Three things to understand before buying gold or silver
- The value of gold and silver is calculated by the troy ounce. This price is set by the global commodities market and is constantly changing. We use the website www.kitco.com/market to determine the real-time price of gold or silver. This price is called the spot price.
- You pay a premium over the commodity price of gold or silver to purchase precious metals. This premium reflects the cost to manufacture and distribute the physical metal to the end user.
- There are two broad ways of owning physical gold and silver – bullion and collector coins. Each category has its strengths and weaknesses and it is up to the individual buyer to decide which is best for him or her.
Common ways to buy goldOne Troy ounce of gold* American Eagle
* South African Krugerrand * Canadian Maple Leaf American Buffalo Chinese Panda Fractional Gold
Classic us gold
modern us gold$5 US Commemorative
$10 US Commemorative American Eagle Proof Gold Foreign goldBritish Sovereign
Swiss Franc Austrian Corona Mexican Peso |
common ways to buy silversilver bullion (Also known as .999 Silver)* 1 Troy Ounce of Silver – Silver Round/Bar
10 Troy Ounces of Silver – Silver Bar 100 Troy Ounces of Silver – Silver Bar Us silver CoinsSilver Dollars
* American Eagle - (1 Troy ounce of silver) Proof American Eagle Pre 1921 Morgan Silver Dollars 1921 Morgan Silver Dollars Peace Silver Dollars 90% Pure Silver Coins (Junk Silver) * Dimes - 1964 and before * Quarters - 1964 and before * Half Dollars - 1964 and before 40% Pure Silver Coins (Clad Silver) Half Dollars - 1965 to 1970 35% Pure Silver Coins (War Nickels) Nickels - 1942-1945 (must have large mint mark on back) Foreign silverCanadian Maple Leaf
Chinese Panda British Britannia Miscellaneous Circulated Coins |
* Denotes Popular Product
Most Popular silver products
Rounds/Bars – composed of 1 troy ounce of .999 (99.9%) fine silver. These rounds/bars are minted by various private companies throughout the United States and the world. The most common manufactures include: SilverTowne, Ohio Precious Metals (OPM), Engelhard, Johnson and Matthey, Highland, Northwest Territorial Mint, and PAMP Suisse.
American Eagles – composed of 1 troy ounce of .999 (99.9%) fine silver and are manufactured by the US Mint. The American Eagle coin was first minted in 1986 and has been made every year since then.
Junk Silver – circulated 1964 and before 90% silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars. The industry standard is that there are 715 troy ounces of .999 (99.9%) fine silver in $1000 face value “bag” of junk silver coins. This means that once refined, $1.00 face value of junk silver coins would contain .715 troy ounces of .999 fine silver; therefore, it takes approximately $1.40 face value of junk silver coins to equal one troy ounce of .999 fine silver.
