New to buying gold/silver, question about AGEs.

[Asuryan9]

So my name is steve, I'm 30, new home owner, new father, looking to purchase some silver and gold as a physical investment for the future.

My main question is when buying my first 1/10 ounce of gold I bought an AGE. Now that I'm looking for another I realized the Eagles aren't .999 pure like most other coins I see such as the maple leaf, Indian head ot even generic coins from apmex or similiar. So is there actually less gold in them? Do people buy them just because they are easy to find and because they are produced by the govt?

Thanks so much,
Steve

[PMBug]

Hi Steve, welcome to the forum.

AGE's contain 91.67% gold (22 karat), 3% silver, and 5.33% copper, but they do have the correct weight of gold (per coin) - ie. they just have a bit of additional metal. The US Mint has a document that lists the specifications (see page 2):

http://www.usmint.gov/downloads/mint...rEagleGold.pdf

They do this so the coin will be more durable. The coins are legal tender and once upon a time were intended to circulate as such.

[rblong2us]

Welcome aboard Steve

Nice to have a genuine first post with no hidden agenda.

And good that you can even consider coin purchases when you have a mortgage and a new baby.

[DoChenRollingBearing]

...

Welcome from me as well.

I like the lil buggers (1/10 Oz AGEs) even with the higher premium. In addition to being more liquid for smaller amounts when the time comes (who knows...), they a re a gentle introduction to buying gold.

Indeed, all the Eagles have the amount of actual (stated) gold in them, in addition to the Cu and Ag to harden them up. I own numerous Eagles, I like 'em all.

And there are lots of fun alternatives too. Recently I bought a pre-1933 (actually a pre-1900, smile) US $10 gold piece. The premium is not THAT much more, and the OLD pieces from the 1800s might be at less risk of confiscation (unlikely, IMO, but possible).

Diversification in precious metals is also a good thing...

[Asuryan9]

Thanks so much guys. It's good to hear about the AGEs.
I am also buying silver when I can, and thinking about some platinum eventually.

I would love to buy some old American gold coins, I'd have to do the research into what coins have what gold content. Money is pretty tight and I don't want to spend too much and get less gold value than I might of with a simple age purchase.

[Asuryan9]

Basically what I've been doing is buying 10 ounces of silver bars or 1/10 AGE. They are similiar in price so I can go back and forth. Might buy a full ounce AGE or a early pre 1933 us gold coin when I get my tax refund.

[DoChenRollingBearing]

Thanks so much guys. It's good to hear about the AGEs.
I am also buying silver when I can, and thinking about some platinum eventually.

I would love to buy some old American gold coins, I'd have to do the research into what coins have what gold content. Money is pretty tight and I don't want to spend too much and get less gold value than I might of with a simple age purchase.

Pre-1933 US $5.00 gold coins have about 0.2419 toz OF GOLD (actually a tiny bit more, almost 1/4 oz), the US coins also contain 10% copper in addition.

US $10: 0.4837 toz (toz = troy ounce)
US $20: 0.9674 toz

YES, you DO pay more for the same amount of gold. So, you DO pay more per oz for the "old gold". If you want to buy them in "XF" or "AU" condition, the coins are still pretty nice looking and not too expensive in common dates (some dates like 1880 and 1881 are very common dates).

[Asuryan9]

Pre-1933 US $5.00 gold coins have about 0.2419 toz OF GOLD (actually a tiny bit more, almost 1/4 oz), the US coins also contain 10% copper in addition.

US $10: 0.4837 toz (toz = troy ounce)
US $20: 0.9674 toz

YES, you DO pay more for the same amount of gold. So, you DO pay more per oz for the "old gold". If you want to buy them in "XF" or "AU" condition, the coins are still pretty nice looking and not too expensive in common dates (some dates like 1880 and 1881 are very common dates).

Thanks a lot. That's actually what I figured, money wise. Still think I'd like to invest in a few of those.