Where is the best place to buy actual gold as an investment?

Please, don't contact me if you're trying to sell it to me; I want to speak to people who have acutally bought gold. Also, I don't want gold certificates; they can be devalued at any time by the government if they so choose to. I want to know where and how to buy actual gold to keep in my possession but as an investment.

Dealers sell gold bullion bars in various weights from 1 ounce to 100 ounces or larger. You can also buy gold coins such as the American Eagle through dealers, brokerages and some banks. The U.S. Mint has a list of authorized dealers. You'll pay a commission or premium, and most dealers have purchase minimums. Be sure to study the differences between bullion gold coins, which are valued according to the market price for an ounce of gold, versus coins that have a collector's value.

Exchange-traded funds
Gold can carry concerns about authenticity and purity, as well as storage and insurance costs. But you can shed those worries and still own a chunk of gold by investing in exchange-traded funds that make buying and selling gold bullion as easy as buying and selling stocks.

The share price of streetTRACKS Gold Shares (symbol: GLD) roughly tracks the price of gold and represents an investment in gold bullion. In effect you get to own gold without the hassle of storing and insuring.


With GLD, each share is priced at about one-tenth the price of gold bullion. So if gold goes to $700 an ounce, then the price of a share should be about $70.

Open a brokerage account at Zecco and buy the ETF IAU.

The actual gold is safely stored in a vault inside a bank outside the United States of America.

Check out www.apmex.com or www.bulliondirect.com. Also consider eBay. I've purchased a lot of precious metals from eBay without a single problem. Just be sure to use PayPal, and you should have no problems at all.

Look for local coin shows. Dealers are usually present that sell gold and silver. Also check the yellow pages for local coin dealers.

Good luck to you.

Dean