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Markets, mints, and metals — independent reporting and analysis for gold and silver collectors and investors.

Products & Formats (Coins, Bars, Rounds, Vaulted)

Proof vs Bullion Coins: What the Mint’s Finishes Mean

Three American Silver Eagles can sit side by side on the same desk, each holding exactly one troy ounce of .999 silver, each struck at a United States Mint facility, and each carrying a very different asking price. The metal in them is identical. What separates them is the finish: how the blank was prepared, […]

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Priya Anand September 10, 2026

Products & Formats (Coins, Bars, Rounds, Vaulted)

What Bullion Packaging Tells You: Cards, Tubes, and Boxes

Buy a one-ounce gold bar and you rarely just get the bar. It arrives sealed inside a credit-card-sized plastic holder printed with numbers and a signature. Buy a tube of silver coins and it comes in a capped plastic cylinder; buy in bulk and the whole thing shows up strapped inside a sealed box the […]

Priya Anand Sep 2, 2026

Products & Formats (Coins, Bars, Rounds, Vaulted)

Fractional Silver: Are the Smaller Sizes Worth It?

Silver has a quiet advantage over gold for the everyday buyer: a single ounce costs a fraction of what a gold ounce does, so the entry point is low to begin with. That raises a fair question. If an ounce of silver is already affordable, why would anyone buy it in tenth-ounce pieces? Fractional silver […]

Priya Anand Aug 26, 2026

Products & Formats (Coins, Bars, Rounds, Vaulted)

Which Gold and Silver Coins Are IRA Eligible?

Gold and silver have an obvious appeal inside a retirement account. The metal sits outside the banking system, it does not report earnings, and it has held purchasing power across plenty of currencies that no longer exist. What surprises many first-time buyers is how narrow the door is. The tax code does not let a […]

Priya Anand Aug 16, 2026

Products & Formats (Coins, Bars, Rounds, Vaulted)

Gold and Silver Bars, Coins, or Rounds: How to Choose

Walk into the physical gold and silver market for the first time and you meet three shapes almost at once: the government coin with a face value stamped on it, the plain round that looks like a coin but is not one, and the bar that ranges from a wafer you could lose in a […]

Priya Anand Aug 7, 2026

Products & Formats (Coins, Bars, Rounds, Vaulted)

Fractional Gold Coins: Are the Smaller Sizes Worth It?

Not everyone starts with a full ounce. A buyer with a few hundred dollars to spare, a grandparent who wants to tuck real gold into a birthday card, someone who likes the idea of metal they could actually break off and spend in a pinch: they tend to arrive at the same shelf, the one […]

Priya Anand Jul 28, 2026

Products & Formats (Coins, Bars, Rounds, Vaulted)

Five Ways to Own Gold — and What Each One Actually Gets You

Physical coins and bars, allocated and unallocated accounts, gold-backed ETFs, futures, and mining or royalty shares all offer exposure to gold — but they differ sharply on liquidity, counterparty risk, cost, and leverage. A clear-eyed comparison, including the perennial "paper gold" debate.

Jacob Barton Jun 16, 2026

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