Better than Gold or Silver Feb 23 2012 In the US a nickel is a five-cent coin, representing a unit of currency equaling one-twentieth of one United States dollar. A nickel is 75% copper and 25% nickel and weighs 5 grams. The price of copper today is $3.81/lb and the price of nickel is $9.12/lb. The value of the metal in a nickel coin is therefore 5.66 cents, representing an instant 22.64% profit. You can’t legally melt the coins, but eventually a market for these coins will exist. In the meantime it makes more sense to keep your savings in nickels than dollars, which are subject to inflation or even gold or silver which carry the risk of declines in the metal prices. The price of nickel and copper can be expected to rise sharply in the future. Other countries also have cupronickel coins. In Thailand for example the 1 baht coin (3 grams),and the five baht coin (6 grams) are both cupronickel. Advantages of buying coins There are many advantages to owning gold or silver in the form of coins. There is no paper trail in the ownership of coins so it can be tax efficient. If you give your coins to your heirs there is no tax liability. Coins are easy to sell anywhere in the world. People will buy coins without assaying them which is not the case with gold bars. You can buy coins in small denominations. If you use paypal to buy the coins you can always make a chargeback if you have problems. Paypal seems to favour the buyer in disputes. The most critical thing to look for in buying coins apart  from the numismatic value, is the markup on the coin. The higher the markup the less use it is as an investment. Gold Coins The premium over the spot price of gold is somewhere between 3-6% for a one ounce coin, although higher for smaller coins. For a 1/20 ounce coin the premium could be as high as 40%. Buying gold coins of less than one ounce is probably not a good investment. Markup Ounces 5% 1 8% 1/2 12% 1/4 20% 1/10 40% 1/20 Silver Coins For silver coins the markup is about 9-11% for a one ounce coin. You can find coins for sale here, or people wanting to buy coins here. Testing Gold and Silver Coins When buying coins you might want to use the Fisch Fake Coin Identification Gauge. This is a simple device that checks the weight and size of a gold coin. By checking both these dimensions all common metal counterfeits will be detected. This is because gold has a greater density than the common metals such as lead, copper, brass, steel. The only metals with a density greater than gold are the platinum group metals and tungsten. The price of platinum rules it out while tungsten is a very hard brittle which would be very difficult to work into a passable fake. There are Fisch for all the major gold bullion coins. The Fisch System can also be used to test Silver Dollars Where to store your coins 1. Spread your holdings around. Not only is it wise to avoid keeping all your coins in one place, diversifying your storage arrangements allows you to buy more. Hide some at home in several locations (no cookie jars, though), and obviously tell only one trusted person. Store some in a bank safe deposit box and use more than one bank as your holdings grow. 2. Private storage. Store your gold with a private vaulting company. The advantage is that it’s outside the banking system; the disadvantage is that it’s usually expensive, though it can be cost effective for large holdings. Keep in mind that using a vaulting facility beyond a reasonable driving distance will mean added shipping/insurance costs and restrict quick access. 3. Use pool accounts and unallocated storage. Pool accounts refer to a precious metal account deposit in which the client does not have title to specific (allocated) coins. The client instead owns a defined but unallocated interest in a pool of coins. However, the client is entitled to receive physical bullion in the form of any type of coin upon payment of quoted fabrication charges.