Gold…good or bad investment?

[Dave2001]

And many of us did. And bought stocks too.

First silver i ever bought was at $7 an oz

 

[Bacpacker]

I paid 10 bucks an ounce for my first purchases

 

[Dave2001]

In college i saved my lunch money to buy silver at $7 an oz, wish i had bought tome gold too when it was $35 an oz

 

[SoulSeeker]

I don't like buying coinage as it is alloyed. Gold and silver are too soft by themselves so they add copper and silver to gold and copper to silver. If I could get silver coins at a good price I would just to melt them down. They will always hold value but like everything else on the market it goes up or down. I had my step dad buy gold at $1200 an oz and like a dummy without asking sold it at a loss because it went down a little. You buy gold and silver to hang on to it.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I don't like buying coinage as it is alloyed. Gold and silver are too soft by themselves so they add copper and silver to gold and copper to silver. If I could get silver coins at a good price I would just to melt them down. They will always hold value but like everything else on the market it goes up or down. I had my step dad buy gold at $1200 an oz and like a dummy without asking sold it at a loss because it went down a little. You buy gold and silver to hang on to it.

I agree with you that buying PM's is for the long term, same with stocks. Gold and silver bullion is generally .999 fine. Pre 64 silver coins are 90% silver. Of course buyers take that in to account when you sell. Many people do melt their silver coins and pour in to bars, but generally if a silver bar doesn't have a recognized hallmark it'll be difficult to sell without first being assayed.
I've only been collecting PM'S for over 50 years now.

 

[Tacitus]

Yeah, for gold, there is basically:

• Pure gold (.999 fine or 24 karat or 99.9% pure)-- modern bullion coins...very commonly available now (usually kept in plastic to protect them because they are pure and therefore soft) -- if you want pure, non-alloy coins, buy these. (There is no such thing as a 100% pure gold coin, btw; .999 fine is considered pure.)
  • Canadian Gold Maple Leaf
  • US Gold Buffalo
  • Austrian Gold Philharmonic
  • British Gold Britannia
  • Australian Gold Kangaroo
  • China Gold Panda
• Crown Gold (22 karat or 91.667% pure) -- modern US & Krugerrand gold coins (you can handle these with fear of harming them) and older British coins for circulation and daily use -- this was the standard in the United Kingdom for a few hundred years [Wikipedia link for Crown Gold]
  • American Gold Eagle
  • South African Krugerrand
  • Old British Britannia
  • British Sovereigns (just shy of a quarter ounce)
• .900 fine gold (90% pure)-- old gold coins used in circulation
  • US pre-1935 gold coins
  • French 20 Francs
  • Swiss 20 Francs
  • Many other Latin Monetary Union nations (the 20 Francs size, just shy of a fifth ounce, was called other things in other countries; it was the "Euro" before the Euro because the coins were the same regardless of name [barring a few exceptions])

For silver, I think most if not all modern silver coins are .999 fine or 99.9% pure. Granted, older coins meant for circulation were often 90% silver to make them stronger so people could use them on a day to day basis. Silver is not as soft as gold, though, so .999 fine silver coins are more common than .999 fine gold coins, and I don't bother putting each coin in a separate protective plastic capsule.

If a buyer has no intent to melt coins down, then I don't think there is too much of a discount for an alloyed coin. When I buy, I buy American Gold Eagles ("AGE's") and Krugerrands and British Sovereigns because of their global recognition and acceptance. (And, I don't like keeping my coins in individual plastic protective cases.) All of those are Crown Gold. They are a bit cheaper than some 99.9% coins when you sell them, but they are also a bit cheaper when you buy them, so it is a wash in the end, IMO.

 

[Dave2001]

I make sure ALL mine are 999% certified!!

 

[old tex]

Just wondering...
Does anyone think that maybe gold is like stocks in that when everyone is saying buy them, it's time to sell? And when everyone is selling them it's time to buy? You know, buy low, sell high?

 

[Supervisor42]

Just wondering...
Does anyone think that maybe gold is like stocks in that when everyone is saying buy them, it's time to sell? And when everyone is selling them it's time to buy? You know, buy low, sell high?

It does move up and down, but it does not follow the stock market.
It is more influenced by global events.
...Especially like when billionaire$ in Saudi Arabia decide to buy tons of it.

 

[Neb]

It does move up and down, but it does not follow the stock market.
It is more influenced by global events.
...Especially like when billionaire$ in Saudi Arabia decide to buy tons of it.

Yes n no.

As a safe haven gold will attract interest when stocks look lame. When stocks look good money comes out of gold and moves to stocks. When short positions have to be covered, again money comes out of gold.

Inflation has the effect of increasing the price of gold when measured in dollars. That is more an indication of the dollars weakness than gold increasing in value. In the end an oz of gold is worth an oz of gold or a well tailored suit.

Ben