If you don't have the $1,500 to splurge on a gigantic double eagle gold coin, you could always get yourself an XF $5 Liberty Head half eagle (containing 0.2419 troy ounces of gold) for around $400. After accounting for eBay Bucks and credit card rewards, you could buy this coin for -3.6% under spot. These unique mementos of Americana can be found on eBay in circulated XF to AU condition at 3% to 8% below the spot price of gold (once incentives are factored in).įor example, I spotted a random-date $20 Liberty Head in AU condition (which contains 0.9675 troy ounces of pure gold) for 4.3% over spot. Denominations range from the small $2.50, or quarter eagle gold piece, right up to the massive $20 double eagle gold coin.īut the best thing about common-date pre-1933 U.S. These iconic coins were struck from the 19th century right up until the Great Depression in the early 1930s. gold coins are at the top of my shopping list. Using these criteria, generic pre-1933 U.S. I will use an enhanced 10% eBay Bucks rate in conjunction with 1% credit card rewards as my baseline assumption for all premium calculations below.ĮBay Bucks Eligible Pre-1933 U.S. You can then combine this with a cash-back credit card rewards program to enhance your leverage in acquiring gold below spot. But if you wait for a promotional period, it is fairly common to get special bonuses of 10%. EBay bucks rebates normally accrue on eligible purchases at the rate of 1%. EBay allows its users to supercharge their bullion purchases through the use of its eBay Bucks program. This means that the premium on common older gold coins can actually go negative in some circumstances, although typically not by very much.īut I have another trick to get these coins even cheaper. All the time, effort and expertise consumed during the long-ago production of an older gold coin is considered a sunk cost. These coins have passed through many hands over the years. If a coin was minted long enough ago - usually many decades - then no one is trying to make a profit on its manufacture any longer. The magical answer to this conundrum is a concept known as sunk costs. Once again we are faced with the question, why would anyone ever sell gold below spot? Buying gold coins below spot is far superior compared to stocking up on junk jewelry. I'm talking about buying a legitimate gold coin with a known weight and fineness struck by a well-respected government. In addition, a refinery charge must be taken into account if you ever want to process the scrap into a usable form.īut I'm not talking about buying scrap gold jewelry here. This is because the gold content can be difficult to verify. But scrap jewelry isn't an ideal form of gold to hold because it isn't widely recognized or accepted. Sure, you might occasionally find gold jewelry scrap sold below spot. So the real question is why would anyone ever sell gold below spot? It might be a small profit margin - often between 2% and 5% for a 1 troy ounce piece - but it is a positive number nonetheless. This is because the government or private mint that strikes them, along with the distributing wholesale dealer, needs a profit margin and the only way to get that margin is by charging a price that is higher than spot. These gold bars and rounds are equivalent to government issued bullion coins, with very little difference in quality and no difference in gold content.īut all conventional bullion bars, rounds and coins are sold above spot. Pamp Suisse, the Scottsdale Mint, Valcambi Suisse, the Perth Mint and Johnson Matthey are some of the better known names in gold bullion. Gold bullion might also bring to mind bullion bars or rounds struck by private refiners and mints. There are others, of course, but this short list will keep things simple. Some popular examples are the American Gold Eagle, the Canadian Maple Leaf, the Australian Kangaroo, the British Britannia and the Chinese Panda. When most of us think of gold bullion, we picture 1 troy ounce bullion coins struck by sovereign governments. But selling gold below spot? It's simply unheard of…until now at least.īefore I give the big reveal, I'd like to talk a bit about the circumstances behind how this somewhat bizarre situation came to be. Sure, sometimes bullion dealers have specials where they sell gold coins for a couple percent over spot. In my experience this is an almost unprecedented situation. Right now it is possible to purchase gold below spot on eBay with very little effort. I would like to make a public service announcement.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |