What are your thoughts on investing in gold coins?

[Anonymous]

I've been reading up and have learned that it's best to buy coins, not bars, because of liquidity issues. CD rates are abysmal and I would like to invest in something that hopefully won't lose value. Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been reading up and have learned that it's best to buy coins, not bars, because of liquidity issues. CD rates are abysmal and I would like to invest in something that hopefully won't lose value. Any thoughts?

Well, my dh's uncle is in er in NYC. We plunged a huge amount into gold 3 years ago. Smartest thing we ever did. Not sure if it's bars or coins. I'd ask but Dh is sleeping, post BJ. What, do you think I married him for his gold?

[Anonymous]

Coins are for suckers. Just google "gold coin scam".

If you want to invest in gold, you invest in a product on a financial exchange like an ETF. But I don't recommend it. Gold is not a stable investment. It is a highly speculative one. Gold prices go up and down in unpredictable ways. A CD is the opposite of that. A CD is a virtually guaranteed rate of return. So they are not remotely comparable. Gold is on an upswing, but sometimes it falls by half. Can you afford that? If not, find an investment that offers a more predictable return.

[Anonymous]

I've also heard that gold is not a good investment. Don't remember the exact reason. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

I was going to make a joke about people who watch Glenn Beck, still have a stash of Y2K food rations, and keep a private seed bank stored in their fallout shelter, but on a serious note, I read this past week about how there are signs that the gold "bubble" may burst soon and gold prices could crash. Unfortunately I can't remember where I read it, or I would post a link. I'm sure it goes without saying, but do your homework before you sink your retirement savings into something like this.

[Anonymous]

I shudder at the thought. My parents bought a ton of gold and silver coins when gold and silver were high in the 70s, thinking they were making a good investment. Gold and silver prices then plummeted. They held onto those coins, hoping they would recover the losses. Boxes of coins in the basement, lugged with them every time they moved. I inherited them a few years ago, and since we don't have space for them we dragged those heavy, moldy boxes to a coin dealer when I was 8 months pregnant to finally get rid of them - for less than my parents paid 30+ years earlier.

[Anonymous]

CD rates are low at the moment, but at least the nominal return is guaranteed.

Buying gold coins is pure speculation. It has had a great run in the last couple of years, so you have probably missed out on the big rise. If you buy now gold is as likely to halve in value as it is to double.

One sure sign of a bubble is when all these random people like OP start piling in to a market.

[hedgehog]

Anonymous wrote:I shudder at the thought. My parents bought a ton of gold and silver coins when gold and silver were high in the 70s, thinking they were making a good investment. Gold and silver prices then plummeted. They held onto those coins, hoping they would recover the losses. Boxes of coins in the basement, lugged with them every time they moved. I inherited them a few years ago, and since we don't have space for them we dragged those heavy, moldy boxes to a coin dealer when I was 8 months pregnant to finally get rid of them - for less than my parents paid 30+ years earlier.

Then you sold at a bad time. Look at this chart which shows the history of gold prices since 1970: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_as_an_investment

The pp doesn't say when they sold, but it looks like they probably sold about 2000 and really missed out. Should have kept lugging those boxes....

[Anonymous]

hedgehog wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I shudder at the thought. My parents bought a ton of gold and silver coins when gold and silver were high in the 70s, thinking they were making a good investment. Gold and silver prices then plummeted. They held onto those coins, hoping they would recover the losses. Boxes of coins in the basement, lugged with them every time they moved. I inherited them a few years ago, and since we don't have space for them we dragged those heavy, moldy boxes to a coin dealer when I was 8 months pregnant to finally get rid of them - for less than my parents paid 30+ years earlier.

Then you sold at a bad time. Look at this chart which shows the history of gold prices since 1970: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_as_an_investment

The pp doesn't say when they sold, but it looks like they probably sold about 2000 and really missed out. Should have kept lugging those boxes....

OP here - My feelings exactly. Gold was at a high around 1974 at $200 oz. It was never below that in the 2000's. Don't know how you could have lost money on them.
/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7284184.stm
Here is an interesting story about gold prices and historical events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was going to make a joke about people who watch Glenn Beck, still have a stash of Y2K food rations, and keep a private seed bank stored in their fallout shelter, but on a serious note, I read this past week about how there are signs that the gold "bubble" may burst soon and gold prices could crash. Unfortunately I can't remember where I read it, or I would post a link. I'm sure it goes without saying, but do your homework before you sink your retirement savings into something like this.

OMG I can't imagine being mistaken for Beck fan. Big D Democrat here. We did have extra toilet paper and food Y2K. Hadn't thought about keeping a private seed bank. Don't have a fallout shelter but I'd love to do what the Mormons do if it wasn't such a pain and so expensive. But yes, I do worry that house of cards will come down and my retirement and other "investments" or "gambles" as I like to call them now, will disappear like a puff of smoke. After living with Pepco for years I'm also motivated to get off the grid if possible.
As time goes on I'm feeling less and less in control of my future and more and more at the mercy of our crumbling physical and financial infrastructure. Just saying....

[Anonymous]

I think if you need to resort to a private stash of seeds, the human race as we know it is over or nearly over and done for. Either there will be an unbelievable amount of violence and chaos or the environment will be so polluted nothing will grow. Just saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

hedgehog wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I shudder at the thought. My parents bought a ton of gold and silver coins when gold and silver were high in the 70s, thinking they were making a good investment. Gold and silver prices then plummeted. They held onto those coins, hoping they would recover the losses. Boxes of coins in the basement, lugged with them every time they moved. I inherited them a few years ago, and since we don't have space for them we dragged those heavy, moldy boxes to a coin dealer when I was 8 months pregnant to finally get rid of them - for less than my parents paid 30+ years earlier.

Then you sold at a bad time. Look at this chart which shows the history of gold prices since 1970: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_as_an_investment

The pp doesn't say when they sold, but it looks like they probably sold about 2000 and really missed out. Should have kept lugging those boxes....

OP here - My feelings exactly. Gold was at a high around 1974 at $200 oz. It was never below that in the 2000's. Don't know how you could have lost money on them.
.[/quote

They didn't say 1974. Gold reached 850 an ounce in January 1980, so slightly less right at the end of the 70s. You could have waited 28 years for gold to return to that nominal value, and it still hasn't returned to that value in real terms.
Go ahead and invest all your savings in gold. This is the beauty of capitalism: fools and their money are easily parted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was going to make a joke about people who watch Glenn Beck, still have a stash of Y2K food rations, and keep a private seed bank stored in their fallout shelter, but on a serious note, I read this past week about how there are signs that the gold "bubble" may burst soon and gold prices could crash. Unfortunately I can't remember where I read it, or I would post a link. I'm sure it goes without saying, but do your homework before you sink your retirement savings into something like this.

OMG I can't imagine being mistaken for Beck fan. Big D Democrat here. We did have extra toilet paper and food Y2K. Hadn't thought about keeping a private seed bank. Don't have a fallout shelter but I'd love to do what the Mormons do if it wasn't such a pain and so expensive. But yes, I do worry that house of cards will come down and my retirement and other "investments" or "gambles" as I like to call them now, will disappear like a puff of smoke. After living with Pepco for years I'm also motivated to get off the grid if possible.
As time goes on I'm feeling less and less in control of my future and more and more at the mercy of our crumbling physical and financial infrastructure. Just saying....

I feel the same way in many ways. I'm less worried about gold or my financial investments, though, and more worried about knowing how to live off the land. Is that crazy? I'm also a liberal Dem. But yeah, I read something about what would happen if an electro-magnetic pulse crushed the electricity and think I'd better do some research or I'm F'd. I didn't stress over Y2K but do have some water and canned goods in the basement. just in case.

[Anonymous]

I heard gold is extremely high right now. So high I thought about selling some of my mom's old jewelry. But why would you buy when it's high? It makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Odds are most of us in the cities will be decimated in the chaos that will occur if TSHTF. This IMO is a situation where POTUS is barely acknowledged as such in Vienna or Rockville. Or to quote General Bethlehem, "I was at the Battle of Georgetown; I saw the White House burn to the ground!"

If TSHTF, rural areas will be isolated -- roving gangs of 10-20 could easily overcome resistance at farmhouses.

Smaller towns further from major urban centers are the best bet IMO.

Now, if you want to be able to shelter in place for a few week or so while utilities keep humming, and (generally) order is maintained, that is quite possible. Bottled water, ready-to-eat food, etc.

I'm thinking a situation like Argentina 2000 when there was a (weakened) civil authority, but normal economic functioning had largely stopped. I'd put an EMP attack in this category. Germany 1922 or Hungary 1946 is comparable. (I'd forgotten Yugoslavia 1994 had gotten that bad, Zimbabwe is a pretty recent example, and I didn't know about Greece 1944 and Taiwan 1949, although they do make sense.)

As for gold and silver as an investment: as a 5-10% of your net worth hedge against moderate/high (5-20%) inflation, or an emergency savings in case we hit Germany 1922 or worse situations ... not a bad idea.

As a get rich quick scheme, not a good idea.