From our ancient ancestors to today’s modern era, gold has been the world’s leading precious metal and the currency of choice. Investors purchase it because it serves as a safety net against inflation, global financial crisis, and political unrest. Not only that, a lot of top investment experts and advisors recommend portfolio allocations in various commodities like gold to lower portfolio risks.
We will take a closer look at many opportunities when it comes to investing in this precious metal (bullion or coins), futures, mutual funds, jewelry, and mining firms. Only futures, some specialty funds, and bullion provide direct investment opportunities in this metal, with some exceptions. Other investments get the part of their value from other sources.
What are mutual funds? Visit this site for more info.
Bullion
It is considered one of the best know forms of direct gold ownership. A lot of individuals think of these things, like the large bars held at government institutions like Fort Knox. In reality, bullion is any form of pure gold that has been certified for its purity and weight. It includes bars or coins of any size. Serial numbers are usually attached to these things for security purposes.
While heavy bars are an excellent sight to see, their size makes them illiquid (usually up to 400 troy ounces). That is why it is pretty costly to purchase and sell. After all, if individuals own one large bar worth at least $100,000 as their entire holding in gold and decide to sell 10%, they cannot precisely see off the end of their bar and sell it. On the other hand, bullion held in small-sized coins and bars give more liquidity and are pretty standard among investors and owners.
Coins
For many years, large quantities of coins have been issued by governments around the world. Check out information over at meadowbaygold.com to find out more about these things. Investors usually buy these things from dealers (mostly private ones) at premiums of around 1% to 5% above their actual value, but it jumped to at least 10% in 2020. Some advantages of coins are listed below.
The price is conveniently available in financial publications
These things are usually minted in small sizes (an ounce per coin or less). It makes them more convenient to invest in compared to bitter bars.
People can find reputable dealers with minimal search and are located in big cities.
Always remember to be careful of rare and older coins known as collectors or numismatic value beyond and above the underlying value of gold.
To invest in this precious metal, people need to focus on circulating ones and leave rare collectibles to collectors.
Some of these circulated gold coins include the United States Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, or the South African Krugerrand.
The primary issue with bullion is insurance and storage costs, as well as its hefty markup from dealers; both can hinder profit potential. Not only that, purchasing bullion are direct investments in their value, and every dollar change in prices will proportionally change the value of holdings. Other investments like mutual funds may be made in small dollar amounts compared to bullion. It also may not have as much price exposure as bars.
The bottom line
Investors who want to have direct exposure to gold prices may prefer to invest by directly purchasing gold bullions. There is a comfort level in owning physical assets instead of having your investments on a piece of paper. The disadvantage of this is that investors will pay a higher price on this metal’s value of their initial purchase.
Not only that, but investors will also spend money on its maintenance and storage. For individuals who want to invest and a bit aggressive, options and futures will usually do the trick. But always be cautious that these investments are derivatives of the price and can see sharp up and down moves, especially when it is done on margin.
On the other hand, other options are a more efficient way to invest in this precious metal, except for the fact that various contracts need to be rolled over regularly as these things expire. The idea of jewelry as an investment is storied and naive.
There are too many spreads between the price of jewelry and its value to be considered a real investment. Instead, average investors need to evaluate mutual funds or exchange-traded funds focused on this precious metal. They usually provide the safest and easiest way to invest in this metal.