When you're seeking out money to get into business for yourself, you're going to enter a whole new world of numbers. Your loans, mortgages, lines of credit, and credit cards will come with various interest rates and APRs attached, and you'll need to know what all of those numbers mean, or you'll be caught by surprise when you have to start making the payments. It's a good idea to sit down with a financial adviser before you start taking out loans and signing up for credit for your business. You need someone who speaks the language of finance on your side.
The practice of trading gold has spanned millennia and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Therefore, you might be interested in getting involved in the gold market, but you might not know exactly where to begin. To help you out, here's an introduction to the world of gold trading and gold coins:
How is gold traded?
If you've looked at gold prices in the last several years, then your jaw might have hit the floor. Gold is not cheap, and most people do not have the wealth needed to trade in pounds of gold. After all, a single ounce of gold might cost around $1,000, fluctuating a bit depending on when you check. Therefore, you shouldn't expect to begin your gold trading career buying bars of gold by the dozen. Instead, you should start looking into gold coins.
What is a gold coin?
In the last 50 years, many governments (including the United States, England, Canada, Australia, France, China, and Russia) have issued gold bullion coins. These coins tend to come in several denominations that are contingent on the amount of gold that is actually contained in the coin. For instance, America has four types of American Gold Eagles (the name for the American gold coin): 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, and 1 oz.
Now, many of these coins have face values and can be traded like normal coins (such as a dime or nickel). However, you never want to do this. The face value of a gold coin is practically nonexistent compared to the value of the gold contained therein. This is due to a variety of reasons, including inflation since the coins were minted. These coins were never meant to be used in daily transactions, but rather as a small denomination for the gold market.
What are troy ounces?
It is important to note that the measurements used in these coins are not the ounces that you are used to. Instead, gold coins use troy ounces. One troy ounce is about 1.1 regular ounces, and there are 12 troy ounces in a troy pound.
So how does the gold coin market actually work?
In essence, you buy coins and sell coins. Of course, you want to buy coins when they are cheap and sell them when they are more expensive. Some people buy gold coins and then save them for several years before reselling, due to the natural increase of the value of gold over the years. However, this might not be the best idea since inflation could outpace the increasing value of gold.
To learn more about gold coin values and prices, visit Dubin Rarities.
Share3 August 2015
