There's a BIG difference between PM value and numismatic value. If you're interested in collecting coins, that'a very different path that's based upon age, rarity, condition and general collectibility. Yes, some coins command more money because people just like them.
Gold/silver can be collected via the purchase of coinage or bars. There are all sorts of folks who make gold bars, from 1 gram to hundreds of ounces, and larger.
At the moment gold is about $1318 per troy ounce. Silver is about $17.45 per troy ounce. A troy ounce is 9-10% larger than the standard ounce measurement used here in the US. There are 14.58 troy ounces per pound, rather than 16.
Although I do like the intrinsic beauty of some coins, such as the St Gaudens $20 gold piece from the early 20th century, you pay a premium above and beyond the price of gold for these.
I break the market down into a couple of defined areas. There are private mints, such as Apmex and Sunshine Mining, and government based mints. These are most major countries, including the US, Canada, Mexico, China, South Africa, Australia, England and many more. I prefer coinage from major countries, particularly the US. Put simply, there are fake coins out there. Both gold and silver. Should someone counterfeit a US gold/silver coin they can and will be prosecuted by the Secret Service. It's a dangerous play. However, knocking off a private mint's products, albeit illegal, may not get the same level of attention and scrutiny by law enforcement.
And that's one of the reasons you want to buy from respected dealers. They stand behind their products. All they have is their reputation and inventory, and if they lose their reputation they risk losing their businesses.
Most of the stuff I've bought is US. When premiums have been really, really low I've bought some Canadian too. Canadian silver maples go on sale from time to time.
I only buy small quantities. And I generally do so on eBay for a couple reasons. First and foremost, there are sales that pop up that are good buys. And then I can use a credit card to buy them, giving me air miles. If I buy directly from an Apmex, for example, they'll add 3% for credit card purchases, or I have to get involved in a wire transfer or mail them a bank check. eBay just makes it all much more convenient.
On eBay I've purchased from a few vendors, primarily Apmex, but also an odd order from JM Bullion, Liberty Coin, Pinehurst and MCM. All have been fine. Watch for vendors with tens or hundreds of thousands of transactions an a positive rating of 99.9% and higher. Apmex has a quality guarantee, but I've never had to use it. I bought a silver coin from them that was in a plastic capsule. The capsule got cracked in shipping and I sent them an email. They fed-ex'd a new capsule. No doubt in my mind the fed-ex charges were way more expensive than the 50 cent capsule.
Also consider how you'll store the coins. Gold is inert, so not much worry there. But silver can and will tarnish, so consider where you're keeping them. And consider where you'll want to keep them from a security standpoint. A few years ago someone bought an old desk from an estate sale. They took out the drawers to clean it up and they found tens of thousands of dollars in jewelry and PM's. A friend passed away a few years ago and we knew he had some gold coins although we did not know how many. He had showed us a few and indicated there were more. We found some but think there's still some in stashed somewhere. Sadly his wife knew about them, but he didn't tell her where he kept them. DOH!
So the issue of storage and security are important.
If you have more questions please do ask!
Rich
Hi guys. I know very little about buying and selling gold/silver. Read just a little on the web a while back but didn't retain much. Thought I'd post here because I recently came across a 1939 Mercury dime. Cursory Google search suggests it's worth about 1.25 in melt value or about 3 for collectors. What should I know about this coin? How about investing in gold/silver in general?
