Gold is an organic chemical element and valuable precious metal. Gold is beautiful and is used in a number of industries as gold bullion (the bulk form of the precious metal) can be smelted and forged into items including gold coins, jewelry, food embellishments and electrical wiring. Since gold bullion is constantly in demand, supply is a major factor that drives the price point and has helped elevate the metal to investor status. Consumers looking to diversify their investment strategy to include gold bullion are wise to know what they are getting into by reviewing a gold bullion buying guide as in the precious metal industry, sometimes what glitters is actually fool’s gold.
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Variety is the spice of life. It is for that reason that there are so many different types of restaurants, music, literature and more. While that is one of the reasons the United State Mint has produced so many different US gold coins, it is not the only.
That is not the only cause for the variety of US Gold Coin. Once upon a time America was nothing more than 13 colonies fighting for independence. It was during that time period when nearly any minted gold coin could be used for commerce. In circulation with the various European gold coins in use, there were actually gold coins that were minted for the wealthy using their own gold for the currency. That changed with the Coinage Act of 1792; it was that law that helped established the United States Mint and put them in charge of regulating the variety of coins out there. But wait, there is more. Since the creation of the federal authority on gold coin and currency, there have been dozens of people in charge. While some wanted to make their mark on the world by designing their own gold coins, others such as Mint Director, Robert W. Woolley, believed it was his legal responsibility to change the design of US Gold Coins that had existed for more than 25 years. Here is another for reason for so many US Gold coin varieties. Gold coins were no longer to be used as legal tender thanks to the 1933's Executive Order 6102 that made it illegal to hoard gold as a response to the Great Depression. That made the previous gold coins no longer of use, making US Gold Coins such as the Saint-Gaudens double eagle and a three-dollar piece a part of our nation’s history and another variety of US Gold Coin. Now, it is a marketing plan that fuels the recent crop of US Gold Coin options. While a gold investor may not necessarily care about the variety of US Gold Coin they have (as they buy gold thinking about purity and weight) coin collectors get excited every time a new US Gold Coin is struck. Numristics collect coins not just for the gold content, but for beauty, history and rarity; each new US Gold Coin may be of interest to them. With the holidays here once again, and the new year about to begin, many investors are wondering which gold coins to buy. Some opt for classics like the American Eagles, while others look for rare coins.
As Doug Winter illustrates in Coin Week, rare gold coins.com, there are all kinds of reasons that coins are especially valuable or rare. Sometimes coins are rare because their condition is so extraordinary. Other times, coins are rare just because there's not that many of them around. The first are called condition-oriented rarities and the second are called absolute rarities. There is even a third category which features coins that have both attributes. These are coins that have both things going on - they are both in extremely good condition and or the date is extremely rare as well. There are very few of these and there are even fewer of these that have managed to survive. Other things that go into making a coin particularly valuable are very rare date. For whatever reason there were few of them in the first place and consequently very few of them are still left. And lastly, there are certain kinds of strikes that are quite rare - some are limited editions and others might be mistakes. http://www.coinweek.com/ Collecting coins as every coin collector knows is incredibly fun as well as possibly profitable. Many investors enjoy combining their collecting bug but with their investment strategy and having the best of both worlds. Many times collecting coins becomes a hobby that starts in childhood and extends into the retirement years. Wondering what a rare coin is worth? Well, they're worth a lot. For example, the 1861 Paquet Reverse sold for $1,610,000 in 2006. There are only two such coins known to exist. Now, that my friends is rare indeed. For the rest of us mere mortals, there are the standard issue gold coins… that are collectible, and fairly valuable, but not rare. Not yet, anyway.  I have decided that I want to buy some of the American Eagle Coins. Why? Well, I’ve been spending a lot of time talking with friends and members of my family, lately, about the state of our personal finances and about the financial mess that is happening in Washington. And then, of course, there’s what’s happening in Europe, too, which doesn’t seem to be getting any better, either. We’re all worried about our financial futures and what’s going to happen to us as we near retirement. A lot of us have been looking at buying precious metals, whether we are going to round out our investment portfolios or we want to just have some metals to own as a hedge against whatever future instability happens. As for me, I’m thinking that I want to buy some of the American Eagle Coins. But now that I’ve made that decision, I now have to decide what kind of American Eagle Coins I want to purchase. Until I really started reading about these coins, I had no idea that there were so many options. According to the U.S. Mint’s website – http://www.usmint.gov – there are five different types of American Eagle Coins:  American Eagle Gold Proof Coins – these are the collector versions of the American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins and come in four weights: one ounce, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce. They are 91.67% gold.
American Eagle Gold Uncirculated Coins – these come in only the one ounce size and are also intended for collectors. They are 91.67% gold. American Eagle Silver Proof Coins – these are collector versions of the American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins and are available in a one ounce weight. They are 99.9% silver. · American Eagle Silver Uncirculated Coins – also collector versions, they are 99.9% pure silver. · American Eagle Platinum Proof Coins – these coins are the collector versions of the American Eagle Platinum Bullion Coins, come only in a one ounce weight, and are 99.95% platinum. And then there are the coins that I am going to buy: the American Eagle Bullion Coins. These American Eagle Coins are 99.9% pure gold and are easy to purchase, being available in four ounces: one ounce, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce weights. They are simple to store, are easily converted to cash if needed, and the value is based purely on the amount of gold bullion that they contain. So these are the American Eagle Coins I want to buy now and save for my retirement. | AuthorThomas is a fan of Jeopardy. He grew up watching the show with his family, and never misses an episode of the famed game show. Connect with @thomasamartine on Twitter. ArchivesCategoriesAll |
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