GoldPrice.

Buying gold is not a cheap endeavor, no matter how much you get. Even a 1-gram bar - the tiniest denomination commonly available for purchase - costs more than a nice family dinner to buy.

So, it makes sense that you want to keep the costs as low as you can, as shaving a percentage or two off the price can mean real savings to you. With that in mind, let’s talk about how to buy a ¼ oz gold coin in the cheapest way possible.

Coin Highlights

• ¼ troy ounce of gold
• .900 purity level or higher
• Plastic flip, sheet, or tube
• 1980 to present
• May have nicks, dings, or other signs of minor wear and tear
• All coins are products of sovereign government mints
• Designs are dependent on the identity of the coin’s sovereign mint
• Most coins are circular, but some may come with different shapes

No matter what coin you ultimately receive, you must receive it from a reputable precious metals dealer. There are several honest brokers out there, but there are also some shady characters.

If you are new to precious metals, you may not feel comfortable figuring out who is who. So, here are four trustworthy outlets that, if nothing else, are an excellent starting point for your search.

• JM Bullion
• Provident Metals
• Silver.com
• BGASC.com

Regardless of your chosen precious metals dealer, the buying procedure is going to be roughly the same. In fact, there are not going to be too many steps astray from a typical Amazon purchase. 

You choose the option for a Random Year, Varied Condition, Any Mint ¼ oz coin, and put it into your shopping cart. Then, you pay the cost, and the shipping procedure begins. The dealer will select a ¼ oz gold coin from its existing inventory and send it to you via its secure courier system.

Now, the coin you receive could be from anywhere. Any sovereign mint of note that has issued ¼ oz gold coins is potentially the creator of your coin. You might get an American Gold Eagle, a Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, a Chinese Gold Panda, or any of the other prominent bullion coins produced around the world.

The design of the coin you get is entirely dependent on which mint pressed the coin. Your coin may have eagles, kangaroos, springbok antelopes, giant pandas or…philharmonic instruments on it. Part of the fun of these coins is their surprise.

The mintage year for your coin will be indicative of its origin, too. After all, there was no simultaneous and coordinated effort by the different mints to release their coins during the same years. So, you might get a coin from any year between 1980 and present day.

Now, it is understandable if the phrase “varied condition” gives you pause. Rest assured that the variance from a mint-quality coin will mostly, or entirely, be cosmetic. The coin may have minor nicks or microscopic dents in it, but none of them will be substantive enough to affect the amount of metal or the overall value of the coin.

There is one last element of the coin that is dependent on the gold piece’s point of origin. The purity level of the coin reflects the mint that produces it. It might be minted in .900 fine gold (1981 Mexican Libertads), or it might be as much as .9999 pure (Gold Maple Leafs, for one). 

It might even matter which coin series you receive. For instance, a Gold Eagle is pressed in 22-karat gold (.9167 pure), but the Gold Buffalo is a 24-karat (.9999 pure) coin. So, even if you receive a coin from a particular mint, you may have to check which type of coin you receive.

Why buy random and varied?

The notion of buying a coin from an unknown mint, a random year, and in varied conditions, may seem a bit imprudent. After all, you’re leaving quite a bit to chance on what is, for most people, a substantial purchase. However, there is one simple reason why you should choose this option: the price is lower than any other coin of the same size.

Let us explain. First, understand how the precious metals business works. Gold pieces of any size, shape, or provenance derive their foundational value from the spot price of gold. 

The spot price is the universal market price for a troy ounce of gold. However, it is not a standard price or set in stone. Instead, the spot price is in constant flux as a reflection of the gold futures contracts that are expiring in the moment.

However, the spot price is not the end of the story. On top of the spot price, every precious metals dealer attaches an additional fee known as the premium. The fee is the cost the dealer charges for making the deal happen and, frankly, for its profit.

Now, there is nothing that any investor can do to reduce the spot price. There are certain strategies and techniques that you can do to find the coins with the lowest premiums, though.

The long and short of it is that the coins described on this page allow you to combine all of those approaches.

Different mints have varying levels of prestige. Thus, you may end up paying more for, say, an American Gold Eagle than you would for an Austrian Philharmonic. 

The year of the coin’s mintage can also affect its premium. Low mintages from certain years or years with design oddities are often more desirable for investors and collectors.

Finally, one of the hallmarks of coin collecting is the preservation of the coin’s condition. Mint condition coins, proofs, and/or uncirculated coins are identified, in part, due to their pristine appearance.

As a result, if you refuse to specify those three elements when you buy your ¼ oz gold coin, you can avoid their incipient premiums by allowing the dealer to clear out their overstock. It sounds worse than it is, as you can still count on receiving a ¼ ounce of gold at the lowest price you can find for gold coins.

We do have to mention, though, that gold coins, as a class, are more expensive than gold bars or gold rounds of the same size. Even though you’re getting a random coin, it is still the product of a sovereign mint and bears the full faith and credit of their respective governments. Thus, there is no concern about their authenticity, even if they have a few scuffs here and there.

Because of their certainty, they are also easier to resell or, if you like, more liquid. So, the extra cost may be worth it for the peace of mind of dealing with a sovereign bullion coin.

In effect, random coins offer a bit of a middle ground between the more expensive gold coins and the gold bars. So, if you’re trying to keep costs low, try one of these.