There are a number of gold products available to buy as an investment. Small-scale physical gold ownership usually involves coins. Bullion coins have little value above their gold content. Historic coins have added collectible value. Gold bars and ingots range from 400 oz. at their largest to the newer ChipGold ingots at about the size of a credit card. Jewelry is another common method of owning gold, but this form can suffer loss of value in resale.

Several forms of ownership allow the investor to avoid the handling and storage of gold itself. Gold exchange-traded funds trade like stock shares. Exchange-traded gold is fully backed by insured, deposited gold. Usually there is a fee for annual expenses, such as storage, insurance, and management. In some countries, this form of ownership avoids a value added tax that would be assessed over personally-owned bars or coins. Gold is also available through certain mutual funds and closed-end funds.

Gold certificates are government backed and guaranteed, and can act as a warehouse receipt issued by brokers, dealers, and banks to represent gold held and kept by them. Swiss banks allow the public to buy and sell gold like any currency and offer allocated holding. With allocated storage, owners may expect a full return of their gold if the provider becomes bankrupt. With unallocated storage, there is a risk of losing your investment if the provider experiences a bankruptcy.

Digital Gold Currency (DGC) is electronic money backed by gold. Businesses providing the currencies allow users to pay each other in units with the same value as gold bullion. GoldMoney in particular is approved as a bullion investment for American IRAs. Riskier gold investments may involve spread betting, speculative penny stocks, or mining. Spread betting is like a wager on whether the price will increase or decrease. Gold derivatives include forwards, futures, and options. Gold can be purchased in the form of securities of mining or processing companies. These may be especially volatile, high-risk investments.  

Physical gold can be purchased through dealer Web sites; these dealers may also offer storage. You can also purchase gold directly from a mint or goldsmith. Additionally, coins and certificates are mostly handled through banks. Gold can be purchased over a wide price range, with the increments of purchase mainly dependent on the form the gold takes.

Some forms of gold investing can be extremely volatile and do not carry a guaranteed return, value, or income. Potential fees and charges include those for storage, insurance, and sales. These generally run around 1 percent of the purchase price. With certificates, these charges tend to run 3 percent or higher. Investments carry standard costs, such as commissions and fees. Sales tax or transfer tax, shipping and handling, and assay fees may apply in certain cases.  For more information, see:

--      Gold Rush

online.barrons.com/article/SB123154459401969559.html

--      The Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee: 

www.gata.org/about

--      The United States Mint:

www.usmint.gov/index.cfm?flash=no