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What's the best way to buy gold?

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RJEH Posted: Sat, Dec 12 2009 9:14 PM

Websites or private dealers?  I heard about lots of people that buy from places like Apmex and kitco, but then again I've also read about customers getting screwed by those places.  Are dealers any safer?  How about ones authorized by the US mint?

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Marko replied on Sun, Dec 13 2009 10:46 PM

A good place to ask this is at ronpaulforums.com.

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bearing01 replied on Sun, Dec 13 2009 11:33 PM

I've had great results buying from APMEX multiple times.  Next time I will buy from them again.

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DanielMuff replied on Sun, Dec 13 2009 11:47 PM

RJEH:

Websites or private dealers?  I heard about lots of people that buy from places like Apmex and kitco, but then again I've also read about customers getting screwed by those places.  Are dealers any safer?  How about ones authorized by the US mint?

If you are worried about getting screwed, then I suggest you become an expert in gold. Learn what it looks like, weighs, tastes, texture, smell, sound, volume, mass, light, etc.

To paraphrase Marc Faber: We're all doomed, but that doesn't mean that we can't make money in the process.
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They also have nifty gadgets in which you can test the size, weight and sound of gold.

'Men do not change, they unmask themselves' - Germaine de Stael

 

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Kakugo replied on Mon, Dec 14 2009 2:53 AM

I don't know how's the situation in your area. I myself asked my family's jeweler and he put me into contact with a firm specialized in the sale and purchase of physical gold, silver, palladium etc. You pay a little commission but coins, bullion and ingots are all 100% legally guaranteed. I've also made a point of scouring local pawn shops but good deals are quite hard to come by: there's little "good" gold and the price is often not that good.

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MB replied on Tue, Dec 15 2009 12:51 PM

Here's a question I have about buying gold.

Is it better to buy coins (whether Kugeraands, American gold coins, etc) or the buy the small bars that groups like AMPEX at all sell.  It seems that gold coins cost more then just basic gold, so I would think buying the gold that way you get more gold.  But I wonder about the resale value.

 

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DD5 replied on Tue, Dec 15 2009 2:45 PM

RJEH:

Websites or private dealers?  I heard about lots of people that buy from places like Apmex and kitco, but then again I've also read about customers getting screwed by those places.  Are dealers any safer?  How about ones authorized by the US mint?

 

APMEX is very reputable.  I know some people who are loyal customers.

 

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What about silver?

 

Hey all. I thought I'd make a little tutorial on purchasing silver and gold to protect whatever assets you might have from the coming, well, already here, inflation. If you're able to do it, and are going to do it, I really suggest doing it sooner than later. As soon as gold goes over $1,000 or $1,050 I think it's going to skyrocket, and it's been increasing pretty steadily the past few years. It's currently around $950.

Just want to address a quick thing. Some people hear about gold stocks and wonder if they should buy those rather than physical gold. I'd advise against it. You can't really know exactly how much gold these investment companies actually own. They might be selling off investments for twice, three times, or ten times the amount of gold they own, and it's difficult to find out if they are. Also, worst case scenario, if things get SO bad that contract enforcement becomes secondary to, say, containing riots, you may have no way of acquiring your assets.

For this reason I suggest purchasing physical silver and gold that you can keep on your person, in your home, or hidden somewhere. For this, there is no better company on the web than the American Precious Metal Exchange - www.apmex.com

So here's the welcome screen.



In the upper right corner you can see how the values of the main precious metals have risen or fallen. Underneath that is a 24 hour chart you can use to track your metal's progress for the day. If you want to expand the time period, click on the "Click here for Historical Chart" link and you'll get a new window with a chart with more options.

On the left sidebar are various products you can buy. We are only interested in the bullion. Make sure you don't click on the coins. You don't want to spend thousands of dollars on the "magical coin, forged by Julius Caesar in the fires of Mordor, that survived both the burning of the White House in the War of 1812 and the Collapse of the Twin Towers" or some foolishness like that. You want the metal that's valuable to everyone, not some unique coin that will only be valuable to coin collectors.

SILVER

So let's start with silver. If you click on the silver link, you'll get this window.



You're mostly interested in the Silver Rounds and the Silver Bars. Let's start with the Rounds.

Scroll down a bit and you'll see a list of various silver coins you can purchase.



What I'd recommend are the Buffalo Rounds (these are what I bought). If those are sold out you may consider the walking liberty rounds. What we're interested in is that number "X over spot." The spot price is the value of the metal you saw on that chart on the front page. This information's also available at the top of this page. Whatever that value is, add to it what it says the price "over spot" is and that's the price you will pay per ounce. Anything over $2 over spot is a total ripoff. $0.99 is quite good, and that's what it's been for a while. Don't expect it to stay that way though.

Now let's look at the bars. Go back and click on Silver Bars (Secondary Market and New)



Scroll down and find the Sunshine Minting bars. Those are really good. Right now they're sold out though. In general try to find something that's done by a mint, in other words, stay away from the APMEX brand.

You can also check out the Canadian Maples or the American Eagles. Just find the best value you can for whatever quantity you feel comfortable buying. Chances are you'll want coins, and chances are the Buffalo Rounds will be your best bet, but look around.

GOLD

Just letting you know, I prefer silver to gold. I figure tons of people are going for gold now, so demand for silver is probably a little lower. Whether or not gold or silver performs better I don't think is too important. What we're interested in is holding something of real value compared to the dollar, which is going to be dropping faster and faster. I also don't know how bad things will get, but worst case scenario, if poverty gets so bad that the government winds up instituting resource controls, you're going to want coins and small units of value for easy bartering.

But anyway, click on gold and let's take a look.



Let's first take a look at the gold European coins.



My first recommendation is the Swiss 20 Franc coins. Those are really popular and are often sold out, but if you can get them great. $20 over melt isn't bad at all. At the moment that's around 2%. The French francs are pretty good too.

You can take a peak at some of the other coins. The American Eagles aren't a bad bet. You can take a look at the gold bars and rounds. Don't buy the gold shot. Sunshine minting bars are once again a good idea.

OTHER TRADE ITEMS

It's often pointed out that you can't eat gold and silver. Investing in food is a good idea, and it is always valuable. Some claim it's foolish to buy metals over food, but I disagree. Gold and silver have value all over the world and have always been worth something, even (and especially) in nations which have suffered the inflation we're about to see. They will buy you food if you need it.

Foreign currencies aren't a bad idea. There's a good chance as the dollar shrinks in value store clerks will be overjoyed if you show up with Euros, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Yen, whatever. I'm not a big fan of other currencies though, and I think the Euro is going to follow the path of the dollar soon enough. Oh, and don't do the British pound. Britain's in worse shape than the US is.

Foreign stocks are good investments. Don't invest in American stocks. Necessary commodities in particular such as oil stocks or food stocks are the best most stable choices. Look for stocks that pay high dividends. For LOTS of information on this visit www.europac.net

Ammunition is a possibility. If any riots start breaking out it's pretty guaranteed two things will happen. 1. People are going to want weapons to defend themselves. 2. The government will put a freeze on ammunition to prevent people from using guns in the riots. Ammunition will become extremely valuable in this circumstance, but considering we don't know if this situation will even arise, and we're hoping it won't, I don't think you should purchase ammunition beyond what you see necessary for your usual personal protection.

A lot of people scream about seeds. I think a lot of it is lies, particularly since I've heard the most ads for seed investment on late night talk radio stations aimed towards insane people. Seeds are great if you intend to go off and grow your own food somewhere. I've never seen them as a valid investment for myself though (particularly since I know little about farming, lol)

That's about it. I hope you find this helpful. Have a nice day!

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Great post, TY so much

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Thanks dude great guide

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