“Should I buy a gold necklace or a gold bar?”
We are pretty sure that thought has come across your mind before. Should you choose to go for that pretty jewellery piece or should you choose to go for a plain looking gold bar?
Today, we shall take a very brief look at the main forms of Gold and consider the pros and cons of each. Namely the following forms:
- Jewellery
- Bullion Bars and Coins
- Pool Allocated Precious Metals
Although, we must say that there are no “right or wrong” or “one size fits all” kind of form. Anyone who tells you otherwise is simply pushing a product to you. Beware of that! As you will see in the below table, there are pros and cons to each form, and it depends on the individuals’ preferences and circumstances!
Perhaps, to aid your decision, we have thought of 3 questions which might guide you!
3 questions you should also ask before investing!
So which form do you prefer you Gold in?
Let us know in the comments below!
Jason
While the recent ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine raise the risks of a protracted conflict within Ukraine, the war also creates concerns about the potential impact on financial markets and the global economy. Besides increasing the likelihood of market volatility, the invasion is likely to add to inflationary pressures by disrupting exports of oil, natural gas, and wheat from Russia and Ukraine and raising prices.
The impacts of the conflict are likely to vary depending on geography. While that injects some uncertainty into the global outlook, the US economy appears relatively insulated from the war. For individual investors and consumers in the US, the effects will most likely include additional inflationary pressures due to higher energy prices. These also led to recent stock market volatility, reflecting various investor concerns and uncertainty.
When it comes to the planning of your investment portfolio, inflation can affect your choices in the long run as money depreciates over the years. By diversifying your portfolio into Gold and Silver will help mitigate your overall portfolio risk. It is worth noting that over the years, Gold had outperformed the rate of inflation. If you hold some Gold in your portfolio, your risk will be reduced by a considerable margin. Similarly for Silver, they can perform the same function as Gold as they are positively correlated.
There are a few ways to diversify your Precious Metals investment geographically. If you’ve plans to hand down your physical bullion as part of your legacy to future generations, you can consider storing them in our allocated storage program at the Le Freeport. Le Freeport is a tax-free zone in Singapore which makes the vicinity an ideal storage premise. We also offer storage services globally in Hong Kong, New York, London and Zurich..
We are also one of the distributors of the only Government Guaranteed Precious Metals Storage Program in the world – The Perth Mint Certificate Program. The Perth Mint Certificate Program offers 3 storage options: Allocated, Pooled Allocated and Unallocated.
All with the same Government Guarantee and is an excellent program for your geographical diversification. You never know when you need your offshore precious metals especially when we witness now what is happening in both Ukraine and Russia citizens.
Do connect with us at enquiry@goldsilvercentral.com.sg or WhatsApp us at +65 8893 9255 if you are keen to find out more about our Global Allocated Storage Program or the Perth Mint Certificate Program.
Joycelyn
Every investor is unique. The circumstances he/she faces at this stage in life, the mentality that he/she carries as well as his/her personal expectations. All these are different!
Hence, at GoldSilver Central, we firmly believe that no one product suits everyone’s needs. It is impossible. Chances are, customers end up investing in precious metals solutions that neither suit their needs and objectives and customers end up disappointed.
Here, we always ask any serious precious metals investor these 3 questions.
1. What is the purpose of this investment?
Are you looking to earn a quick profit? Did a “trusted friend” tell you that Gold prices are on the rise and you need to buy into Gold before its too late? If so, we suggest you take a pause and consider this question first before putting your money down.
It is important, because if you were to buy on someone’s advice, who would you listen to then if things do not go the way you expect it to? (take note there is no market that only trends upwards and never suffers pullbacks.) In those situations, would you try to “wait it out”, believing that prices would once again rise up and your investment would be vindicated? For those of us unfamiliar with Gold’s history, prices peaked in 2012 and remained low for the next eight years before reaching a new high in 2020. That is 8 long years to “hold on dear life”, much too long for a “trusted friend’s advice” in my humble opinion.
We would humbly suggest for you to consider instead, are you putting your money down with an eye for short term profits or long term asset allocation? If it is the former, what would your exit strategy then be? Are you looking to exit once the prices reach a certain level? If it is the latter, how much volatility are you prepared to take on in your portfolio?
These are areas which GoldSilver Central’s staff can discuss more and plan it out properly with you.
2. What is your timeframe?
Are you looking for a 1 week trade? Or a 5 year investment? If it is a shorter timeframe, you have to pay very close attention to details such as buy-sell spreads, premium costs, buyback discounts, etc. You have to know that paying a 20% premium for a silver bar, in the hopes that Silver prices rise by more than 20% (only for you to break-even) in a week would have a fairly low percentage chance of occurring. Not impossible, but improbable. If it is a longer timeframe, you then have more leeway to work with. You could employ strategies such as dollar cost averaging, wait for physical premiums to go lower, so on and so forth. That is why long term investors usually fare better than short term traders (and face lesser stress too).
3. What is your budget?
Do not misunderstand us when we put this question out there. Every investment sum is definitely a step in the right direction. What we mean by this question is this, if you are putting 10% of your portfolio into precious metals then yes, a proper thought process should be worked out. However, if you are looking to put in only 1% of your portfolio into precious metals, then is it really worth spending so much time and effort? Is it really worth spending hours negotiating numerous websites trying to save a few dollars of extra premiums? I would personally spend that few dollars and try to secure a dealer who is able to add value and think along the same lines of investments as me.
Of course, if you have a small monthly budget sum, that does not mean you cannot or should not plan properly. With tools such as GSC Live! and Goldblocx, you can buy Gold automatically daily for as low as $0.01! That definitely helps us in achieving our needs and objectives!
So that’s it. 3 simple and yet prudent questions which we feel should be asked before entering any investments. If you wish to discuss more, feel free to reach out to us via our GSC:Anywhere platform or just drop us a call!
Jason
We have seen the letters “ESG” so much more than before. Now, ESG is the short form of Environmental and Social Governance. I’m sure the question has crossed your mind many times – what has the environment or being socially responsible got to do with me purchasing precious metals?! The main reason ESG is so important right now is that it helps mitigate risks for investors. What risks are involved since we are just purchasing maybe some Silver coins and Gold bars, right? Let’s take a broader view into the factors involved in ESG below:
(Source: https://retailinvestment.gold/en (World Gold Council – Provider Principles)
The factors listed to be following ESG greatly impacts our everyday lives, and imagine if you had purchased the items from a non-adherence organisation! What if child labourers mined the gold bars we purchased in bad working conditions and in a country filled with corruption and bribery, and the gold bar suddenly becomes non-LBMA accredited? What would you do with the gold bar? It is always important for consumers like ourselves to check on the accreditations a Bullion Dealer holds and the various hallmarks carried by the dealer to safeguard and be at ease when purchasing.
At GoldSilver Central, we are a current local associate corporate member of the Singapore Bullion Market Association (SBMA) and carry a wide range of physical precious metals products (LBMA-accredited). We are also one of the Regulated Dealers registered under the Precious Stones and Precious Metals (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Act 2019 (“PSPM Act”). With these, you can be assured that all our products follow ESG guidelines as we continue to move towards impact investing and being socially responsible.
We look forward to meeting you in our retail store soon!
Wendy
English version
In our previous article, I’ve mentioned that my personal recommendation for a newbie investing in precious metals is to invest and purchase in Gold. I’m sure you’ve heard that Silver has been trending recently, leading you to be hesitant on whether you should be choosing Gold or Silver, right? Today, we will be analyzing and comparing these two precious metals so that everyone can choose the investment they think is worthwhile.
We previously discussed that Gold has two key points – Liquidity and Buy/Sell Spread, which is in line with the needs of a newbie investor. In fact, I personally think that these two points are factors that must be considered in any kind of investment, not just for precious metals.
In terms of Liquidity, we’ve seen an improvement in Silver for the last 10 years. Although Silver is considered to be slightly inferior as compared to Gold, most dealers and a small number of pawnshops have accepted trading Silver (note: Silver here refers to investment grade Silver, which excludes Sterling Silver, 925 Silver jewellery, silverware, etc.). The Buy/Sell Spread on the other hand, increased from the usual 10% to between 15 – 20% due to a series of events (temporary supply chain paralysis caused by Covid-19, #SilverSqueeze by the Reddit Community, etc.). Dealers had to increase the price of Silver products accordingly as many mints and refineries increased their premiums due to supply shortages.
Having said that, let’s look at what other advantages Silver have over Gold. Personally, I think that affordability is the biggest advantage of Silver. Let’s take the most common hallmark coin – Canadian Maple Leaf One Ounce Gold and Silver coins as an example. The current price of the Gold coin can purchase 68pcs of the Silver coin. Just imagine, what happens if both Gold and Silver price rise by $10/oz? Well, the 68 pieces of Silver coins you bought would be more valuable than 1 Gold coin (note: we must also consider that the actual price increase of Gold and Silver are usually different, and this is just an analogy). It is precisely that because Silver is cheaper, its Upside Potential is also greater as it holds a higher value when holdings increase. The price of Gold as of 10 Mar 2022 15:45PM Singapore Time is USD 1,978.50/oz, and the price of Silver is at USD 25.50/oz (oz=troy ounce, pronounced as “aʊns, and is equivalent to 31.1035 grams). In August 2020, Gold hit an all-time high at USD 2,074.96/oz, whereas Silver’s all-time high was USD 49.45/oz in 1980. In terms of probability, I personally think that chances are higher that Silver’s price will double rather than Gold doubling its price.
By now, you must be wondering why wasn’t Platinum mentioned in my article? I’d say take it slow and not to rush as we should always learn things step-by-step. (In fact, I had to squeeze my brains and leave some topics to write for in the long-term when writing a manuscript. Thanks in advance for not blowing my cover!)
I will stop here for now, see you in our next article! If you’ve any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and we can discuss together.
Maya
中文版本
上期我们说到作为新手,我个人比较推荐买入黄金作为你第一块打开投资贵金属大门的敲门砖。可是相信你们还是会听说过最近白银很大势喔所以在犹豫到底选择哪一个比较好对吧?那么我们今天就来分析比较一下两者好让大家可以选到自己认为值得的投资。
之前我们说到黄金有两个特点我觉得是契合新手投资的需求的,那就是流动性(liquidity)和买卖差价率(buy/sell spread)。其实我觉得这两点是任何一种投资都得要考虑的因素,不单单只是适用于贵金属投资。
首先就流动性而言,白银在近10年的流动性已经改善了许多。虽然比起黄金还是稍微逊色了一些,可是大部分的经销商和少部分的当铺都已接受买卖白银(请注意这里的白银是普遍指投资用的白银,不包括sterling silver, 925银饰或银器等)。至于白银的买卖差价率则因为新型冠状病毒肺炎造成的短暂供应链瘫痪以及红迪(Reddit)用户挤压金属供应等一系列事件从往常的10%左右增加至15-20%。这是由于供不应求而造成很多铸币厂和精炼厂把手工费(premium)提高,经销商唯有跟着调高白银产品的售价。
说了以上两点,让我们来看看白银比起黄金有什么其他优势吧。我个人认为便宜是白银的最大优势,以最普遍的加拿大枫叶一盎司金币和银币来举例的话,目前一个金币的价格可以买68个银币。设想如果金价和银价同时都上涨10元,那你买的68个银币带给你的增值就会比1个金币来得多(当然也要考虑现实金价和银价的涨幅通常是不一样的,这里只是做一个简单的比喻)。也正因为白银便宜,所以它的上涨潜力比起黄金是大很多的而且因持有数量带来的增值也比较多。截至2022年3月10日新加坡时间15点45分,金价是美元1978.50/oz而银价是美元25.50/oz (盎司oz=troy ounce,读作”auns”。等于31.1035克)。2020年8月金价达到了历史以来最高的记录美元2074.96/oz,而银价的最高纪录则是在1980年达到49.45/oz。以可能性来说,我个人认为银价会翻倍的几率比金价来的高。
你说怎么没谈到铂金?慢慢来别急,学习总得要有个循次渐进(其实是我写稿也要挤挤脑汁留点话题才能写长远,请别当面拆穿我小女万分感激)。
今天暂时就分享到这里,我们下回见!有什么疑问欢迎在我们的留言区讨论哦。
Maya
Introduction
Numismatics are often associated with being coins that are both rare and ancient. The value of numismatics goes beyond its currency because of their significance and unique historical values.
This article focuses on the extended knowledge of numismatics.
Coin Grading
The Sheldon Scale was introduced by Dr. William Sheldon, a renowned numismatist in 1948. The Sheldon Scale is now internationally recognized and used widely in the coins and numismatics industry. It is a point system scale, ranking coins from a scale of 1 to 70. The higher the grade, the better the condition of the coin is. To account for a wider range of coins, the Sheldon Scale had been modified. Below are the grades and explanations:
MS/PR-70 (Mint State/Proof): A coin with no post-production imperfections at 5x magnification.
MS/PR-69: A fully struck coin with nearly imperceptible imperfections.
MS/PR-68: Very sharply struck with only minuscule imperfections.
MS/PR-67: Sharply struck with only a few imperfections.
MS/PR-66: Very well struck with minimal marks and hairlines.
MS/PR-65: Well struck with moderate marks or hairlines.
MS/PR-64: Average or better strike with several obvious marks, hairlines and other minuscule imperfections.
MS/PR-63: Slightly weak or average strike with moderate abrasions and hairlines of varying sizes.
MS/PR-62: Slightly weak or average strike with no trace of wear. More or larger abrasions than an MS/PF-63.
MS/PR-61: Weak or average strike with no trace of wear. More marks and/or multiple large abrasions.
MS/PR-60: Weak or average strike with no trace of wear. Numerous abrasions, hairlines and/or large marks.
AU-58 (About Uncirculated): Slight wear on the highest points of the design. Full details.
AU-55: Slight wear on less than 50% of the design. Full details.
AU-53: Slight wear on more than 50% of the design. Full details, except for very minor softness on the high points.
AU-50: Slight wear on more than 50% of the design. Full details, except for minor softness on the high points.
XF-45 (Extremely Fine): Complete details with minor wear on some of the high points.
XF-40: Complete details with minor wear on most of the high points.
VF-35 (Very Fine): Complete details with wear on all the high points.
VF-30: Nearly complete details with moderate softness on the design areas.
VF-25: Nearly complete details with more softness on the design areas.
VF-20:Moderate design detail with sharp letters and digits.
F-15 (Fine): Recessed areas show slight softness. Letters and digits are sharp.
F-12: Recessed areas show more softness. Letters and digits are sharp.
VG-10 (Very Good): Wear throughout the design. Letters and digits show softness.
VG-8: Wear throughout the design. Letters and digits show more softness.
G-6 (Good): Peripheral letters and digits are full. Rims are sharp.
G-4: Peripheral letters and digits are nearly full. Rims exhibit wear.
AG-3 (About Good): Most letters and digits are readable. Rims are worn into the fields.
FR-2 (Fair): Some details are visible. Rims are barely visible.
PO-1 (Poor): Enough detail to identify the coin’s date and type. Rims are flat or nearly flat.
Ungradable: Date and mintmark of the coin are undetectable, which is necessary for grading.
Coin Grading Organization
If you are looking to get your coins professionally graded, you may want to consider visiting reputable and well known coin grading companies like PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) and NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation) to get the coins graded. Graded coins will be certified as authentic, protected and held with a holder, and can be sold for a higher value to coin collectors or dealers who are willing to pay higher premiums for a relatively rare coin.
Numismatics vs Bullion
Bullion are generally purchased as a form of investment or to hedge against inflation. Bullion are valued based on their purity, weight, and spot metal price. Below are some examples of investment grade bullion coins for your consideration if you are looking to purchase as a form of investment:
- Canadian Maple Leaf
- American Eagle
- Austrian Philharmonic
- Royal Mint’s Britannia
- Perth Mint’s Lunar Series
However, numismatics on the other hand, are extremely rare and collectible as they are historically significant pieces. Therefore, they are valued based on their rarity, condition, mintage or year. Some famous numismatics coins are:
- Pre-1933 American Eagle
- Morgan Silver Dollars
- Peace Silver Dollars
It is crucial to know your objective when you put into consideration of whether to purchase bullion or numismatics. This is because a bullion coin may be a better choice if you are looking for an asset to invest due to lower premiums.
I hope you have a better understanding of numismatics now! Do connect with us at enquiry@goldsilvercentral.com.sg or WhatsApp us at +65 8893 9255 if there is any specific numismatics coin that you are looking for, or if you have a coin and wondering if it could fetch a numismatics value. Meanwhile, if you are interested, we have a range of numismatics certified by PCGS and NGC here!
Evonne
Many of our clients have brought up the idea of cutting up their Gold bars to periodically sell in smaller denominations. Logically, it makes perfect sense as it is actually a smarter way when it comes to liquidating your holdings. In fact, it is part of a strategy called Dollar-Cost Averaging for selling. By splitting up your holdings equally and selling them in fixed periods, you get an average price over a period instead of liquidating all the Gold bars at one go, allowing you to better manage the price risks.
Another situation which may require you to sell a portion of your Gold bars is when you are rebalancing your portfolio. When the value of your Gold increases and outweighs the allocation you have intended for your portfolio, you will need to sell some of your Gold to ensure the portfolio is balanced accordingly. Nonetheless, we all know that it is definitely not advisable to cut your Gold bars for the purposes mentioned. Once the Gold bar is cut, it loses its value as an investment grade bullion bar and will be treated as scrap gold (for melting), resulting in a lower buyback price.
With GoldSilver Central, there will always be solutions to achieve your intended portfolio. You can sell the intended portion of your Gold holdings through means of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) or Pool-Allocated contracts. Pool allocated contracts on GSC Live! for Gold are available in mini contracts (0.1oz per contract), providing you with the flexibility that you need. You can also convert your physical Gold bars into pool-allocated contracts on GSC Live!. A Gold bar weight 1 KG (32.148oz) can be converted into 32 of the 1oz contracts or even 321 of the 0.1oz contracts! With these solutions made available to you, “cutting” up your Gold bars is now possible without having you to suffer any unnecessary losses during the process.
Do connect with us via a call at +65 6222 9703 or email to enquiry@goldsilvercentral.com.sg to find out more about “cutting” up your Gold bars & selling them!
Sin Pong
In times of volatility, the charts and price movement we see blink red and green tirelessly, like a never-ending fast-forward traffic situation. Ever slipped your finger and missed the buy/sell within seconds, for whatever reasons (could be internet connection lagging, could even be that you were taking too long to ponder if you should press that button!) that caused you to miss the perfect price level, must be causing you to secretly curse and swear about how you should have had gotten that price level instead of missing it.
Ever saw a piece of precious metal and fell in love with it immediately, and wishing you could own it someday? Especially so at a price lower than the current price, or at a price that is lower than the average price! Well, you can set a Price Alert to be notified when the price has reached your desired level!
For example, if you’ve always wanted to own a piece of the Argor-Heraeus Kinebar Gold Bar 10g, and wished that you can someday own it when it costs S$820. You can set a price alert on our webpage by heading over to the product’s page (in this example, it would be the Argor-Heraeus Kinebar Gold Bar 10g), click on the “Price Alert and History” tab, and click on “Setup Price Drop Alert”.
Enter the price level you wish to be alerted at, and your email address for the price alert to be created.
Did you know? You can also set price alerts for sale of your pre-loved jewellery to us. If you’ve a rough estimate of the finesse, purity, and weight, you can set an alert to notified when prices are high and worthy of your preloved jewellery. Click on “Alert Me When Prices are Right!” to set your price level to be notified.
Have a piece of pre-loved jewellery you’d like to sell off? Or is there an item you have in mind, with a specific price tagged to it? Connect with us via email at enquiry@goldsilvercentral.com.sg or WhatsApp to +65 8893 9255 to find out more about Price Alerts and how to use them to your favour!
Do watch this space for our next article sharing on how to set alerts and notifications using the GSC Live! application. Till then, cheers and stay safe!
Suzane