Investing In Gold... A Beginner Approach?

Yup, can you defend your reasoning? How can you claim that larger sizes are more liquid and what coins command higher premiums over their smaller fractional counterparts? Then at the same time you say most people look to buy small coins, so your best "bang for the buck" is for larger coins. . .

I (and most people) define premium as the amount you pay above spot. Using that definition; the smaller the coin, the higher the premium. For example at APMEX

1/10th AGE $ 156 (Sell Price) / $ 131 (Spot Price) = 1.185 or a 18.5% premium
..1 OZ AGE $1425 (Sell Price) / $1315 (Spot Price) = 1.084 or a 8.4% premium

I agree with you that one gets more gold for their dollar by purchasing larger coins but your statement on premiums is backwards.

Ok fair enough,,, perhaps what I am saying is that the bigger ounce coin is going to be more desired and carry more of a collectors premium for the size, not a premium in terms of comparing the fractional size of the coin with the going price of the metal, in this case gold.

There are examples of the 1oz coins carrying a larger premium, the key though is they have to be graded MS 70s and preferably PCGS ones. If you look at ebay if you look at the 1/10 ounce PCGS MS 70 gold eagles theres not much of a premium over the normal fractional gold premium. If you look at the PCGS MS 70 1 ounce coins most of the older ones seem to be going for around 3k. The 2009 ms 70 uhr can get up to 5k. The 2013 ones dont have much of a premium yet, they may have been mostly the bullion I just skimmed those listings. I wouldnt be surprised though if the newer ones have a lower premium though with how good the mint quality has gotten like weve seen with the ASEs the brand new ms70s have a significantly smaller premium than the older ones.

The key though is it has to be a graded 70. None of this applies to the raw coins other than a few exceptions like the 2009 uhr which fetches over 2k raw. It would be fair to say that the 1 oz coins have more of a potential upside if they grade a 70 (especially a pcgs 70), but if theyre raw youre going to pay a higher price assembling an ounce with fractional coins.

Aside from the graded 70 the only other argument that you could make for the larger coins is that the premiums they pick up are more likely going to be a collector premium giving the chance of getting it for a lower price from the mint. The fractional premium youre likely going to have to pay to get it so it doesn't do you much good other than protecting the money you have into it. On the other hand though its easier to sell a fractional since a lot more people have a couple hundred dollars theyre willing to spend than almost 2k.

Well that's up to you. Of course you don't have to clarify or defend your point, but it's not really an effective point if you are not able willing to. I'm sorry your feelings were hurt because I said 'defend' rather than 'clarify.'

Basebal provided two very specific examples. A very narrow sliver of the broad strokes that your statement painted. I think most would agree, though, that larger coins generally have smaller premiums. For example, who knows what a 2009 ultra high relief 1/10 oz eagle would sell for had they been made.

To the OP, jm20thengr. I hope you can learn from the productive discussion relevant to the question that you've asked. I apologize for the detour, but I feel it would have done you and others a disservice to not point out inconsistencies as I saw them.

I wouldnt see that doing anything, 1/10ths are so small it destorys the special look of the uhr.

Dont get me wrong, fractionals are definitely more liquid overall but if you go for the higher end 1oz there can be more upside if you pick right. There is an important distinction to be made though of picking and choosing things from a market and talking about the overall market, depending on which one youre doing changes the answer.

To the OP,

Coins, bars, scrap, non-physical forms - cases can be made for and against any and all of them. When it comes to coins - again cases can easily be made both for and against fractionals and larger sizes.

There really is no single 'right' answer - whatever you choose one of the important things to understand is whether you are getting a decent deal or not and a part of that is understanding realistic options for resale and all that entails whenever and wherever that may be.

Sorry if that doesn't help much but what works best for one person in one location and one set of circumstances is not necessarily true for another in another location and a differing set of circumstances.

Norm

Well Mr. Tar Heel, it's obvious you are not getting enough advice so I will try. At one time I only liked silver and never had gold. Then after I bought gold I got addicted to it so to speak. You will love it. As a beginner, I recommend you start out with the Liberty Gold Quarter Eagle $2.50 dated in the early 1900's. It also has historic interest instead of just buying a brand new piece never seen gold fractional from the sterile mint (boring). You can get one for less than $300.00. Then you can buy the Half Eagle Indian $5.00 for a different type. They are very liquid just like the modern American Gold Eagle some have suggested (yawn). After that I find a great value with Mexican gold pesos any denomination. Again, very liquid if you want to profit. You can invest and learn at the same time!