GoldPrice.

Sometimes, you just want some gold. Gold recently hit an all-time high price, but with inflation continuing to dilute the value of the US dollar, there’s never been a better time or better way to protect your wealth and net worth.

In that case, it doesn’t really matter where a gold coin comes from or looks like, much less what year it was made. If it still offers the same relative value that others do, a ½ oz gold coin is a good deal.

Coin Highlights

• ½ troy ounce of gold
• All coins are at least 90% pure.
• Every coin is sealed in a protective plastic capsule or container.
• Mintage date will range from 1967 to the present
• Some coins may have small nicks, dents, or other cosmetic signs of wear and usage.
• All coins are authentic bullion pieces from sovereign mints.
• Each coin’s design will reflect both its country of origin and the year of its mintage.
• Most coins are circular disks, but some have atypical shapes.

As you can see, there are quite a few unknowns associated with buying these coins. With so many variables, you need to make sure to stick with a precious metals dealer that you can trust. We highly recommend you consider the following dealers, but make sure that the dealer you ultimately choose has years of reputable experience under its belt:

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

Now, although precious metals dealers vary in terms of their offerings, premiums, and overall sales approach, the reality is that the procedure to buy a gold coin is roughly the same everywhere you go. You’ll choose the option for a ½ oz random and send it to your shopping cart, then check out. The dealer will pick a random ½ oz gold coin from its inventory and mail it to you with its secure shipping process.

The coin you receive could be the product of any number of sovereign mints. Most countries produce fractional versions of their bullion coins, so you could easily receive an American Gold Eagle, a Gold Buffalo, a Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, a Mexican Libertad, an Austrian Philharmonic, a Chinese Gold Panda, or an Australian Lunar or Kangaroo.

Your coin’s country will dictate the designs you see on its obverse (front) and reverse (back). Most of them pay homage to people, places, and symbols that are immediately associated with the country and its history.

The year that the coin was produced is also dependent on its country of origin. Most sovereign mints have continuously produced their coins since their introduction, but not all of them have. In addition, the introduction dates are not all the same, so the mintage year for your coin is going to be a function of its pedigree.

Now, when we say “varied condition,” don’t misunderstand us as saying that the coin will be damaged. It won’t have chunks missing or show evidence that it’s been placed on a railroad track. 

Instead, it may come in near mint condition, or it may have been handled noticeably in the past by a previous owner. A few nicks, scuffs, or dings may be present, but they won’t be significant enough to translate to a lower weight of gold.

The last thing to understand is the variable purity levels that you may encounter when you buy these coins may be quite different. Some sovereign mints produce their coins at an incredible .9999 purity level. Others offer their coins with lower purities, such as the Chinese Gold Pandas (.999), the South African Krugerrand (.9167), the American Gold Eagle (.9167), and the pre-1991 Mexican Libertad (.900). 

Purity does matter, but it’s not the only determinant of value for a gold coin. No dealer worth its salt will ever send you a gold coin that has flaws significant enough to make the coin not worth the money you pay.

Why buy random and varied?

With so many unknowns associated with this coin option, you would be quite reasonable to wonder why you’d choose such an X factor when you can buy known commodities elsewhere. In short - the price.

This option combines all of the strategies we suggest investors use to cut costs. If you can stand to buy with a bit of faith, you’ll be rewarded with some of the lowest prices on ½ oz gold coins you can find.

The reason for this reduction stems from the business model of the modern coin dealer. All gold products, from bars to rounds to coins, begin their value proposition with the current spot price for gold. This amount is the starting point for dealers to arrive at a sales price.

On top of the spot price, the dealer charges a certain amount of money as its fee for the legwork. This overage is known as the premium. 

However, as you decrease your amount of specificity for buying a gold coin, the premium goes down. The reason for the decrease is that you, in essence, are helping to make the dealer’s job a bit easier. Instead of having to search for a particular item or, God forbid, make a special order, the dealer can draw from his or her existing inventory.

In fact, by not specifying anything, you are allowing the dealer to clear out some of their overstocked items that they’d like to move. In those cases, they’re willing to sell quite close to spot. Some dealers may even offer gold coins at the current spot price from time to time.

Bear in mind, though, that no gold coin, on average, will be as cheap as a gold bar or round of the same size. A gold coin’s value is derived both from its metal content and its condition, whereas bars and rounds only rely on the metal itself. The additional authenticity and production detail required to produce a coin means that it is simply not feasible to offer them as cheaply as the raw bullion pieces.

On the flip side, gold coins are almost always easier to sell, or more liquid. Even the random coins you receive through this option are certified products from legitimate governments, and they are always known properties to investors.

So, if you want to buy a gold coin as cheaply as possible, the option described on this page is the way to do it.