How to buy gold for investment purposes in the US?

Is it better to buy bullion bars or gold coins? Can I buy from a reputable bank or the government instead of from a private dealer?

Central Fund of Canada (listed on the American Stock Exchange, symbol is CEF) holds nothing but gold & silver bullion so you get exposure to the phnysical element, and you don't have to worry about storage/delivery/insurance.
One poster on another web site said he was told to only buy bars from Englehard and Johnson Matthey. They are the most recognized brokers. Other web sites: www.bulliondirect.com www.tulving.com www.kitgo.com
www.gold-eagle.com (this is not a recommendation for any of these sites, I do not use them, nor do I buy gold, I pan for it while on vacation.)

Gold coins don't require an assay fee at time of sale, only a smaller inspection fee. Some coins are both a gold investment and a collector investment. They may rise faster than gold itself.

I would focus more on mutual funds that specifically invest in gold and/or precious metals. There is a lot more diversification in doing it that way and also if gold happens to go down another metal in the fund is probably going up. In the long term it is a safer investment and usually only has slightly lower returns over time.

Gold coins, or gold bullion is a hedge against catastrophic events in the world, because it is always regarded as wealth.

But for investment purposes you want the leverage of shares of gold mining companies.
For the proper diversification in the precious metals "PART" of your investments, buy a precious metals mutual fund, preferably a no-load fund from your bank.

Buying into companies that hold gold bullion do not give you leverage in a rising gold market.

Precious metals is regarded as a sector and as such should be no more that 10%-15% of your investments.

another way to get into the investment of the Gold is with the stocks, ETF or to buy currency who's market really depend on gold like Australian dollar they are the second largest exporter of gold. A helpful site that talk about these kind of gold investment :
http://www.bestwaytoinvest.com