World gold offers lowest premiums

When it comes to gold, buyers will want the lowest premium. So why not try gold world coins and privately minted pieces?

Julian Jarvis, owner of Jarvis’ Rare Coins, Greencastle, Ind., said the popular gold Eagle also has the highest premiums.

“With gold Eagles, the Mint charges three percent over spot,” he said. “When everyone wants gold, the premium goes up. There are no cheap ones on the market.”

Instead, he said gold buyers will want to look at world gold bullion coins.

“I have a group that received $40,000 from an estate,” he said. “I imagine they’re going to come in soon, asking what the best way to invest it is. I’m going to say it’s by buying Krugerrands, Austrian Philharmonics and Canadian Maple Leafs.

“The premium on Maple Leafs and Krugerrands is the lowest I’ve ever been able to buy them. I recently sold around $20,000 to $30,000 in Krugerrands and Maple Leafs. The more available dates, you can get them for $12 to $20 over spot.”

There is a good supply of world gold bullion coins available on the market, due to mint production and investors reselling.

“I had one person who brought in Cuban gold recently,” he said. “Another brought in gold Maple Leafs and South African Krugerrands. I’ve been buying more than I’ve been selling, so I had to wholesale some off. People are selling due to family situations or they need the money.”

Jarvis suggested gold Mexican pesos, which range from the small 2 peso at .0482 of an ounce of gold to the large 50 pesos with 1.2056 ounces of gold.

“I recently sold some Mexican gold 50 pesos,” he said. “I had a dealer pay me over melt for those and about one to two percent over for the smaller denominations.”

He also recommended privately minted gold rounds and bars, which are typically low in premium and high in supply.

“You can buy private minted rounds at a premium so low, it’s infinitesimal,” he said.

Privately minted gold can be found in both rounds and bars. One popular area of investing is in bars contained in plastic cards, often featuring serial numbers to assist in authentication. Weights range from tiny half gram bars to one ounce. Top manufacturers of these bars include the Perth Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, PAMP, Scotiabank and Credit Suisse.

If paying the lowest possible price is a priority when buying gold, try looking at world coins and private minted pieces and leave the expensive U.S. bullion coins for someone else.

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