Most of what beginners learn about buying bullion is about price: what markup is fair, how spot works, when to walk away from a bad quote. Almost none of it addresses a more basic question — is the metal actually gold? For the overwhelming majority of purchases from an established dealer, yes. But counterfeit bullion…
Most explanations of bullion pricing stop at the moment of purchase: spot price, plus a premium, equals what you pay. That's true, but it's only half the transaction. The other half happens later, when you decide to sell, and it works against you in the same direction. Dealers don't buy your coins back at spot…
If you call a precious metals dealer and ask about gold, there's a decent chance the conversation eventually steers toward something other than plain bullion coins. You'll hear about a "rare" issue, a "limited mintage," a coin that's "exempt from confiscation" or "not reportable to the government." These are numismatic coins — valued for their…
Buying physical gold or silver is the easy part. You pick a dealer, pay the spot price plus a premium, and the coins or bars show up. What a lot of first-time buyers skip is the question of what happens if that box gets stolen, burns in a fire, or otherwise disappears — and the…
Say you bought a handful of one-ounce gold coins back in 2021, tucked them in a safe deposit box, and forgot about them for a few years. Gold's had a good run since then, so you decide to sell. You call a dealer, get a quote, and a week later you're holding a check for…
If you've started shopping for your first gold or silver coin, you've probably had this moment: you check the spot price online, then look at what a dealer actually wants for the coin, and the numbers don't match. Not even close, sometimes. Your first thought might be that you're being overcharged. The truth is more…
You're on a dealer's website ready to buy some silver. Two products sit side by side: a one-ounce American Silver Eagle and a one-ounce generic silver round from a private mint. Both are .999 fine silver. Both weigh one troy ounce. The Eagle costs several dollars more per coin.
