cheapest place to buy precious metals?

[rj.phila]

Are you buying as an inflation-hedge?

i'd be buying as a hedge against the collapse of the dollar, mostly. having it as a physically tradable asset is a definite bonus. i dont think ZombiepocalypseŽ is likely. i do think that something like the electric grid going down for 1-3-7 days or more is a feasibility in the distant future.

the term "inflation": this actually brings me to a question that i dont understand fully, or more specifically, doesnt make sense to me. might as well pose it now:

in the event of massive inflation, wouldnt the value of gold relatively peg to the dollar, thus in a real world, buying-power way, rendering it no different than the dollar? i'll ask it another way: if, for simplicity's sake, $1=a loaf of bread in the united states. $1=1 ounce of gold. inflation explodes. wouldnt the value of gold explode right with it, so that if now $100=a loaf of bread, wouldnt ROUGHLY SPEAKING, $100=1 ounce of gold? meaning that the real world buying power of gold would be similar to the $, making it no different if you actually want a loaf of bread in the united states?

i dont know a ton about this, so please help me explain my fallacy in thought here. thanks.

[97guns]

if your looking for a hedge against the dollar then DO NOT BUY PAPER SILVER. take it in physical form or dont get into it.

im pretty up to date on the metal sector and there is alot of trouble in the comex right now, this is where paper silver is traded and held for delivery. there are massive amounts of physical leaving the comex and many are thinking there will be a short squeeze.

like i said before please research this, everything is very bullish about metal, especially if your looking to hedge the dollar.

i would have reccomended buying from ebay, this is where i buy most all my metal but for the beginer there are too many pitfalls there.

[Scanner]

Coins are the least efficient way to own the physical stuff. Bullion/bars are more efficient.

[rj.phila]

great info, thanks guys.

scanner-when i check the coins vs. bullion/bars on a few sites, the differential doesnt seem huge- $32/oz vs $36/oz, roughly speaking. granted, the bars are higher value and thus have a slight discount, but doesnt seem monstrous to me. is that huge to you? again, im quite green here, trying to get my bearings.

another thing im thinking: in the unlikely event of using as barter, isnt an ounce of gold hugely impractical? only because it represents such a large qty. i'd think that something that represented roughly $100 usd would be much more "tradable" than $1500(right now at least).

[disneysteve]

i do think that something like the electric grid going down for 1-3-7 days or more is a feasibility in the distant future.

I am not a gold nut so help me out here. If your area loses power for a few days, why would you need gold bars or coins? Cash would still be accepted as it was after 9/11 or after Katrina or after the east coast blackout a number of years ago. Your debit card and credit card might be worthless but plain old cash would still work just fine.

[Mr Nice Guy]

I am not a gold nut so help me out here. If your area loses power for a few days, why would you need gold bars or coins? Cash would still be accepted as it was after 9/11 or after Katrina or after the east coast blackout a number of years ago. Your debit card and credit card might be worthless but plain old cash would still work just fine.

Common sense doesn't work with survivalists.

[rj.phila]

I am not a gold nut so help me out here. If your area loses power for a few days, why would you need gold bars or coins? Cash would still be accepted as it was after 9/11 or after Katrina or after the east coast blackout a number of years ago. Your debit card and credit card might be worthless but plain old cash would still work just fine.

you are surely right. i am holding an emergency cash fund as well. but along with canned food, water purification tablets, wood stove in house, hunting rifle, it seems like a prudent "10-20% hedge", so to speak. i dont expect the end of the world-these measures only go so far anyway. at the same time, A) i like being self-sufficient, and B) an economics prof i know is convinced the US dollar is going to collapse eventually, and the general idea of holding tangible goods-from real estate to dog food-seems to be more sensible to me every day.

in a way, this is kind of a "getting my feet wet" type of thing. i spent the last 20 years of my life saving us dollars-HARD-and im now presented with the distant possibility of it generating enough income anytime soon to contribute to living expenses, due to such low interest rates. from a portfolio perspective, im "dollar heavy", so to speak.

[Scanner]

DS,

Exactly. What survivalists don't understand is the people most likely to survive and prosper after any kind of catastrophe are the ones who are able to foster an interdependence vs. an independence.

I was more attracted to silver for industrial, semi-conductor and it's precious value vs. somehow thinking I'd be able to trade for food and guns.

[97guns]

gold is for maintaining your wealth through any dollar crash, if a new currency evolves from it then holders of the "old" currency will get hit. when you go to exchange old for new currency look to lose at least 25% of your wealth. just look at what argentina went through when their dollar collapsed for possible USA scenario's.

hopefully by holding gold and precious metals you should be way ahead once the currency resets.

[robertgpitts]

I don't know much about precious metals, but I've been listening to Peter Schiff a lot lately. He recommends buying bullion bars or coins (not numismatics or collectibles) and not paying a dealer more than 5% to 6% above spot market price. He says outfits like Goldline have a markup of 60% or more, so be careful. Bear in mind that he has just started a company to sell precious metals himself.

Robert Pitts
Freedom Personal Finance, Lakeland, FL

[97guns]

yes goldline is a ripoff. look at mexican peso's, austrian corona's and british sovereigns for your lowest premium gold. i would buy from apmex, gainsville or provident.

im not gonna preach doom and gloom again but if you cant see things for yourself then you guys truly are what they call sheep, and yer gonna get herded up.

[wrk4lvg]

Anyone else watch in its entirety?

YouTube - Meltup

[rj.phila]

Anyone else watch in its entirety?

YouTube - Meltup

ha, i just watched that the other day. funny timing. there are alot of documentaries about national debt floating around...netflix ftw.

[LiveTradingZone]

You are honestly better off buying and selling the futures for it instead of buying the actual metal. Even if you only buy or sell 1 contract you will not have to pay hefty fees in the mark-up of gold. Right now the BEST you can do is buy it for 10% over spot, and when you go back to sell it expect another 10% fee. With trading the future contract you will only pay $5 commission.

[97guns]

holding metal on paper is not a good idea IMO. there is severe shortages of both silver and gold at the comex. if all the long positons demand physical posession rather than cash then the shortage will show. the comex/metal trading is a huge pozi scheme, they are trading paper 100's of times over what physical metal they have to back up all the contracts.

im opinion paper etf's are for trading but if you plan to hold then you better have the physical in your hands.

the cheapest gold you can get would be around 1380/oz or $30 over spot, silver would be $1 over spot or around $30.50/oz but you can get it for as little as .59 over spot if you buy 1000 oz.