Across the world, interest in buying gold, and other precious metals, is on the increase. The fact that you can go online and buy coins, which makes it super easy for people to get started.

Why people like buying precious metal coins

Savers like the fact they can buy what they want straight away without the necessity to pass credit checks and meet other criteria. The fact that the coins are sent directly to them also appeals. This is partly because they can potentially make an investment without anyone else having to know about it.

Plus, gold, silver and platinum coins are tangible items. You can see and count them and they are at hand in case of a financial emergency. They are also extremely easy to turn into hard currency.

So, as you can see there are lots of reasons people like investing in gold and other precious metals. But, it is important to realize that this type of investment is not suitable for everyone.

Precious metal markets are potentially volatile

The price of all precious metals fluctuates. Sometimes the market is with you and you can make a profit. Other times it is not and you end up making a loss. Therefore, if you are a risk adverse investor you are typically better off choosing to put your money into a high-interest bank account instead.

You need to have some cash reserves available

If you are likely to need to get your hands on your money quickly precious metal investments may also not be a good idea. As we have already said the actual process of selling gold, silver or platinum is fast and easy. Once you have found a dealer, jeweler or pawnbroker you can have the money in your hands within 15 minutes.

However, you do not want to be forced to sell a gold or silver coin to be able to pay your electric bill because you are self-employed and work is slow. If the price is low, when you are forced to sell, you could end up losing quite a bit of your initial capital. Generally speaking, buying gold as an investment should only be done once you have sufficient cash reserves available to see you through short periods where you are short of cash.

Precious metal investments are for the long-term

With precious metal investments, it is wise to take a long-term view. You need to be able to leave your capital in place for many years to be able to truly benefit from this particular investment vehicle.

Always seek advice before buying

If, after reading this, you are still interested in investing in precious metals, we suggest that you do a little further research. This government advice page is a particularly good place to start because it is truly unbiased and written in language that is easy to understand.