Gold Investment Directory

Posts Tagged ‘Ancient’

Gold’s value dates back to ancient times. Gold has a history of fascination, obsession and even tall tales. Gold has shaped human history through its assigned value dating as far back as the Egyptians. Even today gold is still considered a standard for monetary exchange in many countries.

Gold still has a sense of mystery. But to find gold, it isn’t necessary to scavenge the bottom of the ocean or ‘head west’. Although there is gold found in ‘them there hills’, the easier way to invest in gold is by buying it. There are different formats you can choose from to invest in gold. You may choose one or all of them – and remember all gold investment, like any investment is a risk.

So what are your choices?

1. Gold bars or coins: Do you like holding your own gold? Buying gold bars is cost effective and a specialist or gold dealer will give you a good purchase price for a bar. In some countries you can easily buy gold bars over the counter and they come in 12.5 kg or 1kg size.

Coins are also a popular way to invest in gold as they are easy to buy and sell. Gold bullion coins are priced according to their weight. The most popular bullion gold coins are the South African Krugerrand, the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, the American Gold Eagle and American Gold Buffalo. Each of these coins are exactly one troy ounce each. BullionDirect.com’s Nucleo Exchange makes it easy to buy and sell gold and night. The exchange handles the entire transaction process including the trading, authentication, storage, insurance, order fulfillment and distribution of products.

2. Gold Certificates: A certificate of ownership can be held by gold investors. Having a certificate allows you to buy and sell gold securities without having to store the actual gold.

3. Accounts: Gold accounts or statements are obligations of the issuing institute to deliver upon demand a stated quantity of gold. Gold accounts are typically backed through unallocated allocated gold storage. Different accounts have varying levels of intermediation between the client and their gold.

4. Gold Stocks: Gold exchange-traded funds or GETF’s are traded like shares. A small commission is charged for trading gold stock. The upside is gold stock represents a way to avoid the sales tax that would apply to physical gold coins or bars.

5. Gold Mining Shares: Here you aren’t investing in the gold directly but in the mining companies searching for the gold. The appreciation potential of a gold share is depending upon the future price of gold. Do your homework though; many mining firms sell their future production years in advance. With gold mutual funds your risk is more diversified. Some funds offer a broad mix of international mining stock.