Would you buy gold coins from a bank?

Hi Barnardr, I would too, if the price is reasonable, and I have the cash for it. The gold coins are exceptionally beautiful. No wonder so many investors prefer to have the physical item rather than to get the paper asset.

I remember your saying you visited that area but I wasn't aware of that company even though I used to live near there. Perhaps I'll look them up, silver is called "the poor man's gold" but can be used as currency when paper is no longer accepted. Thanks!

Hi Dragon54u, is Scottsdale the name of a place? If so, I am not aware of it. I only know that some investors in Singapore bought the silver bars from Scottsdale Silver a few times. They recommend this site highly. You may want to bookmark the website. Many experts warn about impending gold and silver crash, you may want to get a couple of silver bars once the price crash occurs. Right now, their special silver bar (free shipping) item costs $30.69. The price for physical gold and silver is usually higher than the international gold and silver price, since there is a need to order the freshly mint items from the mint. Insurance and shipping add up part of the premium over international pricing.

Hi Dragon54u, there is no need for any bank in US to sell gold coins. There are many mints in your country. You can buy from them direct. I bought a few silver bars from Scottsdale Silver. I think you can check out the silver bars and silver coins there too. They have free shipping for a special 1 Troy oz silver bar. It costs about thirty dollars. Too bad they will not ship that item free to me!

Hi Louievill, over here in Singapore, it is relatively hard to set up a small store just to collect scrap gold. The consumers here are more knowledgeable as well. They will not just sell off their gold without checking out the price. After all, it is a small country. There are many banks, pawn shops, coin shops and jewelry shops within walking distance. It makes sense for me to buy gold bars since the other alternatives are most costly in the long run. There is a bank offering a gold saving account. However, there is a monthly fee for maintaining the account. If I buy into Gold ETF, the ETF is based in US, and there is a capital gain tax of 28%, plus the fees incurred for 4 parties. In the end, it is still better to buy gold bars.

Hi Louievill, I agree with you. The premium for gold coin is far higher than the premium for gold bars. I have never, and would never, buy a gold coin from anywhere, even though the gold coins are really very nice. I prefer to buy gold or silver bars. At least the price follows the spot rate very closely. I am waiting for the market correction for gold and silver. It is high time a major correction takes place. The last round was in 2008. The round before that was in 2006. Too bad nothing happens in 2010 to stop the rapid rise of gold and silver price.

I buy gold coins(only rarely) even on ebay only because I have knowledge in numismatics and the field is limited only to gold coins minted in the Philippines during the Spanish era, if it were say gold American coins then I would not dare go into something I know very little of. If you want to invest in gold,buying bars might not be the wisest thing to do because it would entail a huge capital, I do not know what the laws are in your country but here you can put up a small shop that buys scrap gold, you can get it cheaper there because some sellers are not very knowledgeable,but just be careful not to buy something that was stolen. You can also buy gold from friends who do not need it any more or want to exchange for cash. Before embarking on this endeavor be sure you arm your self with knowledge, here you can go on a five day seminar on jewelry appraisal and pawnshop management, maybe you will also need a certificate and a government permit to buy to keep you out of trouble. Then the tools like weighing scales, acid ,stone or specific gravity tester, you also have to be adept in doing currency conversions and unit conversions like ounce to grams etc...Good luck on your venture, that's an exciting one

Hi Tiffnkeat, this is definitely different from Geneva, since there is no such thing as passive income from holding gold coins. The bank I mentioned is Maybank in Malaysia. The Singapore branch does not sell gold coins. The only Singapore bank I know of that sells gold bars and gold coins is UOB. You can open a gold saving account if you do not want to hold physical gold. Otherwise just pop by the bank, and cart a trolley of gold bars home. The bad thing is that GST is applicable. If you buy from Maybank in Malaysia, there is no GST. But then you have to pay custom tax for bringing in the gold coins. Even if you swallow the gold coins, the scanner can pick it up. Maybe they have to open your stomach and dig for it.

Hi Tiffnkeat, gold is out of my reach too. At least silver is still affordable. Just participate in mylot discussion treads every evening, type enough to reach payout every month. Save up the payouts for three months, and that is enough money for 1 Troy ounce of Silver. I think even if I were to write ten articles every day, I would still not have enough money to pay for 1 Troy ounce of gold.

You are funny. The fluctuation of the gold price makes it look attractive. I don't have the money nor the guts. Wishing you success in your investment if you are going for it.

Hi Lazette, I like to think about things from investment prospect, as well as thinking of it in long term. It will be nice to have a gold coin, and keep it for the rest of our lives, and then pass on to the next generation. i think that will be a very valuable gift to pass on. When I was a baby, my grandmother saved very hard to get a gold bracelet for me. She did it for every grandchild. I think that is very self sacrificing of her.

Hi Lazette, those who buy gold coins from the bank definitely buy it for investment purpose. Can you imagine spending more than USD1,400 and above to get a gold coin just for souvenir? It is not even within the reach of most people. The reason that people buy gold coin is to sell it away after a year or two, when the price of gold is much higher. If your grandparents collected just a single gold coin from their youth, and passed it on to you, you would gain. It is easy to sell gold coins online and offline everywhere in the world. Everyone knows the value of a gold coin.

Yes, I'm completely aware of what you said. BUT, I would not buy a gold coin for an investment, never, and that is for personal reasons. I am one of the very, very few people who would be content having a single gold coin for the sake of having one, mind you. I don't care about investments and all that.

Hi Raj, the price of gold is out of the reach of most people today. i just hope that the price comes down in a market correction soon. Then I might have a chance to buy a little gold bar or a small gold coin. Silver is an investment still within the reach of most of us. i have a few silver bars at home. Even if I trade in the silver bars for just a little gold coin, it may not be enough

Hi Raj, at least the banks in your areas are offering silver bars for sale too. Over there, the bank is selling only gold bars and gold coins. Anyway with the 7% goods and service tax, it is not worth buying locally. I prefer to buy in US and pay for the shipping. It is still cheaper.

Thanks my lot friend for your valuable reply.. I agree with u on the market price and people wealth.Any way we can invest on silver also same banks also offering.

Hi Mommaj, fortunately you do not know about gold coins in the bank. I think you will eat up all the gold coins oh. It will be a very expensive dinner to cook two gold coins with the chicken, and then fried eggs with gold coins. *scratch head* how come you ask the banks whether you can sell frogs to them? I thought bankers do not like to eat frog porridge.

Hi Millertime, there is a need to sell gold bars and gold coins at a premium over spot rate. The premium pays for the cost of minting the coins, for insurance and shipping to the retailers, and for storage as well. Some countries impose a custom tax on the gold bars and coins. That is why the premium differs. The banks that sell the gold bars and gold coins sell at a premium too. I will not buy from a bank in my country, since I have to pay additional 7% goods and services tax. The additional amount is higher than the shipping and insurance cost if I choose to buy overseas. Anyway, we buy physical gold at a premium, we can also sell it at a premium. The only thing about buying from a bank is the peace of mind, since we know banks cannot take the risk of selling fake goods.

Hi ebuscat, most people buy gold for investment. it is still better than putting money in a bank, since the interest rate is much lower than the inflation rate. If they keep money in a bank, the value of money gets lesser and lesser. That is why they buy gold. When they sell gold a few years later, they can make a lot of money.

Hi Frontvisions, you are either too rich or too naive about the selling price of gold coins. A single 1 oz gold coin costs about USD1400 to USD 1500 online. If you factor in the cost of insurance and shipping, plus the applicable custom tax, and the goods and services tax, you are looking at about USD1700 onwards just to own a single gold coin. I volunteer to help you throw the chest of gold coins into the sea.

I don't think I wanna take you with me. I know for sure that the chest won't reach the bottom of the sea.

Hi BabyEj, it is worth to buy from a bank, but not worth to sell it to the bank. Most people do not sell the gold coins, gold bars back to the bank. They prefer to sell it to the private collectors or through Ebay. It is relatively easy to find a buyer for gold, since gold is an international commodity treasured by all investors.

In the Philippines, private and commercial banks do not sell coins or gold coins for that matter, it is the Central Bank of the Philippines or the Banko Sentral that handles minting and selling of limited edition and commemorative currency in our country.

Hi R4v3n, you can take a look at the discussion thread in the first page. One mylotter is from your country, and he knows about gold investment. It is true that the retail banks do not sell gold coins and gold bars. That does not mean gold investment is non existence in the country. After all, it is an international commodity. Many governments are buying the precious metals to hedge against devaluation of currency.

Hi llbo, with the current gold price, I doubt anyone would have excess fund to buy a gold coin and keep it for years. A single 1 oz gold coin cost more than USD1,400. On top of the selling price, there is usually a sales charge, such as VAT or GST. Over here, our GST rate is seven percent. I think it is much cheaper for me to buy a gold coin from overseas rather than buy locally.

Hi Tkonlievn, I think many mints do not sell coins directly. They are more likely to sell through the banks or appointed brokers. One example is the Canadian mint. It does not sell the Maple leaf coins directly. we have to go through the appointed agents to buy the coins. Even then, most of the agents do not do retail. They sell to those investment companies which buy in bulk. I think it is a good idea to buy gold coins from the banks, if they are appointed by the government to sell the newly minted gold coins. However, selling back to the bank is a bad idea. I think it is better to sell the gold coins to other investors or through Ebay.

Hi Sweety, I think those gold coins from banks definitely come with certificates. After all, they are the authorized agents for selling gold coins. I think buying from a bank is a good idea. The only problem is the selling price. The difference is too huge. There is no point selling the coins back to the bank, since the bank does not buy at a premium.

Hi Voldrox, most people buy gold for investment, not to give the coins away. If your grandparents had accumulated gold coins, and passed to you, you will be very rich, since the price of gold increases a few thousand percent since their time. A single gold coin costs about USD1700 to USD 1800, depending on the year, the quantity of gold, and the demand for a particular mint. I think that is too expensive a gift for your girlfriend.

Hi Sanitary, I agree with you. Buying gold bars and gold coins are definitely better than buying gold jewelries. At least gold bars and gold coins are mostly investment grade gold, as in .999 purity. Gold Jewelries hardly have much gold in it. Gold coins and gold bars are sold according to the spot price, which is the international price. However, they are sold at a certain premium, to account for the shipping, insurance and the cost of minting the coins. I just hope the price of gold goes down by 20%, to make it more affordable to most people. Now the price is way too high.

Hi Goodhunter, I think it is a good investment regardless of rare coin or not. As long as they are selling closer to the spot rate of gold, and the gold is .999 purity, that is a very good investment. I think the best thing about buying from a bank, especially the national bank, is the fact that the bank sells genuine coins. I am waiting for the next market correction before investing in a gold bullion coin.