What do I do with a metal after buying it? beginner investors ask

Because of the global threat of the Covid-19 pandemic, more people may have made their first acquisition of physical gold or silver in recent months. The purchases in the US may have been higher than any four months in the last two centuries.

Clint Siegner, the Money Metals Exchange director, stated that retail demand has never been so high, and a large proportion of buyers are newbies. 

With the new wave of people entering the market, a fundamental question arises: What do I do with a metal after buying it?

Physical gold and silver are useful as investment insurance, especially in times of crisis. However, Siegner points out that it requires a bit of information.

Some people wonder how they could make a profit from precious metals.

The answer could sound different after logging from a brokerage account and hitting the “sell” button. 

Others have heard that precious metals are a form of emergency money that they can use to buy groceries if the US dollar falls. Still, they have trouble imagining what that might be.

Fiat currencies always fail in the long run, but precious metals are more trusted

Gold and silver are ideally positioned to capitalize on a couple of influential trends that will dominate the markets for years to come. These are price inflation and declining confidence in institutions such as the government, the Federal Reserve dollar, and Wall Street, says Siegner.

Investors have an excellent opportunity to buy metal today, and eventually sell it for a healthy profit, measured both in Federal Reserve notes and real terms.

Unlike gold and silver ETFs or mining company stocks, physical bullion is not a paper guarantee. It has no counterparty risks. Investors in an ETF could be right about the trends and find that their investment failed anyway. It could turn out that the ETF was full of paper notes that were not covered, rather than real metal.

When the time comes to sell physical metal, new investors should know that there is a ready and liquid market for their coins and bars. They will have many alternatives.

Distributors are buying bullion products from customers, literally, all day.

Selling bullion can be as easy as buying it. You can log in to a local dealer, or go online to sell instantly at the current market price. Just set a price, turn in your metal, and get paid. It’s as easy as that. 

When it comes to how precious metals could be used during a currency crisis, the truth is, none of us know what to expect. If confidence in fiat money (paper) collapses, perhaps the government will eventually reform the dollar by resuming a gold standard.

Throughout thousands of years of history, fiat currencies always fail in the long run. Physical gold and silver are more trusted, especially in uncertain times.