You're buying a commodity that you have to pay to store (unless you keep it under your mattress). Also you are buying near a recent historical high. The investment pays no interest. I would rather trade them than buy em. Good luck Lefty.
I think it's kinda cool to have a gold bar but the sites you guys mention look so cheap, can't imagine there's real gold to be bought there
I guess I should have noted that this idea was planned for several years ahead. I see myself doing this in a few years (If I do it at all) Just getting some information on something I know little of. Also, I'd rather shoot myself in my foot than buy something overpriced. ozzy P.S I like the idea of having a few gold bars under my mattress, maybe even a little gold on my teeth (bling bling)
Options buying physical gold: GOLD ETF http://streettracksgoldshares.com/index.php?noMsg=true Various bullion dealers, like Kitco (see URLs mentioned above) Or even Ebay: http://listings.ebay.com/Bullion_W0...1QQfsopZ1QQsacatZ39482QQsocmdZListingItemList
Lefty is expressing the "establishment's" views on this subject (no offense intended afterall, for most people, being aligned with the establishment is the path of least resistance). Gold has been in a downtrend for the last 25yr since its historical high of $800 in 1980. And consider how much new paper money has been pumped into the system during those last 25yr. Just consider that G3 Central Bank's balance sheet has increased by over 14% per year, total of 80% during the last 5 yr (2000-2004). This is the most powerful kind of money, also called super-money, further multiplied by the fractional banking system. Personally I think the US government is actively inflating away part of its massive debt for some time now. People need a store of value which governments can't counterfeit. I think what we have seen last few years is that many others chose things which are basic needs, like oil or basic metals or even real-estate (which can't be manipulated as easily as gold) as store-of-wealth, driving their prices to very high levels. I tend to like gold, because it's the "do no evil" choice. If one stores wealth in gold rather than oil, means that energy will still be affordable by those with meager means. On the other hand, gold is almost at the mercy of the establishment (but doesn't mean that it'll always be that way: see what happened in 3Q1999).
I used www.tulving.com to order silver. Hans Tulving is very professional, and my research showed him to have the cheapest stuff - i.e. Krugerrands within 4 bucks of spot melt value, and junk silver within 4 or 5 cents of spot melt. I don't want to go into all the specific reasons for owning metals, but to counterpoint lefty's argument (that gold is relatively expensive) - I would say other asset classes - stocks, real estate, and bonds are much more expensive, and closer to all time highs than gold and silver are. If you use a reputable dealer, you shouldn't have anything to worry about as far as getting bogus stuff. In fact, I'm not even quite sure I believe that people are afraid gold bars could be fake. My question to them is: what would the counterfeiter put inside? The only metals of comprable density are osmium, rhenium, iridium and platinum. With the exception of iridium which is hard to come by, all are much more expensive than gold. Any other metal and you will notice the difference immediately when you hold the bar. For example, gold is about 75% heavier than lead.
Yes, I was just about to say: If you want to pay up a few bucks for no reason, go to KitCo or Alaron. If you want the best possible price, professional service and quick delivery, buy from Tulving. http://www.tulving.com/goldbull.html ...and yes. Hold a one ounce gold bar or coin in your hand, and it'll be impossible to fool you. Counterfeit gold is very light in comparison.