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OT bullion investment question

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George D

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Dec 3, 2009, 1:43:53 PM12/3/09
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If you decided to put some of your retirement money in metals what would
you do, and why?

Your total hedge amount to "invest" is say $25,000.00

In the last 10 Years Gold has gone from a low of $255.38 to $1217.50
today as I post.
http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/au3650nyb.html

Silver has gone from $4.02 to $19.08 in the same period.
http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/ag3650nyb.html

What would you put your money in.

Gold 1 oz bullion such as the Eagle program
Fractional Gold bullion
Gold bars
Gold coins
Other gold such as???


Silver Bullion such as the Eagle program
Silver bars
Junk 90% coins
Collectible silver coins such as Morgan dollars?
Other silver such as???

--
Government is a voracious monster that must have your labor to control
YOU! Your money is your liberty. The taxes you pay gently enslave you,
and eventually destroy any human liberty you have. Fear government, pray
for the country.

Mr. Jaggers

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Dec 3, 2009, 2:43:18 PM12/3/09
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George D wrote:
> If you decided to put some of your retirement money in metals what
> would you do, and why?
>
> Your total hedge amount to "invest" is say $25,000.00

If I wanted a hedge against inflation, I'd buy gold bullion in one form or
other. I'm talking about metallic gold, not gold on paper. Even if the
price of gold goes down, or even way down, gold is still gold.

James the Miser


Robert Hairgrove

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Dec 3, 2009, 3:03:32 PM12/3/09
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George D wrote:
> If you decided to put some of your retirement money in metals what would
> you do, and why?
>
> Your total hedge amount to "invest" is say $25,000.00

Not a lot to retire on...

> In the last 10 Years Gold has gone from a low of $255.38 to $1217.50
> today as I post.
> http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/au3650nyb.html
>
> Silver has gone from $4.02 to $19.08 in the same period.
> http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/ag3650nyb.html

People were laughing if you wanted to buy when gold was $400/oz. ...
They still laughed if you wanted to buy when gold topped $700/oz. ...
Same story at $1,000/oz. ...

> What would you put your money in.
>
> Gold 1 oz bullion such as the Eagle program
> Fractional Gold bullion
> Gold bars
> Gold coins
> Other gold such as???
>
>
> Silver Bullion such as the Eagle program
> Silver bars
> Junk 90% coins
> Collectible silver coins such as Morgan dollars?
> Other silver such as???
>

Gold, unlike stocks, can never lose 100% of its value ... which is
perhaps one reason among many others to be bullish (i.e. take more
risks) when buying the metal. It's a hard call to make when dealing with
coins, though, because of the bank's (or dealer's) mark-up, or spread.
Some of the rarer gold coins have not appreciated as much as the more
common, lower-grade bullion coins in past years because changes in the
intrinsic numismatic value of a coin usually do not fluctuate as much as
the changes in bullion value.

$25,000 is an awful lot of silver ... if you have the room to store it
securely, i.e. protected from theft but also environmental damage, it's
as good as any other metal. Gold is relatively immune from the
environment, takes up much less storage space ($25,000 is a little less
than 1 kg or 2.2 pounds right now), but needs more security WRT theft.

I like the fact that I can buy and sell gold in coin form as I need it.
With larger amounts in gold bars, the spread might be smaller, but you
might not want to sell a large bar all at once at a certain point in
time (or be able to buy one right then). Coins gives you somewhat more
flexibility, but the spread is larger. You have to wait longer until you
can see a profit on it. Sell it too quickly, and you lose money relative
to the larger units.

(just IMHO only...)

Dr. Richard L. Hall

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Dec 3, 2009, 7:22:34 PM12/3/09
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"George D" <geo...@arizona.com> wrote in message
news:QFTRm.51510$X01....@newsfe07.iad...

> If you decided to put some of your retirement money in metals what would
> you do, and why?
>
> Your total hedge amount to "invest" is say $25,000.00
>
> In the last 10 Years Gold has gone from a low of $255.38 to $1217.50 today
> as I post.
> http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/au3650nyb.html

Of course, long before gold hit a low of $255.38, it hit a high of $850.00
in January of 1980

http://www.usagold.com/reference/prices/1980.html

If you had invested your money then, you'd have a 43% gain on your money or
roughly 1.5% a year. The time to have invested your money was when gold was
$255.38.

>
> Silver has gone from $4.02 to $19.08 in the same period.
> http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/ag3650nyb.html
>
> What would you put your money in.

My mattress. It's probably safer than in a bank and pays almost as much.

George D

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Dec 3, 2009, 10:17:39 PM12/3/09
to
Robert Hairgrove wrote:
> George D wrote:
>> If you decided to put some of your retirement money in metals what
>> would you do, and why?
>>
>> Your total hedge amount to "invest" is say $25,000.00
>
> Not a lot to retire on...

No it is not and I would not put all of my money in any one vehicle.
The amount I gave is only for discussion anyway and is not what I
currently have or will have in the future.... It could be more or less
than that. I just thought that it would be an interesting discussion.

Yes 2 bags of 90% US silver coins is heavy and takes up a lot of space

http://www.mjpm.com/silver.cfm

Whereas 10 or 11oz gold Eagles would fit in your pocket or purse.

http://www.mjpm.com/gold.cfm


> I like the fact that I can buy and sell gold in coin form as I need it.
> With larger amounts in gold bars, the spread might be smaller, but you
> might not want to sell a large bar all at once at a certain point in
> time (or be able to buy one right then). Coins gives you somewhat more
> flexibility, but the spread is larger. You have to wait longer until you
> can see a profit on it. Sell it too quickly, and you lose money relative
> to the larger units.
>
> (just IMHO only...)

Petronius

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Dec 4, 2009, 9:19:28 AM12/4/09
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"George D" <geo...@arizona.com> wrote in message
news:QFTRm.51510$X01....@newsfe07.iad...
> If you decided to put some of your retirement money in metals what would you
> do, and why?
>
> Your total hedge amount to "invest" is say $25,000.00

Well, a lot depends on how long you expect to hold on to the metals in question.
If you think the economy is going to turn around and people will start buying
cars again, palladium and platinum are essential metals for the catalytic
converters required, so they should go up. Platinum is way off its high of over
$2000.
On the other hand, if you think the economy is circling the bowl and will only
get worse and will be coupled with high inflation, gold is the classic hedge.
My take:
$500 face in junk US silver (currently selling 12-13X face, you may do better,
you may do worse - shop around);
10 ounces of palladium (I believe Canada makes palladium bullion coins),
2 ounces of platinum US Eagles,
the rest in gold US Eagles (I prefer 1/4oz and 1/10oz Eagles but YMMV).


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