Why Gold Coins and Bullion Can Outperform Gold Jewelry

Around 600 BC, the Lydians of present-day Turkey became the first people to use coins as currency. Since that time, nations worldwide have adopted gold coins and bullion as accepted forms of money. Although gold jewelry is often seen as a symbol of vanity, its precious-metal content can also give it meaningful value. Gold investors may weigh purchasing jewelry against purchasing gold bullion.

This article examines why gold coins and bullion generally provided investors more advantages than jewelry.

Maintained Value

For decades, investors have relied on gold coins as a dependable store of value. In addition to numismatic value, gold coins rise in worth with gold’s spot price. Jewelry’s initial price is significantly affected by less objective factors, including its style. Buyers also usually pay a 25-50% markup when purchasing gold jewelry from a store.

As fashions change and styles become more or less popular, reselling gold jewelry for more than its purchase price can be difficult.

Safety

Both jewelry and coins can be securely stored, but people often wear gold jewelry as a status symbol. That increases the possibility of damage, loss, or theft. After organizing their collections, many coin investors keep valuable pieces secured in home safes or safe-deposit boxes.

Unless a collector tells others, people may not know about a gold-coin collection, making it less likely that someone would think to steal it.

Purity

Gold purity is another consideration when comparing coins and jewelry. Gold coins have a known commodity. Put simply, anyone can use a quick online search to verify a coin’s weight and purity. Jewelry is harder to verify. Most gold jewelry sold in the United States is stamped with its karat or purity, but that is not necessarily true elsewhere in the world.

Without an experienced eye, confirming a gold jewelry item’s purity may require destructive testing. Gold jewelry also needs a dependable scale to accurately determine the item’s weight and resulting gold value.

Reliable Partners

When this article was originally published, sellers of gold coins and bullion could generally locate a trustworthy coin dealer expected to offer a fair price. A gold coin could also be graded by a third-party service. That could help estimate a selling-price range and provide leverage during negotiations with a dealer. No established standard existed for gold-jewelry valuation, so sellers might not know whether a proposed deal was favorable.

At the time of publication, Atlanta Gold & Coin Buyers stated its staff could help customers consider investment approaches suited to their goals and would provide honest, transparent advice for gold-coin purchases or sales. The original article reported that it was Atlanta’s only coin and bullion dealer posting buying rates online, so visitors would know what to expect beforehand. Readers were invited to schedule at either of two locations by fill out an online form.