Buying and Selling Certified Gold | 2025 Investor Guide

 

Buying and Selling Certified Gold | 2025 Investor Guide

Even if you’ve never heard the term “certified gold” defined, you’ve probably seen certified gold coins in the wild. If you’ve ever been to a coin shop and seen strange modern gold coins inside of hard plastic cases, then you’ve seen certified gold. The term certified gold refers to gold coins that have been graded and placed into secure, labeled packages by a reputable grading company. 

Like most precious metal investments, buying certified gold comes with both advantages and disadvantages. While you’ll pay a higher premium over melt value when you buy a certified gold coin, these coins can also help you authenticate, protect, and secure your investment for years – or decades – to come. 

On this page, we’re covering everything investors need to know about buying and selling certified gold. 

What is Certified Gold?

Certified gold coins are coins that have been authenticated, graded, and packaged by a reputable grading company. When a grading company officially grades a coin, its numismatists assign it a number between one and seventy to represent its condition. This grading information is placed on the front of the coin’s slab, which is a tamper-evident case that allows investors to quickly and reliably confirm a coin’s authenticity and grade.

Investors should only buy certified coins that have been authenticated by a reliable, reputable grading company. The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) and Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) are considered the two most reliable and respected grading companies in the world, and coins graded by these two organizations make up the bulk of commonly traded certified gold coins. 

Some newer coin grading companies, such as Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC), are also considered highly reliable. Coins graded by leading grading companies generally sell at considerably higher premiums than ungraded, or raw, coins. 

Below, we’ll take a closer look at how coin grading works, what a certified gold coin slab is, and how to identify reputable coin grading companies.

Coin Grading Explained

Coin grading is a process used to determine the relative condition of a collectable coin. Because a coin’s condition is necessarily subjective, professional coin grading can help authenticate a coin for buyers and sellers. While it is possible to grade gold coins at home, certified gold coins should always be packaged inside of a slab from a legitimate, authoritative grading company. 

To understand certified gold coins, you’ll need to understand at least the basics of how coin grading works. Modern coin grading begins with something called the Sheldon Scale.

The Sheldon Scale

Originally created by William Herbert Sheldon in 1949, the Sheldon Scale is a system used to describe the condition and strike quality of a coin. Under the Sheldon Scale, coins are graded on a scale of 1 (poor) to 70 (perfect). These numerical grades are preceded by a two-letter grade code, which can range from PO (poor) to MS (mint state). 

Technically, the Sheldon Scale can be divided into two categories: circulated and uncirculated. Uncirculated grades begin at MS60, while the highest grade that can be given to a circulated coin is AU58. 

To determine the grade of a coin, experts look for signs of damage, the coin’s overall wear, and its luster, which is the sheen left on the surface of a freshly minted coin. On most coin types, graders begin by looking at a coin’s high points, which are typically the first places to wear down over time. 

For old or very rare coins, finding a specimen in MS70 condition is nearly impossible. Certain early-U.S. coins are no longer available in MS70 condition, with so-called ‘perfect’ specimens now considered functionally extinct in the wild. But even among modern bullion coins, finding an MS70 specimen can be exceedingly difficult. As we’ll discuss later in this guide, even coins that come straight from the U.S. Mint may not qualify for the perfect MS70 grade.

Once a certified gold coin has been graded, the next step in the certification process is to place it in a tamper-evident case called a coin slab.

Understanding Coin Slabs

When you buy a certified gold coin, your product won’t look exactly like the loose gold coins you may be used to seeing. Certified gold coins are sold insider of tamper-evident plastic cases. These cases are called coin slabs, and they play an important role in securing and authenticating your gold investment. 

Coin slabs are specially designed by grading companies to resist tampering or alteration. Ideally, a coin slab should only be openable if you break the case. This is an intentional design element that prevents thieves or scammers from replacing a genuine graded coin with an ungraded or fake specimen. 

A genuine coin slab should always include the coin’s grade (where applicable), as well as the name of the grading company who certified it. Certified gold coins may also sometimes feature references to specific errors, varieties, or other details relevant to the certification and valuation of a given coin.

Reputable Coin Grading Companies

Not all coin grading companies are created equal. Coin grading companies’ grading estimates are only valuable if the coin-collecting community trusts them, which means that establishing a leading coin certification organization can take quite a long time. PCGS and NGC, two of the most popular and respected coin grading companies, were founded all the way back in 1985 and 1987, respectively.

Other coin grading companies, such as CAC, are also increasingly popular among rare coin collectors. 

Before you buy a certified gold coin, take some time to familiarize yourself with the grading company who certified it. Hero Bullion vets our certified coins and only sells gold that has been authenticated by a reputable grading company, but there are hundreds of ill-reputed grading companies out there – and you’ll want to avoid them all.

Popular Certified Gold Products

All gold coins can be certified, but the most popular certified gold products fall into two main categories:

1. Numismatic or Rare Gold Coins
2. Modern Gold Bullion Coins

Pre-1933 gold coins are commonly graded, especially since MS65+ specimens of certain circulating gold coins can be extremely difficult to find. For numismatic or rare gold coins, having your investment certified can add quite a bit to its collectable value. In some cases, a certified gold coin may be worth considerably more than its raw, ungraded version.

Modern bullion coins are also commonly sold as certified gold. As we’ll explain in the section below, even gold coins that come straight from the U.S. Mint may fail to reach the coveted grade of MS70. Coins from modern mints can be graded and certified by coin grading companies, and doing so can provide investors with several notable benefits.

Certified U.S. Mint Gold Coins

We’re excited to offer a newly expanded inventory of certified gold coins from the United States Mint. These coins have been graded, authenticated, and slabbed by either NGC or PCGS, and many of our certified U.S. Mint gold coins have received the rare grade of MS70.

The two most popular certified U.S. Mint gold coins are the American Gold Eagle and the American Gold Buffalo. 

Is Certified Gold a Good Investment?

Should you buy certified gold? Certified gold can be a great way to diversify your precious metals portfolio, add value to your collection, and protect your coins for years or decades to come. Whether you opt for modern or circulated U.S. gold coins, buying certified can help you secure your favorite coins and hold onto valuable pieces of American numismatic history.

That being said, certified gold isn’t for everyone. Certified gold coins are typically sold at a significant premium over melt value, especially compared to raw, ungraded versions of the same coin. If your goal as an investor is to secure as much gold as possible for your money, certified gold may not be a great choice for you. But if you’re interested in an investment that can stand the test of time and has the backing of a decades-old certification company, then certified gold could be your next obsession.

Below, we’ll take a look at some of the most significant benefits of buying certified gold coins.

Benefits of Buying Certified Gold Coins

Investing in certified gold comes with several notable advantages. Most notably, certified gold can help you improve your quality assurance, protection and security, collector appeal, and portfolio diversification. In other words, buying certified, graded gold coins gives investors peace of mind and a gold investment capable of staying valuable for decades.

Quality Assurance

Perhaps the biggest benefit of buying certified gold is quality assurance. When you buy an ungraded gold coin, it’s impossible to be completely sure of the coin’s condition or grade. Even a coin that looks completely perfect may, in the eyes of an expert numismatist, be too worn-down to qualify for an extremely high grade. 

Aside from confirming your gold coin’s grade, certified gold comes with the authentication and backing of a major, respected coin grading organization. When you decide to resell your gold coin, its certified slab will help assure buyers of its legitimacy and, more importantly, its value. Remember – gold coins sell for higher premiums over melt value if they’re certified.

Protection and Security 

Reputable coin grading companies carefully package certified coins in tamper-proof and tamper-evident cases. As long as your PCGS or NGC coin is verified in its original case, you can generally trust that other collectors will accept its grade as genuine. In order to remove a graded coin from its coin slab, you’ll usually need to destroy the case completely. After doing so, the loose coin is considered raw, or ungraded. 

If you plan to buy a ‘perfect’ American Gold Eagle, for example, we highly recommend opting for a certified specimen. Unless you purchase your coin in its original slab from an authoritative grading company, you should never assume that its stated grade is completely accurate.

On the opposite side of your transaction, buying certified gold provides quality assurance and security to your future customers. When you go to sell a graded coin, its slab will serve as an important reminder of the coin’s rarity, authenticity, and value.

Collector Appeal

While some bullion stackers couldn’t care less about a coin’s condition, coin collectors often strive to buy the very best coins in top condition. For this reason, buying a certified coin can add more collector appeal to your investment portfolio. Raw, ungraded gold coins are typically worth little more than their gold melt value. Certified gold, however, almost always sells for a premium in higher grades because of its rarity, security, and collectability.

Portfolio Diversification 

Diversification is a cornerstone of smart investing, and coin collecting is no exception to this rule. Buying certified gold can inject numismatic and collectable value into your portfolio, which can give you another way to profit during any shift in the global gold market. 

How Rare is a MS70 Gold Coin?

One common misconception is that coins that come straight from a mint always begin in the highest possible grade, MS70. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, only a portion of the gold coins minted at the U.S. Mint are eligible for the perfect grade of Ms70. To receive such a grade, a coin needs to be absolutely perfect, with a quality strike and perfect alignment.

Obviously, MS70 coins are even rarer for older releases. Early U.S. Mint coins are sometimes simply nonexistent in MS68+ condition, since so few of these coins were minted, and even fewer were kept in perfect condition for decades or centuries.

Final Thoughts: Should You Buy Certified Gold?

Certified gold describes collectable or bullion coins that have been authenticated, graded, and secured in a coin slab by a reputable coin grading company. While these coins usually sell for a large premium over melt value, they can also be an excellent way for collectors to secure their investments, protect their favorite coins, and inject collectable value into their portfolios. 

Hero Bullion is proud to now offer a wide range of certified gold coins from the U.S. Mint. Explore our full collection of certified U.S. Mint coins here.

You might also be interested in:

• What is a Coin Slab?
• The Anatomy of a Coin | An Illustrated Guide to the Parts of a Coin
• Celebrity Numismatists: 5 Famous Coin Collectors That May Surprise You