6 Pointers To Note When Buying Gold Coin

Gold price has declined phenomenally from its record highs of over Rs. 40,000 per 10 gm touched in early September and as the festivities commence with the Navratri, individuals may be lured to buy their all time favourite gold. In Delhi, 24 K gold is priced at Rs. 38, 450 per 10 gm. And if you have zeroed in on gold coins for your purchase this time, here are some pointers you need to definitely keep in mind.

6 Pointers To Note When Buying Gold Coin

As it is investors prefer buying gold coins in comparison to gold jewellery primarily for may be 3 reasons:

1. These gold coins can be put to use at a future date i.e. for a child's marriage etc.
2. Gold coins are also available in small denominations i.e. for as less as 0.5 gms.
3. Also when buying gold coin, buyer can get the purest form of gold with nominal making charges.

So, now as we know why we can consider buying gold coin. Here are some factors you ought to consider:

1. Hallmarking: Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), a government of India set-up stamps its mark on gold and silver coins and jewellery thus certifying the level of purity of the product. And 4 of the components including BIS logo, purity defined in carat and fineness, jewellers' identification mark and number and logo of assaying and hallmarking centre are also being hallmarked on gold.

In October this year, the Commerce ministry approved a proposal for making BIS hallmarking compulsory for gold jewellery. But the same will take formal shape after it is informed to the World Trade Organisation.

2. Purity: Purity of gold coin can be assessed through 2 measures i.e. Karat and the other is fineness. Karat as we know is the more known criteria and in it 24K is the purest with 24/24 parts of gold. In the case of 22K gold, of the 24 parts, 2 part are comprised by other metals including silver or zinc and the rest is gold. Usually gold jewellery comes in 22K as the other metals provide some strength and durability to it.

Fineness is another measure and as per WGC even the purest form of gold may include some impurities. And it is defined as weight of precious metal i.e. gold in proportion to the total weight that is inclusive of alloy and impurities. It is expressed in units of parts per 1,000.

3. Ensure that gold coin is sold to you in tamper-proof packaging: This is to safeguard oneself against any form of damage, fraud or counterfeiting. Also, as the packaging is kind of an authentication of gold purity, one should not break open the packaging if one intends to sell the coin at a future date as else the customer will not be able to recoup the best price for it.

4. Making charges: At a nominal making charge of between 8-16%, a potential buyer may get gold coin in the purest form and in minimum weight possible. Gold coins are available in a minimum weight size of 0.5 gm to 50 gms.

5. Re-sale aspect: Notably if you have bought a gold coin from a bank then as per the RBI directive these banks will not buy them back. And also if you resell them to another jeweler, you will fetch a lower value in comparison because the jeweler or trade will pay you only the market rate of gold and not the making or other charges associated with it.

6. Varied options to buy gold coin from : Gold coins are available across financial institutions i.e. from banks, NBFC firms such as Muthoot Finance, MMTC, SHCIL and online retailers including the likes of Amazon.in

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