You want it to be in your physical possession & not with some business that " stores it for you" .

In today's economic troubles you don't want anything disappearing with just a computer keyboard stroke.

Buying and selling gold or silver is tough. Plenty of places will buy UNDER spot, and plenty will sell over spot. So that difference has to taken into account if you do it. I guess if your just hoarding paying over might be ok. Trying to buy outside of commercial dealers is tough. You dont know for sure what your really buying.

gold coins or 90% silver coins seem to be a good deal at flea markets or estate auctions. That's where i get mine

Anyone that spends the time and effort to learn how to assay gold or silver will benefit from that knowledge and could make some non-commercial source $$$$$ :-)

Right now there is between 250 and 1000 TIMES more silver on paper than has ever been mined. The comex prints silver like the government prints money. Keeps the price down. A tesla car contains about one kilo of silver. If you plan on buying much, a $1000 verifier is well worth it.

I think brass would be a good investment at this point ... preferably with a primer at one end and a bullet at the other.

Buying old coins is an addiction. Some months I fall of the wagon and buy a few every day, then I might dry up for several months. I never intend to sell them. Kids will divvy them someday. I give silver eagles away at Christmas to kin and good friends.

good stuff to have and be able to verify.....90% coins and small gold coins would be good for a beginner.

I buy silver rounds through APMEX. Yeah, a person pays over spot, I wouldn't expect anything else-- company has to make its money some way. Typically less than a week later its in my mailbox. Easy peasy...

I like how you think .The most precious metal to own is lead .If you own a lot of it and use it wisely it will almost guarantee that you will be able to keep any other items that you have So with that as a solid goal . A little brass some powder and an assortment lead plus a primer you can be sure you have made a sound investment And that sound will be BANG

Yes, and brass is of maximum value when properly stored in a steel delivery system.

When I was in Jordan with my wife she bought their almost Pure Gold (26 carat) at a hundredth of our Dollars. Their Gold is layed out in the Public wide open. They do not have a problem with thieves because they chop your hands off!!! At that time we were on Military Flights and she brought back POUNDS of it.

So if I want to put part of the money currently in the bank into gold, Whats the best (cheapest) way to do it? I have no confidence in the collectability stuff that so many use to jack up prices. So I doubt coins are good. I have seen one ounce ingots advertised but they cost 3-4 % over spot. Thats a big hit right from jump IMO

I had a bunch of gold and silver jewelry I found metal detecting. I called several companies that buy the stuff. They wouldn't buy it from me, only from a jeweler. I did manage to sell it that way by going through the jeweler.

Jewelry is hard to sell because of the potential of having been stolen. Melt it down according to K's and into sprues or ingots. Coins are easy by their identifying nature, (gold & silver). Eg : spot silver melt down today is $21.95 per Troy ounce. Find 100 silver coins that are not "key dates" and that's a nice total sum without paying an asset fee. :-)

26 carat gold is a myth. 24 is it's pure form, 26 carat would be 108 percent pure gold.

Danny, there is a fee to play in any investment vehicle.

As 49'er said you gotta pay to play. My wife is a small-time dealer. You need to be very careful as lots of fake stuff out there. We always check prices at two places (links below). Don't buy silver in more than 10-ounce bars or gold in more than 1 ounce units. Easier to resell when the time comes. Just recently SD Bullion had a one-day sale where they were selling gold @ spot.

https://sdbullion.com/

https://www.providentmetals.com/

Danny, after some thought, you don't like the idea of paying a percentage to buy precious metals right?

Well you have lost, according to the Federal Reserve, 14 percent of the value of your cash on hand in the last 24 mos.

It's cheap insurance.

Here is SE PA you can go to Antique Markets any weekend and someone with cash and a scale will be buying any gold or silver. Usually, a line of people waiting to sell.

It always amazes me the amount of gold and silver in the hands of people in the east.

Butch what is the going rate for 90 percent in your area if you don't mind saying, retail that is.

How about common Peace and Morgan dollars.

I agree with you on the 10 oz bars of silver or less. I am really starting to like 5 oz bars.

Although I need to get me a 100 ozer one of these days just for a door stop lol.