Precious Metal Investing | Gold Investing | Silver Investing

• 90% Silver CoinsTraditionally, investing in physical means buying privately minted coins and bars with a purity very near 100%.
• American Gold EaglesThough America has a rich history of unique coinage, its first entrance into the realm of government-backed gold bullion didn't come until 1986.
• American Silver EaglesThe American Silver Eagle is unique among all other silver coins in that it is made and guaranteed by the U.
• Australian Gold LunarManufactured at the Perth mint in Western Australia, the Australian Gold Lunar is a full set consisting of many individual coins.
• Canadian Gold Maple LeafsIt might be better known to the general public for its natural wonders and winter sports.
• Canadian Silver Maple LeafsThe bullion business, believe it or not, isn't just big in the United States.
• Foreign Silver Coinsin terms of breadth, there is no precious metal investment category wider or deeper than foreign coins.
• Fractional Gold CoinsIn the last decade, the price of an ounce of gold has climbed to unprecedented heights.
• Gold BarsThere is no single asset that defines "hard money" better than the gold bar.
• Gold Coins from EuropeThroughout Europe's history, numerous types of gold coins have been produced by different countries.
• Gold RoundsThey might look, feel, and even taste (not recommended) like coins, but gold rounds are an investment vehicle separate from any other.
• Gold StocksWhile owning physical gold might be the ultimate safety net for economic instability, gold stocks are another good option for those who don't want the burden of storing and holding the metal themselves.
• How To Buy GoldTo the shrewd investor, it's clear that there are plenty of good reasons to get into the gold market.
• HyperInflationIn the modern economic landscape, inflation has become something of a dreaded word.
• Mexican Gold CoinsIn Mexico, precious metals were mined by natives and later Europeans beginning hundreds of years ago.
• Pre-1933 US Gold CoinsIn 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, a historic but little discussed event occurred in the United States.
• Silver
• Silver BarsInvesting in physical silver bars is one of the best ways to enter the precious metals market.
• Silver DollarsThere are many types of silver dollars that have been produced by the United States mint throughout America's history.
• Silver RoundsOne of the most brilliant and effective innovations of private minting companies was the production of modern silver rounds.
• Silver StocksThere is little doubt that the precious metals market has attracted quite a bit of attention lately.
• South African Gold KrugerrandsBack in 1967, the South African government decided to produce and sell gold coins as a way for private investors to enter the precious metals market.

Why are precious metals important?

Gold and silver have been integral to economics for thousands and thousands of years. They are the most ancient, most universal currency in civilization. And it’s not just because they’re shiny. Our ancestors, wise as they were, found out very long ago that the best way to get all the things they needed – like food, clothing, and shelter – wasn’t to try and make it all themselves.

Instead, they learned that specializing in making one thing and trading it for the other things they needed was more efficient, and led to a better quality of life. The only problem was matching up traders. If, for example, the cobbler already bought the food he needed for the month, a farmer couldn’t go to him to trade his corn for shoes.

This is where precious metals – the world’s first medium of exchange – came in. By being tradable for anything at any time, gold and silver lowered the barriers to trade, making economics possible.
Many generations later, during and after the Industrial Revolution, product makers found that precious metals were essential to making new products work. Their properties, such as malleability and excellent conductivity, make them essential in most electronic equipment – adding to their inherent value, as manufacturing companies physically need them.

What makes precious metals a secure investment?

Because they’ve been accepted as a sort of universal currency for so long, gold and silver are seen today by nearly all financial market participants as the ultimate quality investment.
One might think that other currencies have the same secure properties as gold and silver do. After all, they can be exchanged for goods and services more easily than gold and silver now. But that assumption breaks under the weight of one word: fiat. In the Old World, most accepted currencies were backed by gold and silver, meaning a currency holder could go to a financial institution and exchange their held currency for its value in gold or silver.

But as the world expanded and global money supply skyrocketed, it became clear that there simply wasn’t enough gold and silver in existence to keep up. Thus, world governments made the switch from precious metal-backed currencies to so-called “fiat” currencies. What’s intrinsically scary about this is that these currencies are backed only by a promise from their respective governments. This leads to a whole host of complications, the most important of which is inflation.

Simply put, inflation is the decrease in value of a given currency, like the U.S. dollar. It can happen for a number of reasons, from a drop In the supply of desired goods to an increase in money supply. Whatever the reason, currency inflation leads to lower purchasing power per currency unit. In other words, a dollar would buy less now than it did in the past.

Why have gold and silver been skyrocketing lately?

Since gold, silver, and other commodities are the only investments with real intrinsic value, they aren’t subject to the same problems that government issued currencies have. And recently, investors the world over are very worried that those problems – namely inflation – could become very severe.

When the Great Recession started back in 2008, the U.S. Federal Reserve, along with many other national reserve banks worldwide, tried to stimulate their economies. The quickest and easiest way to do this is by increasing the money supply. This, in turn, increases funds available for loans, to pay for labor, and to use in trade. But, as mentioned before, it’s also one of the easiest ways to kickstart inflation.
When the government prints too much money, an even worse currency event can occur. It’s called hyperinflation, and when it happens, price levels for the things people need can double in as little as a a few days.

This isn’t just a theory. In fact, it has happened in the past, most notably to Germany after World War I. Their government printed German Marks like banshees to pay reparations for damages they caused in the war, and in 1923, it led to a doubling price level roughly every two days. In addition to racking their citizens financially, it crippled the entire country’s economy for decades.

Investors are now worried that, because national reserve banks printed so much money to dig the world out of recession, a state of hyperinflation more widespread than civilization has ever seen is on its way. While it’s not yet proven, the theoretical signs seem to be there. And since gold and silver have that intrinsic value that fiat currency does not, cautious investors are flocking in droves to precious metals to hedge the inflation risk.

In addition to inflation, political turmoil and war lead to an increase in the demand for gold and silver. When it happens, investors put their savings into it to have a currency that will always be accepted, no matter what happens to their country and government. And, as turmoil in the Middle East particularly continues to rise, many have already made that move.

Where and How Can I Get Gold and Silver?

Fortunately, gold and silver are readily available for investors who know where to look. In fact, there’s even different conduits (or asset classes, as they’re called in finance) through which someone can get their hands on some.

For those who aren’t too worried about political instability, but see moderate inflation as a real risk, exchange traded funds that focus on precious metals are the easiest route to take. They are traded on many stock market exchanges, and can be bought through a broker like any other equity investment. Additionally, shares of companies that mine precious metals can be bought, and typically have prices that move very closely with fluctuations in gold and silver.

For investors who are worried about more severe occurrences – such as hyperinflation or political and economic collapse – the ultimate in secure investments is to buy physical gold and silver. Many financial companies and institutions provide this option, which allows investors to keep actual gold and silver with them in the event of a real crisis.