Gold American Eagle Fractional Coins Are Back

The U. S. Mint is again producing Gold American Eagles in half-ounce, quarter-ounce and tenth-ounce sizes. These fractional coins (so named because they are smaller than one ounce) have not been produced since October of 2008 due to a lack of required planchets (blanks).

So far in December (the first month production started again), 56,000 half-ounce gold eagles, 58,000 quarter-ounce eagles and 260,000 tenth-ounce gold eagles have been produced. With these coins available again plus Friday's drop in the spot gold price, you may want to consider investing in a few of these gold coins.

Before you invest, make sure you know the current spot price of gold. I can't give you specific advice on how high of premiums you can expect but you must shop around since premiums can vary by quite a bit. And remember the smaller the coin, the greater the premium. In other words, two quarter-ounce gold coins will cost you more than one half-ounce gold coin.

It's Back! The American Gold Buffalo

Starting tomorrow, October 22nd, the American Gold Buffalo will again be available for purchase. As you may know, production of this popular 24 karat gold coin was stopped late last year when the U. S. Mint couldn't keep up with the demand for U. S. gold coins.

The American Gold Buffalo is the first .9999 fine gold coin struck by the U. S. Mint beginning in 2006. They can be purchased from the Mint directly or from dealers who are making them available for their customers. Expect to pay a minimum 6% premium over the spot price of gold which could easily go up a few percentage points depending on demand.

If you invest in these beautiful gold coins, follow the advice I gave you in Basic Gold Investing about handling your coins. Gold is a soft metal and easily scratched or nicked so always handle your coins, especially pure gold coins, by the edges only.

Gold Price Reaches New High

Have you heard? Gold posted a new high yesterday of $1045 per ounce then fell back just a bit. This took out the previous high set on March 17, 2008. This 18+ months of consolidation has added great strength to the next move up.

Some experts say look for a large spike up in the next three to six months. How high is uncertain but don't be surprised to see another 30 percent or more. If you have been waiting to invest, you may want to seriously consider this as the time.

$20 Liberty Types 1, 2, 3

If you feel you have a firm investment foundation in gold bullion coins, you may have been looking at $20 Liberty Head Gold Double Eagles for a possible investment. If so, you should become familiar with the three types of $20 Libertys.

Type 1 $20 Libertys were minted from 1849 to 1866 and are referred to as "no motto" Liberties since they do not contain the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST". They tend to fetch a higher price than the Type 2s and Type 3s except in the higher grades.

Type 2 Libertys were minted from 1866 to 1876, contain the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" and, like the Type 1, the bottom of the reverse side of the coin has "TWENTY D." stamped into it. Type 2 Libertys are worth a little less than Type 1s until Mint State 63 (MS63) at which point they become much more valuable than either Type 1s or Type 3s. In fact, at present prices the MS65 Type 2 Liberty is worth approximately 14 times more than the Type 1 and (approximately) 30 times more than the Type 3.

Type 3 Libertys were minted from 1877 to 1907, contain the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" and the bottom of the reverse side has "TWENTY DOLLARS" stamped into it. Type 3 Libertys are consistently lower in price than the Type 1 and Type 2 Libertys.

Happy Investing.

Gold Investing - The Case for Semi-Numismatic Coins

If you are a casual gold investor, you have probably concentrated on gold bullion coins. As a result, your potential profit is limited to the price increase in gold with no other factors involved.

Once you have a nice amount of gold bullion in your possession, you may want to look at semi-numismatic gold coins. Why? Because it gives you the opportunity to profit from the rising price of gold as well as the demand for the types of coins you happen to invest in. The two coins you might want to consider are the $20 Liberty (1850-1907) and the $20 St. Gaudens (1907-1933).

There is so much history wrapped up in these two coins, you will be pleased with owning them even if you only have one of each. They have stood the test of time and are recognized world-wide as having value and good investor demand.

But you don't have to spend a fortune on them IF you stays with the lower grades of uncirculated coins (MS60-MS62) or the circulated grades of XF or AU. Just make sure you are dealing with a reputable local or national dealer. And you may want to investigate certified coins by either NGC or PCGS.

Happy Investing.

Investing In Gold Bars (and Ingots)

Gold investors in the U.S. tend to favor gold coins over gold bars and ingots which differs from gold investors in other parts of the world. Gold bars are highly prized elsewhere as an investment and maybe you want to look at a modest investment in them.

Gold bars come in various sizes to fit most any investing budget. The smallest size is just one gram followed by 2.5 grams, 5 grams, 10 grams, 20 grams, 31.103 grams (1 Troy ounce), 50 grams and 100 grams. Gold bars have a hallmark stamped on them which states the producer, size and purity of the gold bar - typically 999.9 fine gold.

If you are looking for a variety in your gold investments, gold bars may be right for you.

Happy investing.

Gold Coins and Bag Marks

You would think that gold coins that have never been in circulation would have no marks on them. It is true they wouldn't have wear marks like circulated coins do. But, unless they have received special handling at the mint, there is a good chance they will have bag marks otherwise known as contact marks.

So just what are bag marks? They are marks mainly caused by the coins being dropped in sacks (along with several other coins) at the mint and the handling of these bags as they transported to one or more destinations. The coins coming into contact with other coins can cause minor nicks or other flaws that mar the surface of the coin. Large gold coins are especially prone to bag marks since gold is such a soft metal.

There are several grades of uncirculated coins. An MS-70 coin (a perfect coin) would have no bag marks - probably due to special handling of the coin. Any grade below that would have some sort of flaw with the lowest uncirculated grade of MS-60 having the most serious of the bag marks.

Happy investing.

Counterfeit Gold Coins

At a recent major coin show in Long Beach, leading coin grading companies met to discuss the increase in counterfeit coins they are seeing in the marketplace. There are a few things you may want to know about counterfeit coins and how to protect yourself if you are investing in gold coins.

First of all, spotting counterfeit gold coins is not for amateurs. And it is doubtful if everyone calling himself or herself a professional coin dealer can spot every counterfeit coin (such as a gold-plated lead coin) they may come across. If you are investing in gold coins, especially the higher grades of numismatic and semi-numismatic coins, look for those that have been graded and slabbed by NGC or PCGS. Not only are they the best at spotting counterfeit coins, they guarantee their work.

Counterfeit gold coins don't look like their genuine counterparts. If you know what "real" Gold American Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, Krugerrands, etc. look like, you may be able to spot a counterfeit.

A great tool in spotting counterfeit coins is a scale that displays a coin's weight in grams or pennyweights. While a brass coin can look like the real thing, it won't pass the test on weight. Genuine coins will weigh in at their stated weight or very close to it. You can find out the weights of various coins at Fractional Gold Coins plus more pages on the Gold Investing Simplified site.

Another way to spot counterfeit gold coins is to inspect them with a magnifying glass or jeweler's loupe. Since gold is such a soft metal, the stamping machines in use at the various mints will produce sharp images on the coin. Counterfeit coins that are cast from a die will not have that crisp image and are a dead giveaway that a coin is fake.

I hope you found this discussion on counterfeit gold coins of value and, if investing in higher grades of gold coins, follow my advice on limiting your investments to NGC and PCGS graded and slabbed coins.

Happy investing.

Spot Gold - Know Before You Invest

One of the "tricks" unethical coin dealers use to increase their profits is to misquote the spot price of gold and silver. They may advertise low premiums on the coins they sell but after adding a little to the spot price, the premiums are higher than those of the honest coin dealers.

This may not be a big deal if you are only buying a coin or two. But if you are investing in a bag of silver (715 ounces) or several one-ounce gold coins, the amount you are overcharged could be significant. Your goal is to get as much gold (or silver) as you can with the money you have to invest.

The solution? Find out what the spot prices of gold and silver are just before you visit your local coin dealer or call that major dealer or shop online. You can do this on my Gold Investing Simplified home page or other online sources. But make sure you take this step before you invest.

Remember, information is power and when it comes to saving you money, it is power indeed.

Happy investing.

Gold Coin Grading & Certification

On my first visit to the local coin shop (that opened up this spring), I noticed a coin in a plain cellophane and cardboard coin holder marked MS66. I asked the owner who graded that coin an MS66 and he said "I did. I grade coins too". I was more than a little surprised.

When you start considering the purchase of coins in the higher MS (or Mint State) grades, you must be very careful . One grader of coins may rate a coin MS66 while another may grade the same coin at MS64 and money, sometimes lots of money, can be lost. Let me give you an extreme example...

A 1907 St. Gaudens High Relief Gold Double Eagle graded MS64 is currently worth approximately $26,000. That same coin graded MS65 is worth approximately $46,000. So let's say you bought that coin as an MS65 from a dealer who a few years later went out of business. When you go to sell the coin to another dealer, he says "Nope, in my opinion this should only be MS64 and I will pay you what an MS 64 is worth". That is how investors can lose lots of money.

The solution? When purchasing coins from dealers in the higher MS grades, make sure they are graded and "slabbed" (encased in plastic) by either PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) or NGC (Numismatic Guarantee Corporation). This is insurance that the quality of coins you think you invested in are of that quality.

I will talk more about these two organizations in another post.

Happy investing!

Local Coin Shops-A Useful Resource

A coin shop just opened up in my town. If you are asking yourself, "So what's the big deal?" let me explain. The town I am talking about has one gas station, one grocery store, a small bank branch, a post office, a couple of gift shops, a few churches, a couple of bars and a smattering of houses. And now a coin shop.

Even though I probably won't be doing big-time business with them, they are another investing resource for me. If you have one or more coin shops in easy driving distance of you, I hope you take advantage of them. Even if you do most of your gold and silver investing with a major out-of-town dealer, or call in to TV coin shows, or use eBay stores/auctions, a local dealer may fill in some investing "gaps".

Although small, this coin shop has a nice selection of coins, especially Morgan silver dollars. It's nice to be able to see these coins up close, examine them, discuss price, etc. By making a few small purchases and developing a relationship with a local dealer, you can use them as a sanity check before investing in particular coins, grades of coins or discussing your basic investing strategy.

There is one thing I noticed about this coin shop that raised a red flag regarding the grading of coins, especially the higher Mint State grades. I will cover that in a future post as this one is longer than I intended.

Gold American Eagles Still Soaring

In an update to my article on Gold American Eagles, I mentioned that 710,000 Gold Eagles were sold in 2008 versus 140,000 the year before. Further numbers show interest is still strong in this popular gold bullion coin.

In March 2009 136,500 Gold Eagles were sold compared to 113,500 in February 2009 (Silver American Eagle sales totaled 3,132,000 in March!). But there is something missing from these totals - Fractional Gold Coins. All Gold Eagles sold were one-ounce coins.

If you are at all familiar with Gold American Eagles (from my article or elsewhere) you know that they are normally produced in half-ounce, quarter-ounce and tenth-ounce sizes also. But the U.S. Mint has suspended their production and will not say when production will resume.

If you have been investing in Fractional Gold Eagles, you know the premiums are higher than one-ounce coins (the smaller the coin, the greater the premium). If this continues, expect the premium on these gold coins to rise farther still.

Happy Investing!

Welcome To Gold Investing Simplified's Blog

Hello and welcome. I hope you visit often and find information you can use when deciding what type of gold you want to invest in. Look for one or two posts a week from me as I look for good information to share with you.