One of the most popular gold bullion coins on the market is the gold American Eagle. This beautifully designed coin is attractive to collectors and investors alike, since it looks lovely but also has a high gold content. Whether you’re thinking of buying coins as an investment in your future or you simply want to collect these beauties as a way to pass on some American heritage to your children, gold American Eagle coins have a few pros and cons that you should consider.
One the positive side, these coins can be a good way to start investing in precious metals. They are small enough that they aren’t too costly for most beginning investors, which can be a problem when you start dealing with things like bullion, which can be too heavy and expensive for many investors. Plus, they can easily be stored in your home, in a bank vault, or in a specialized precious metals vault, although most people who invest in bullion coins do so in part because they want to keep their investments nearby them in their homes for portability and liquidity.
If you’re going to collect coins, this coin might also be a good place to begin. Collecting American Gold Eagles is simple because they aren’t actually rare coins. However, they are quite beautiful and valuable for their gold content. Before you learn enough about coin collecting to feel comfortable purchasing truly rare coins, you can purchase these bullion coins as a way to collect bits of history, since their designs are unique and intricate.
On the other side of the equation, though, one of the major problems with American Gold Eagle coins is that they have a higher markup than many other coins. Now, this markup over face value or the value of the actual gold content isn’t going to be nearly as high as it would be for other numismatic coins that are valued for their rarity, but it will still be higher than the markup on bullion.
If you’re investing in these coins because you like the way that they look or because you want to begin an interesting coin collection, the markup probably won’t be a problem. If, on the other hand, your goal is to invest in these coins in order to make a good financial decision, you should think for a while about whether or not it’s worth your while to pay the markup percentage.