Gold is at an all-time high, and seems to be continuing on its upward path, yet it seems more and more people are buying up gold as fast as they can. I cannot tell you whether or not you should buy gold, as you should do your own research and decide for yourself. I may not be able to tell you when to buy gold, but I can tell you how.

Know who you are dealing with

I cannot emphasize this enough, but when you decide to buy gold bars, buy only from a reputable dealer. Yes, you can buy gold bars on Ebay. In fact, there are thousands on places online where you can buy gold bars. Make sure you know exactly who it is you are buying from. With gold at its current price, there are a lot of crooks looking for ways to part you from your money. Once you are satisfied with the dealer, that is, you trust them, you can decide what you want to purchase.

What to look for

When you buy gold, you should buy the largest bar that you can afford, rather than several smaller bars. The markup is higher on smaller bars, so buying larger bars is the most profitable way to acquire gold. The gold bars should be individually sealed in a tamper-resitant package which allows you to see the front and back, and assay information should be printed on the back, which is purity, weight, stamp, serial number and assayer signature.

Each gold bar should have gold standards stamped on them, which include:

• Purity - 99.99% or .9999 which is 24 karat or pure gold.
• Weight - The gross weight of the gold bar.
• Refiner's mark - The brand name for the refinery which produced the gold bar.
• Serial number - This number is unique to every bar.

Which brand to buy

There are a number of brands of gold bullion bars available. If you are buying gold then putting into a safe deposit box, where it won't be seen again until you sell it, then it doesn't really matter one way or the other. If you are storing your gold in a safe in your home, or someplace you might have access to it, you might want gold bars with artistic pictures or designs on them, such as the beautiful designs of the PAMP Suisse gold bar, or the kangaroo motif on the Perth Mint Kangaroo gold bar. The choice is yours.

Conclusion

Buying gold can be exciting, just be sure you know you are getting what you paid for. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Once you obtain your gold bars, make sure you store them in a secure location and insure them through your bank or homeowners insurance.