Which would be a better investment?

[comicdonna]

A graded gold coin or bullion? I would be interested in purchasing some gold. It's my favorite metal. Gold prices vary. Do gold coins hold a more steady value?

[cpm9ball]

While both will be affected by the rise and fall of the spot price, a graded gold coin will almost always have a numismatic premium attached to it.

 

Chris

[DaveG]

It's hard to say which would be a better investment - gold bullion or a graded gold coin.

 

All I can say is that a rare gold coin's price varies much less with the price of gold than a "semi-numismatic" gold coin.

 

A "rare" gold coin might be a quarter eagle that goes for $5,000. Since it only has about 1/8th ounce of gold in it, if gold were to move $1,000 per ounce, then its price might move $100. (There are relatively few of these coins, so its price is much more tied to collector demand.)

 

A "semi-numismatic" gold coin might be a common lightly circulated (AU-55) Saint Gaudens double eagle - the numismatic premium for the coin might wax or wane a bit, but you can generally get the coin for about the price of an ounce of gold, so if gold moves $1,000 per ounce, then the coin's price might move $900 or so. (There are relatively many of these coins, so its price is much more tied to the price of gold.)

[Yankeejose]

Check this article on CoinWeek- it may help:

http://www.coinweek.com/news/featured-news/coin-rarities-related-topics-the-proper-value-of-generic-u-s-gold-coins/

[AnkurJ]

That is a very diffuclt question. How much are you looking to invest? Im sorry to say but most cheaper coins have much less upside to them. Bullion is way too volitaile right now to know whether or not its a safe long term investment.

 

If you want a nice hunk of gold that has some coin value, I would buy a nice MS65 CAC Saint Gaudens Double Eagle or a 1932 $10 Indian in 64 or 65 CAC.

[mkman123]

Just buy what you like.

[skippy]

I wouldn't buy either one as an investment. For investing, get something that pays you interest while you hold it.

 

However, there is nothing wrong with buying either graded gold or bullion gold if you would enjoy owning it.

[PerryHall]

I like both coins but I also like gold so I'd choose the Saint since it has the smaller mark-up over melt value. Both are attractive coins and you should ultimately strive to get one of each.

[James_OldeTowne]

A graded gold coin or bullion? I would be interested in purchasing some gold. It's my favorite metal. Gold prices vary. Do gold coins hold a more steady value?

Personally, I believe in purchasing gold coins ONLY when certified, for most buyers. There's just too much of a minefield of fakes out there.

 

However, in a strangely ironic manner, I've found that raw, UNcertified bullion gold is actually more liquid overall than certified gold, speaking strictly of coins with no significant premium over spot. In other words, lightly circulated Indians, Kruggerands and the such seem to sell more quickly when raw.

 

I think this is because dealers don't want to pay the extra overhead for such stuff in slabs, both in terms of the cost of the slab and the extra expense in storing them. It's also not possible to literally buy and sell slabbed common gold by weight. A dealer would prefer to take a pile of gold coins and place them on a scale to confirm gold content, and you can't do that if all the coins are in slabs.

 

Still, I think you are wise to buy ONLY certified gold, and try to cherry pick coins that are graded exactly MS-62, but are nice for the grade. In virtually every series, there's a noticeable jump between MS-62 and MS-63.

[Dudley the 1st]

Jame's perspective is " Spot " on ! This is a frequent question that many investors ask and analytically the best answer, is as stated above.

[JIM F.]

Why limit yourself to an "either or" scenario? Pick up a little of both. Regarding the MS-62 grade, I see it as an excellent value in what many call "generic" gold.

 

[BillJones]

Some coins, such as common date St. Gaudens $20 gold pieces, now have 90% or more of their value pegged by bullion. If bullion prices fall, the value of these coins will fall with the gold price. The advantage to buying certified NGC and PCGS $20 gold coins is that you know the coins are genuine. Many fakes have been made over the years, and if you can’t tell the difference chances are you will get caught with a fake if you buy a lot of pieces. Certified coins are also more liquid and easier to sell. Most of the major gold coin dealers maintain standing offers to buy and sell these coins.

 

If you just want to buy gold, buy U.S. one ounce gold eagles. Buy only raw coins from legitimate dealers. Paying for a certification for these coins is a waste of money IMO.

 

Overall you have to believe that these high gold prices are here to stay. Back circa 1980 gold hit $850 an ounce and then dropped down to $325 or so (estimate based on memory) after Carter left office and the economy got better. The same could happen again, or perhaps it won’t. No body knows for sure what will happen, and they are not being honest if they tell you they do know the future for sure.

 

[HCumberdale]

I wouldn't advise on investing in either personally. I own a fair amount of gold bullion but I see it as a store of value, not as an investment. Gold bullion is probably too high right now to buy any significant quantity of it and expect to be able to sell at a large enough profit to make it worth the risk. If you are set on buying gold bullion as an investment wait until it dips down significantly before buying much.

 

If you are strictly looking at investment grade coins, I would point you towards top pop coins that have little to do with the price of gold. That said, I think your investments would likely be better in something other than coins.

 

"Buy what you enjoy" is probably the best advice in my opinion. I really enjoyed collecting gold sovereigns by date when gold was at $350 or so. I was buying coins that sold at bullion prices and was doing so as a store of value and because I enjoyed them. If I had bought them as an investment it probably would make sense to sell now given gold prices, but I keep them because I still enjoy them. I have stopped buying them due to the current price of gold but if gold were to drop down to those levels again I would probably start buying again.

[Dcoin]

I can't speak for gold but when I'm looking to buy into silver I usually follow the 70/30 rule.

 

70% of the value is in collectable coin and 30% is in bullion. I'll give you prime example.

 

86-s Morgan @ 125$ in low AU... it has 30$ in silver and the balance in that it's a better date coin.

 

To me its the best way to get the best of both worlds.

[mommam17]

Not sure which is a better investment, but I would much rather have the gold coin.

[comicdonna]

Thanks for all of the comments everyone. It's funny that James mentioned MS62. I was originally thinking coins from the late 1800's to early 1900's with MS quality up to 63. I like the idea of buying coins rather than bullion. I will see what I can find.

 

Mike

[Walkerfan]

I'd buy the coin...

[comicdonna]

I'm liking the $20 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle's.

[Walkerfan]

I'm liking the $20 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle's.

 

Me TOO!!

[RockMyAmadeus]

Low mintage, undervalued 19th century US gold.

[CyberspaceVoid]

Low mintage, undervalued 19th century US gold.

 

, this exists?

[BillJones]

Low mintage, undervalued 19th century US gold.

 

, this exists?

 

There are some low mintage dates in the 19th century gold series that don't sell for huge premiums in AU and the lower Mint State grades. The trouble is a lot of these dates are going to remain "undervalued" because almost no one can afford to collect gold by date and mint. Just because a date and mint mark combination is scarce based on the mintage does not make it expensive. Demand is more important than supply when it comes to setting prices.

[World Colonial]

If you are primarily buying for financial reasons, then I would buy US generic type gold in a grade like MS-62 which apparently has a relatively low premium over spot at this time. For non-bullion coins, they are by far the most liquid and will go up in price if gold also does so.

 

Buying a gold numismatic coin with a significant premium is less of a "sure thing". It will likely increase in value if gold also does but the correlation may be weak,

 

If I were to buy a gold coin in the vicinity of $10,000, I would choose an AU-58 $20 Territorial gold from US coinage. And if less or a lot less than that, i would probabaly choose 19th or even 18th century world gold. There are a lot of interesting issues that can be bought for $5000 or less. However, I would not buy any 20th century world gold that is not really collected. These have been occasionally mentioned here but I consider them the absolute worst option.

[CyberspaceVoid]

World,

 

I agree with you on most the 20th century world gold, unless you just like the design (the Swiss G20F's come especially to mind .. I just like them.). Territorial gold is a great option but finding quality pieces is very difficult and, for me, hard to justify. That being said, I did bid on a Mormon $5 gold piece recently, but it went just a little over my allotted budget ... if I just didn't like those unusual items I'd do better I'm sure.

[comicdonna]

Although I would like the coins to hold their value or increase, my main reason for purchasing would be to enjoy the coins. I dream of finding gold all the time. When I retire, most of my time will be spent diving and looking for treasure. When I get too old to dive, I will comb the beaches. I like the fact of owning old things of value. Gold is very near to the top of that list of favorites.

[World Colonial]

The only 20th century world gold I bought as an "investment" were a couple of the 1000 CHF commemoratives, the 1987 and 1988. The 1988 has a design I really like and I thought that because Switzerland has a reasonably strong collector base, that they also had a decent chance of increasing in value.

 

I was wrong about the collector demand. Though the mintages are in the vicinity of 400 or less, no one really seems to want them. They are a perfect example of a coin that is easy to buy but much harder to get rid of and I sold them both at a slight loss even though gold went up during my holding period.

 

I was also wrong about one other thing and that is their legal tender status. I forgot what the FX rate was at the time but I thought that even if gold crashed, that the face value would make them a good alternative to buying currency notes. Apparently, turns out they were no longer legal tender after the event they commemorated was over.

 

On the Territorial gold, the only coins I would probably buy are the $10 or $20 Assay Office. Most of the others are out of my price range (or do not interest me) even assuming I was going to spend that much money on a single coin which I never have. On these particular issues, I do not think they represent good "investments" now but I consider them a much better numismatic value than most other US coins in the $10,000 price range. By my standards, most US coins at this level are either overpriced or vastly overpriced.

[Coincrazed74]

Invest in stocks if you're interested in investments.

But I would go with a graded Gold piece as they have numismatic value as well as bullion value.

 

 

[Walkerfan]

Invest in stocks if you're interested in investments.

But I would go with a graded Gold piece as they have numismatic value as well as bullion value.

 

 

Coins are a much better LT investment than stocks.

[comicdonna]

I have never purchased any stocks.

[Coincrazed74]

Invest in stocks if you're interested in investments.

But I would go with a graded Gold piece as they have numismatic value as well as bullion value.

 

 

Coins are a much better LT investment than stocks.

Not if you're a smart trader!