subject: Elementary Products For European Gold Coins [print this page] Gold can be purchased in a wide variety of differing ways, and a large majority of gold investors do not take a critical look at every one of them. Gold investment advice is almost always an evaluation between investing in gold compared to purchasing stocks. Seldom is it a critical look at the varied ways to buy gold itself. This analysis definitely makes the biggest difference in assuring returns, so be sure that you don't also make this common error.
This article focuses almost completely on this kind of gold investment advice to ensure that your investments perform more effectively. My very first bit of advice is that you should get a better insight into the thinking behind my advice, so I encourage you to do more research when you're done here. With the warnings out of the way, let's continue to the type of gold investment advice you are looking for.
Paper gold is one thing I advise firmly against. Every one of these offers exactly the same weaknesses in comparison to physical gold, but not all forms of paper gold is billed as such so make sure to keep an eye out for this. Even when you have an IRA that won't accept physical gold, use your non-IRA investment fund for gold and stay with stocks in your IRA. The introduction of various bullion vaults removed the past merits paper gold used to have, specifically in relation to liquidity. Paper gold does nevertheless give a little liquidity benefit over bullion vaults, however that's now overbalanced by the downsides.
My personal suggestion is that you should not purchase gold coins. More specifically, I would not advise gold coins to someone who isn't a numismatist. For an investment that is likely to be sold based only on its gold weight value, the premium over spot simply is not worth it. Unless of course you're obtaining the coins for the numismatic value itself there's certainly no reason to pay the premium. A few coins which were minted in bulk quantity are sold for their gold weight value and exchangeability only and can be had for roughly gold round pricing, making them a good investment option.
My suggestion is that you should invest in gold rounds and bars. These sorts of gold investments have a low premium over spot and are usually supplied directly by mints and larger dealers. If one of your goals is to have an alternative currency you will want to buy smaller weights for improved liquidity. Keep away from town pawn shops when purchasing these and invest from reputable online mints or merchants instead. Having a recognizable brand similar to that of Credit Suisse or the identity of the mint stamped onto your gold bar or round is even better.
I definitely advocate bullion vaults. I'm fond of the ease of use & high liquidity, however I prefer to keep at least part of my gold in a more conveniently accessed form. If you're seeking out maximum security just in case of disaster you would be better off with gold bars and rounds, although if that is not your primary focus then bullion vaults provide the lowest premium over spot and ease of use.
This brief rundown of the choices should be sufficient to get you considering what will work for you. Each of these alternatives may be evaluated against the objectives you set when investing in gold. If you do not set goals you might be led astray when investing in gold.
