Gold has been used as a store of value for thousands of years, and many investors hold it today for the same basic reasons: it doesn't rely on any single government or company to retain its worth, it has historically helped preserve purchasing power during periods of high inflation, and it tends to behave differently from stocks and bonds, which can make it a useful diversifier within a broader portfolio.
Unlike a bank deposit or a share certificate, physical gold is a tangible asset you can hold in your hand and store yourself. That's part of its appeal, but it also means the practical questions below (which form, how much, where to keep it) are worth thinking through before you buy.
Both are 999.9 fine investment gold, so the choice mostly comes down to what you're optimizing for.
Many investors hold a mix: bars for the bulk of their position, and a few coins for flexibility if they ever want to sell a small amount without touching the rest.
The "spot price" is the current market price for one troy ounce of gold, and it's the benchmark every gold product is priced against. When you buy a bar or coin, you pay the spot price plus a premium, which covers minting, refining, distribution, and the dealer's margin.
Premiums are generally higher, as a percentage, on smaller items — a 1g bar carries a higher premium per gram than a 1kg bar, because fixed costs like manufacturing are spread across less metal. This is normal across the industry and not specific to any one dealer.
On GoldPenthouse, live prices are shown on every product page and update continuously with the spot market, so the price you see is the price you pay at checkout, locked in the moment your order is placed.
There's no single right answer, and it depends on your own financial situation and goals. As general context, some investors and financial commentators discuss allocating somewhere in the region of 5-10% of an investment portfolio to precious metals as a diversification measure, though this is a broad guideline rather than a rule, and your own circumstances may call for more, less, or none at all.
A common approach is to buy gradually over time rather than all at once, which smooths out the effect of short-term price swings — sometimes called dollar-cost averaging.
Once your order arrives, how you store it is up to you. Common options include:
Whichever you choose, it's worth checking whether your home contents insurance covers precious metals, and at what value, since many policies cap this lower than you might expect.
Every order is priced live against the spot market and locked in at checkout, so the price you confirm is the price you pay, regardless of how the market moves afterward. All orders ship fully insured, with free shipping above €10,000.
When you're ready to sell, our Sell to Us program lets you request a live buyback quote based on the current spot price, so you're not stuck finding your own buyer.