GoldPrice.

Gold is gold, but it’s not all priced the same. Even though two gold coins might be identical metallurgically, they might have wildly different costs for investors.

However, very few of us have unlimited budgets. If you are trying to keep the prices low, the coins described below are just the thing for you. Here is the lowdown on 1/10 oz gold coins that are available from random years, any mint, and in varied condition. 

Coin Highlights

• 1/10 Troy ounce of gold
• Minted in .9167 fine gold or higher.
• Available in single plastic flips, plastic sheets, or plastic tubes.
• Produced since 1980, although not with all sovereign mints.
• Coins may show signs of handling or use, such as small indents, small missing bits, or worn design elements.
• Every coin comes with the full faith and credit of a sovereign nation.
• Each coin is designed differently and reflects the national identity of its home country.
• The vast majority of them are circular discs, but you may occasionally receive coins with unorthodox shapes.

Before you decide to exercise one of these options, you should first choose a precious metals dealer. Like any business, precious metals is filled both with reputable dealers and dealers that are less trustworthy. 

If this purchase is your first or one of your first with respect to gold or silver, you may not know where to start. Well, we can recommend that you begin your search with the following outlets:

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

The first way to keep your costs low on any precious metals purchase is to shop around for the best deals. Look at the prices the site is charging on the exact same coins to get a sense of the markup (also known as the premium) the dealer is charging, and try to choose the least expensive.

HOWEVER, before you move forward, investigate the dealer’s reputation. Look at the Google reviews - especially the negative ones - and see if you can find a rating from the Better Business Bureau or some other independent consumer agency.

After you decide on a dealer, the rest of the procedure to buy a coin is roughly the same as it is to purchase a different type of product online. You select the option for a 1/10 oz coin offered in a Random Year, Varied Condition, and Any Mint. 

Then, you pay with one of the dealer’s payment methods, and the dealer selects a coin at random from its stock of 1/10 oz gold coins. The dealer then ships the coin or coins to you via its shipping procedure, and you get the coin in your hand.

Exactly which coin you will get is not immediately clear. It could be a 1/10 oz coin from any mint that produces 1/10 oz coins. So, you might get an American Gold Eagle. You could get a Canadian Gold Maple Leaf. Or, you might get a Chinese Gold Panda, an Austrian Philharmonic, or an Australian Gold Lunar.

The design of the coin will necessarily depend on its pedigree. Almost every bullion coin produced by a sovereign mint is designed to indicate its origin via a unique and signature symbol, such as a native animal, a significant building, or a famous political leader.

So, your new coin(s) might be adorned with eagles, pandas, kangaroos, or springbok antelopes. You may even get one with a maple leaf on it - not knowing is an added benefit to this kind of purchase.

Needless to say, the year that the coin was produced is also a function of its parentage. South Africa produced the first 1/10 oz coin in 1980, but others have joined the party since then. There are even some mints that have skipped years from time to time.

There are also varying levels of purity among the 1/10 oz coins. Some of them are minted in 22-karat gold, or with .9167 fine gold. Others may have purities as high as .9999. It is entirely a function of both the country that made the coin and, in some cases, the coin series in question.

Finally, you might be a little nervous about the phrase “varied condition.” It’s understandable, but rest assured that “varied condition” does not mean significantly damaged. At worst, the coin may look as though it’s been handled a few times.

Why buy random and varied?

If you enjoy games of chance or consider a weekend in Las Vegas to be fun, then agreeing to purchase a coin with so many uncertainties may bear a familiar thrill. However, since even the cheapest 1/10 oz coins still cost hundreds of dollars, buying one is not an impulse buy for most people.

The reason to buy without specificity is simple. You cannot find a cheaper 1/10 oz coin unless you find a short-term deal. 

Now, the low prices are not magic. Instead, they point to the way that the precious metals business works and how all coins are priced by dealers.

The underlying value of any gold piece is the spot price of gold. The spot price is the market price assigned to a troy ounce of gold at any moment. It is always changing, but unless you’ve been on a deserted island, you know that it has been escalating dramatically in recent years.

Of course, you almost never find the option to buy gold at the spot price. The dealers must attach their compensation to the deal to make it worth their while. This additional cost is known as the premium, and every dealer approaches the amount of premium it assigns differently.

The spot price is what it is. There is nothing anyone can do to bring it down aside from high-volume commodity traders, and you probably aren’t one of those. For most of us, the spot price is a constant, and nothing more.

The premium is where you can realize savings. Gold bullion coins are not created equal in any regard.

Different countries’ mints have different levels of prestige and cachet among investors. American investors tend to lean toward American coins, while other coins might not have as much demand. Thus, the premiums on American coins (and Mexican ones, due to their relative rarity) are often greater than their counterparts.

If you don’t specify a country for your coin, though, then the dealer can move out a coin that has avoided investor attention. Thus, the dealer isn’t as concerned about maximizing profit.

Similarly, the year of a coin’s mintage can make a big difference about the demand for it. If you can be satisfied with one of the “off” years - one of the years without as much clamor - then the dealer likely has them in stock. As a result, you can get a lower premium.

Finally, a coin’s condition is quite relevant to its value. Coins in mint or uncirculated condition are highly valued pieces, and investors aren’t quite as interested if a coin has a bit of rub or some nicks on it.

Surprisingly, the coin’s purity level is less of a factor to its premium. A .9167 coin like a Gold Eagle is often going to be more expensive than, say, a .9999 coin like an Australian Kangaroo or Austrian Philharmonic.

Now, buying gold coins is generally not the cheapest way to acquire gold. Options like gold bars or rounds are valued only for their metal content, and bear lower premiums.

On the flip side, coins are much more authentic and trustworthy investment vehicles, as they are the certified products of actual countries, rather than mere blocks of metal. So, in the end, the peace of mind and ease you’ll have reselling coins may make them worth paying a bit more.

However, even if you’re committed to pay for a coin, you don’t have to take the only items on sale. The coins described on this page are the closest thing to a middle ground between high-level coins and bars/rounds.