Mark
Fredericksburg,#2Consumer Comment
Sat, February 13, 2010
Since George was refunded all of his money, this isn't really a ripoff and ought not be reported as such. I am not an employee of Goldline, just a customer. I recently made a very similar purchase, and upon reading the brochures, had second thoughts. It wasn't until I recieved my written sales confirmation that I discovered that I was paying much more than the spot price for the gold in the sovereigns. However, what I did not know was that Goldline also paid more than the spot price to buy back the sovereigns. It is true that Goldline has a 35% spread between the purchase and buyback price of semi-numismatic coins, but they informed me of that policy prior to my initial purchase. You can lower the spread to 5-10% by purchasing boullion, but the cost of boullion is tied directly to the spot price at the instant of your purchase (like buying stock). Semi-numismatic coins, like sovereigns, tend to dampen market fluctuations, so the price of coins follows the trend of the price of gold but does not tend to follow the daily fluctuations. (More like mutual funds). For this more relative stability, one must pay a premium.
Goldline's literature also informed me that the account executives do make a higher commission on semi-numismatics, so I do expect them to try to sell coins more than boullion. They do offer protection from government confiscation as one reason to avoid boullion, though I believe the likelihood of that happening again is remote. But it is hard to ignore the fact that, for its purposes, the government looks at the face value of a boullion coin (say $50 on a Gold American Eagle, wich now trades for about $1200), rather than its intrinsic value. As our government has taken our economy and monetary policy into realms of insanity never contempleted prior to 1971; it is very difficult to see any way of saving the economy without confiscating the citizens property, either via a radical devaluation of the dollar, or more direct means.
I have opted to go with a portfolio of 50% coin (for privacy and stability) and 50% boullion (for value and liquidity). I would ordinarily be concerned that I am purchasing gold at an artificially high price; but I am doing so at a time when the newest presidential budget submission shows 1/5 of the budget being deficit, and 2/3 of that debt not purchased by other governments or investors. This is unprecedented. The only way this can work is to print enough money to cover the difference, and hyper-inflation follows. The spot price of gold is more than $100/oz higher than when George had his experience. This tells me that many others are starting to think the same way I do. Shig, Fredericksburg, VA
Jjcrossland
Santa Clarita,#3Author of original report
Thu, April 09, 2009
Goldline refunded my $6,000 so at least I have been compensated. However, it showed up on my Visa statement, so I will have to pay the interest when the next statement comes due. George