I am thinking of purchasing a couple of thousand dollars worth of gold and silver coins, which I would keep safeguarded in my home. They would come in handy in the unlikely event of a Greek-style situation or other temporary crisis, when people tend to honor things that have inherent value.
But even if Armageddon never occurs, gold and silver are a good investment. They increase in value at roughly the rate of inflation in the long run. This is about 3% annually. That's a lot more than what my savings account is yielding, so, it makes sense to keep at least a portion of my liquid assets in these metals.*
My questions are:
1. First of all, is owning coins the best way to hold precious metals? Are there other forms that are better (bars, plates, jewelry, etc.)? Pardon the pun, but what is the gold standard for gold and silver?
2. Is the U.S. mint the best place to buy gold and silver (coins)?
(Some preppers and conspiracy theorists claim that purchasing gold online from the U.S. mint would result in Uncle Sam kicking your door down and confiscating your coins during a crisis. They say it's better to purchase coins with cash from a local dealer, so that the transaction is secret. This sounds a bit far-fetched to me (but who knows?). I would worry more about being ripped off by a shady local dealer than anything else.
3. Let's say that, for whatever reason, I wanted to cash out some or all of my coins at some point. Where would I sell them, and how much of a financial loss would I incur by doing this? I'm assuming I wouldn't be able to cash out my coins at the going price per ounce of gold and silver. The person or institution buying my coins would have to make a profit on the transaction, and thus would offer me less than what my coins are worth.
I figured that many of you Mustachians can think outside the box, and would be knowledgeable about alternative investments.
Thoughts?
*I already own a diversified investment portfolio of stocks and bonds
P.S. These are the coins I am considering purchasing:
http://catalog.usmint.gov/2015-american-eagle-one-tenth-ounce-gold-proof-coin-PM4.html?cm_mmc=Google-_-PLA+-+Everything+Else-_--_-&mkwid=sxnbmFI2x&crid=81775672273&mp_kw=&mp_mt=&pdv=c&gclid=CILhgs_J6sYCFQoTHwod4LwIhwhttp://catalog.usmint.gov/american-eagle-2015-one-ounce-silver-proof-coin-ES6.html?cm_mmc=Google-_-PLA+-+Everything+Else-_--_-&mkwid=sCjL9GkZh&crid=81775487713&mp_kw=&mp_mt=&pdv=c&gclid=CNHa2-rJ6sYCFYiPHwodidMNhQ