If you are planning to buy a golden ring for your fiancée then I suggest you head for the nearest jewellery store and buy it, but if you are planning to buy some bullion or some gold stocks, then I would suggest that you read on. First and foremost, you have to decide what type of gold you would like to invest in, bullions, coins, ETFs, or even gold related stocks and this would determine which category of gold buyers you fall into.
The difference between gold as a commodity is that the prices of gold is usually determined by market sentiments much more than it is influenced by supply and demand, in actual fact the supply and demand forces are trailing determinants and not the source of price movements as it is with most other commodities.
The current stock prices in China that has plummeted is going to cause the Chinese economy to slow down and being one of the largest economies in the world a turn towards savings by the Chinese economy would cause the prices of oil to fall further (the Chinese have been buying oil reserves due to the current low prices) and if this does occur, it will send investors running for the gold hill. This is because investors use gold to diversify their portfolio and to keep them safe from financial or economic disasters. The default by Greece has started to stir investors as most economists predict that the prices of gold will start rallying if Greece does at all exit the Euro zone. So how do you save yourself and dodge all these economic bullets? Make sure you have some gold – physically preferably.
Buying physical gold or bullions that are usually cast as bars, ingots or coins is rather easy as there are many gold trading firms almost everywhere in the world. But as far as novice gold buyers go, buying gold coins is the best option as it is less risky compared to dabbling with gold stocks, funds or ETFs.
Although you will be buying these coins at small premium over the spot gold prices, and it would be your gateway to enter the numismatic world of coin dealing.
Here you actually stand to make a lot of money just by doing research. Some coins are rare, but owners of these rare coins often never know the value of these coins and one reason is due to lack of research, as rare coins are often owned by people who are not too internet savvy, giving you an upper hand.
The good part about numismatic coins is the fact that numismatic coins can eventually be worth a lot more than the content of precious metal in it. Starting of your gold investment venture by getting into the precious metal coin scene is probably the best way to go about learning about the whole industry as eventually you will find yourself among people who have a foothold on other gold related investments.
Using them to gain a better understanding of the industry is crucial towards surviving in the dog eat dog industry of gold. Starting with a small outlay of cash for gold and working your way up the industry ladder is the best approach to investing in gold, otherwise you might end up biting more than you can chew.
