MoneyNewsWeb.com

By Jim Palmer
MoneyNewsWeb.com
March 26, 2008

I'm no stockbroker or investment guru, but I have been watching what has been going on with the price of Gold and silver.

Gold in the past ten years has gone from around $300.00 an ounce in 1998 to nearly $1000.00 and ounce this month. It actually surpassed the $1000.00 mark this month before dropping back down to around $900.00 but is now hovering around $950.00.

Follow up:

A person who may have been wise ten years ago and purchased, lets say ten ounces of gold at $3000.00 and held onto it, their investment would be now be worth $9,500 - $10,000. Not a bad return on investment if you ask me.

Likewise, silver has also increased in value. In 1998 Silver was just under $5.00 an ounce and today around $18.50 an ounce and has been over $20.00 and ounce.

If a person had invested $3000.00 in Silver instead of the gold in 1998, they would have procured 600 ounces of silver. Doing the math, today that investment would be worth between $11,100 - 12,000. Again that seems like a great way to make money.

Just imagine if that same person had invested $10,000.00 or more what their earnings would have netted them. But even small investors can make money.

Most people do not know what to look for when buying precious metals. Should you invest in coins with numismatic values or coins which only have precious metals value known as "junk coins" or perhaps they might want to consider buying gold and silver bullion.

My suggestion is to invest in a combination. If you like collecting coins then you should invest in them based on their numismatic value. Simply put the more rear a coin and the better condition it is in the more it is worth and each year the value usually increases based on supply and demand.

The more a coin is worn the less it will be worth but it will still hold some numismatic value and will retain the value of the precious metal it contains. A worn out silver dollar for example still has the value of the silver. Anyone can buy one or just a few at a time in order to get into investing. Prices will fluctuate depending on the market.

Junk Coins are for the investor who has a great deal of money to spend. Some use the junk coins to make jewelry or other specialty items, jewelers often melt it down and make completely new items from it. A bag of Junk coins with a face value of $50.00 can cost you as much as $850.00 or more depending on the price of silver. A bag of coins with a $1000.00 face value can cost you as much as $15,000.00.

There are many places to invest in coins. You can buy modern silver or gold coins or numismatic coins. You should look at a variety of places to shop. I found a place to buy modern coins and some or the numismatic coins. Just visit CollectibleShopping.com and see what treasures you find.

Also, don't forget to check your pocket change. I have found Many silver quarters and dimes just from looking at my change. Nearly all coins dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars all contained silver. So check your change jar you could have a hidden treasure and not even know it.