You’ve probably heard us banging on about what a good idea it is to buy Royal Mint bullion coins at one point or another. There are plenty of good reasons for that. For starters, gold is generally considered to be a reliable hedge against inflation, and its value has a long history of rising in times of economic uncertainty.

But of course, deciding to buy gold and silver bullion coins is the easy part. There are a lot of options out there, from gold Britannias to gold Sovereigns and everything in between. So we’ve put together this guide to help you choose the best Royal Mint bullion coins.

Historic gold dealers and collectors

There is a good cohort of people out there who are not really that interested in precious metal for its investment potential. If you just want to buy gold and silver bullion coins in order to build up a collection of historical items, then you will have to prioritise your personal interest in the collection.

The true history buffs among you might be more interested in old circulation currency coins, like a Victorian Sovereign. If you want to celebrate aspects of British culture, than commemorative gold and silver bullion coins like the more recent Queen’s Beasts series could well be for you.

Serious investors

Of course, the gold coin trade isn’t exclusively about Victorian Sovereigns and Royal statues. There are plenty of investors out there as well looking to the gold market as a good way to store wealth and hedge against economic uncertainty.

You could be forgiven for thinking that historical coinage is the best option. After all – they often become the most expensive gold coins. And sure, you might well strike literal gold by being the world’s only owner of a particular edition of the gold Sovereign – but the chances of that are rare. Generally, it takes longer for a gold coin’s ‘historical premium’ to emerge than most people are willing to wait – and it’s too difficult to predict and quantify anyway.

In fact, if you’re looking for a more reliable gold coin investment, then it’s often the least remarkable coins that’ll prove the best investments. After all, gold coins will always be worth the equivalent value of their gold weight and purity, according to the live spot price.

If you buy those gold and silver bullion coins that charge the lowest premiums over the live spot price, then you’ll likely make decent returns as the price of gold itself rises.

The secondary gold market is often a good place to find the lowest premiums on gold coins, since you’ll be paying for very little other than the immediate precious metal value of the coin you buy.

The combination approach

Most people looking to buy gold bullion by post or elsewhere will probably find themselves somewhere in the middle of these two extremes; perhaps you identify as someone with a casual interest in commemorative or historical gold coin collections, but you’re equally keen to ensure your pension receives a boost in a few years’ time.

In this case, one approach is to look at a combination of more expensive historical gold coins and the most cost-effective secondary gold market coins. Unless you have a particular affinity for the historical gold coins, then more recent variants with smaller premiums will likely deliver more predictable returns over time.

The best place to buy Royal Mint bullion coins

If you’re looking to buy Royal Mint bullion coins like those from the latest Queen’s Beast series, make sure you find a gold dealer with competitive premiums over the live spot price of gold on their individual products.

Luckily, ours are updated automatically as the spot price changes. So whether you want to buy a Victorian gold Sovereign, or a Black Bull of Clarence, make sure you take a look over our full range to get the most out of your investment.