Cheapest Gold Coins to Buy
Is your dream to buy gold coins for as cheap as possible? You’re not alone. As gold prices continue to soar, it’s becoming more and more difficult to find quality gold coins that don’t leave a dent in your wallet.
Luckily, Hero Bullion offers competitive pricing on all gold coins. We’re here to help you find the cheapest gold coins to buy. Investing in gold shouldn’t cost an entire paycheck. If you’re willing to do a bit of research and window shopping, you can get quality coins without blowing hundreds of dollars on unnecessary premiums.
Today, the team at the Bullion Academy is walking you through five of the cheapest gold coins to buy. By the end of this guide, you’ll get the low-down on how to compare coin prices, where to find the cheapest gold coins, and more.
How to Buy Cheap Gold Coins
Buying gold coins for cheap is difficult. While getting gold for cheap is the dream of most gold investors, you’ll also want to look for the best gold coins to make sure your investment will hold value in the future.
Below, we’ve gathered three tips that can help you identify – and purchase – the cheapest gold coins to buy.
Premiums Vs. Melt Value
For new investors, the single most important thing you need to understand about how to buy cheap gold coins is the concept of gold premiums. Gold coins, bars, and jewelry pieces are never sold for their melt value. Melt value refers to the sale price of the gold alone within a gold product.
Instead, coins are sold for a combination of melt value and something we call a premium. This is where buying cheap gold coins gets a bit tricky. Because there are costs associated with producing, storing, and transporting gold products, they’re sold at an additional cost over the value of their precious metal.
To find the cheapest gold coins to buy, your goal is to look for products with the lowest possible premiums. Gold coins have some of the highest premium costs in the gold market, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.
Comparing Gold Coin Prices
Never do business with the first shop that comes up on your search for the cheapest gold coins to buy. Some investors are afraid that the gold coins they want will sell out, so they pull the trigger immediately on a large gold coin investment.
To get the most out of your gold coins, you’ll want to take a look at several different shops before making a decision. If you try to jump on a deal too quickly, you might leave money on the table.
How to Find the Best Gold Coins
Comparing prices isn’t the only thing you need to keep in mind in your search for the cheapest gold coins to buy. While an ugly, unpopular gold coin may sell for a low premium and allow you to invest directly in the value of its underlying precious metal, it might be harder to sell at any premium when you’re ready to cash out.
Instead, consider 3 coin features when looking for the cheapest gold coins to buy: design, purity, and numismatics.
Design Features
The design of a gold coin is extremely important. While all gold coins contain pure gold bullion, not all gold coins are created equal. The beauty of a design helps to determine the collectable value of a given coin. If you plan on profiting from your investment, you should think about more than just the cheapest gold coins to buy.
Balancing price with numismatic appeal is difficult, but it’s sometimes worthwhile to invest a little bit more for a coin with tremendous collector appeal.
Gold Purity
Gold coin purities can vary. Most of the coins on our website feature a purity of .90 or more. Certain coins may be minted using a combination of different materials in order to create a more durable product. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but some of the cheapest gold coins to buy will be above .90 fine.
Numismatic and Collectable Value
While some of the cheapest gold coins to buy are extremely valuable to collectors and offer exceptional upside to patient investors, this isn’t the case for all gold coins.
Why is numismatic value important for coin collectors? Numismatics refers to the non-bullion value of a coin. In addition to the melt value of a given gold coin, coin values vary based on investor demand and interest. Gold coins with historical significance, beautiful designs, and unprecedented demand may be a better investment than a cheap gold coin with little investor interest.
Best Cheap Gold Coins for Investors
Now that we’ve explained some of the basic elements of collecting gold coins, it’s time to get into our list of the cheapest gold coins to buy. The great news for collectors who like variety is that our ranked list of the cheapest gold coins to buy in 2023 spans almost every continent on the planet.
Let’s check some of our favorites out!
Canadian Gold Maple Leaf
We begin with the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, a certified classic distributed by the Canadian Royal Mint. This coin features .9999 fineness, making it one of the purest gold coins on the planet. On its obverse, note the portrait of Britain’s current monarch. Until 2021, this was always Queen Elizabeth. The coins actually aged with the monarch; as she got older, her portrait began bearing the evidence of her age.
New coins in the series will instead highlight Charles III, the newly crowned current King of England.
The reverse is, obviously, where this coin gets its name. You’ll find the most famous symbol of Canada, the Canadian maple leaf. Rendered in a level of detail that we don’t see from many other government mints, there’s a reason the Canadian Gold Maple is one of the most popular gold coins to collect.
Canadian Gold Maples are some of the cheapest gold coins to buy. While you can certainly find cull coins or gold bars at a cheaper premium, this coin’s numismatic value makes it one of the best purchases for investors who want to get the most out of their money.
British Gold Britannia
Another coin on our list to feature the monarch of England is the British Gold Britannia. The coin’s obverse will always include a portrait of the Queen (now King) of Great Britain. The Britannia also features a long list of security features that leverage the latest mint technology to improve the safety of your investment.
The reverse features the namesake of the coin, Britannia. Lady Britannia is the centuries-old feminine symbol of the British Isles. Her portrait goes way back – some historians think that it was the Ancient Romans in 200 AD that first used her to represent the British people.
She carries a trident and the shield of England as she walks along a rocky cliff. In the background, a wavelike ocean scene doubles as a security feature to help deter counterfeiters. While it may not be one of the cheapest gold coins to buy, the British Gold Britannia is most definitely a coin with excellent value to collectors.
Australian Gold Kangaroo
Another easy call for one of the cheapest gold coins to buy is the Australian Gold Kangaroo. Since 1986, this coin has been a must-have for collectors. Like the other two coins above, this beautiful gold piece includes an obverse depiction of Britain’s current monarch. Future coins in the series will undoubtedly feature King Charles III.
The reverse of this coin actually changes every year, which is rare for legal tender coins. The core concept of the reverse-side artwork is static – it highlights a classic Australian animal, the Australian Kangaroo. But the exact position and design of the kangaroo(s) on the reverse varies from year to year.
Because of its high collectability, changing designs, and reasonable premium costs over melt value, the Australian Gold Kangaroo remains a hefty contender for the best value gold coin on the market in 2023.
South African Gold Krugerrand
Finally – we’ve made it past the coins that only feature England’s monarchs on the front. If you’re looking to put your money on one of the most popular gold coins in history, the South African Gold Krugerrand is the coin for you.
For a period of time, Krugerrands actually made up an astonishing 90% of all global gold coin sales. The coin isn’t necessarily one of the cheapest gold coins to buy – it comes with some pretty high premiums. But it still made it onto our list, and we can explain why. The Krugerrand’s numismatic and collectable value to investors is extremely impressive. This makes it a great value gold coin, even if it’s not super cheap.
The obverse of this South African Coin features Paul Kruger, who was a controversial but influential South African politician. Flip the coin over to find another South African symbol, the Springbok Antelope. This is the national animal of South Africa, and the coin’s design is relatively unchanged from its glory days in the late 1960s.
Austrian Gold Philharmonic
Rounding out our list of the cheapest gold coins to buy is the Austrian Gold Philharmonic. This coin is probably the most unique one on our ranked list, and its design continues to impress collectors of rare and unique gold coins.
The obverse features an extremely intricate depiction of the Musikverein Pipe Organ, which is the large instrument used to conduct orchestras in the Musikverein music house in Vienna. Vienna’s long history of musical excellence and culture makes this coin an automatic choice for history and music aficionados.
On the reverse, the coin continues with its objective of celebrating Vienna, Austria’s proud musical history. Eight orchestra instruments are featured on the reverse of the Austrian Gold Philharmonic. This unique design choice is part of what has made the coin a staple in many gold stacks around the world.
Investing in Gold Coins: An Introductory Guide
We’ve written quite a bit of educational material for new gold coin investors. But just in case you need a quick refresher on how to find and purchase the cheapest gold coins to buy, we’ve included a couple of basic tips below.
For the most part, investors in quality gold coins need to learn 2 skills: finding reputable dealers and properly storing/maintaining their portfolio.
Finding Reputable Dealers
Finding a dealer you trust is the first thing any new gold coin investor needs to do. Even if you find the cheapest gold coins to buy, you could lose considerable money if your dealer cuts corners during the shipping process or tacks unnecessary fees onto your purchase.
Hero Bullion offers competitive pricing, and we take great pride in our secure and safe shipping procedures. Feel free to read more about our shipping process and pricing models on our website – we’d love to be your bullion hero!
Local Vs. Online Gold Dealers
Local dealers are another good option if you’re looking for the cheapest gold coins to buy. We tend to find that local dealers often sell coins at high premiums to make up for the cost of running a brick and mortar shop. However, savvy collectors may find serious discounts on gold coins if they find a good, reputable local dealer.
Storing and Maintaining a Gold Coin Collection
Storage and maintenance are two important skills that any gold collector should know. We’ll include a couple of links at the bottom of this page if you need a larger refresher. The basics are pretty easy to understand, however. If you have expensive gold coins in your collection, you need to keep them inside of a temperature controlled safe.
Otherwise, it’s always possible to store your gold coins at a dealer or bank vault. Whatever you choose, make sure you’re keeping care of your gold coins – these investments can lose value quickly if you’re not careful!
Final Thoughts: Cheapest Gold Coins to Buy
Investors often ask us about the cheapest gold coins to buy. Whether you’re stacking gold as an investment or including it in your precious metals IRA, we’re happy to help you find the perfect gold products for your growing portfolio.
Still have questions? Don’t worry – our customer service team is here to help make buying gold a painless (and cheap) process. Contact us today for specialized advice.
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About The Author
Michael Roets
Michael Roets is a writer and journalist for Hero Bullion. His work explores precious metals news, guides, and commentary.