How to Buy Gold Bullion

Buy Gold Bars

The most traditional way of investing in gold is by buying bullion gold bars. In some countries, like Canada, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, these can easily be bought or sold at the major banks. Alternatively, there are bullion dealers that provide the same service. Bars are available in various sizes. For example, in Europe, Good Delivery bars are approximately 400 troy ounces (12 kg). 1 kilogram (32 ozt) are also popular, although many other weights exist, such as the 10oz, 1oz, 10 g, 100 g, 1 kg, 1 Tael, and 1 Tola. The most popular type of bullion products would have to be the Johnson Matthey, Credit Suisse and Pamp Suisse bars, all which are .9999 fine gold. Depending on your investing needs, there are many different weights and sizes that can vary from 1 gram to over 100 ounces.

Buy Gold Coins

Gold coins are a common way of owning gold. Bullion coins are priced according to their fine weight, plus a small premium based on supply and demand (as opposed to numismatic gold coins, which are priced mainly by supply and demand based on rarity and condition). The most popular coins are the 1 ounce varieties that usually hold a $50 face value, but their actual value is based on the weight of the gold that they consist of. Gold coins are minted in many different countries worldwide. The top brands are: American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, South African Krugerrand, Chinese Panda, Sovereign, Australian Kangaroos.

Gold rounds

Gold rounds look exactly like gold coins but they have no currency value. They range in similar sizes as gold coins and come in 0.05 troy ounce all the way up to 1 troy ounce. Unlike gold coins, gold rounds have no additional metals added to them for durability purposes and do not have to be made by a government mint, which allows the gold rounds to have a lower overhead price as compared to gold coins. On the other hand, gold rounds are not as collectible as gold coins.

Things to Avoid When Buying Gold Silver

Avoid general Commodities Dealer or Futures Brokers. You can not buy physical gold from them.

Avoid Numismatics and Antiques. Make sure get a coin or bullion bar gold dealer.

Avoid Jewelry. Jewelry is a retail business in which gold can be marked up by several hundred percent. Only buy jewelry for its artistic merit, never for its intrinsic gold value!