Canadian Maple Leaf Coin

I have “financial wipe out” nightmares. I worry the federal government will run out of credit and won’t be able to backstop the FDIC. They’ll be hundreds of bank failures, like there were in the Great Depression. In my nightmare, I lose my savings in a bank collapse.

Here’s another bad dream: Inflation gets so bad, the Feds impose currency controls and then devalue the dollar. My money gets stuck in the United States… losing its value. These fears are some of the reasons I’m building a stash of gold coins… and why you should, too.

Gold is real money. You can take the coins anywhere you want in the world, and they’ll always have value. Gold coins are the ultimate “safe haven” insurance asset. Right now, there’s no “opportunity cost” of owning gold. Usually, you’re giving up the chance to earn interest on your cash when you buy gold. But now, the dollar is paying next to no interest.

Yesterday one of my precious metals counselors, Tom Dyson, talked with one of the largest private gold bullion dealers in the world, Michael Checkan. He runs a business called Asset Strategies International. Tom asked what gold coins he likes right now… “Michael told me you should keep two things in mind when you buy gold coins. First, you want a good deal.” He says “you should buy the coins with the lowest premium to the international gold spot price you can find. Right now, there’s an orderly market in gold coins and you shouldn’t pay more than a 5% premium to spot.”

As I write, gold is at around $1,060. So you shouldn’t pay more than $1,113 an ounce for your coins. Secondly, you should buy coins with the highest worldwide acceptability, so you’ll have no problem selling them anywhere in the world. For example, Michael says Asians prefer 24-karat gold coins, but the American Eagle and the Krugerrand are only 22-karat gold. They aren’t so popular in Asia. He also says the South African Krugerrand, the British Sovereign, the Mexican Peso, and the Austrian Corona gold coins are “pass” and not as popular worldwide anymore. You won’t get such a good deal when you sell these.

So which coins should you buy?

Checkan likes one-ounce Canadian Maple Leaf coins best. He also likes Australian Kangaroo one-ounce nuggets and the new American Buffalo coin. The national mints sell these coins to wholesalers at a 3% premium to spot gold. The wholesalers take another 0.5% and the retailer takes 1.5% in profit. So you pay a 5% premium to spot. (The Buffalo is a new coin and supply is still a bit tight. If you buy fewer than 10 coins, you may have to pay a 6% premium.) These coins are all 24-karat gold, they are all popular worldwide, and you can hold all three of these coins in your IRA. When you sell, you should expect to receive the spot gold price plus about 1%.

There’s never been a more important time to own gold than right now, even if it’s just a few gold coins. We’re entering severe financial turbulence, and gold coins are the ultimate insurance. Canadian Maple Leafs, Aussie Kangaroos, and American Buffalos are the best coins to buy right now.

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