Gold Coins & Ingots
BEST BUYS: Canada Gold Maple Leaf, PAMP Suisse 1 oz .9999 Gold Ingot

American Gold Eagle (.9167 Fine, net 1 oz gold) - American Gold Eagles have been minted every year since 1986. Recent production has lagged demand, resulting in historically high premiums. American Gold Eagle 1 oz coins are currently available for about 7% to 8% over the gold spot price, although the market has occasionally spiked to as much as 10% over the spot price during the past year.

American Gold Buffalo (.9999 Fine 1 oz gold) - American Gold Buffaloes have been minted every year beginning in 2006, however none have yet been minted for 2009. With strong demand and no current production, Gold Buffaloes have developed a high collector premium, with the current wholesale market hovering around $100 per ounce over spot gold.

Canada Gold Maple Leaf (.9999 Fine 1 oz gold) - Canadian Gold Maple Leafs have been minted every year since 1979. In 1983, the purity was changed from .999 to .9999 fine. Canadian Gold Maple Leafs are currently available for about 5% to 6% over the gold spot price.

Pamp Suisse Ingot (.9999 Fine 1 oz Gold) - Pamp Suisse Ingots are currently produced in a variety of sizes from the tiny 1 gram ingots up to the 400 troy ounce "good delivery" bars. The sizes that we are concerned with are the 1 oz and 10 oz ingots. The 1 oz size is offered in an "assay card" for protection, storage, and easy trading, while the 10 oz size is accompanied by a separate assay certificate from PAMP. The 1 oz PAMP bars are currently available for about 4% to 5% over the gold spot price, with PAMP Suisse 10 oz bars about 1% less.

Austria Gold Philharmonic (.9999 Fine 1 oz gold) - Austrian Gold Philharmonics were first minted in 1989. While "Phils" are still minted today, most of the coins traded are of older dates from the mid-1990s. Austrian Gold Philharmonics are currently available for about 4.5% to 5.5% over the gold spot price.

South Africa Krugerrand (.9167 Fine, net 1 oz gold) - South African Krugerrands are the original bullion gold coins, and were first minted in 1967. While "Krands" are now again minted in bullion market quantities, most of the coins traded are of older dates from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s. South African Krugerrands are currently available for about 5% to 6% over the gold spot price.

Austria 100 Corona, Hungary 100 Korona, Mexico 50 Pesos - There are also a number of older world gold coins including Austrian 100 Corona, Austria 4 Ducats, Hungarian 100 Korona, Mexican 50 Pesos and their fractions that at one time were heavily traded as bullion gold issues. Today, these coins have taken a back seat to the even weight bullion coins, as it's simply easier to count 1 ounce Canadian Gold Maple Leafs than 1.2056 ounce Mexican 50 Pesos or .9802 Austrian 100 Coronas. If the odd sizes don't bother you, these coins are usually available for only 2% to 3% over their gold bullion value.

Pre-1934 U.S. & European Gold Coins - Older U.S. and European gold coins are regularly offered as a safer buy than typical bullion issues, based upon the theory that in the event of a government confiscation of private gold holdings, the pre-1934 issues may be exempt. My problem with this theory is that while I don't have an opinion on any pending confiscation, if the government did decide to confiscate private gold holdings, I don't believe that they would stop at 1934. Additionally, the premiums for these coins are significantly higher than for typical bullion issues, as pre-1934 European gold coins trade at a premium of about 10% to their bullion content, while the most common circulated U.S. pre-1934 gold coins trade at prices that start at over 30% more than their gold value. Based upon my experience of over 30 years trading precious metals, when metals prices rise, these high premiums fall. Until premiums for common circulated U.S. Pre-1934 Gold Coins fall to 15% or European Pre-1934 Gold Coins fall to 5%, gold investors should avoid these two areas.

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