Advise for investing in gold?

I would like to begin buying gold, primarily for investment purposes. Is the purchase of 24K gold coins from the US mint, such as the American Eagle, a good way to go? Are there any draw backs to buying gold in this way, aside from the obvious need to keep it secure? I would appreciate any advise. Thanks.Advise for investing in gold?
Your best bet is to buy from a reputable (in business a long time) local coin dealer. This way, you can see and feel the weight of the coins before you buy. Also, it's probably best to buy coins issued by a sovereign government and not the 1 oz. bullion (or 10 oz.) that are out there. In some cases, the bullion would need to be assayed or tested (with acid or shaving) to check that it is real (unless it's encapsulated by a the issuing company in a tamper-evident case) whereas if you purchase an American Eagle or Buffalo or Canadian Maple Leaf or other foreign government issue, there's no question of it's gold content. If you do buy gold, understand that it is a very long-term proposition since once you have it, it doesn't do much - it doesn't pay interest or dividends but I would think that it is nice to take out and look at from time to time. You will likely lose money in the short term until inflation increases it's value over a long period of time. The recommended allocation that I've heard is no more than 5% of your total portfolio's value should be in precious metals. Also, when you're at the dealer, you should not be charged any more than around 10% over the spot value of the metal. Below is a link you can check to see the daily spot value. Keep the coins, or bullion, encased in protective plastic Air-Tites since condition (in the distant future) may be important when selling. Below is a link with the spot values of the most common precious metals. Good Luck!Advise for investing in gold?
Unless you have a specific reason for going for gold you should probably reconsider. Gold is not a good investment most of the time. It costs money to store safely and brings in no income whatsoever. You have to rely entirely on capital appreciation. Look at the gold price in the early 1980s and then look at the price today. That's an appallingly low return!
No.





Gold Coins ARE NOT INVESTMENTS.


Gold Coins are FOR COIN COLLECTORS ONLY.





The United States of America HAS TO CHARGE YOU FOR MAKING THOSE COINS.





In other words, they sell you the coins for MORE MONEY than their weight in gold.





If you want to invest in Gold then open a brokerage account and buy the ETF IAU.





If you buy the coins then you will need to buy insurance and a vault or rent a safe box inside a bank and all those operational expenses will reduce your profits.
My advice would be ';don't';.





Gold is NOT an investment, it is a hedge.





Here's a chart of the historical price of gold:





http://www.kitco.com/scripts/hist_charts鈥?/a>





And a stock index chart for the same almost 200 year period:





http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EDJI%26amp;t鈥?/a>





Which one looks like the more consistent to you?





Gold has ';integral'; value, stocks have ';prospective'; value based on buyers optimism for the future. So long as there are people with any optimism for the future, stocks (and bonds) will always outperform gold.





Buying gold coins is a HOBBY, not an investment strategy!
My advice is ';don't!'; Precious metals, stones, art, collectibles etc have a highly-variable 'intrinsic'


value. They are 'sterile' producing no income. Buy it 'cuz you want to collect it, but as an investment vehicle it's a roller skate with no key.
There is no such thing as investing in gold, only speculating. An investment is held for a long time and produces a series of returns. Gold does not pay dividends. Gold does not pay interest. One ounce of gold does not grow into two ounces. There is no proceeds as a return for ownership. Instead there are carrying costs, insurance and the like.


Gold is a speculation. Holders think they are buying from somebody not as smart as they are, and then after a short time, they will sell at a higher price to somebody also not as smart as they are. Then there are the same or greater carrying costs and commissions. Speculation is a losers game.
You mentioned the storage drawback, and that's a big one. You would probably be better off buying gold mining stocks or one of the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invests directly in the metal, such as StreetTracks Gold Trust (GLD). You can buy this like a stock through any stockbroker. You can sell it during the trading day. You will basically have the same potential for profit or loss as you would in buying the actual metal, and you don't have to store it.