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Since the price of gold and silver have been increasing at astounding rates, more and more people are looking at gold, silver and platinum coins as investments. There are many honest and reputable coin dealers that can help you purchase these investment instruments at fair market prices. Unfortunately, there are also those that are looking to rip off the uninformed and sell them overpriced gold coins.
Before you invest of any of these precious metal coins or bullion, you should do your research and obtain your knowledge from somebody other than the person trying to sell you the coins. "If you don't know your gold, silver or platinum coins, you'd better know your coin dealer to help you make responsible decisions," advises Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) President Jeffrey Bernberg of Willowbrook, Illinois. The Professional Numismatists Guild is a nonprofit organization founded in 1953 and is composed of the country's top rare coin and bullion coin dealers. PNG member dealers must adhere to a strict Code of Ethics in the buying and selling of numismatic and bullion merchandise.
"To make an informed purchase of gold, silver or platinum, investors need to be aware of three crucial marketplace factors: the actual cost per ounce of the precious metals; the bullion value versus any collector value of the coin; and timely delivery of the merchandise" continued Bernberg. In order to help investors understand the precious metal marketplace, PNG has published the following guidelines to help you become a wise investor.
Price
Gold Investors should be aware that gold bullion coins trade at a small premium over the actual spot gold price because they are minted by sovereign governments that charge a fabrication fee. The spot gold price is based on 100 ounce or larger .999 fine gold bars. Gold bullion coins ranging from 1/10 oz to one ounces trade at 3% to 15% premium over spot, based on the coin, it's size (for example, 1/10th, 1/4th, 1/2 or 1 full ounce), and the quantity being purchased.
Many major gold bullion dealers typically will sell a single, one-ounce gold American Eagle gold coin at approximately four to five percent over the current spot/melt value (and purchase them from customers at about two percent less than their selling price.) American Eagles, Canadian Maple leafs and South African Krugerrands are some of the most popular gold bullion coins. Investors should contact several creditable precious metal dealers and shop for the best price.
Bullion vs. Collector Coins
Investors should distinguish between bullion coins whose values generally fluctuate according to the current price of gold, silver or platinum, and "rare coins" that can carry a significant collector premium based on historical supply and demand.
Some U.S. gold and silver coins may be readily available in circulated condition for a modest premium over their bullion content, but those same coins in superb condition may have significantly higher value -- perhaps thousands of dollars above their melt value. The market for accurately graded, high-quality rare coins is quite strong now.
Delivery
Under normal conditions delivery of coins you've purchased should be received with 10 to 14 days. However, if at the time of purchase the seller may be aware of a mint delivery problem it should be disclosed to you that there may be a delay. The PNG does not recommend having coins stored by dealers, instead, verified storage at an independent, accredited depositary is acceptable for many investors, especially if it involves a large quantity of gold.
The Professional Numismatists Guild
Members of the Professional Numismatists Guild must adhere to a Collector's Bill of Rights and a Code of Ethics that prohibit use of high pressure sales tactics and misrepresentation of the value of items being sold. PNG members must demonstrate knowledge, responsibility and integrity in their business dealings. They also must agree to binding arbitration to settle unresolved disagreements over numismatic property.
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Workers mix gold ore with mercury and pan it to separate gold particles at the Nsangano gold mine in Geita, north Tanzania.
Scheme could herald a ‘green gold’ revolution as mines commit to ban child labour, enforce safety rules and prevent toxic run off
In a bustling area of Nyarugusu, in the heart of Tanzania’s gold lands, a stocky man is fanning a dustbin lid of smouldering charcoal, gold ore and mercury on the pavement. Each waft sends a cloud of toxic vapour into the faces of children and adults as they gather to watch.
The burning of mercury is a common sight in the streets, homes and cottage-industry mines throughout east Africa. The liquid metal is used to extract the gold and then vaporised to leave behind flakes of the precious metal.
But in this dangerous industry, seeds of a gold revolution are being sown: Fairtrade International announced this week that up to 12 mines in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya are on course to sell Africa’s first ethical gold within a year.
There are no official figures for how many Tanzanians are poisoned by mercury fumes, but accounts of memory problems, sickness and impaired vision are common in the small mines that litter the countryside. The sight of open mercury poisoning may seem shocking, but it is just one of a host of appalling working conditions that blights the production of gold throughout east Africa.
Tanzania is Africa’s fourth largest gold producer. About 15 million people work in mines – many illegal, small-scale and unlicensed – producing about 200 to 300 tonnes a year. Most miners work 24-hour shifts without basic safety helmets, boots or goggles in fragile mines with little or no timber supports.
On the surface, the ore is crushed by women using hammers or mortars, sometimes with babies on their knees. In some mines, cyanide is used to remove gold from low-grade ore. Like mercury, it is highly toxic. Mercury and cyanide pollution into rivers is common and, according to a report last week by Human Rights Watch, child labour is rife.
But the Fairtrade scheme could herald a change. Under a three-year scheme funded by Comic Relief, the mines are changing working practices – banning children, enforcing health and safety rules and preventing toxic run off – in the hope that shoppers in Europe, Asia and America will be prepared to pay more for “green gold”.
In return they will get a fairer price for their gold and a Fairtrade premium that can be invested in mines, education, childcare and community groups.
At the Ilani mine near Nyarugusu, in the northwest of Tanzania, the appropriately named Golden Hainga has already barred children from his mine and processing areas, and runs a crèche. Open burning of mercury is banned and personal protection equipment is compulsory.
Lufta Weja, 30, has worked at the mine for five months. “The main difference between other mines is health and safety,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve had a helmet – in other mines we had no helmets, or gloves or boots.”
A few miles from the Ilani mine, Renatus Nsangano has also been working with Fairtrade to improve working conditions. But change is slow. His mine suffers from a chronic lack of capital and cash flow, and is vulnerable to the low prices paid by local gold brokers.
“My dream is to be able to use the technology that was used in Tanzania 50 years ago,” said Nsangano.
“But we thank God for Fairtade because it has lifted us from one level to another. We have put in wooden steps to get to the bottom of the mine. We no longer burn mercury in the open and we ensure that waste water from the mine doesn’t contaminate the environment.”
To get Fairtrade certification, gold mines will have to ban mercury burning in the open – as well as ensure that no children work in the mines. Other details are still under discussion.
In South America, which began to sell Fairtrade gold two years ago, miners receive a minimum price of 95% of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) price for their gold. That price is higher than they would normally get from selling to local brokers.
As well as fair working conditions and pay, the miners also get a Fairtrade premium of $2,000 (£1,283) per kg of fine gold. The premium has to be invested into the local community.
Africa’s mines are still at least a year away from getting that status, according to Fairtrade’s local advisers.
Key to the success of African ethical gold will be improving efficiency to create a steady stream of precious metal. Just 40% of the gold is currently recovered from the ore – a figure that could be 80% with better technology. Fairtrade also needs to build a supply chain to ensure that gold gets to suppliers in Europe, Asia and America.
Harriet Lamb, director of Fairtrade International, said: “Fairtrade is not something where you can click your fingers and magically start paying farmers and miners, but they have started to tackle the problems.
"It’s a long process of change and we are under no illusions. But having seen the conditions of the miners it has only steeled my determination to make this work. It is shocking that people finding gold – a precious metal so valued – are working in such terrible conditions.”
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Thousands of children as young as eight are risking their lives daily by working in Tanzanian small-scale gold mines, as they are constantly exposed to serious risks such as mercury poisoning and pit collapses, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Wednesday.
The global rights watchdog’s document, Toxic Toil: Child Labor and Mercury Exposure in Tanzania’s Small-Scale Gold Mines, describes how children dig and drill in deep, unstable pits, work underground for shifts of up to 24 hours, and transport and crush heavy bags of gold ore. All this to support their impoverished families.
Children also face high risks of injuries from pit collapses and accidents with tools, as well as long-term health damage from exposure to mercury, breathing dust and carrying heavy loads.
Human Rights Watch also found that girls on and around mining sites face sexual harassment, including pressure to engage in sex work. Some girls become victims of commercial sexual exploitation and risk contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections.
“Tanzanian boys and girls are lured to the gold mines in the hopes of a better life, but find themselves stuck in a dead-end cycle of danger and despair,” said in a press release Janine Morna, children’s rights research fellow at Human Rights Watch. “Tanzania and donors need to get these children out of the mines and into school or vocational training.”
The human rights group urged the country’s government and the international community to tighten control over this extreme form of child labour.
In 2009, the country launched a national action plan to eliminate this problem, and even banned under-18s from engaging in hazardous work, including mining. Fast-forward four years and the initiative still hasn’t accomplished the main goal of at least reduce the total number of children employed in mines.
Tanzania is Africa's fourth largest gold producer. In the first six months of 2013 exported over $1.8 billion of the precious metal, but the recent unrelenting slump in gold prices threatens to shut several of the country’s mines and curb investment.
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Peter Hambro, one of the leading figures in Britain’s gold mining sector, has criticised hedge funds for distorting the market for gold and warned that there is potential for “disaster” in the industry.
Mr Hambro, co-founder and chairman of Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk, made the comment in an interview in The Sunday Telegraph.
The gold price, fixed at $1,376.12 per troy ounce in London on Friday, has fallen more than 30pc from a 2011 peak of more than $1,900.
Figures from the World Gold Council last week showed that ownership of the world’s gold shifted further East during the first half of 2013.
Overall demand for gold was 12pc lower in the three months to the end of June than in the comparable period for 2012, as Westerners dumped their exchange-traded holdings and Asian consumers responded to lower prices by adding to their hoards of jewellery and bullion.
“It’s rather odd,” said Mr Hambro, “Gold is streaming into the Far East. Russians are still buying; the Chinese are buying. There’s no secret. It’s in the international statistics.
“Where the selling came from that knocked the gold price down, I really don’t know. It was such a very strange thing.
“I’ve been in the gold business for 35 years and never known a big change like that where it wasn’t obvious where it came from.”
Asked whether he is concerned that hedge funds are distorting the market, he said: “The quantity of gold available for delivery on the Commodities Exchange in New York is at its lowest level ever.
“The size of the contracts is at its highest, but the deliverable is at its lowest. There is the potential for disaster in those numbers.”
“Fractional reserve banking in gold is responsible for a lot of the strange things going on. You can set yourself up as a hedge fund and nobody knows who you are.
“Because of these strange machinations and the distortion between the physical market and the paper market, it’s very hard to say what’s going to happen.
“There’s a real risk that the people who’ve sold 'paper gold’ won’t be able to deliver and there will be some official ruling that will settle all the bargains at today’s price. Something like that will happen.”
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Petropavlovsk, set up as Peter Hambro Mining in 1994, is now the second-largest producer of gold in Russia, the world’s fourth-biggest producer.
Before the gold price slumped again earlier this year, the company locked in half its production for just over a year at $1,640 an ounce and is now hedged against gold price movements until next July.
The company is in the midst of a major cost-cutting programme aimed at reducing the $1.2bn of net debt it had in March to less than $1bn by the year-end.
Petropavlovsk shares have fallen by 75pc over the past six months, while the company is the most shorted stock in the FTSE All-share index.
The shares closed up 22pc at 119.5p on Friday, valuing Petropavlovsk at £223m. Mr Hambro has a 4.62pc stake.
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