[The Duke]

I think it is a pure gold one-ounce coin. If so, I’d ditch the dollar in a heartbeat for that even if the new coin was re-designed with a picture of Michelle Obama’s fat arse on it.

From what I've been reading there are three ways to buy precious metals:

• Regular Coins - The value of the metal in the coin is not nearly the face value. As a result the value of the coin is closely bound to the value of the underlying currency.

• Coins with nuministic value (collectibles) - During good times these are the best investments, but not due to the metal content. However, even during good times they may not be easy to sell.

• Bullion - This is a raw commodity, like any other commodity, and the best metal investment during tough times.

I would greatly appreciate any other perspectives on this subject from those who know more than me.

Also, my own research suggests that silver bullion is a better investment than gold bullion (and has been in recent history). It requires much more space to store, however it's also easier to divide into weights corresponding to daily purchases.

[HardStarboard]

I like the Canadian Maple leaf. It's the purest @.9999 and one ounce so it's easily discernible what its value is. It is also more easily recognizable by US citizens who might be leary of Krugerands, or Koalas.

[kcar]

1) Many people swear by those pre-1964 90% silver coins and buy them by the bagful.

2) Minted coins - ostensibly for collectible value but are also more easily trade-able. Silver or gold eagles or coins from various countries.

3) Bullion - silver 1000 oz bars have little premium over the spot price. Smaller denominations do, in either case you would want to get the bullion from a recognized mint.

Silver has been money for longer than gold has been money. It follows the gold market usually pretty well. Last Nov-Dec-08 gold began rising and silver didn't immediately follow. I think it has been correcting that gap recently.

Precious metals ought to be in everyone's asset mix - at least 10-20%. Since Obama is spending and inflating more PMs should be accumulated defensively.

With powerful worldwide parties looking to diversify out of the dollar, the idea of a gold based one seems to me to make the most sense. On the other hand the notion that a few other fiat currencies can be strapped together and weighted as a bundle of alternative fiat currencies is just a useless idea. We trade off one governments incredulous fiat currency performance for a basket comprised by other incredible central bankers with their political agendas. That would be sick. Only a hard-currency backing will work for replacing the dollar.