Which Is Better Gold Bars Or Bullion?

If you are considering including gold in your investment portfolio, you may be wondering which is better, gold bars or gold coins. This is a dilemma, which is a personal decision, but the following information about the difference between gold bars VS gold coins may help you to make a more informed decision.

Let's begin with gold bars. For a serious gold investor, it would be efficient and straightforward to invest in larger gold bars, which generally have the lowest premiums above the actual value of the gold. The smaller bars usually have a higher premium. If you add all those higher premiums together, you can see that the larger bar might be more economical than purchasing several small bars, but let's consider some of the trade-offs of buying the large gold bars.

Impossible to Liquidate

The larger gold bars are not very flexible when you are ready to sell them. If you only want to sell off a portion of your gold bar, it is not very practical to shave off the end of the bar and then sell it; you would have to sell the whole thing. Another consideration is the buyer. It is not likely you could find an individual willing to purchase an entire large gold bar. You would have to find a larger dealer, which means you would get the value of the gold less the dealer's profit margin. There may also be some considerations having to do with storage and protection.

When you look at gold coins, you may even want to try thinking of the one-ounce bullion coins as the equivalent of a one-ounce bar. This shows you how flexible you can be with the coins. The mass-produced bullion coins are generally available at competitive prices and are usually easy to resell. As you can see, the ease of resale gives the gold bars VS gold coins competition to the coins.

Best Option

A better option is rare U.S. gold coins. They increase in value much faster than either gold bars or the gold bullion coins. The reason for this is that their value is not tied simply to the amount of gold in them, but their intrinsic value based on their rarity, demand, and beauty. These coins can be sold to private collectors who may be searching for them and may be willing to pay a higher premium, especially if the coin helps to fill out a set. So in the competition between gold bars and gold coins, the rare gold coins seem to be an even better investment, especially for the long term investor.

The bottom line is that when you look at gold bars VS gold coins, larger gold bars may be a more efficient way to buy gold, but can be harder to sell and difficult to transport. Bullion coins can be a better investment than bars, as they are easier to both purchase and sell. Rare gold coins may be the best investment of all, and they are much more portable than those large gold bars. They tend to increase in value regularly over time and can be an effective part of a diversified investment portfolio.

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