Silver and Gold Bullion Coins
Silver and Gold Bullion coins are well loved items for investors and collectors alike, as they incorporate precious metal investment and numismatic coin collecting into one passion. Silver and gold bullion coins can be distinguish from conventional silver and gold coins in that they are valued based upon their silver or gold content, rather than the value that is minted on the coin, in fact there are some types of bullion coins that have no face value minted on them at all, one such example is the South African Krugerrand.
Silver and gold bullion coins are most often issued from Inhabitant mints and many of them have official bullion coin status, examples such as the American Gold Eagle, Chinese Gold Panda and the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf. In addition to that, despite not being used in day to day trading, majority of the bullion coins issued today have legal tender status bestowed upon them in their respective country of issue, what this means is that they can be imported into many if not all countries without being subjected to import taxes, duty or VAT.
This makes them a very effective vehicle for confidential gold or silver ownership. Investors often get your hands on gold and silver bullion coins alike to hedge against inflation as the value of both metals have since boost at least for the past five years. But note that because of their relative rarity since most bullion coins have a mintages of 100,000 or less, some bullion coins have since "graduated" to numismatist coins, therefore can fetch a much higher value on top of their intrinsic gold or silver content. Hence investors tend to look for bullion coins that have repetitive design right through their years of issue, have substantial mintages and does not command a high premium, one such brilliant example is the South African Krugerrand coin, when it was first issued, the South African Krugerrand fetch a premium no higher than 5% of its gold content, today the premium can be as less as under 1% on top of their market price of gold.
Here are some tips to start your silver and gold bullion coin collection:
1. Choose whether you are to collect bullion coin solely for their investment value or keep them for as part of your numismatic coin selection. Collecting numismatic bullion coins requires more knowledge in the usage and storing of coins as the condition of numismatic coins often influences their sale value.
2. Bullion coins are for long term investment, collectors often keep their coins with them for years before trading them. As your collection grew, investment in the trust such as a hidden safe in the house or the bank deposit vault would be de rigueur.
3. For beginners, it is common to start off with collecting silver bullion coins as they come cheaper, thus you can quickly amass a collection.
4. Focus on collecting a few types of bullion coins as starters, the marketplace can be full of counterfeit and scams, read up about the series of bullion coins you collect, knowing particular facts such as sizes, purity, designs of the coin as well as special issues (e.g. there is no such thing as a silver Krugerrand) can easily help you spot which is a deal and which is a scam.
5. When buying from your local coin dealer, take the time to check your dealer background first, are they reputable in your area? Has this dealer sold akin items before? Do they offer honest advice and forthcoming benefit?
6. When buying online, the best method is to start buying from public sale first before going to individual shops, as public sale website such as ebay have feedback system tracking the past sales of the particular seller, giving excellent proposition on whether the seller provide excellent benefit, or whether they have sell akin items in the past and of course whether they provide excellent quality wares. And the large market place of public sale websites with multitude of sellers, can give excellent evaluation of prices of a particular coin, giving you a excellent grasp on how much price that this particular coin is trading at.
Author: Alicia Tee
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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