Of course on the other side of spectrum there are many reasons why you would want to sell gold right now. Every day more people get laid off and can’t afford to pay the bills so they turn to the cash for gold sites they see in commercials for quick cash. Which of course means huge profits for those companies. This is a whole different story from gold investing though, no one who has any significant investment in gold is going to sell to a scrap gold refiner.

Over time gold has proven to be one of the most stable forms of currency, mostly because it’s value doesn’t change with the current economy. Of course, the price when you sell gold always mirrors demand but it might be just the thing to put your mind at rest in the era of bank corruption and tumbling stocks and shares. So what exactly is gold investing and how could you buy and sell gold? Well, it is not as hard as most people believe it to be and certainly is not as complicated as it would be if you chose to invest in the stock market!

If you want to buy and sell gold for gold investment purposes then you should start by looking into the institutions and companies that can help you to do just that. There are many financially sound companies that can provide the means for you to invest in gold bars as and when you like. You might also be offered the choice to make an investment in a gold mining company by institutions that sell gold company shares as well. Stocks are not as resilient as gold. As with any company, if there are changes in management or problems within the company itself then the share price will go down. The gold price will not. Stick to actual gold if you can.

Yes, gold coins are much more popular amongst small investors than gold bullion and bars. Coins are my favorite form of gold investment, as they are easy to trade. It can be hard to deal in gold bars, as the quantities are too big for the average investor, right now! If you are looking to buy and sell gold then make sure that your investment is secure at all times. A safe deposit box at your investing institution might be a good idea, as might employing a really reputable company to manage your investment. Never do anything that you do not feel comfortable with though if you want to maximize your return.

There are advertisements everywhere for selling gold - all of them trying to get you to sell gold jewelry to them. Most of these are gold refiners which I spoke about in the last few posts. Online generally isn’t the best place to find jewelers to sell you precious jewelry to. Your local yellow pages is almost always the best place to find local jewelry stores. Jewelry shops will buy your broken or old or even antique jewelry for partial retail value. Sometime they will base the price solely on the gold content like many gold refiners but that is if the piece is not valuable. The best way to find out if your gold jewelry has any value is to shop around at different stores to get the piece appraise.

If you want to get a good price for your piece or pieces of jewelry you need to understand how the gold of your jewelry is valued. Karats are what determines how much gold is in a said item. 24 karats would be pure gold and anything under that is less gold and more alloys and hardening agents. The gold content of your piece is probably inscribed on it somewhere in karats. Rings will usually have them on the inside of the band somewhere and bracelets the same.

Antique or well crafted pieces of jewelry are usually the best items to sell to jewelers as they are more likely to give you the better price. Everyone else only looks at the gold content of the item and does not cosider the retail vaule. This is because refiners just smelt down all the pieces but jewelers can resell your piece without modification generally.

Most people who own gold coins are those who wish to make a safe investment. Gold coins possess a small allowance over the current gold price when you compare them to other types of gold you can invest in. Another great thing about gold coins is that if you buy one of the commonly recognized gold bullion coins (The American Gold Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, Australian Nugget, South African Krugerrand) you can easily sell them to almost any dealer since they are easily verified, unlike gold bars or nuggets where the dealer will have to check the gold content to be sure it is legitimate.

Gold coins can be produced in less than one once and are usually a half ounce, quarter ounce, or one-tenth ounce and sometimes even one twentieth of an ounce. The face value of gold coins are not generally useful as the value of this coins are based on the gold content and the current price of gold in the market. The face value is really just for show since it is almost always much lower than the actual value of the coin.

What determines the price of a gold coins? Well it depends on a few factors such as the rarity, the age, how many were minted, and the condition of the coin. Very rare, well kept, old coins can actually sell for millions of dollars. For example a few years ago an American Double Eagle coin from 1850 sold for $7.5 million. But if you’re just looking into non collectible gold bullion coins well their value is determined by the gold content and the price of gold at the time.

How To Sell Gold Coins

If your looking to sell your gold coin collection and you are only looking to sell a few or your collection is small you should try a gold dealer or gold refiner. You will get the value of your coin(s) based on the gold content of the coin and the current price of gold.

Now if you have a large collection of coins you should probably get it appraised before looking for a buyer. Many dealers will give you an appraisal if you ask or you can pay for a private appraisal from an expert. Just remember to get a second opinion.

When you have a ballpark figure you will have to decide who to sell to. A private collector may be willing to buy part or all of your collection if it contains rare or valuable coins. You can also try using the internet to sell your gold coins. There are sites all over the place that will buy your gold coins if you just look for them. You can also try online auctions to try to make a sell on sites such as eBay. Another option would be to use online classifieds such as Craigslist or your local paper’s classifieds.

Which ever way you choose to sell gold coins, if you want results you’re going to have to follow certain rules. Research and and selling gold will be profitable for you. This industry is already well established. Find out how other seller’s strategies. This will allow you sell your coins more competently.

So now that you’re thinking about selling you have to figure out who you’re going to sell to. This will depend a lot on what exactly you’re selling. But unless you’re selling gold bars, valuable collectible gold coins, or antique well crafted jewelry, your best bet is probably gold refiners or scrap gold dealers. Pawnshops and jewelry stores are also viable options but they generally do not pay out nearly as much and that’s what we all want right?

What are gold refiners or scrap gold dealers you say? They are merchants that buy all types of scrap gold like gold chains, bracelets, necklaces, dental gold, gold bullion coins, and really anything with high gold content and then they separate the pure gold from the scrap metal and other waste materials and smelt it all down into reusable gold. You can usually get a better price for your gold than jewelers and pawnshops unless you’re trying to sell one of the aforementioned types of gold. I’ll bring up how to sell those in another upcoming post.

Okay now that we’ve established who you’re going to sell to you have to find the actually person or company to sell to. I’m sure everyone has seen one of those cash4gold commercials by now that advertise how easy it is to get some quick cash for your gold by sending an envelope full of your gold to these companies but it’s not that simple unless you want to get about 1/3 of your gold’s actual value. That’s right one third and sometimes even less. They will even acknowledge this by offering a bigger check if you can call them and get in touch with someone before they smelt your gold down. A lot of online gold refiners run a similar scam so be forewarned if you want to go that route. If you don’t believe me check these two complaints out here and here.

Similar to the cash4gold scam, companies have started ‘hotel’ gold buying parties where they give you the same old sales pitch to unsuspecting individuals. What’s worse about these scams is that many of these ‘companies’ will write a decent sized check but it will bounce and they will be long gone before you can get any money from them or your gold back. Gold Buyers of America is such a company that offers you, “a fun and easy environment with no pressure to buy or sell anything. We take pride in the fact we allow people to feel comfortable and safe by coming in for a private one on one consultation to evaluate the gold items they wish to sell.” Yeah I bet these people feel real comfortable when they skip town town with their money.

If you’d rather sell your gold without getting ripped off a much better option is taking your gold to local reputable dealer that should offer you around 80-95% of the price of your gold. An online refiner that I’ve personally dealt with is Midwest Refineries and they offer 95% of the gold value after smelting which is a pretty good deal.

Hopefully now you have a better understanding of how and where to sell you gold and you will be able to sell you gold for a good price without getting ripped off. If you have any questions just leave me a comment below. Thanks.

If any of you would like more information on selling gold, just let me know via comments. Thanks for visiting and check back soon as I’ll be posting more information in the upcoming days.