Pardon my ignorance but when you buy gold do you actually take those ounces home with you?

If not it seems to me that the "proof" that you own the gold you will be trying to sell later may not be worth the paper it is written on.

Physically,how big is an ounce of gold? of silver?

-- matt (whome@somewhere.nz), October 26, 1999

Answers

1. Go to ajpm.com 2. Place an order 3. mail them a check/money order 4. in about two weeks (more or less) you'll get your gold.

It's still the easiest/best way to buy gold. No I don't work for them, just a VERY satisfied customer.

An ounce is about the size of a kennedy half-dollar, & slightly heavier.

-- just go (and@do.it), October 26, 1999.

Which is the better investment, among the different coins? Which will hold its value better, be more easily recognizable, and be easier to verify over the long run as to authenticity and actual metal content/quality? And why is this site/company you recommend better than any other site out there that sells gold?

-- novice (gold@gold.com), October 26, 1999.

Yes, and by the time your check arrives, you will have lost money.

-- (haha@hehe.com), October 26, 1999.

"Which is the better investment, among the different coins?"

Gold is not an investment at all. It's physical wealth, pure & simple. You can be happy buying gold only if you understand that.

"Which will hold its value better, be more easily recognizable, and be easier to verify over the long run as to authenticity and actual metal content/quality?"

If you're in the U.S. your best bet is gold eagles, since they're a US coin. Even people who've never seen a gold coin before will be impressed by that eagle. Slightly more expensive though, for that reason. Consider getting one-quarter & one-tenth ounce coins if you have any thoughts of bartering.

"And why is this site/company you recommend better than any other site out there that sells gold?"

It's user-friendly & the prices are better than any I've seen at other sites. BTW, the worst prices I ever saw were at my local coin dealer!

-- just go (and@do.it), October 26, 1999.

As for which is more efficient ("cheaper"), assuming you want "rounds" which we refer to as coins, gold in one ounce rounds is the cheapest.

The cost of the coin is made up of several fixed expenses:

1) Spot price of the metal at the end of the trading day you buy it. 2) Actual stamping ("minting") of the coin has a cost 3) Postal charges, insurance, etc. 4) Credit charges (if you use credit card, they charge extra 3%) 5) Miscellaneous charges that differ among the bullion banks.

So looking at it that way, the fixed charges of minting cannot be minimized beyond a certain degree. In other words, minting costs a fixed amount per coin, no matter what, and that cost cannot be reduced.

Therefore, the higher the number of coins for a given weight, the more expensive it will be. 10 coins of 1/10th ounce gold will cost at least $50 MORE per ounce than a single 1 ounce coin. The effect is 3% - 15% above the spot price of gold just for minting.

Silver is the same way, and is even less efficient. You end up paying a 20% - 25% premium above the spot price of silver.

However, one last factor comes into the equation - and that is the barter transactions that you anticipate needing coins for. If all you have is gold, and you want to buy a bag of rice - you're going to have a difficult time getting change. And the bag of rice may magically increase in price to be exactly one ounce of gold.

That's why for most people, silver is actually more useful even though it's more expensive to get.

Jolly

-- Jollyprez (jolly@prez.com), October 26, 1999.

>> However, one last factor comes into the equation - and that is the barter transactions that you anticipate needing coins for. <<

Barter for coins? That is something of an oxymoron in my view. Barter economies rely on the exchange of goods that have an immediate practical application. Two sewing needles for a steel spoon. A shovel for a case of canned peaches. A book of matches for six cigarettes.

When you inject gold coins into a barter economy, you are no longer trading on the immediate practical value of what you are offering, but on the future possibility of the recipient realizing their value. For that reason, they will be heavily discounted in relation to things that can be used right away.

Just imagine the situation. Why are you offering to trade gold or silver coins instead of something else you own, like your coat? Obviously, because you would rather keep the coat than keep the gold. Gold and silver really only have a redeemable value in an economy where someone has a considerable surplus. People with a large surplus eventually find it burdensome to store and maintain. This makes gold and silver attractive as a means of capital preservation. In an economy where survival is uniformly uncertain gold and silver will be very little valued by anyone.

So, if you are havy into precious metals, hope like the dickens that barter as a way of life is not in our future.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), October 26, 1999.

AJPM.com is a good source, as are SCPM.com and Tulving.com. I have purchased from all three. It pays to compare, as their prices change daily and one may be better one day than another. You might also simply go to ebay or yahoo auctions (or edeal or ubid) and put in a bid on a gold coin (worked for me recently). Personally, I feel I may never make a profit on my gold, I just like knowing I have some. At today's price, the downside risk is very small. I do accept the argument that it will be hard to barter with an ounce of gold, but I don't anticipate bartering, just a chance, even if it's slim, of making a nice profit.

-- Tom (writertag@yahoo.com), October 26, 1999.

Buy some today, while its still on sale. It won't last long at these prices.

dave

-- dave (wootendave@hotmail.com), October 26, 1999.

For the spot price of gold:
http://mrci.com/qpnight.htm
http://www.kitco.com/gold. graph.html

For the spot price of silver:
http://www.kitco.com/sil ver.graph.html

For the spot price of platinum:
http://www.kitco.com/p latinum.graph.html

For U.S. Markets and stock quotes:
http://finance.yahoo.com/?u

For Major World Indices:
http://finance.yahoo.com/m2?u

Sincerely,
Stan Faryna

Got 14 days of preps? If not, get started now. Click here.

Click here and check out the TB2000 preparation forum.

-- Stan Faryna (faryna@groupmail.com), October 26, 1999.

Someone wants to buy gold for digital dollars; someone else wants to sell it. Interesting. That's what makes a market.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), October 26, 1999.

Brian,

You are absolutely right, I didn't use correct terminology when I said barter. It comes from an old habit regarding IRS rules.

Legally, you cannot use ANYTHING other than Federal Reserve Notes as currency [money]. Even if you do a barter transaction, technically you and the party are supposed to declare fair value of the goods being bartered in dollars.

Then you are supposed to pay the sales tax to the state, and capital gains to the feds.

Naturally, "fair market value" is subject to interpretation, and all my silver dollars aren't American Eagles, and therefore aren't worth as much, so I figure they're worth, oh, 5 cents each.

Jolly

-- Jollyprez (jolly@prez.com), October 26, 1999.

Perfect, Jolly!

5 cents! LOL, LOL.

I see that the one ounce gold Eagles say $50 on their face, so IRS could hardly argue with the valuation there.

Godspeed,

-- Pinkrock (aphotonboy@aol.com), October 27, 1999.

The alternative to purchasing Gold Eagles and other physical metal is to purchase shares of Central Fund of Canada Limited (est.1961).

The shares qualify for inclusion in retirement accounts and might be the alternative that you are all looking for. Central's shares trade on the AMEX (CEF) and the TSE (CEF.A). They are backed by over 97.5% with physical gold and silver bullion that is stored in a segregated vault within the vault complex of Canada's second largest bank the CIBC. The bullion is audited on a semi-annual basis and is fully insured with an "ALL RISKS" insurance policy. Central is the most cost effective way, that I know of, to purchase, store and insure bullion at under 1% per year. Central Fund continues to serve investors and fulfill its mandate as "The Sound Monetary Fund".

I invite you to review our website located at www.centralfund.com and would welcome all enquiries at 905-648-7878, or alternatively at the email address listed below.

-- J.C. Stefan Spicer (sspicer@nas.net), October 27, 1999.

Someone who wishes to acquire precious metals due to Y2K concerns is basically looking to get out of promises-to-pay, because of the recognition that such promises may become worthless. The only thing that makes sense to have is physical gold and silver in hand, not (supposedly) in someone else's storage facility.

Precious metals provide a hedge for possible Y2K problems, and serve to protect one's wealth as opposed to (necessarily) "growing" it. As such, the current price of gold and silver should play little into the decision to purchase it, other than to buy it as cheaply as possible.

In a Y2K barter/meltdown scenario, you will want to get the maximum number of transactions per ounce. It is far better to have ten 1/10th ounce gold American Eagle coins rather than a single ounce American Eagle; it is far better to have a bag of 90% "junk" silver (typically 4,000 pre-1965 quarters with total $1K face value, comprising a total of roughly 715 ounces) rather than silver dollars.

Web sites to see: www.the-moneychanger.com, www.certifiedmint.com. A good site to buy from is www.ajpm.com.

65 days.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.~net), October 27, 1999.