Gold Coin Options

Although many gold coins are available for an investor, only 2 main types stand out. The gold bullion coins and the rare gold coins. Gold bullion are strictly for a hedge against inflation; hence they form a good basis to own gold whereas numismatic gold coins or rare gold coins which are typically used to privately grow wealth over the long-term.

Gold Bullion Coins

The large market size for gold bullion coins makes them a favorite with many people. Gold bullion coins hold many benefits for their owners; security, safety, convenience and liquidity. But the best benefit of all is great potential profit as the coin’s value is directly related to the current gold price.

The Krugerrand from South Africa was the first modern issue gold bullion coin that surfaced in the market in 1967. This should not be surprising as South Africa has always led the pack in exporting gold; it is still the world’s leader in gold exports. The South African Krugerrand enjoyed its fame for a long time as many individuals took it as a means to possess gold. This is precisely the reason that the term ‘Krugerrand’ was interchangeably used with ‘gold coin’ during its hey days; just as one associated ‘Kleenex’ to facial tissue or ‘Xerox’ to photocopiers at the start of the respective industries.

But other countries caught on with South Africa's innovation with gold coins and started minting their own special gold bullion production. Now, the market offers the American Gold Eagle, the American Gold Buffalo, the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, the Gold Australian Kangaroo and the Austrian Gold Vienna Philharmonic.

Rare Gold Coins

Rare gold coins can be collected for either investment purposes or just to own gold; some rare gold coin owners do not even bother to make a distinction of their collection.

US gold coins that were minted from 1795 to 1933 are classified as rare gold coins because the US Mint discontinued the minting for circulation. There were many denominations of rare gold coins distributed in the 138 years when these gold coins were minted. Sometimes, the US Mint minted various denominations of gold coins for commercial circulation such as $1.00, $2.50 (also known as Quarter Eagle), $3.00, $4.00, $5.00 (also known as Half Eagle), $10.00 (also known as Eagle) and $20.00 (also known as Double Edge).

Although small in size, the US Gold Dollar came in 3 types-I, II and III; it was minted between 1849 and 1889.

The Quarter Eagle's denomination is $2.50 and was minted between 1796 and 1929 sporting 7 different motifs.

The US gold coin that is stamped with $3.00 is the Indian Princess that saw its mintage from 1854 all the way to 1889. The US $4.00 gold coin was called ‘Stella’. It was minted as an experimental piece in 1879/80; hence there are very few pieces. The Half Eagle gold or US $5.00 gold coin came in 8 varieties of designs when it was minted.

The Gold Eagle of $10.00 came in 4 unique designs during its mintage between 1795 and 1933. The Double Gold Eagle of $20.00 is the largest among the US gold coins issued; it was minted between 1849 and 1933 with 2 designs.

These gold coins are in high demand because of the gold content in them as well as their beauty, rarity and historical relevance.