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IPFS News Link • Precious Metals

Hong Kong: still the cheapest place to buy gold coins

• www.sovereignman.com
IMG 2415 300x225 Hong Kong: still the cheapest place to buy gold coins
October 4, 2011

Hong Kong

Still a bit bleary eyed from last night’s 12-hour flight from Johannesburg, I decided to walk off the jet lag this afternoon by taking a stroll down Queen’s Road in Hong Kong’s Central district.

If you’ve never been, the streets are lined with banks (and shopping malls), meaning there’s no shortage of places to buy gold. It’s commonplace in Hong Kong for banks to sell gold (same in Singapore, Austria, and many other countries), but what I continually notice here is that premiums over spot are among the lowest in the world.

Now, bear in mind that I just came from South Africa… perhaps the ‘goldest’ of the gold producing nations. I was hard pressed to find too many credible retail outlets in Johannesburg and Cape Town with Krugerrands selling gold for less than an 8% to 10% premium over spot.

Today in Hong Kong at the Bank of China main branch on Queen’s Road, I bought an ‘unsealed’ Maple Leaf (i.e. loose coin) for just 0.5% over spot; I also purchased a ‘sealed’ Maple Leaf (i.e. collector-ready) for an additional $60, or about 4.5% over spot.

IMG 0276 300x225 Hong Kong: still the cheapest place to buy gold coins

The 'sealed' Maple Leaf I purchased at 4.5% over spot; the unsealed go for 0.5%.

 

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