 1 oz coin for the samething a person who has 1/10th oz coins get. Personally, I would skip gold at this stage in the game. I don't have any, but regret not getting about 20 or so 1/10th ounce coins back when gold was around $300-$400. I would focus on silver, see below.

For silver: Your best "safe" bet is to buy 40% Kennedy silver halves. Here is why:
If you buy an old US silver quarter, the government backs the value of that quarter at .25. The current silver value of this coin is $2.18. So say you purchase this coin at its silver value, $2.18, and silver crashes to zero. You have "lost" 1.93 per silver quarter. Now say you buy a 40% Kennedy half dollar. The US Gov will back that coin up to .50. The current silver value of this coin is $1.78. Again, say you purchase the coin for silver value at $1.78 and silver crashes. You have "lost" $1.28 per coin. The only downside is that in order to get a certain amount of silver, you have to purchase more Kennedy halves. Obviously if you are just purchasing x amount of silver, it washes out, but if your just looking for a few rolls of "silver coins" to pack away, these might be the way to go. Also understand that even though on an ounce for ounce basis, any US silver coin may or may not lose more value than another US silver coin. Also, your not always going to be able to buy at the spot price. Sometimes you may pay under, or you may pay over. Obviously if the US gov collapses, these coins might lose their "government backed" value.

Buying: E-bay is good for buying rolls of old US silver coins. Again, I focus on 40% halves. The last auction I looked at, prices were going for a little _under_ current spot price value of silver. Again, this is usually because you have to buy a lot more of these coins to reach a certain amount of pure silver (if you were to melt them down). So most folks don't want to buy these coins, which usually means the demand isn't as great. Another website I heard is good is Gold and Silver Coins - Buy and Sell Bullion Coins, though I have never purchased from them. What you need to do is find out what you want to buy, then take a hour or so and some google searches. Take into account shipping charges. Then once you find four or five companies, google their website address and try to find some comments on various forums about the reputation about those companies.

The best website for coin values:

Current Melt Value Of Coins - How Much Is Your Coin Worth?

 

[TJericho]

I've been doing quite a bit of research, and I'm now looking at silver, definitely, and perhaps more specifically Canadian Silver Maple Leafs. They're above spot, but they have the added advantage of being $5 face value (Canadian, of course). So, in a way I'm paying a premium for having an investment in two separate currencies -- silver and a foreign country.

Still not positive, but my first purchase will only be for a few hundred anyway, so I'm not too worried.

Thanks for everyone's help so far though.

 

[TJericho]

Went down to Smith's Coins in Lafayette yesterday, 15 minutes before they closed.

Great people. I bought all they had in 40% half dollars (they wanted $1.50/each -- which was below spot). And, bought about half of what they had in silver rounds. Silly little holiday/Christmas design, but oh well.

Not bad prices. I could have saved a little (~.50/round) if I'd purchased online, but I like to support the local places when the price difference isn't much.

 

[idmini]

Huh one would think that tradable commodities would be better for SHTF trading as what is happening in other parts of the world become irrelevent, how would you trade on a market you can't get to?

 

[Kingrat]

90% silver dimes can be pretty good too, same theory as having 1/10oz gold it wont be such a large value if you had to use it for smaller purchases

i would say gold vs silver is up to you, the price ratio makes it better to purchase silver currently, but worldwide gold is treated as more a monetary metal while silver is mostly monetary in north america still

the amount of money you have also plays into it as far as whats right for you

theres also food, guns, ammo, cigarettes, and alcohol, all very good investments

 

[Arm America]

Between a choice of coins or stocks for liquid investments,
Coins are up-Stocks are down. Its not always about if SHTF.
Lets be practical, canned goods, fuel, batteries, etc.
would be much better for bartering if need be.