Finding The Money In Gold Coin Collecting
Starting and maintaining a gold coin collection takes a lot of money and it is only reasonable to expect such a collection to increase in value as years go by. If you are seriously thinking of venturing into gold coin collecting it is important to know everything you can about it. This way you can make sure you will find money and not lose it in gold coins.
There are Gold Coins and there are Gold Coins
A gold coin is exactly that – a coin that is made wholly or at least mostly out of gold. There are slight variations in the standard for being able to say that a coin is made mostly of gold. Starting from those for circulation in the year 1526, English gold coins have been 22 karats or 91.7 per cent gold while American gold coins for circulation in 1837 and following were minted at 90 per cent gold or 21.6 karats.
If you are thinking of investing in gold coins, there are two types of coins you may want to purchase. The first type is the bullion whose value rests simply on the weight of its metal content and not on rarity, quality or historical worth. Basically, gold bullion coins are used not as legal tender, but as a hedge against inflation. Gold bullion coins can weigh from a tenth of a Troy ounce to a quarter of an ounce to half an ounce or a full Troy ounce.
The second type of gold coin you can invest in is the coin which has been minted for legal tender. While the gold bullion coin derives its value from its gold content, this second type of coin can be worth much more than its weight in gold. There are other factors such as rarity and coin condition that influence the price of gold coins minted as legal tender.
The safer type to invest in would be the gold bullion coin because its price simply follows the price of gold which has steadily risen through the years. There is more risk, but at the same time more room for speculation when investing in gold coins that are used as currency.
How to Begin Gold Coin Collecting
The first step in collecting gold coins would be deciding what kind of coins you want to collect and what your budget is. There is a wide range of gold coins from you to choose from. Austria, Australia, the United States, member nations of the European Union and many other countries have minted their own gold coins in the past and some continue to do so now.
Assuming that you want to collect gold coins that have been used as legal tender, you might want to test the waters by looking into the availability of Liberty Head or Coronet Head Gold Eagle coins. These were minted from1838 to 1907. They come in three styles and are characterized by the face of Liberty looking to the left with a coronet that bears the word liberty.
These coins are one of the most affordable US gold coins and this has made them a big favorite among collectors. Or, you might want to invest in British Gold Sovereigns, in Australian Kangaroos, South African Krugerrands or Chinese Gold Pandas. Whichever type of coin you want to start investing in, just remember to do your homework first. Track their prices in the last twenty years and figure out if their increment will allow you a good enough profit for the amount you will be spending when you buy.
The world wide figure for coin collecting is about ten billion dollars a year so. It is a big market so there is room for making money from gold coin collecting. Be aware though that this is not a get-rich-quick business and it may take years for a substantial appreciation in value to take place. Still, in a world where stocks of giant corporations have crashed and investment houses have come face to face with the possibility of collapse, gold coins can offer a form of security that is hard to come by.
