Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Discussion of the Gold portion of the Permanent Portfolio

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fishdrzig
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Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by fishdrzig » Sat Mar 01, 2014 11:11 am

Can you make some recommendations please?
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by fishdrzig » Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:28 pm

Thanks for the lead, I read the whole site.  Just out of curiosity, does anyone actually put the physical gold into an IRA account through a third party brokerage firm?  If not, where do you have it delivered and how do you store it safely?
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by stuper1 » Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:29 pm

I can also give a strong recommendation for CNI.  I just finished my first gold purchase through the mail from them, and everything worked out well.  I wanted Krugerrands, and my local dealer hardly ever has them.  I called up CNI, locked in the price, and sent them a personal check.  They said the coins would mail out two weeks after they received the check, and that is exactly what happened.  The coins arrived in a non-descript, but very well packed, box.  I believe shipping is free for purchases over $2k.  I was a little put off by having to wait two weeks, but unless you want to pay about $30 for a bank transfer, that's what you have to do.  Fortunately, I could watch the value of my coins going up during that two weeks, even though I didn't actually have them in my possession.  The price is locked in on the first phone call.
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by ns3 » Sat Mar 01, 2014 3:13 pm

I've bought from AJPM, Goldmart, and Gainesville coins and the only bad experience I ever had was when it took Goldmart over 6 weeks to ship my order last year. Won't be transacting with them again.

I'll probably be buying from Gainesville coins from now on. They have some of the lowest prices but a lot of people think their shipping rates are too high. Doesn't bother me because they are about a 30 minute drive away and I can pick up in person. I place the order on their website and then send them a bankwire through Fidelity (which costs $0) and gets you the lowest price. They send me an email confirming the transaction after they receive the money in their account and  then in about a week or so I get a call saying it's ready to pick up.

With AJPM and Goldmart I transacted the orders online and then sent them personal checks in the mail. They both required a credit or debit card deposit to insure that you would send the check but they cancelled it as soon as the check was received and there was never any problem with that.
Last edited by ns3 on Sat Mar 01, 2014 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bean
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by Bean » Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:05 pm

Apmex.com has treated me well and I use them almost exclusively now. 
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by Libertarian666 » Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:51 am

And don't forget to stay out of rowboats!
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by FarmerD » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:00 pm

Goldmart was kinda slow with my last purchase there (nearly 3 weeks) so I tried Provident a month ago.  Bought three times now from them and got 3 day turnaround each time.  BTW they were selling Eagles for $39 over spot and Maples at 24 over spot at the time.  Now eagles are going for $44 and Maples for $29 so those are still pretty good prices. 
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by Mark Leavy » Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:09 am

goldensilveronline wrote: I will recommend you to go with Gold Silver Online from where you can buy Gold and silver coins/Bar online. Investing on Gold is really a very good idea because rate of Gold increasing day by day.
My mistake.  I responded to you earlier in a different thread - thinking that you were genuinely naive and interested in learning.  I didn't realize that you were a spammer.  Fuck.  Even as an old man I still get rolled.
Last edited by Mark Leavy on Sat Apr 12, 2014 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by rickb » Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:20 am

Mark Leavy wrote:
goldensilveronline wrote: I will recommend you to go with Gold Silver Online from where you can buy Gold and silver coins/Bar online. Investing on Gold is really a very good idea because rate of Gold increasing day by day.
My mistake.  I responded to you earlier in a different thread - thinking that you were genuinely naive and interested in learning.  I didn't realize that you were a spammer.  Fuck.  Even as an old man I still get rolled.
Mark - it's never a mistake to assume good faith. However, I think we all know now what's going on here.  I've sent a PM to TennPaGa and MediumTex.  I'm confident goldensilveronline will get the message that spammers are not particularly welcome here.

[edit] Based on the broken English my guess is http://www.goldandsilveronline.com/ hired a Chinese firm to try to increase their business via "social media" placements.  This doesn't necessarily mean they're a terrible place to do business with, but it definitely gives one pause to consider - meaning they may well be accomplishing the exact opposite of what they want.
Last edited by rickb on Sat Apr 12, 2014 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by AlanT » Thu Apr 17, 2014 8:05 pm

fishdrzig wrote: Thanks for the lead, I read the whole site.  Just out of curiosity, does anyone actually put the physical gold into an IRA account through a third party brokerage firm?  If not, where do you have it delivered and how do you store it safely?
There are many companies out there where you can purchase physical gold and put it into your IRA.  It's becoming quite the trend nowadays.  Just do a couple of searches for Gold IRA Rollovers, etc. and start calling the companies that come up on the first page of google.

Good Luck.
Precious Metals, like Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium have always had their place in a well balanced retirement portfolio.
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by mortalpawn » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:03 pm

Before I lost all of my precious metals in a horrible boating accident, I used to order them from ProvidentMetals.com and had nothing but a good experience with them.  They ship most quickly if you order via electronic check (echeck).
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ochotona
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by ochotona » Fri Feb 06, 2015 12:01 pm

The head office of APMEX is within driving distance of me which is a plus, because I would like to do the first transaction face-to-face. Their actual storage location is a secret, however... it is not in OKC. Their storage fees for segregated storage seem quite low at 0.55%. Does anyone know of a reason not to use them?
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by bedraggled » Mon Feb 09, 2015 2:03 am

Can anyone recommend a gold coin dealer in New York City.  Manhattan preferable>  What % over spot are the charges, if anyone knows.

Thanks.
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sophie
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by sophie » Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:46 am

You won't find anything useful in Manhattan.  There's a coin dealer in Paterson, NJ and I know someone who has bought gold bars there several times, but the neighborhood is a little funky and it's hard to get to by public transportation.

Online purchases work well.  If you don't have a front desk or a VERY trusted neighbor to take the package for you, the post office will hold it for you to pick up - it's registered so they can't just leave it in your vestibule.  Alternatively, consider getting a PO box for packages.
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by Reub » Mon Feb 09, 2015 10:44 am

I know someone who used Coin Galleries Of Oyster Bay. They've been around for 40 years and have multiple branches on Long Island. I have personally never used them but they might be worth a call.
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by bedraggled » Mon Feb 09, 2015 1:35 pm

Sophie and Reub,

thanks for your responses.

And Rueb, does the place in Oyster Bay charge sales tax.

Thanks again
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by Reub » Mon Feb 09, 2015 3:12 pm

I'm not really sure if they charge sales tax. Here is the link to their site:

http://www.coingalleriesofoysterbay.com/bullion.php

And their phone number is (800) 200-0129
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sixdollars
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by sixdollars » Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:51 pm

Just curious, who here has geographic diversification for their physical gold (i.e. stored or allocated in another stable country)?  I'm thinking about buying and storing gold at the Perth Mint soon, but wonder who all has taken the jump..
Last edited by sixdollars on Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by Libertarian666 » Wed Feb 11, 2015 8:30 am

ochotona wrote: The head office of APMEX is within driving distance of me which is a plus, because I would like to do the first transaction face-to-face. Their actual storage location is a secret, however... it is not in OKC. Their storage fees for segregated storage seem quite low at 0.55%. Does anyone know of a reason not to use them?
While I don't have any specific knowledge of their business, I wouldn't use any gold dealer for storage. There have been some horror stories of people's life savings vanishing in such situations.

Of course that could happen no matter where your storage is, but I consider precious metals dealers more hazardous than single-purpose storage companies, as the former can have business issues that the latter won't have, e.g., inadequate hedging against price fluctuations.
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by stuper1 » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:50 am

Libertarian666 wrote: While I don't have any specific knowledge of their business, I wouldn't use any gold dealer for storage. There have been some horror stories of people's life savings vanishing in such situations.

Of course that could happen no matter where your storage is, but I consider precious metals dealers more hazardous than single-purpose storage companies, as the former can have business issues that the latter won't have, e.g., inadequate hedging against price fluctuations.
Would that advice apply to something like the Perth Mint?
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by ochotona » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:58 am

Somehow, nowadays I don't consider any country that you could drive to from Russia to be "stable". Yes, you can a tank from Russia to Switzerland. I think I'd consider storing gold in Canada, but not sure if needed. I live in the USA. For my purposes I think USA segregated storage and some ETFs would be good enough.
sixdollars wrote: Just curious, who here has geographic diversification for their physical gold (i.e. stored or allocated in another stable country)?  I'm thinking about buying and storing gold at the Perth Mint soon, but wonder who all has taken the jump..
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by Libertarian666 » Wed Feb 11, 2015 12:30 pm

stuper1 wrote:
Libertarian666 wrote: While I don't have any specific knowledge of their business, I wouldn't use any gold dealer for storage. There have been some horror stories of people's life savings vanishing in such situations.

Of course that could happen no matter where your storage is, but I consider precious metals dealers more hazardous than single-purpose storage companies, as the former can have business issues that the latter won't have, e.g., inadequate hedging against price fluctuations.
Would that advice apply to something like the Perth Mint?
Yes, although again I have no specific information about their business, and they may be perfectly fine. I just don't like a business model where what you are storing is the same type of asset as the raw material of the storage facility's main business.
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by dualstow » Wed Feb 11, 2015 3:40 pm

sophie wrote: You won't find anything useful in Manhattan.
Why is that? Markup?
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by Reub » Wed Feb 11, 2015 4:27 pm

I know a guy who knows a guy who buys a lot of gold in Manhattan. I'll see if I can find out who.
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Re: Where and how do you purchase physical gold?

Post by Reub » Wed Feb 11, 2015 6:19 pm

bedraggled wrote: Can anyone recommend a gold coin dealer in New York City.  Manhattan preferable>  What % over spot are the charges, if anyone knows.

Thanks.
The place in Manhattan that a friend of a friend uses is Manfra, Tordella, and Brookes.

http://www.mtbcoins.com/code/headquarters.html

212-981-4550

They're in Midtown Manhattan.

I know that this person has purchased a lot of gold from them but I don't know much about them except they're in business for 57 years.

Here's an old article about them:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bullio ... 2010-07-23

"SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Apart from a New York City phone book listing, gold dealer Manfra, Tordella & Brookes, Inc. does no advertising. Lights are on all day because the shop sits in a basement.

Yet MTB, as the firm is known, has never been busier. Every day, people find their way to the Manhattan store with one thing in mind: getting their hands on gold bullion coins, as soon as possible and as much as possible, before the financial Armageddon they fear renders the dollars in their pockets worthless."

"MTB is one of only eight authorized firms in the U.S. able to purchase U.S. Mint bullion coins directly and sell them to coin shops nationwide and abroad. The U.S. Mint does not sell bullion coins to the public, as it does with commemorative and other coins.

In addition to the new swarm of retail customers, MTB saw heightened interest from European coin retailers. "They couldn't find enough coins in Europe, and they were buying from us."

After checking their website, they seem legit and first class, even offering segregated storage services and insurance with direct buying access to the US Mint for bullion coins.

Please let me know how it works out.
Last edited by Reub on Wed Feb 11, 2015 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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