Fractional gold and 1g bars.

[SilverPirate]

What are peoples views on fractional gold,

1/ Do you think there worth the premium?

2/ Do you like them?

3/ Do you think they are a good investment?

4/ Do you think they are a good preservation of wealth?

5/ Do you think sod that i get more silver for my money?

6/ Do you think save up and buy a half sovereign is more sensible?

7/ Do you think sod it i like it i am having it?

 

Over to you guys.

[SilverPirate]

P.S.

8/ Do you think they would be easy to sell on.

[motorbikez]

Not really a fan of fractional gold, said it yourself save up and  buy a sovereign or even a half sov anything smaller premium will be far too high.

[Danny-boy]

With half sovereigns at Atkinsons for £95 delivered, that would be my choice if I wanted some

[SilverPirate]

I am with you on the half sovereign, i have been looking through you tube at fractional gold and it is so small, i have a 1/10th eagle and two half sovereigns so i can compare, it's O.K. to own the small stuff but sovereigns are so much more liquid when it will be the time to part company. 

[silversword]

when you say fractional, do you mean any bar less than 1oz, or those packs where you get 10x 1g or 25x 1g - which I think are solely aimed at people worried about some future doomsday scenario? I think the latter are profiteering on paranoia.

 

As a newbie to precious metals and current non gold owner, I will say I was initially pleasantly surprised that I could get "some" gold for such little money by buying a small bar, but when looking at the premiums, and actually seeing how small a 1g bar is, I decided I'd be happiest buying something else: The sub-10g bars all look pretty pathetic in my opinion. Would be happier buying a more weighty quantity of silver that actually feels like I own something when I hold it, or save up for a decent lump of gold (1oz or more). 

[ChrisSilver]

when you say fractional, do you mean any bar less than 1oz, or those packs where you get 10x 1g or 25x 1g - which I think are solely aimed at people worried about some future doomsday scenario? I think the latter are profiteering on paranoia.

As a newbie to precious metals and current non gold owner, I will say I was initially pleasantly surprised that I could get "some" gold for such little money by buying a small bar, but when looking at the premiums, and actually seeing how small a 1g bar is, I decided I'd be happiest buying something else: The sub-10g bars all look pretty pathetic in my opinion. Would be happier buying a more weighty quantity of silver that actually feels like I own something when I hold it, or save up for a decent lump of gold (1oz or more).

Yea when people say fractional they are generally referring to gold less than 1oz.

I know what you mean about smaller amounts of gold looking pathetic, I have a 5g gold "bar" to be honest I wouldn't call anything under 1oz a bar. Bars sound large, and should be large, even a 1oz bar is pushing the definition of a bar in my opinion.

I would prefer to own a 10oz silver coin rather than this pathetic 5g gold bar.

The 1oz gold coins are a nice size, and the 1/2 ounce and possibly the 1/4 ounce coins look interesting. Though I am not sure if they would look too small. 1/2 ounce is probably an ok size, but 1/4 ounce might be pushing it.

It's cheaper to buying 1oz coins opposed to fractional, but if gold were to double might be a lot easier selling 1/4 ounce coins on the secondary market than a whole ounce gold coin at once. If selling to a dealer though, they might only pay spot price. In which case the lower premiums of the ounce coin would be a better investment. Larger bars even more so, but they get kind of pricy quite quickly.

[Shamatti]

I like for several reasons.

 

I like having a set of coins 1 Oz, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 - I don't like the 1/20 because they carry much to much premium.

I also like having stuff which I can move quickly. I have some Pamp gold in all sizes from 1gram to 1 Ounce. several of some of them. I think it is easier to sell things which cost less money. Also - If I am in a bind and need to raise a little cash, I would rather be in a position to liquidate as required. I would not want to sell a £800 gold bar if I only needed to raise £400 for some reason. I can liquidate in smaller amounts and hold the rest of my gold for when prices rise so I can max out my investments.

Another thing about fractional is that yes, it does have a higher premium, but it keeps that premium when you come to sell it. This is why I favour Pamp over other similar products (Like the Perth Mint certicards for example) They will always hold their premium over spot.

I like the larger lumps of gold. Of course, we all do!! But I think a well rounded stack should have the smaller stuff in it too. It just ticks a lot of boxes. And for those complaining that the coins are too small - that is only because you started with 1Oz silver coins, which are lovely and big and meaningful. If the first coin you ever collected was 1Oz of gold, you would fins silver too big and too light for its size! lol

[SilverPirate]

If you where into collecting all Perth mint products say, a complete set of all sizes of one type would look cool ,never say never but for me not at the moment and i can not afford an ounce of gold it just ain't happening.

(By fractional i mean 1/2 and under.)

[Pete]

Simple answer is gold is bought and sold at spot price plus / minus a margin that ranges from 0 to about 5%.

Proof coins and numismatics excepted.

If you can buy fraction gold at spot plus 3% then go for it.

If spot plus 5% then shop around and be prepared to buy something bigger at a lower margin.

When is comes to selling the price you get is the weight only.

[Iceblue]

1/ Do you think there worth the premium?  - Yes, depending what the product is, bars NO, coins YES, you should be able to get it back.

2/ Do you like them? -Yes

3/ Do you think they are a good investment?  - Yes, perthmint lunars are.

4/ Do you think they are a good preservation of wealth?  - All precious metals are a good store of wealth.

5/ Do you think sod that i get more silver for my money?  - Sometimes, depends on the GSR

6/ Do you think save up and buy a half sovereign is more sensible?  - I buy what I can afford on spot drops. Obviously bigger is better - less premium.

7/ Do you think sod it i like it i am having it? -  NO, dont buy gold with emotion, silver I do tho.

8/ Do you think they would be easy to sell on.  - Yes always easy to sell, bars will always be harder than coins tho.

[SilverPirate]

1/ Do you think there worth the premium?  - Yes, depending what the product is, bars NO, coins YES, you should be able to get it back.

2/ Do you like them? -Yes

3/ Do you think they are a good investment?  - Yes, perthmint lunars are.

4/ Do you think they are a good preservation of wealth?  - All precious metals are a good store of wealth.

5/ Do you think sod that i get more silver for my money?  - Sometimes, depends on the GSR

6/ Do you think save up and buy a half sovereign is more sensible?  - I buy what I can afford on spot drops. Obviously bigger is better - less premium.

7/ Do you think sod it i like it i am having it? -  NO, dont buy gold with emotion, silver I do tho.

8/ Do you think they would be easy to sell on.  - Yes always easy to sell, bars will always be harder than coins tho.

Many thanks for the full reply. 

[Iceblue]

Your welcome mate, some other factors to consider also is fractionals are a good way to get into some gold for those on a tight budget. Also a lot of our customers buy fractional in case spot go's thru the roof, fractionals will remain affordable.

[Ryan AC]

I wouldn't buy new, you can get fractional gold with a lower premium than some silver if you keep an eye out.

I like sovereigns and krugerrands.

A very good investment, especially if not looking to keep for too long.

Great way to preserve wealth.

I suggest buying some gold before silver. Gold can be bought very cheap if you buy old jewellery, for instance I bought a 10.4g 9kt ring last week for under scrap value, I could scrap it now and make atleast £20.

So I go for something like 9kt jewellery for smaller fractional gold up to the price of sovereigns which can be bought very cheap, then after sovereigns something popular like a kruggerand can be found at quite nice prices and the premium would have probably dissapeared in a few months if you buy at the right time.

The reason I suggest a bit of scrap gold before buying silver is because if I ever did need to sell something then a bit of scrap gold won't be missed whereas that'd be equal to a lot more silver bullion which would be missed. Also I wouldn't need to buy back a whole collection of silver after having to sell something.

I go with scrap gold for instant/quick profit, sovereigns for short or long term, krugerrands for long term with large profit. Silver for long term, to have money spread over more items and the fact it's nice to collect and there's more of it.

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[SilverPirate]

Scrap gold as a fractional purchase sounds sensible to me.Where do you buy your gold from?

[Ryan AC]

Pretty much anywhere people can sell jewellery and I can collect. Gumtree, free ad sites, auction sites. I just look everywhere and throw some offers out to people, there's always someone who wants rid of some old gold for some quick cash. Even a couple grams here and there is worth it if they'll take scrap value or even better less than scrap.

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[SilverSiren]

I like the 10g and 20g size for gold bars.  We recently found some unusual 1/3 oz Swiss bank Corp bars, and they're pretty small but nice.  With bars we'd stay at 10g or higher to avoid too high a premium, but old US, Mexican, European gold coins are a great option for fractional gold at a low premium, at least where we buy.

[Pete]

Ryan - how do you verify 9ct and other gold ?

Do you have a test kit to determine carat content ?

How do you tell if solid gold or plated ?

Hall marks can easily be faked or only apply to part of a piece.

[Pipers]

Shamatti, Iceblue, and anyone else who like fractional.

 

Would you collect Pandas,Philharmonics, Kangaroos and maples too. Or do you just stick to sovereigns and Lunars.  

[Iceblue]

Shamatti, Iceblue, and anyone else who like fractional.

 

Would you collect Pandas,Philharmonics, Kangaroos and maples too. Or do you just stick to sovereigns and Lunars.  

 

Yes if I can get them at the right price.

[Ryan AC]

Pete, most of it's hallmarked so a quick check with a £1.50 loupe and a 99p neodymium magnet pretty much tells you if it's what the seller's saying it is.

Then weight I use 0.01 accuracy up to 200g then 0.1 above, then as it's scrap gold no one should object to a good filing to check it's not plated and an acid test, I use the JSP acids for silver,gold 10k/14k/18k/24k and platinum that came with a nice black stone and 6 bottles for £15.

I've ordered a digital caliper for £10 with an accuracy of 0.01mm as well for things like silver 1oz bars/coins and sovereigns etc.

I've also got a diamond tester for £6 as a small ring I bought at less than gold scrap value had 2 small diamonds in, thinking of getting a diamond caliper and removing them to keep aside with any others I might come across.

[morezone]

I would love to own some fractional bars and coins for the novelty but the premiums are just too high for me.

[Ryan AC]

I'm off to the jewellers tomorrow to see if I can get a 1/10 krugerrand and a 1/10 gold eagle. Not for money but for a few 9k rings I bought last week for a total of £156 and 19g in weight, have to take the 2 tiny diamonds out first to stash away.

Fingers crossed I can make a nice deal and have my first proper bits of fractional gold.

[morezone]

Hmm. A quick look around I see a 50 x 1g combi bar for approx 13% over spot. Very tempting. If i can find at 10% or less I might just go for it.

Time to go hunting

[arshimo2012]

Have you tried Baird&Co? There cheap on combi bars