How To Buy Gold (Bullion, Bars, Coins)

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1. Guest2291
   

   Buying gold coins and gold bars to see the shine and sparkle of your investment is part of the thrill of owning actual gold. If you buy gold bars or gold coins, however, you’ll also need to plan for additional costs, such as
   • Secure storage in a home safe or bank vault, as well as insurance.
   • A gold bar or gold coin shouldn’t go unprotected.
   • If you want to buy and sell gold bars or gold coins you’ll need to think about more than just security.
   • When it comes time to sell the gold bars or gold coins, you’ll have to find a reputable buyer and deal with physically moving the gold bars or coins either shipping them somewhere or bringing them to a local dealer.
   
   With physical gold, the two most popular investment options are gold bullion coins and small gold bullion bars. Both a gold coin and gold bar are pure (or nearly pure) gold bullion, just shaped into a certain form. Gold coins come in a wide variety of sizes and weights, which makes them both more affordable and easier to sell than gold bars. Part of learning how to buy gold bullion is learning how to sell gold later. This will affect the type of investment you make in gold.
   
   Also, because government mints issue gold coins, they’re harder to counterfeit; therefore, when buying gold coins, you may be more assured of the actual value.
   
   If you buy gold coins, be carefull of the difference between gold bullion coins and “numismatic” gold coins.
   • Numismatic coins are collector’s items because they are rare, old or minted as part of a special edition. When learning how to invest in gold, experts advise against buying collectible gold coins unless you’re looking for a way to combine gold investment with a gold coin hobby.
   • Numismatic coins are for gold coin collectors, not for gold investors. Therefore the best gold coins to buy if you’re looking to sell them later are gold bullion coins.
   
   
   The most popular gold bullion coins are
   1. American Eagles and Buffaloes
   2. Canadian Maple Leafs
   3. South African Krugerrands
   4. Austrian Philharmonics
   5. Chinese Pandas
   
   A gold buying tip:
   
   A gold buying tip is to keep the coins in their original packaging. When you buy gold coins and don’t remove them from the package, they get less banged up over time and retain more value.
   
   Solid bars of gold bullion:
   
   Solid bars of gold bullion come in sizes anywhere from one ounce more a wafer than an actual bar to one kilogram.
   
   Manufacturers of gold bars include:
   • Johnson Matthey Group,
   • PAMP,
   • The Perth Mint,
   • Rand Refinery and others.
   
   It’s important to know where to buy gold bars because there have been cases of counterfeit gold bullion bars in which the center of the bar was tungsten or another metal, so make sure to deal with a reputable seller.
   
   Buying gold bullion:
   
   When you are buying gold bullion, you’ll see references to its purity, or fineness. This is the amount of actual gold in a coin, bar or piece of jewelry. Any piece of gold bullion less than 24 karats, or 999 parts per thousand, is mixed with another metal alloy. Eighteen-karat gold, for example, has 750 parts pure gold and 250 parts alloy per thousand. This will of course affect the price of gold as well as how much you can sell it for later.
   
   Buying gold bars:
   
   When you buy gold bars, know that they are generally 999 or 995 parts per thousand of gold. And when you buy gold bullion coins, you can expect them to range from 917 parts per thousand for the South African Krugerrand and American Eagle to 999 parts per thousand for the Austrian Philharmonic and Canadian Maple Leaf. Higher purity might look brighter and more appealing right out of the package, but gold coins with other metal alloys tend to hold up better over time, since gold is a very soft metal.
   
   Other Options:
   
   If you want to know how to buy gold for an investment without actually buying gold bullion coins or bars, there are other options, you could buy gold stock, for example. You don’t need to see or touch your gold, to benefit from the stability of the gold market. In fact, if you’re looking for how to buy gold the safest way, these are some of your options. Oftentimes buying gold with the examples listed below means you can sell your gold far more easily, usually requiring only a phone call or access to your online investment account.
   
   Gold Accounts:
   
   If you want to own physical gold without the hassle of finding safe storage and insuring it, you can buy gold from a bank. Some banks now offer gold accounts, in which the gold is held for you in a secure vault somewhere (London or Zurich, for example). If you plan on buying gold bars or coins this way, know that gold accounts can be allocated (specific bars of gold belong only to you) or unallocated (you own the gold along with other investors).
   
   Mining Stock:
   
   You can also buy gold stock. How well a gold mining company does on the stock market tracks quite well with the price of gold? So if you buy gold stock shares in a mining company, it is another way to participate in the gold buying business without owning actual gold. More than 300 mining companies are listed and publicly traded on U.S. stock exchanges.
   
   Gold ETFs:
   
   Since the mid-200s, a number of banking firms have offered exchange-traded funds to gold buyers. Gold ETFs are backed either by physical gold that the firm has in secured storage, or by gold futures. Shares in these regulated financial products increase as gold prices increase. Shares are generally affordable and traded as easily as any other product on a stock exchange, so you’ll be able to easily sell your gold later.
   
   Futures and Options:
   
   Gold futures contracts are binding commitments to make or take delivery of a specified quantity and purity of gold, on a prescribed date, at an agreed gold price. When it comes to gold futures, you’ll need a stockbroker’s assistance to learn how to buy gold for an investment.
   
   Whether you decide to go with gold coins or start buying gold from the stock market, you’ll find that patience is a virtue. And keep in mind how you plan to sell your gold when you purchase it. Ash says that over the last 10 years or so, “The only way to lose money has been to trade in and out, rather than simply taking a position and staying in. Few experts I know have timed the market well enough to beat the 16 percent average annual gain which gold has made since 2001.” Make your gold investment carefully and find the best gold price before you sell.

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