I caught the fractional bug

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dualstow
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I caught the fractional bug

Post by dualstow »

I’ve always stuck to full one-ounce coins, but once upon a time Mark Leavy wrote

One time when I bought a couple of ounces, the vendor ran out of 1 ounce coins and gave me multiple 1/2 ounce Eagles ($25 face) instead. These coins are the same size as quarters. That's pretty useful for a thin money belt that frequently passes through TSA...

viewtopic.php?p=120220#p120220

Took me forever to find that quote. I searched for quarter ounce and wound up with Mark’s recipe for something which includes a 1/4 oz of dark rum.

The markup on fractional is unpleasantly high, but the ½ and 1/4 ounce size of these popular bullion coins are just beautiful.
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I Shrugged
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Re: I caught the fractional bug

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Some people feel that if we ever really need gold as money, fractional will be much more useful. That makes a lot of sense.
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Re: I caught the fractional bug

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1/2 and 1/4 toz coins are nice. 1/10 are too tiny!
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Re: I caught the fractional bug

Post by dualstow »

Agreed, although I once felt that way about all fractional coins, so who knows what the future brings 😂
Some coins have 1/25 oz versions.
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Re: I caught the fractional bug

Post by seajay »

dualstow wrote: Thu Jun 27, 2024 1:37 pm I’ve always stuck to full one-ounce coins, but once upon a time Mark Leavy wrote

One time when I bought a couple of ounces, the vendor ran out of 1 ounce coins and gave me multiple 1/2 ounce Eagles ($25 face) instead. These coins are the same size as quarters. That's pretty useful for a thin money belt that frequently passes through TSA...

viewtopic.php?p=120220#p120220

Took me forever to find that quote. I searched for quarter ounce and wound up with Mark’s recipe for something which includes a 1/4 oz of dark rum.

The markup on fractional is unpleasantly high, but the ½ and 1/4 ounce size of these popular bullion coins are just beautiful.
Periodically a dealership might have a high number of fractionals dumped upon them and run a 'special' offer to reduce down the number quickly i.e. offer at markups similar to or even below 1 ounce coin markups or be prepared to do a direct swap of two ½'s for a ounce coin. When you can acquire some fractionals at such price levels its worthwhile doing so IMO, opens up a wider market of potential buyers if/when you might sell singles.
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dualstow
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Re: I caught the fractional bug

Post by dualstow »

Ah, that’s good to know, Seajay. I wonder if that’s what happened in Mark’s. I doubt he would have accepted a higher markup as he was looking to buy full ounces, and I was wondering about that.
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Re: I caught the fractional bug

Post by pmbug »

dualstow wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:23 pm Agreed, although I once felt that way about all fractional coins, so who knows what the future brings 😂
Some coins have 1/25 oz versions.
If you want fractional units that small, I'd prefer Goldbacks to coins/rounds.
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dualstow
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Re: I caught the fractional bug

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I remember reading about those when they were mentioned here a while ago. Paper with gold on it, right?
Pretty cool.
I’m sticking with coins, and mostly full ounces.
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Re: I caught the fractional bug

Post by pmbug »

dualstow wrote: Sat Jun 29, 2024 7:15 pm ... Paper with gold on it, right? ...
No, there is no paper in them. It's a precisely measured metal foil coated with a polymer:

https://www.goldback.com/

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Re: I caught the fractional bug

Post by dualstow »

Oh, that’s right. Cool.
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Re: I caught the fractional bug

Post by Xan »

It is cool, but the markup is something like 100%...
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