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Gold, Market News

Precious Metals: Top 5 Gold Coins for Investors

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Precious Metals: Top 5 Gold Coins for Investors?

Have you ever thought of buying gold coins as a hobby, or maybe, for business or investment purposes?

In this current age of “instants”, investing in gold has become so much easier, that you no longer have to even think about it. Also known as bullion, gold coins have long been used for trades on markets. But unlike regular coins, they have high levels of purity up to 90% and come in different remarkable designs. Because of these reasons, gold coins are considered highly valuable wealth by investors.

So if you are looking for the best gold coins to invest in, you’ve come to the right place. To help you choose gold coins for your portfolio, we’ve listed below some of the most secure and at the same time, most widely accepted gold coins in the world.

American Gold Eagle

The first to be in this list is a must-have for every investor–the American Gold Eagle coin. Throughout history and even until now, this gold coin is considered to be one of the most highly sought-after coins worldwide. The coin is easily identifiable due to its design consisting of bald eagles on one side, and the Liberty on the other. The coin also comes in various sizes which ranges from 1/10 oz to 1 oz. Among these sizes, the 1 oz coin is the most popular. In terms of content and purity, the quality of this coin is guaranteed by its 91.67% fineness (5.33% is copper and 3% is silver).

Canadian Maple Leaf

The Canadian Maple Leaf is known to be the official coin series of Canada and the Royal Canadian Mint. Canadian Maple Leaf coins are so popular that at one point in time when they were first released in 1979, they compete with the South African Krugerrand in terms of demand. The front side of the coin bears the design of either Canadian Maple leaves or the right profile of Queen Elizabeth. On the other side, the image of a sugar maple leaf can be seen.

Austrian Philharmonic

According to the World Gold Council, Austrian Philharmonic Gold coins were once the best-selling gold coins worldwide during the twentieth century. First minted in the 1980s, the gold coin was made as a tribute to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Wiener Philharmoniker), which the design of the coin is inspired from. And aside from being the first ever coin released in the program, the Austrian Philharmonic bridges the gap between the country’s independent status and as a member of the European Union.

British Britannia

Ever since the first century, the British Britannia gold coin has remained one of the leading coins in the portfolios of gold investors. In terms of the design, Queen Elizabeth II is featured on one side of the coin, and Lady Britannia carrying a shield and a trident on the other. Although they come in various sizes, the 1 oz British Britannia gold coin is the most favored among investors.

South African Krugerrand

Although the South African Krugerrand is the least expensive among the gold coins in this list, it still remains popular around the world. The coin is characterized by having a springbok antelope design. However, because of this, some people complain that it is not as elaborate as other coins. In terms of purity, the South African Krugerrand contains about 8.33% of copper. As such, this coin is being sought after because it is a durable investment.

Commodities, Gold

Gold Markets: Bullish Trends in First Quarter Performance

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Gold Markets: Bullish Trends in First Quarter Performance

Gold prices gained in value during the first quarter even as upside moves were also tallied in the S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY), the NASDAQ Composite Index (NYSE: QQQ), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (NYSE: DIA).

Each of these markets gained positive benefits from the Federal Reserve, as the central bank reversed its hawkish position near the beginning of the year. Further optimism came from progress in trade talks between China and the United States, and this helped push the markets higher during the quarter. Gold prices held steady even as investors saw reduced need for safe-haven assets.

Central drivers for the underlying price of gold in 2019 may develop as a result of the Federal Reserve’s changing tone and the market’s expectations for an extended decline in international growth rates. Negative sentiment that stems from a potential global slowdown has diminished investor concerns of higher interest rates. If these concerns persist (and if the yield curve remains inverted), demand for gold should continue to increase.

Performances from Gold Miners

One of the most popular exchange-traded funds is the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners Trust (NYSE: GDX), which rose by 6.3% in the first quarter of this year. Performances in gold mining stocks have varied widely during the period (depending largely their individual fourth-quarter valuation changes and the different company outlooks for 2019).

(Source: NASDAQ, NYSE)

In Q12019, each of the senior and intermediate gold miners saw bullish trends in their stock values, with the exception of IAMGOLD (NYSE: IAG). The stock dropped 5.7% during the quarter. In contrast, Eldorado Gold (NYSE: EGO) gained by the most in the group (at 60.8%).

Other key names in the industry include Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) and Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY), which gained by 16.7% and 10.7%, respectively. Mid-level performances were generated by Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM) and Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC), which gained by 7.7%, 6.2%, respectively. Quarterly performances from Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) and Barrick Gold (NYSE: GOLD) lagged somewhat, but still posted gains 3.2%, and 1.3%, respectively.

Weaker Gains from Barrick Gold

Senior miner Barrick Gold (NYSE: GOLD) underperformed many of its peers and also lagged behind the performances of key exchange-traded funds NUGT and GDXJ in the first quarter of 2019. The underlying bullish trends in metals did help Barrick stock prices rise by 1.3% in the first quarter, while the benchmark fund GDX produced much more impressive returns (at 6.3%).

(Source: Barrick’s Quarterly Filings)

Disappointing stock trends from Barrick might prove to be short-lived, however, as the company’s fourth-quarter earnings results did beat analyst expectations. Earlier euphoria stemming from Barrick’s announced merger plans with Randgold Resources (which finalized on January 1st) may have reached a point of exhaustion, and profit-taking in bullish positions could be responsible for the weaker performances we have seen recently.

At the moment, analysts are waiting to see material earnings benefits from the proposed execution plans between the two companies. Once this occurs, the stock may have a chance to run higher. Recent guidance indicates potential gold production output of 5.1–5.6 million ounces in 2019 (which would be an increase of 18% year-over-year).

Barrick has reported lower production rates for eight straight years, but the company’s declining production profile could be helped by its deal with Randgold. Barrick’s production costs imply a potential rise of 11% in 2019 (when compared to company data from 2018).

In combination with Barrick’s weaker production guidance, the company also reported a year-over-year decline in its reserves of 3.4%. The average grade of the Barrick’s reserves was unchanged from 2017 (1.56 grams per ton). Barrick continues to maintain the highest grades in the industry (as Goldcorp, Kinross Gold, and Newmont Mining all have lower grades).

Five Gold Stocks Loved by Wall Street

Most of the time, gold mining stock work as a leveraged way of playing gold prices. In 2018, the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners fund dropped by 9.3%, in moved amplified by the 1.9% drop in gold prices.

The Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X fund (NYSE: NUGT) and the Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Bull 3X fund (NYSE: JNUG) saw dramatic price action that surpassed these trends by a large margin. In 2018, NUGT and JNUG weathered losses of 45% and 48%, respectively. Year-to-date in 2019, the benchmark fund GDX has gained 10.3%.

(Source: NYSE)

Of course, gold miners are impacted by company-specific issues in addition to gold’s price movements. So far, several company-specific factors have influenced the performances of the gold miners — and this will likely support prices as investors find out where to sell gold coins in 2019. Barrick Gold finished its planned merger with Randgold Resources in January, and it has also been influenced by problematic factors at its mines.

Similarly, Kinross Gold and Eldorado Gold experienced government interference and stresses after mining code changes. Newmont Mining also announced a merger with Goldcorp in January of this year.