BUYING GOLD-SILVER- Terminology

COINS
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Lets define some words and terms that will help us better
understand the subject matter at hand, especially if you are new
to coins and to metal investing

Grading: As I stated before we will go into great detail later in

the course with respect to grading coins - coins are graded on a
scale of 1 70. one being poor, and 70 being perfect

The higher the number, the better the condition and $ value of
the coin this is true for most coins, but some coins have high
grades and no extra value, because they are too plentiful

A word that is used often but not well understood is uncirculated

(coin)
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A coin that is considered uncirculated is a coin that was

issued but never got into the coin supply and has no wear on
it now here comes the tricky part some coins have been
handled or touched by people but can still be considered
uncirculated

As an example, you go to the bank and ask the teller for a roll
of new pennies the teller says you are in luck, we just got
these new rolls in

The U.S. Mint just makes the coins and rolls them and puts
them into the money supply, and then the banks get them and
distribute them to the public as change or as rolls
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So, in this case the roll has 50 brand new pennies never
touched put into rolls when minted these are uncirculated
coins

Okay, you go home and open the roll and pour them out on the
table and exclaim: wow, these coins are brand new, I am going to
save them you put them back into the roll and set them aside

My question to you is: Are these coins still uncirculated?

The answer is Yes! The coins still have no signs of wear at all
please note a coin can still be considered uncirculated if it has
blemishes on it
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With this in mind some coin sellers use the term: Brilliant
Uncirculated BU for shor t what does this mean?

It really means nothing at all the pennies we just described were

brand new and shinny and even though they were dumped out of the
roll they were not blemished in any way they are considered
uncirculated and BU too (Still shinny)

It is however advantageous to ask the dealer you are buying the coins
from what condition they are in e.g. American Eagles should be
uncirculated when you buy them

If a coin dealer states that there coins are BU and those sold by
another dealer are not, you can be pretty cer tain that this is nothing
more than a sales pitch all new coins are BU

Bullion vs Bullion Coins again a bit tricky Bullion is a quantity of

precious metal such as a silver bar Bullion Coins are also precious
metal but in coin form
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Gold - A precious yellow metallic element (Atomic Number 79)

that is resistant to oxidation and is highly ductile and malleable

Silver - A soft-white lustrous metal, Silver (Atomic Number 47)

has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal
and occurs both in minerals and but rarely in free form

Platinum - A heavy, malleable, ductile, precious, gray -white

metal, Platinum (Atomic Number 78) is resistant to corrosion -
Platinum coins and bars are now very popular investments

Palladium - A rare Silver-white metal of the Platinum group -

Palladium (Atomic Number 46) resembles Platinum chemically
and is primarily used as an industrial catalyst and in jewelry
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There is no such thing as 100% pure gold or silver

To be considered "pure," Gold, Silver and Palladium products

must be at least .999 fine (99.9% pure), and Platinum products
must be .9995 fine (99.95% pure )

Coin grades we will address this subject in detail later but for
now it should be mentioned that certain higher grade coins are
very desirable and often become part of ones investments
either in the form of old or new coins in high grades

Uncirculated coins are high grades and usually start at MS60 and
can go higher (grading scale 1 70) MS means mint state
MS70 is a perfect coin
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It is ver y impor tant to mention that because a coin has been cer tified, and
the grading is ver y high, lets say MS66, out of a grade of 1 70, logic
dictates that MS66 is ver y high on the scale and suggests that a coin in
this condition may have much higher value than a coin with the same date
in lower condition, this is not the case!

A coin with a high grade may not be wor th much more than a coin of the
same date in a lower grade

For example, if there are many thousands of a coin available, that is in a

high mint state, the coin is really considered common in some sense of the
word, and has no greater value because of the condition it is in - there are
too many of them in that grade

On a practical level, what this translates to, is the fact that if you are being
told that a coin has greater value because of its condition, and therefore
you should pay a premium for it, you are getting a marketing pitch and not
the whole truth examples of this will follow in future lectures

Yes, some coins are ver y valuable because of their condition, but there are
many other factor s that push the price up besides condition
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N U M I S M AT I C C O I N S : C o i n s w h o s e p r i c e s d e p e n d m o r e o n t h e i r r a r i t y, c o n di t i o n ,
d a te s a n d m i n t m a r k s t h a n o n t h e i r G o l d o r S i l v e r c o n te n t , i f a ny

C E RT I F I E D C O I N S a r e c o i n s t h a t h av e b e e n g r a d e d b y a g r a d i n g c o m p a ny s u c h a s
P C G S o r N G C , w h i c h a s s i g n s a v a l u e to t h e c o i n i n te r m s o f i t s c o n d i t i o n t h e
h i g h e r t h e n u m b e r i t a s s i g n s , t h e b et te r t h e c o n d i t i o n , a n d t h e m o r e v a l u e i t c a n
h av e t h ey a r e p l a c e d i n a s e a l e d c a s e o n c e t h ey a r e c e r t i fi e d t h e c a s e i s
l a b e l e d a s to t h e g r a d e ( H o w eve r, a s s t a te d , s o m e c o i n s i n h i g h g r a d e s h av e l i t t l e
value)

OBVERSE: The front of a coin

R E V E RS E : T h e b a c k o f a c o i n

S L A B B E D C O I NS : C o i n s e n c a p s ul a te d i n p l a s t i c f o r p r o te c t io n a g a i n s t w e a r -
G e n e r a l l y, s l a b b e d c o i n s a r e g r a d e d b y o n e o f t h e t w o m a j o r i n d e p e n d e n t g r a d i n g
s e r v i c e s : P C G S o r N G C ( C e r t i fi e d c o i n s a n d s l a b b e d c o i n s m e a n t h e s a m e t h i n g )

Proof Coins : S p e c i al l y m a d e c o i n s t h a t a r e o n l y m a d e b y a n d s o l d b y t h e U . S . M i n t
w h e n t h ey a r e f i r s t i s s u e d T h ey h av e a p o l i s h e d s u r f ac e to t h e m i t i s m i r ro r l i ke
a n d t h ey c o m e i n t h e i r o w n c o n t a i n e r t h ey a r e n ev e r to uc h e d a n d s h o u l d n ev e r b e
to uc h e d o i l s f r o m yo ur h a n d s c a n d a m a g e t h e m c a n o n l y b e to uc h e d by w e a r i n g
c o t to n g l ove s
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For a complete list of words and terms with respect to

investing, and coin investing please refer to this link:

http://www.apmex.com/glossary#a

When we cover coin collecting I will provide a very complete

list of every word used with respect to coins and coin
collecting

Coin Value or Worth: One of the most important points that I

want to make in this course and I will say it over and over
again: A coin is only worth what someone is willing to pay for
it
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Lets look at gold and silver bars or rounds, with respect to

certification

An extremely important topic that needs to be examined is

certification we know that certified coins have been
slabbed, they have been graded and certified by a coin
grading company certified coins are genuine coins

A very similar situation exists with respect to gold and silver

bars and rounds

Gold and silver can be certified

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Cer tified gold is gold that is issued or minted by an entity, such as

the U.S. Mint, to grade and to cer tify gold purity. The cer tification
process will include an analysis of the gold for weight and purity,
meaning its gold ore composition. The process is not complicated,
but must be completed by a licensed cer tified gold appraiser. The
benefit to cer tified gold, the key dif ference between regular bullion
gold and cer tified gold, is that the question of gold content is
eliminated. Unlike a bar of bullion gold of unknown origins,
cer tified gold will be stamped and be accompanied by letter of
cer tification stating in no uncer tain terms the gold content and
weight. The only thing cer tified gold leaves to question is the golds
actual value, meaning its wor th if sold for currency. This amount
cannot be cer tified as the price per troy ounce of gold is constantly
changing Definition from Precious Metals Investments
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Please note that gold and silver that is not certified, is also
valuable, but when it comes time to sell, certification does
help and may actually result in higher prices the flip side
also holds true when you buy certified product it may be
priced slightly higher

When looking at the vendors I listed before you will note that
their listings may or may not state whether their product is
certified when ordering please enquire about certification

I will explain certification to you in detail later