There’s a lot of worry going around about the economy and so the non-investors among us are wondering if it’s time to take the plunge, finally. One popular option for beginner investors is precious metals, maybe in the form of Morgan Dollars from Golden Eagle Coin – it’s also popular among more seasoned investors as a diversifier – as they’re real and don’t lose value, especially in turbulent times.

However, if you’re new to metals, you need this eminently sensible advice before going in.

You shouldn’t go in blindly

When it comes to going in, you should do it after thinking, reading and watching for a while. Look at the prices of the major metals for a few weeks and watch how they behave. It’s really frustrating to buy at the height of the market and then have to wait ages while your stock sinks a bit, then stalls, then finally rises to more than your buying price. Buy when prices have fallen a bit – the only way is up, right?

Buying dodgy scrap gold, silver or other metals

This is simply a no-no! Don’t entertain the idea for an instant! Damaged, scruffy-looking old chains and pendants aren’t attractive or valuable at any time and especially not if there’s economic trouble brewing. Scrap metals aren’t a serious investment unless you’re actually in the trade and you have your very own smelter. The other thing about scrap metals, especially gold and silver, is that you can never be sure about the actual percentage of gold and silver…

Buying your metals from an unverified seller

Straying away from reliable and reputable sellers means you increase your risks of buying coins or bars that are of suspect quality and purity, or even worse, totally fake. You could spend your money on something that looks like a bargain only to find that you’ve been cleaned out. Only deal with well-established bullion sellers, whether you’re going online or in person.

Not diversifying

You need at least two metals – gold and silver are most people’s starting point, with maybe platinum or palladium as a third option. Your bullion and bars should also be of different sizes as you might want to sell some of it to release some funds, but not too much.

Not being sure about the purity

You need to be as pure as possible – 99% or 99.9%. If you buy bars that are 90% pure, you won’t actually pay that much less and then you’ll find it harder to sell it on again when the time comes. You’re better off buying a smaller bar that’s 99.9% than a larger one that’s 90% pure. It’s quality over quantity every time.

When you start with metals it can become addictive very quickly – that gold is just so seductive… However, we still use paper money and electronic funds primarily, so don’t tie up all your money in non-liquid assets. It’s still important to have some assets that you can withdraw from a savings account within a day or sooner.