Buying gold bullion

[Moonshine]

OK, as part of diversification (and a small hedge against the end of the world) I've decided to buy a small amount of gold bullion, but I've discovered it's a major PITA to buy gold. I have a few requirements;

I want to be able to buy without listening to a sales pitch.
I want to pay either online or by phone with a credit card.
I want to have the gold shipped to an address other than my credit card billing address (billing adress is a POB and I want it shipped to me at work).
I do not want a minimum purchase of more than 1 oz.
Basically, I'd like to find a company where I can either go online or call them, say maybe twice a year, and order one American Gold Eagle, and then I want it shipped to me at work. So far, I've been unable to locate any company that will do such. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations?

[Ohmsby]

Ebay lots of gold trades hands on Ebay.

[Moonshine]

Ebay lots of gold trades hands on Ebay.


Prices are a bit high, and they all require payment by PayPal, which means paying a premium if I use my CC. :nono: And I really want the purchase protection I get by paying with a CC.

[dboat]

Brian, did you look at the US Mint website? it appears they will do what you want.

Dana

[Moonshine]

Brian, did you look at the US Mint website? it appears they will do what you want.

Dana

Except they don't sell bullion directly, only proofs and uncirculated coins. I'm looking for the bullion coins, and they refer you to dealers for those.

But keep those ideas coming. These are at least good leads for me to check out. :tu:

[Moonshine]

Well, I talked to a local dealer who was willing to give some advice, and I learned that what I want simply isn't possible. Because gold isn't a normal consumer product with a huge profit margin built in, no dealer can accept the 3-4% surcharge the CC company would charge without selling the bullion at a loss. So, they only accept CC's if you'll pay the CC company fee. And I'm not willing to do that. So, my plan is to simply make the time to go get cash and make a face to face purchase from a local dealer.

[TXLIGHTNING]

So, my plan is to simply make the time to go get cash and make a face to face purchase from a local dealer. That would be your best bet :tu:

[SILVER2000SVT]

I've been looking into investing in metals myself lately too, but haven't actually gone through with it.

Proportionally gold is outrageously high right now compared to a lot of the other metals. IMO investing in Silver right now would be a much smarter investment for the longterm, at least until things stabilize in the Gold market.

I've been considering investment into Copper. It takes up more space than gold but the prices are extremely low right now. Copper prices are less than half what they were before the recession where gold is close to 50% higher. The down side is that you have to buy a lot more of it (by weight and size) and store it somewhere. The plus side is that it would weigh down your safe and pretty much guarantee no-one takes off with it.

[Moonshine]

Unless you have a HUGE safe you're not going to store enough copper in it to be worth much. My other "precious" metal is brass, and I have a pretty good collection. Some once fired, lots more unfired. :evil

[dboat]

Unless you have a HUGE safe you're not going to store enough copper in it to be worth much. My other "precious" metal is brass, and I have a pretty good collection. Some once fired, lots more unfired. :evil

I dont have any fired but a few thousand unfired.. :tu:

Copper seems to be more driven by the pace of growth, meaning mostly construction. Not so much to the overall economy from an inflationary standpoint, however, it is impacted by inflation. Gold is the, uh, gold standard... and its very easy to move around.. although silver would be second on the list with platinum third. But I would like to hear other opinions.
A little gold goes a long way these days..

Dana

[Silver_2000]

I hear ads for goldline.com all the time

I would be concerned about buying at the peak

[dboat]

I dont like buying at the peak either. However, there is very little downward pressure on gold at this point and a lot of pressure building on the upside depending on what the USA does with its own debt. This doesnt even take into consideration what Japan and the EU does.. its all part of an overall investment strategy..
Dana


I hear ads for goldline.com all the time

I would be concerned about buying at the peak

[Moonshine]

Goldline.com has a ton of complaints, and there's a threatened class action against them.

[kirkmears]

as a hedge against the apocalypse:tex, i typically buy stock of companies that mine precious metals...such as NYSE:EGO

(disclaimer:not recommending EGO, just providing it as an example)

EGO pays an annual dividend of $0.05 which, at its current stock price, produces a yield of 0.28%. This is below both the Gold & Silver industry and S&P 500 average's at 1.37% and 2.56% respectively. However, few other companies in the Gold & Silver industry even pay a dividend.

Here's another option worth researching though:
http://www.monex.com/about/index.html