Most efficient way to buy/own physical gold and metals?

[Vincenzo Corleone]

Apmex.com has always worked well for me buying and selling back. Goldmoney.com for holding bullion in another countries vault but requires an extra tax form.

You might want to take a look at the following reviews for GoldMoney.com. I used them back in around 2002-3 and didn't have a problem. It sounds like things started to go south towards the end of 2019. Here's the link to the reviews:

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/goldmoney.com

 

[racy]

Based on the reactions of consumers during the recent shut down, the one hard asset I would look at buying is liquor.

Sure! And, toilet paper.

Also, quoting from this article https://tinyurl.com/ya3y4dyx "Among my favorite books of all time is Making Money by Terry Pratchett. It’s a satire on the banking system and how the modern economy works, set in the fantasy realm Discworld. One of the arguments is over the usefulness of gold and what actually counts as real value. Moist von Lipwig, the main character, points out that on a desert island, gold is useless. A potato, though, is valuable. You can plant part of the potato, and it will grow into other potatoes, and you can eat the rest of the potato."

 

[Koolau]

I guess that I don't get it. Any currency is only as good as the population's willingness to use it as an exchange medium. If the SHTF to the point where the US$ is worthless as an exchange medium, what makes you think that gold and silver will still be accepted as an exchange medium. None has any practical value other than people's historical willingness to exchange but in that scenario that history may be meaningless.

Here we go again. It's the old "only two realities" straw man. Either the US economy is well, er, "good as gold" or it's totally, well, SHTF territory. It's actually never been either and probably never will be. BUT to answer your actual question: The reason gold and/or silver will probably be accepted as a medium of exchange (even if the US$ is not) is because they HAVE BEEN as long as history has been written. PMs have been "money" since they were discovered. Only two things will ever stop PMs from being money: Laws against using PMs as money (enforced at the point of a gun - and we know how effective those are) OR the true SHTF situation (pick your favorite end-of-the-world-scenario - 10 mile wide asteroid, total-kill pandemic, exploding sun, etc. etc.) Other than those two unlikely events, PMs WILL be money even if we don't like it (or believe it.)

Full disclosure: I too did a double take when I saw that Brewer was interested in PMs!

 

[Koolau]

I may be slow, but if the objective is to have gold when SHTF, how are ETF shares or gold held in vaults in Switzerland going to help with that?

My other little puzzle is this: Virtually none of us live in houses that are in any way defensible. Again in the SHTF scenario, I think it's more likely that we quickly end up dead and robbed than it is that we end up in a world where we are able to trade assets safely.

I have a few thousand rounds in my basement, left over from target-shooting days, but I have never thought of it as much of an asset. I even have a collector grade black rifle. But with three outside doors to the house and all of the main/only floor visible from one window or another, my defensive battle would not last very long.

It's like the old joke about putting on your running shoes to outrun your friend when you are confronted with a grizzly. All you have to do is convince the "bad guys" to turn their attack from you to your neighbors. I think your "black rifle" would convince most folks to pass you by but YMMV

 

[drcha]

Krugerrands, eagles, maple leafs. At my local store, usually one or the other will be the best buy on any given day (with the least bid-ask spread). It's not the same one all the time. Check Kitco for prices.

A small safe deposit box is about $75/yr.

I'm not going to tell you to cheat the IRS. But I am going to tell you that if you buy and sell gold in small amounts, you can do it in cash. They ask me to sign my name, but it seems to be a formality because they don't ask for identification. One could sign with a pseudonym. Just saying.

 

[winyaz]

Haven't seen this mentioned but you could buy shares in one of the Central Fund of Canada (now Sprotts) mutual funds. In buying their funds you are the owner of a share of the physical gold, silver, or palladium (depending on the fund) that they have in their vault. They do not use futures like other funds. I doubt this is what you had in mind when mentioning physical gold but it is a big step towards it compared to any other funds that I am aware of. You don't have the hassle of storing it, the price is close to net asset value, minimal spread, and the shares are redeemable for physical gold (subject to some limitations).

 

[Bongleur]

Haven't seen this mentioned but you could buy shares in one of the Central Fund of Canada (now Sprotts) mutual funds...

You don't have the hassle of storing it, the price is close to net asset value, minimal spread, and the shares are redeemable for physical gold (subject to some limitations).

Redeemable for those who hold 100,000 units, so that's about $1.6M. But it does trade at below NAV quite often. Tax issues somewhat confusing, have file a special form to get the 15% tax rate on gains. And a very high management fee. Seems like you would have to pay attention to a strategy of redeeming units when the price goes up, to cover the fee.

I would never take precious metals in trade since I don't know how to identify fakes. And I don't know how to seek out someone who would take them in trade from me, for things I would need during bad times. Maybe certain ethnic groups found in some urban clusters are willing to take metals...

 

[Dash man]

Texas Metals is an excellent company I’ve used.


https://www.texmetals.com

 

[kingkarmann]

I have a fair amount of Gold China Panda’s?

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I have a fair amount of Gold China Panda’s?

Yes, you do?
Or: No, you don't?

Not sure if you were asking a question or making a statement.

 

[Perryinva]

I’ve got maybe $40-50k at today’s prices in gold and silver US coins, all bought many years ago, all pre internet. Small investments at the time, basically a continuation of a childhood hobby. Sold a a lot of silver circulated coins around the time I graduated college when the Hunt brothers were trying to corner the silver market. I needed the money and the price was higher than it had been in years.

Over the years after that I bought Morgan and Peace numismatic dollars in mail order auctions with others to save on costs & shipping. It was funs and relatively cheap at the time, usually less than $18/coin, but rarer and MS-60+ coins went a bit higher, and I built a date set of both series, plus extras.

All the gold coins were either Eagles or numismatic interesting ones. I remember paying about $400 for the last gold double Eagle, so it was a while back. I enjoy the feeling of handling the real metal and the historically interesting aspect of it. But if needed because the SHTF, then it would be easy to let them go, since I never expected them to increase this much at the time I bought them.

 

[meleana]

I bought on APMEX and I also bought from the Littleton coin company. Have no idea what is really efficient.

 

[Ticker]

on my wish list

This one is on my wish list. really cool addition to any collection, plus it's unusual enough to pull out and look at from time to time.





https://www.apmex.com/product/92288/2015-1-oz-cook-islands-100-gold-armillary-coin-valcambi

 

[OldShooter]

This one is on my wish list. really cool addition to any collection, plus it's unusual enough to pull out and look at from time to time.

https://www.apmex.com/product/92288/2015-1-oz-cook-islands-100-gold-armillary-coin-valcambi

That's pretty neat. I have zero interest in gold, but I find objects like that just give me pleasure. OT/sorry, but do you know Miguel Berrocal?

 

[corn18]

I think you also need to ask the corollary question of what is the most efficient way to sell gold. I can tell you that APMEX charges a hefty fee to "appraise" your gold before you can sell it to them. And then they buy at a discount to spot. I calculated the transactions costs to be 10% for gold eagles.

Or you can try to buy milk with it.

 

[braumeister]

OT/sorry, but do you know Miguel Berrocal?

Nice memory! I owned that same Berrocal sculpture, as well as another of his, and enjoyed playing with them for decades. Finally sold them on eBay for more than I originally paid. I guess their new owners are enjoying them as much as I did. Marvelous, unusual pieces.

 

[Al in Ohio]

I guess that I don't get it. Any currency is only as good as the population's willingness to use it as an exchange medium. If the SHTF to the point where the US$ is worthless as an exchange medium, what makes you think that gold and silver will still be accepted as an exchange medium. None has any practical value other than people's historical willingness to exchange but in that scenario that history may be meaningless.

PM in that scenario is the only real currency. The currency that paper money represented before too much is printed and it’s value sinks. People will always accept gold and silver as prime.

 

[calmloki]

Physical gold took a healthy jump up today - over $1870 as a bid price.

https://www.ajpm.com/

 

[RobbieB]

I should have bought when it was $1300, but I wanted to wait for $1200.

Then there was covid.

 

[brewer12345]

Silly me waiting for a dip to buy. Have been investing in non-precious heavy metals in the meantime which is looking to be a home run.

 

[drcha]

Getting back to the OP's question as well as numerous posts since then about storing physical gold, it's important to understand just how risky safety deposit boxes are:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/business/safe-deposit-box-theft.html

All of which is by way of saying that IMHO gold is "SHTF' insurance not in a literal sense (because there's really no such thing) but as an asset whose performance is truly uncorrelated with the stock and bond markets and which tends to do well in times of currency debasement, sociopolitical upheaval and flights to safety. And 1% isn't going to do it, but 10-20% (taken from the equity side) will:

https://portfoliocharts.com/2019/08/20/the-top-4-portfolios-to-recession-proof-your-investments/

Well, they do have your contact info, assuming you are paying the bill for the box. That said, do you have a better idea about where to keep it? It's obviously not perfectly safe in a safe deposit box, but I don't think I have a good alternative.

 

[OldShooter]

Physical gold took a healthy jump up today - over $1870 as a bid price.

https://www.ajpm.com/

And your point is?

 

[calmloki]

Making no point - it was a surprise to me when I checked to see it up $59 in about 2 weeks and I figured some might not check real regularly and be similarly surprised.

 

[RxMan]

I have a small amount of gold and silver. Mostly in American Eagles or a few other major national coins. Also bought some collectibles like the America the Beautiful Parks coins. It’s a tiny portion of my portfolio and I haven’t bought anything in years.

I remember making most of my purchases from either apmex.com or providentmetals.com with the rare purchase from other online retailers like JMBullion.com. Went to a couple of coin shops back in the day but just looked. I have magnets to check for fakes but never had an issue with online dealers. I’ve never sold anything so I can’t speak to that side of ownership.

I have a small safety deposit box for what little gold I have and some of my silver. If I’d buy again for gold I like the 1/10 ounce coins for smaller values per coin. The silver I bought mostly 1 oz coins.

I consider it a hedge against inflation and and alternative to stocks and bonds but they don’t pay dividends and to securely store them requires money so they aren’t my first choice as an investment. I’d also consider other options for your money that tend not to correlate to stocks.

 

[RxMan]

I forgot to mention but when I was following precious metals closely and discussing them with others who hold them there were a couple of different strategies for making money.

One was getting to know a certain niche collectible form like certain bars that are in high demand by collectors. Keep an eye out for these specialty bars and flip them for profit.

The other way and a frequent way to make money off these metals is to play the ratio game. Follow the gold/silver ratio and switch out from one to the other based on the relative price moves of each. There are great buying opportunities when that ratio gets to high or too low relative to historical averages. I know several people that have made good money doing this kind of trading between gold and silver.