Small or Fractional Gold Purchases

[Bean]

I have stuck to 1oz increments, but looking for something smaller for more frequent purchases and also to add more "divisibility" to my gold holdings.  (I am excluding GLD, since I want to go the physical route.)

Any recommendations? 1 gram bars? British Sovereigns?

[k9]

I'd go with British sovereigns, since they are recognized worldwide. I like 20 Francs coins from Switzerland too, I think they are very international too, but I might have too much of an European bias there.

Beware of small bars (I'd say, less than 100g). They're sold at a high premium and are rather hard to sell back, IMO. They are much easier to counterfeit than a coin, too, especially if they are sold in a blister pack of some kind.

[smurff]

If you've been buying eagles, leafs, and krugs, and are willing to pay the higher premiums/commissions for fractional coins (over 20% for example, for tenth ounce) you can also continue with the coins you're familiar with.  If you buy smaller denominations because you're still accumulating but prefer larger, you can always exchange the smaller coins for full one ounce coins, and much of that premium will be returned to you.

[WildAboutHarry]

Sovereigns are plentiful and have relatively low spreads.  I've heard there are quite a few fakes out there, so knowledge up before purchase.

If you have not seen this site, check it out.  Great information on world gold coins, with the very appealing title of "Tax-Free Gold" (UK only, unfortunately).

Canada has issued a bunch of fractional gold commemorative coins that carry relatively high face values (e.g. $100 Canadian) that can occasionally be had for reasonable spreads.  They run from 1/4 to 1/2 ounce and are legal tender in Canada.

[l82start]

somebody on this forum posted a great deal being offered on fractional coins a while back, that deal has probably come and gone, but if you aren't in a hurry or need to re-balance right now, you might be able to shop around and get a price that lets you stay with coins,

[Bean]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!   Looks like British sovereigns are the fractional coin for me.

However, the number of stories I have found about fake sovereigns has me a little worried.  Of course I always weigh, measure, and inspect under a jeweler's loupe my purchases; but now I buy online.  Has anyone ever purchased a fake coin from a big name online dealer?  I primarily use goldmart and gainesville coins.