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Strategies & Market Trends : Strictly: Drilling II -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank Pembleton who wrote (11090)	4/24/2002 11:36:37 PM
From: BSGrinder	Respond to of 36161

Yes, I think there is no substitute for having some of the metal itself around, and coins are a convenient and fun way to do it. But I don't understand why people pay a 30 or 40% premium over bullion for a bullion coin with no possible rarity value. There are many ways to get bullion coins for only a 9 or 10% premium over bullion, which I think is much closer to being "negligible" in a PM bull market. Common date BU gold sovereigns are about 9% over bullion, and I bought some beautiful mint 1964 and 1965 Canadian silver dollars for a little over $5 - still in their wrappers from the mint. You can buy bags of 90% or 40% silver US coins for an 11 or 12% premium over spot silver. And 100 oz silver bars are a fun way to hold a bunch of .999 silver in your hand at 13% premium (although I have heard they are in scarce supply just now). Austrian 100 Coronas, French and Swiss 20 Franc pieces, Mexican 50 pesos, and German 20 Mark pieces are ways to own historic and beautiful gold coins at premiums under 10%. The extra investment kicker is that the premiums for the historic semi-bullion coins expand during a gold or silver bull market, while the government mints can crank out new bullion coins whenever they want, so their premiums are not likely to increase. In fact, once the demand for gold and silver really takes off, the mints may not be able to keep fleecing the public as it becomes more knowledgeable about buying bullion, and the gold and silver sellers multiply. Just my 2 cents worth on coins. I'm not a serious collector - I just like having pretty and historic pieces of gold to play with. It always seems immensely satisfying to feel with your hands the solid reality of real money, and to know the real reason your gold stock portfolio is taking off this year. /Kit