The Ten Commandments of Gold & Silver Buying 

( If you only read one thing, then make it this page . )

I.  Always take delivery

II.  Never buy premium if you can avoid it.

III.  Buy bullion for business, numismatics for fun.

IV.  Buy silver first, then gold.

V.  Buy small gold first, then large.

VI.  Never buy exotic coins or modern rarities or anything you don't understand.

VII.  Know your dealer.

VIII.  What governments can't find, they can't steal.

IX.  Never swap bullion coins for U.S. $20 gold pieces.

X.  Never break the law.

Four Bullion Portfolios & FAQ

Please note that our recommendations vary depending on your concerns and the market. 

If you want to invest in gold and silver to protect your assets and have something easily divisible and spendable in the event to hedge currency depreciation or collapse, then:

v     If you have $5,000 or less to spend put half in US 90% silver coin, and half in British Sovereigns, French 20 Francs, or 1/4 oz. American Eagles. (All references to “ounces” below mean troy ounces of 480 grains or 31.1034 grams).

v     For $10,000 buy two-thirds US 90% silver coin, and the balance in British Sovereigns, French 20 Francs, or 1/4 oz. American Eagles.

v     For $25,000 buy 3 bags of US 90% silver coin, $2,000 worth of Sovereigns, French 20 Francs, or 1/4 oz. American Eagles, and the balance in one oz. Krugerrands, Austrian 100 Coronas, Mexican 50 Pesos, or American Eagles.

v     For $75,000 buy 10 bags of US 90% silver, $5,000 worth of Sovereigns, 20 Francs, or 1/4 Eagles, $5,000 worth of platinum Nobles, and the balance in Krugerrands, American Eagles or 100 Coronas.  For over $75,000 simply do multiples of this portfolio.

If you want to invest in precious metals to simply protect your assets and don’t think you’ll ever need to actually barter with them, then

v     If you have $5,000 or less to spend put half in US 90% silver coin, and half in one ounce Krugerrands or American Eagles, or in Austrian 100 Coronas or Mexican 50 Pesos.

v     For $5,000 through $25,000 put at least half of your money in US 90% silver coin.  Put the rest in one ounce Krugerrands or American Eagles, or in Austrian 100 Coronas or Mexican 50 Pesos.

v     For $75,000 buy 10 bags of US 90% silver, $5,000 worth of platinum Nobles, and the balance in Krugerrands, American Eagles, 100 Coronas, or 50 Pesos.  For over $75,000 simply do multiples of this portfolio.

  FAQ

Moneychanger, what is US 90% silver coin and why do you recommend it?

          US 90% silver coin is quarters, dimes, and half dollars minted before 1965.  Each face value dollar (4 quarters, 10 dimes, or 2 half dollars) contains 0.715 of an ounce of silver.  Coins are traded in “bags” of $1,000.00 face value containing 715 troy ounces pure silver. (We refer to a “face value dollar,” the value stamped on the coin’s face, which is always less than from the “paper dollar” cost you must pay.  So if you have $1,000.00 in paper dollars to spend, you will never get $1,000.00 face value.) You can purchase any portion of a bag that you wish. 

          We recommend 90% silver coin simply because right now it is the cheapest, most divisible, most widely recognised and traded form of silver. 

 Moneychanger, why do you recommend gold coins like Krugerrands, Austrian 100 Coronaes, and Mexican 50 Pesos, and what are they?

          We recommend these foreign coins because they cost less per ounce and give you more gold for your money than the American Eagle gold coin series.  All of these coins are well known in the industry and any dealer will readily buy them.

          The 22 karat South African Krugerrand gold coin contains exactly one troy ounce of fine (pure) gold.  The American Eagle copied the Krugerrand’s specifications, and is minted to exactly the same weight and fineness.

          The Austrian 100 Coronae is an official re-strike from the Austrian mint.  It is 20 karat (90% pure) and contains exactly 0.9802 troy ounce fine gold.

          The Mexican 50 Peso is an official re-strike from the 400-year old Mexico City mint.  A 20 karat coin, it contains exactly 1.2057 troy ounce of fine gold.

          These three coins take turns as the cheapest coin on our price sheet. 

 Why do you recommend older-issue, foreign fractional gold coins instead of modern issues or American Eagle fractionals?

          Modern issues like American Eagles, Maple Leaves, Philharmonics, and Nuggets include half, quarter, and tenth ounce coins:  the smaller the coin, the higher the cost per ounce.  With the smallest coins, premiums over the gold content approach 15%.  That makes no economic sense because gold is gold.  British sovereigns (containing 0.2354 troy ounce fine gold), French 20 francs (0.1867 oz.), Swiss 20 francs (0.1867 oz.), German 20 marks (0.2304 oz.), Netherlands 10 guilders (0.1947 oz.), the whole series of Mexican peso coins, and a number of other gold coins offer lower cost per ounce and good liquidity.  Not recommended are gold coins so infrequently seen in this country that you will suffer a big discount when you sell them, such as Iranian Pahlavis (0.2354 oz.) or Saudi guineas (0.2354 oz.).  If you can’t sell them, they’re not a bargain.

 Moneychanger, nowhere in your recommendations do I see anything about pure gold coins like the Canadian Maple Leaf or Austrian Philharmonic.  Why not?

          Gold is one of the softest and most ductile metals.  Pure gold coins scratch and scar very easily unless handled with extreme care.  Throughout history gold coins have generally been alloyed with copper or silver, hardening them to withstand circulation.  Customers often unwittingly damage pure gold coins and therefore receive up to 5% less for them when they sell.  In our opinion the purity of 24 karat gold confers no benefit and in fact often creates drawbacks.

Franklin Sanders