The silver American Eagle is a one-ounce coin and has an attractive obverse, which was adapted from Adolph Weinman’s Walking Liberty half dollar.
The relatively recent Bison gold coins are currently available only as one-ounce pieces. They depict James Earle Fraser’s Buffalo nickel design.
If you want to move beyond gold and silver, the U.S. Mint also strikes platinum coins.
Austria, Australia, Canada, China, Great Britain, Mexico, and South Africa. Such issues often vary as to fineness, but the important point being that even if you’re buying a one-ounce bullion coin that has more alloy than another, it still contains exactly one ounce of gold. Gold is a soft metal and a bit more alloy makes it more durable, not less valuable. If you’re not concerned about your bullion being officially issued by a government, silver rounds are another option. Many manufacturers, including Sunshine Mining, U.S. Assay, A-Mark, Silvertowne, Engelhard, and Johnson Matthey sell .999-fine rounds and bars to investors in various ounce weights. Gold bars can be had in sizes ranging from 1 gram to 1 kilo. On one broker’s Web site, a 10-ounce .999.9 fine Credit Suisse gold bar was priced at $8,509.50. Another option besides buying bullion coins, which by nature do not have a big collector following, is through precious-metal coins. Many of the later U.S. gold series offer dates and mints that do run higher because of collector demand, but also benefit from a strong bullion market. These include, but are not limited to, more common dates among the Indian Head gold $2.50s and $5s of the early 20th century and many dates within the Saint-Gaudens gold $20 set. Gold $2.50s contained .12094 ounces of pure gold. Gold $5s yield .24187. Gold $10s are at .48375. And gold $20s
contain .96750. At current gold prices, the $2.50 has just over $97 in gold; the gold $5 is just above $194; the gold $10 sits at a little over $388; and the gold $20 brings nearly $777 in gold value alone. As for silver, if you don’t want to purchase it in bullion-coin form, why not consider U.S. silver coins. Keep in mind that all dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars issued through 1964 were minted in 90 percent silver, making them worth multiple times their face value because of the high price of silver. What is even more amazing to some (but not to readers of this publication’s “Coin Finds” column), is that these coins can still be found in a limited extent in circulation but more often in searching through rolls obtained from area banks. This is especially true of Kennedy half dollars, which continued to be minted in 40 percent silver from 1965-1970 and often are found in bank holdings. Watch also for what the hobby knows as “war nickels.” Minted from 1942-1945, they contain 35 percent silver and are easily identified by a large P, D, or S mintmark on the coin’s reverse above the depiction of Monticello. At today’s silver bullion spot, a 90percent silver dime, which contains .07234 in pure silver, comes in at nearly 70 cents in bullion value. A 90-percent silver quarter, which contains .18084 in pure silver, is nearly $1.73 in bullion value. A 90-percent silver half dollar, which contains .36169 in pure silver,
brings nearly $3.46 in bullion value. And a 90-percent silver dollar, which contains .77344 in pure silver, brings nearly $7.40 in bullion value. As for the 40 percent silver halves (1965-1970), they have .1479 in pure silver, which translated at just above $1.41 in bullion value. The 35-percent silver Jefferson war nickels (1942-1945) have .05626 in pure silver, which is nearly 54 cents in melt value. Rarely has it been so profitable to learn the joys of hunting for coins in banks or old hoards. You just need to learn the basics and keep the fever under control. ❐
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Silver and gold coins issued for circulation are another means of setting aside precious metals. The 90-percent silver dollar currently has $7.40 in silver bullion in it.
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