How to Buy Raw Gold

How to Buy Raw Gold
••• Gold Nugget image by roger from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a>

According to the World Gold Council, gold has been valued as a global currency, a commodity, an investment and simply an object of beauty for thousands of years. Raw gold occurs in nature as gold nuggets and gold dust. Jewelry dealers who sell raw gold are hard to find. Online auctions connect you to gold dealers around the world. Purchase raw gold on online auction sites and save it as a collectible item.

Visit an online auction site such as Ebay.com or uBid.com. Search the online inventory for gold nuggets. You will likely see a long list of both major companies and individual sellers. Review the profiles of the sellers to assess their ratings and other buyer comments.

Read the fine print. Some "gold nuggets" are man-made souvenirs. However, this fact is often not listed in the title or subtitle of the posting. Amateur gold nugget buyers may be attracted to the low reserve price of the nugget, not noticing the disclaimer.

Check for a weight. The description of "Large Real Gold Nugget" is not enough information for a metal whose value is determined in ounces. Be wary of sellers who do not disclose the weight of their gold nugget. The listing should read ounces or grams as a weight for the raw gold.

Warnings

  • Be wary of exaggerated claims for the size or amount of raw gold you are purchasing. Gold nuggets are commonly found to be about one gram, which is the size of a matchhead.