Silver Eagle Coins vs. Gold Eagle Coins – Which One Is A Better Investment?

A lot of newbie investors are asking what to buy, Silver Eagle coins or Gold Eagle coins? Both gold and silver as an investment commodity have their own pros and cons. Major analysts disagree on what a better investment is, gold or silver? Some prefer only gold, while others favor silver because it has historically shown to appreciate in price better over a long period of time than gold.

Below we present a brief comparison summary of Silver Eagle coins vs Gold Eagles in brilliant uncirculated condition based on coin prices by Gainesville Coins.

Please note that silver coins values fluctuate hourly and may vary from dealer to dealer so the comparison is for informational purposes only and not intended as professional investment advice.

Silver Eagle Coins come exclusively in 1 troy ounce sizes with a face value of $1. These US coins are guaranteed by the US Mint to contain 1 troy ounce of 0.999 silver. Silver Eagle Coins are the official bullion of the United States of America. The front of the coin is decorated with the iconic all-American design of Walking Liberty and the back proudly carries the image of the American Eagle. At the Gainesville Coins website customers were able to acquire Silver Eagle coins at a premium of $3.49 over the spot price of metal.

Gold Eagle coins are also official bullions of the US and come in a 22 karat purity 91.7% in four sizes and face values: ranging from 1/10 oz with $5 face value to a full oz with value of $50. The face values are strictly symbolic and have historically been sold much greater than those. Gainesville Coins customers were offered 1 oz American Gold Eagles coins for sale at a premium of $52.99 over the spot price of gold.

As you can see the premiums for the Gold Eagles over the spot price of the metal are so much higher compared to that of Silver Eagle coins making the latter ones much more cost effective in terms of investment. However, gold is also valued so much higher than silver. Gold Eagles also allow customers to pick various weights to meet their collectors’ or investors needs’. So how do you know what to pick for investment?

Let’s step away from the specific coins and take a look at gold vs. silver in terms of investment. If you look at the historical silver charts over a 30 year time period, you will see that the spot price of silver went up from roughly $5 dollars per ounce to all the way up to shocking $40 dollars in early September, 2011. In addition, silver has multiple industrial applications, much greater than that of gold. It has been estimated that about 40% of silver production goes into electronics market. Silver is also much scarcer in nature than gold. And with ever increasing global electronics boom world is currently facing the silver prices are bound to go up. Major silver deficits will push silver prices up, according to some silver market analysts.

All these data speaks in favor of Silver Eagle coins compared to Gold Eagles. Same stands true if you compare Canadian Silver coins and Silver Panda coins to their gold counterparts. Additionally, if we speak of buying coins for survival purposes in the events of catastrophic proportions, it’s definitely more practical to have many Silver Eagle coins vs. just a few Gold ones. Would you be willing to pay with a 1 oz gold coin for a loaf of bread or perhaps it’s much more financially sound to have silver coins around to provide you with basic essentials?

However, silver investment has its own downside which is the bulk of silver that requires much greater space and in its turn expenses to store it. If storage is not a problem, definitely go for Silver Eagle coins rather than gold ones. American Eagle Silver bullion coins value allows its investors to diversify their portfolio and bet against inflation.