What type of gold coins would be good to purchase for financial protection, should the value of cash deteriorate? I'm sure the smaller the denomination the better, but I just don't know what's out there.

Is it accurate to assume that with the recent drop in the price of gold, that the price of gold coins also fell?

-- lou (lanny1@ix.netcom.com), August 01, 1999

Answers

Lou,

check out monex.com

and

ajpm.com in portland, OR

yes the coins will have dropped in price

1oz eagles are the way to go

if you buy 1/10th oz eagles they will cost you proportionately more but may be better to barter with...

good luck

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 01, 1999.

In my dark and murky past I was a coin dealer. My suggestions...the new Eagles, in 1/4 and 1/10 sizes (unless you can afford a good mix of the 1 oz. and 1/2 oz. as well), and older U.S. gold coins in circulated conditions (Liberties, for example). The circulated ones have lost the collectability due to their worn (to varying degrees) condition, but if things get really bad coin collections won't matter. Personally, I would avoid European coins (Maria Teresas, for example) because they are not easily recognizable. As always, know your dealer and do some reading before you buy. I wouldn't worry too much about the price of gold...you are buying these for emergency use only.

-- Mr. Mike (mikeabn@aol.com), August 01, 1999.

lou: Why don't you visit a financial planner in your community? It won't cost you anything to explain your concerns...and it beats getting advice from anonymous people with computers.

You really don't know anything about the people here. Some could be financial idiots. They may earn their living doing something totally unrelated to financial management. Some people may intentionally try to sway you to do something financially irresponsible because they enjoy seeing how gullible people can be.

-- PNG (Peter Gauthier) (png@gol.com), August 01, 1999.

Peter, I was just in Barnes & Noble yesterday reading about gold. THe advice given above is standard advice. The dealer mentioned seems a good one, from which I, too, bought some coins. The question is, yes, which do you want, to preserve capital/invest or coins for use as money. There is a premium on each coin due to the minting cost--the same for small coins as for large coins. I have some 1/10th ounce gold eagles and am thinking of getting some 1/4 ounce. Yes, be aware that gold is not a certainty. It is another shot in the dark in diversifying for what some of us see to be a dark situation.

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWayne@aol.com), August 01, 1999.

Andy, I am surprised to see you recommending one-ounce Gold Eagles so highly. These may be fine for when things go back to normal post-Y2K, and you want to sell them for fiat money, but generally speaking its the 1/10th ounce coins that will have the bartering power come Y2K, as they have the most options. Don't forget silver coins as an option also -- pre-1965 quarters and dimes, which are 90% silver, are good to have, and are sold by coin dealers.

I can recommend www.ajpm.com, good place to do business with.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), August 01, 1999.

Lou,

Don't listen to PNG, he's full of crap! You can't trust financial analysts one bit more than those who post here. The analysts I have spoken to are in denial about Y2k and are still pushing things like corporate bonds (what a joke) because they are cheap right now. They don't plan on any recession next year, let alone a depression or worse.

-- Gordon (gpconnolly@aol.com), August 01, 1999.

Have to agree emphatically with Gordon here,

financial planners IMHO are a joke - they on the whole do not get it and thus their "advice" will be useless in the event of a crash etc. etc. - also very often they have no qualifications, literally anyone can set themselves up as a financial planner, print up some cards and you are in bidness!

Jack,

Lou's specific question was how to have "financial protection" - hence I do recommend 1oz coins as opposed to bullion bars - and yes I did mention 1/10thoz eagles as being of course easier to barter with - of course you will pay the piper for the extra convenience (a proportionately larger premium).

Lou,

You will find better advice on this forum than some Joe Schmo in the yellow pages who just got out of San Quentin. "Certified" financial planners are two a penny in Sing Sing, they are notorious for doing runners with clients' (often senile) moola!

Do a little research in our archives - you will find plenty of good solid advice if you use your common sense.

Good luck.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 01, 1999.

Go 1 oz. gold eagles if you want to preserve your wealth. Go 1 oz. silver eagles if you want to barter. Silver dollars are the recognizable and they have a common known value. Plus, I believe, you will make more holding silver than gold. Ask Warren Buffet. This advice is only wise if you have all the goods you can use for the next year for all loved ones. b

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), August 01, 1999.

My holdings are all in 1/10th and 1/4 oz. Due to vagueries regarding confiscation, I have divided this in South African, Australian, Canadian, Austrian, Chinese, U.K., and Isle of Man to approximate a "collection".

-- Gia (laureltree7@hotmail.com), August 01, 1999.

There is a lot of flak out there regarding alleged "confiscation" of gold, claims that gold purchases have to be "reported", etc., etc. (Usually by coin dealers who are trying to get you to buy rare coins -- like the people that you would barter with in the midst of a Y2K breakdown are going to care, or could verify, the rarity of particular coins.) You need to evaluate everything in context: when U.S. citizens were forced to turn in their gold in the 1930s, at that time our currency was backed by gold, so the reason for the confiscation made sense, even though blatantly illegal and reprehensible. (Gosh, kinda sounds like gun control, doesn't it?) These days, since our currency has no ties to gold whatsoever, the motivation to confiscate gold presumably would not be there. (Now, of course, your pension fund might be a different story....)

If you want to get a good education on this and just about everything else regarding gold and silver coins, go to www.certifiedmint.com, as well as www.the-moneychanger.com.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), August 01, 1999.

You don't need to give any information buying gold. I've been walking in to the coin shop, paying cash no problems. No way to track me down.

-- kozak (kozak@formerusaf.guv), August 01, 1999.

Here is one man's thoughts on the subject:

The Ten Commandments of Gold and Silver Buying

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), August 01, 1999.

Kozak, I didn't get as good a deal from the coin dealer as from mail order.

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWAyne@aol.com), August 02, 1999.

Financial Analysts are (of course) in deep denial about Y2K, but I'll go even further and say that they never know what they're talking about. It's blind luck, like sports gambling. NO ONE can predict the future, and that's what investing is. ANYTHING can happen on any given day. Even if an investor is correct the last 100 times out of 100, it has no bearing on the next event. They are all mutually exclusive.

DIVERSIFICATION! Start with 1oz gold eagles for asset protection and 1oz silver eagles for barter/trade. Then get 1/2, 1/4, 1/10 eagles, get maple leafs, krugerrands, etc. get platinum, get currency, keep some stocks, some bonds, some foreign currency, real estate, hard goods (barter), etc. etc. Stuff that I'm not even aware of - do as much as you can to diversify. If you can think of it then do it, even if it's only .1% of your total portfolio (assets).

But remember, no matter what anyone says - no matter how bad it gets, GOLD is still KING. Always has been, always will be forever and ever (or until the extinction of the species).

-- Jim (x@x.x), August 02, 1999.

"Kozak, I didn't get as good a deal from the coin dealer as from mail order". Yeah well I don't mind paying a couple extra bucks for the annonimity, and flexibility of buying in person. Don't think I'd want UPS the US Postal service or the IRS knowing I'm holding gold. As it is no one outside of my immediate family has any clue of the purchases and that really helps my peace of mind.

-- Kozak (kozak@formerusaf.guv), August 02, 1999.