Fractional Coins Make Owning Bullion Possible

Often the price of bullion is given as the cost per Troy ounce. Gold often sells for over a thousand dollars per Troy ounce. This makes buying an ounce of gold prohibitive for many people.

Some mints produce gold bullion coins in fractional sizes, or coins weighing less than one Troy ounce. The United States produces fractional gold bullion coins, as does the Royal Canadian Mint and the Perth Mint. There are others, but these mints are located in countries where English is the language spoken, making conversing with them easier. And these mints have coins that are easily obtainable in the United States

While these mints do not release bullion directly to customers, one can contact them to determine the sizes of gold and silver coins made by them.

The common sizes for gold coins are one, one half, one fourth, one tenth, one twentieth, and one twenty-fifth of a Troy ounce. Not every mint makes all of these size coins, but these are the more common sizes for fractional gold coins. There are, of course, exceptions. There is a rare one fifteenth Troy ounce gold coin that is the product of the Royal Canadian Mint, and the New Zealand Mint makes one thirtieth Troy ounce gold coins, although not as bullion.

Silver is less expensive, so fewer fractional size silver bullion coins are minted. The Perth Mint does mint one half Troy ounce silver lunar coins, and in 2006 the Royal Canadian Mint released the one half Troy silver wolf coin, but other fractional silver bullion coins are rare. There are fractional Mexican libredads, but these are not often found outside of collectible coin sets.

As a rule, the less expensive a coin, the greater percentage over the price of the precious metal one would expect to pay for a coin. The mint must recover the cost of production of the coin, which is about the same regardless of the coin's weight. Yet, if one wants to own bullion, one can buy bullion inexpensively. Fractional coins make owning bullion coins possible for more people than would otherwise be able to afford to own bullion coins.

Henry M. Smith provides information and sells coins and other collectibles through Black Spaniel Gallery. The website http://blackspanielgallery.8m.com can provide additional information on these items. Please visit the site for more information.

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