Types of Gold Bullion
Gold bullion comes in many different shapes and sizes. It can also be found to have a variety of different costs associated with it as well. Most investment grade gold is of the purest rawest forms of gold that is easily obtainable by most people. With the recent advance in gold it is getting harder and harder for the average person to afford Gold yet buying gold in smaller sizes offers an opportunity to those who otherwise wouldn't be able to get in on the action. There are many different mints mostly government run that issue gold bullion for sale. Foreign mints tend to carry a bit higher premium due to the fact that there are increased shipping costs. When buying gold, or any other precious metal for that matter, the premium on the cost per ounce troy is usually less with the higher quantity purchased. This is pretty much the case with anything tangible think of two half gallons of milk versus one whole gallon. So, if you are planning on purchasing sometimes going in with a friend or relative can help save you in saving some of the costs. Just make sure it's someone you trust.
Here are a few examples of gold for sale included are the mints and weights of the piece:
American Gold Eagle
This coin is easily recognizable as one of the most popular Gold coins in the world. Minted in the U.S. and mandated by law that the gold used must also have been mined in the U.S. it carries 91.67% gold 3% silver & 5.33% copper. It is alloyed to produce a stronger more wear resistant form of gold coinage. The most commonly seen design is that having been used since 1986 is the Lady Liberty. It is available in the 1/10, 1/4 1/2 and 1oz troy sizes. Although these coins have a face value that is considerably low in relation to their gold purity they are traded and sold using the global spot price of gold versus it's weight in gold.
American Buffalo
Other wise known as the Gold Buffalo, this coin, unlike the American Gold Eagle is .9999 fine gold or 99.99% (ie. 24K) purity. Released in 2006, this is more ideal to investors due to the higher gold contant yet is more easily marred due to not being alloyed with stronger more durable metals but was created to compete with foreign governement coins that were .9999 fine. This coin will trade at a direct correlation to the spot price of gold plus a small premium due to mintage limits by the United States Mint restricting the mintage to a maximum of 300,000 coins per year. There are a few companies that reproduce the likeness of these coins yet are only leaf gold copies of the true united states mint coins. This coins production was halted in 2008 temporarily due to high demand of investors seeking the safety of gold and other precious metals.
Canadian Gold Maple Leaf
The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is known to be the highest content gold coins in issue from government mints of the world. It is a 24K .9999 fine with some special issuances of .99999 meaning it has virtually no base metals at all. Created in 1979 it was only one of two coins available to investors, the other being the South African Krugerand. It comes in the 1/20, 1/10, 1/4, 1/2, and 1 oz troy sizes. There is one year the produced a 1/15th oz coin in 1994 but it was not very successful and was abandoned.
South African Krugerand
This cointed was first minted in 1967 by the South African Mint Company. This coin has a bit of history attatched to it as it was hard to get during South Africa's apartheid policies making it an illegal import in most western countries. Aside from this, by 1980 the Krugerand had become roughly 90% of the gold market although South Africa did not abandon the apartheid until 1994. It's great success led other nations to mint their own gold coinage. The Krugerand's actual weight is 1.0909 troy ounces with a 91.67% gold content making it an even 1oz of pure gold. The remaining 8.33% of its weight is actually copper making this coin 22k also known as "Crown Gold" as this is the historical coin ratio used for many years for English gold soveriegns. It's available in 1/10, 1/4, 1/2, and 1oz troy weights.
Australian Gold Nugget/Kangaroos
Made by the Perth Mint since 1986 to present are a little different than the before mentioned coins for two reasons. Firstly, the design on these coins changes yearly adding a bit more of a numismatic factor to the coins and have a fairly low mintage in comparison to gold coins of other nations. Second these coins come in a much larger variet of sizes, 1/20oz, 1/10oz, 1/4oz, 1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz, 10oz, and 1kg. The larger sizes were minted with the intention of allowing investors lower premiums for buying a higher volumes of gold over the lesser volume coins.
