Your Money Tips

In the current financial climate of weak currencies, inflation and general insecurity, many investors and ordinary families are turning to a reliable and time-tested form of wealth preservation – gold bullion coins. People are attracted by both being able to diversify how their savings are held, and also by being able to actually hold their wealth in their hands.

So, what exactly are gold bullion coins, where do you get them, and how much do they cost?

A century ago, gold coins were used as standard currency in many countries, and were in general circulation. In the USA, these were the famous and very beautiful quarter eagles, half eagles, eagles and double eagles, which were last issued in the 1930s, and are now sought after by collectors. After a gap of thirty or forty years, countries began to issue gold coins again, but not for circulation, since gold had simply become too valuable.

These days when people refer to gold bullion coins, they are talking about the modern format of them, which are issued by governments in one ounce, or fractions of one ounce weights, and which are meant only for collection or investment. They represent an accessible and relatively inexpensive way (when compared to the larger and heavier gold bullion bars) for ‘normal’ people to buy and own gold.

The modern form of gold bullion coins is largely the same, regardless of the country that they are bought from; however, they are given different names depending on the country. For example, in the USA they are called ‘American Gold Eagles’, in Canada they are called ‘Canadian Gold Maple Leafs’, and in China they are called ‘Gold Pandas’.

All the governments that issue these gold bullion coins use the same gold weighting scale, with them being available in the following values: one ounce, half an ounce, a quarter of an ounce, and a tenth of an ounce. The bullion coins can be either pure gold, or they may have a small percentage of silver or copper added to them to make more durable. Those which do have some other metal added to the gold are just as valuable as the pure gold ones though, as as they always have an ‘actual gold weight’ of one ounce of gold, or of one of the previously stated fractions.

The coins will normally have on them the year in which they were issued and a face value. However, the value stated on them is not what they are actually worth, they are in fact worth much more than that. The actual value of a particular coin is dependent on the current value of gold on the general market, plus a ‘premium’, which is determined by the dealer or store that you buy it from.

So, where do you get these gold bullion coins? While you can still go to a dealer or a local coin store, the Internet has made a huge difference to the general availability of these coins, since you can view a huge selection of them anytime on online auction sites. In addition, many online-only coin stores exist which offer bullion coins of all types and weights at very fair prices.

To find out more about bullion gold coins, read about the types of coins available, and to check current prices, go to bullion-gold-coins.com and get the information you need to know before you buy.