Buying gold, what should I know?

[Medusa]

So I am about to dip my toe into the pond, so to speak. I want to buy a little gold to keep as an investment/safety net and could rely on the internet, but prefer to ask people here who are likely to give me better advice. So far, I know to buy from a reputable source, there are a couple of places on here which people have mentioned. I need somewhere to keep it so need to buy a safe as I would rather have it in my possession and am reluctant to use the storage options which some gold sellers offer. It is suggested that I buy several smaller quantities than a larger one so that if needed I could sell a smaller amount as required. Any advice or suggestions please?

[GeraldTheBonzai]

Gold is having a bit of a run at the moment, due to the economy. Depending on your outlook, it's either a good or a bad time to buy...

You don't pay CGT on Britannias or Sovereigns. They are also readily recognised by Joe Public (should you ever have to barter etc).

My suggestion would be to look at Sovereigns, maybe 1/4 or 1/10 ounce. Going for full ounce coins are tempting, but i've always thought that, due to current prices, you have too much value in a single "thing". Hence the smaller coins.

As for storage, mine just sit in a tin in a drawer. Easy to overlook should anyone get in the house. Always thought that a safe just signals valuable thing. Hidden in plain sight I feel is better.

[pseudonym]

Atkinsons.

They have a great buy back policy and have a great selection.

I would only buy coins of your Country so UK Britannias or Sovereigns.

Fractional for dipping your toes in but beware the premiums you have to pay for the smaller size.

For what it's worth I only have fractional gold in Full Sovereigns, Half Sovereigns, Half, Quarter and 1/10th Ounce Brittanias

Prices atm are through the roof which can work both ways, can you afford to lose a couple of thousand on your investment if the prices drop down?

I store mine in Pelican boxes in a rucksack.

Good luck on your stacking journey.

[grenfell]

This probably goes against the prepper grain but for investment purposes you could consider the paper gold market. My daughter has put some money into it and has made a decent profit so far. I do hold some gold and silver in sovereigns and kruggerrands and had my reservations about her not holding any physical metal but for simply investment purposes it makes a good degree of sense. The key here is investment rather than prepping for collapse , buy paper gold and then sell it at a later date for a profit.

[ForgeCorvus]

Yes, Paper Gold isn't Gold (ditto Paper Silver)..... Its an investment like any other, and we should treat it as such.

Thats not to say its a bad idea, its just not Physical metal and shouldn't be thought of as a replacement for it.

[grenfell]

Gut feeling is that I would prefer the physical metal but I do find the dismissal of paper gold a bit amusing. If we invest in an engineering company we wouldn't expect to physically hold a lathe or press at home , cyrpto currencies have no physical entity but we still invest and in the end whether it's paper or physical it's value is only worth more if we sell it. It's not really an investment if we just hang on to it and never sell.
Going a little off topic but seeing as I mentioned cyrpto I watched a documentary recently ..the originator of bitcoin is said to be Satoshi Nakamoto and while it seems the name is an alias and no one really knows who it is. Now , this Nakamoto person built up a bitcoin wallet in the early days when mining could be done on a home computer and has neither spent or burnt ( destroyed) the coins and is potentially sitting on something like a trillion dollars worth of bitcoin...

[itsybitsy]

So I am about to dip my toe into the pond, so to speak. I want to buy a little gold to keep as an investment/safety net and could rely on the internet, but prefer to ask people here who are likely to give me better advice. So far, I know to buy from a reputable source, there are a couple of places on here which people have mentioned. I need somewhere to keep it so need to buy a safe as I would rather have it in my possession and am reluctant to use the storage options which some gold sellers offer. It is suggested that I buy several smaller quantities than a larger one so that if needed I could sell a smaller amount as required. Any advice or suggestions please?

Ooooh exciting! I'm only into silver personally (and only physical -if you can't hold it, you don't own it) but if I was going down the gold route, I would probably start with gold sovereigns or the 1/10 oz Britannias.

I use Atkinsons and Chards for my silver and have had no problems with them - they also sell gold. I also use Silver Trader UK for silver - again, I have had no issues but he is silver only.

[itsybitsy]

PMs currently in a bit of a downward spiral today - could be the correction that's due - but it's really a buying opportunity before it bounces again.

[pseudonym]

PMs currently in a bit of a downward spiral today - could be the correction that's due - but it's really a buying opportunity before it bounces again.

Luckily I have a spare £3243.80 laying around for my next ounce .......

[Frnc]

I think my gold has gone up about 50%, which is great, but how much do you lose if you trade them in? As a rough percentage?