Is anyone here familiar with gold and silver in South Korea? If so, please read on... My wife (who is Korean) and I are going to encourage my wife's relatives in Korea to get some gold and silver (for the hedge against the inevitable US dollar collapse/hyperinflation, as well as for a long-term investment). Obviously, Korea does not have a Perth Mint or any other mint that produces coins that are recognised throughout the world (unlike Pandas, US Eagles or our own Kangaroos) and I'm not sure what form is most recognised there. In fact, I've even heard that coins are not the most popular way to buy PMs in Korea. Even so, I'm thinking of recommending them to get: - For silver: ASEs + bars (from a world-renowned company such as PAMP) - For Gold: mostly AGEs + a couple of 1oz Kangaroo coins (Perth Mint has an official distributor there) Do you think this is good advice?
North Korean Pandas? [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/675_nkpanda2.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/675_nkpanda1.jpg][/imgz]
Another thing I forgot to mention is that in Korea they don't measure gold in troy ounces or even in grams/kg but instead they use something called 'don' for their unit of measurement.
Think exit strategy - what country are they going to be selling it in. I reckon gold would be the way to go in that part of the world.
Ask them how much they want and take some Pms with u. Then when they are into it. They will find out the places to buy there.
S. Korean very interesting place after FIFA 2002. Agree gold is much preferable metal in the region. They also used gram as measurement the last time I been there in 2002. Not everyone can afford. Wages are low in the region. Think it will be harder to resell silver.
I agree, get what is popular in Korea if you are going to sell in Korea. I shouldn't doubt that what you have thought of is still good, it's good here, and in most countries that I've travel to (only about 20). So if it's good in Peru, France, Japan, Argentina etc. I think it'll be good in Korea too.
Ok, thanks. Their exit strategy would be to eventually sell in Korea in hopefully a very long time from now. So regarding gold do you think mostly AGEs + a few Gold maples and/or kangaroo coins would be good, or would you suggest something else?
They can buy silver and gold online on Gmarket (the Ebay of Korea), from online bullion dealer websites, or from jewelers. There are plenty of gold dealers around that sell small blobs. Gold is measured in grams or 'don' (1 don is 3.75g). You can also buy 24K jewelry, turtles, toads, etc. Gmarket: http://search.gmarket.co.kr/search....wordCVTi=0&keyword=%B0%F1%B5%E5%B9%D9&x=0&y=0 http://search.gmarket.co.kr/search....T=&keywordCVTi=0&keyword=%C0%BA%B1%AB&x=0&y=0 Online dealer: http://intergold.co.kr/main/index.php I also understand some of the banks sell gold. Here is a forum that discusses the topic. http://www.waygook.org/index.php?topic=45274.0 I have looked into buying silver here, but aside from wanting to collect a few South Korean silver bars (which are MAGNIFICENT), I prefer to buy most of my bullion online in Australia. Premiums on some silver products tend to be high here and the range is nothing compared to what can be found in Australia. Hope this helps! Cheers.
Just to follow up after re-reading your post. As for your recommendation about what form they should buy, my gf asked me the same question a couple of weeks ago. I started showing her my perth mint stuff and she was really impressed by it. However, I recommended she just collect forms that are commonly bought and sold here in Korea, as nobody here knows about Perth Mint, or even ASEs for that matter. If your in-laws buy foreign bullion coins they may not be able to recoup the premiums if sold here. I would advise them to stick to blobs like these: http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=pillips6064&logNo=90169417667 That's just my 2 cents though.
Thanks Golden Chipmunk. BTW I found that Perth Mint "distributor". The prices for Perth Mint stuff are...Well....There is 1oz gold 2013 Roo for the low price of around AUD $2,550. LOL. Here is the link to the site: http://www.hwadong.com/product/goodsDetail.jsp?Good_id=100054341
$2, 550?? Oh, wow - I expected a decent premium on their part but that's outrageous!!! haha Let's just say I won't be encouraging my relatives to make a beeline for that place!! Atlas, thanks heaps for your comments and links in your previous posts as well. In light of all I've read from everyone I'm leaning towards encouraging my wife's relatives to get some of those gold 'blobs'. Even though they don't look very attractive it's probably better to get those rather than something which is not as familiar in Korea considering that they'll probably be selling there (and I don't think they have enough money to buy Korean bars). Even so, if I did take a little gold from here over to Korea for them would you recommend: - Perth Mint 1 oz kangaroo coin (btw, I'm not a fan of fractional gold), - Perth Mint 1 oz kangaroo bar - American Gold Eagle (even though we have to pay 10% GST on it here but the advantage is that it is more likely to be slightly better known in Korea than the Perth Mint stuff)? What do you guys think?
As a general rule it's best to stick with 99.9/9% bullion in Asia. So if it was up to me I would bring over Perth mint coins or bars rather than a gold eagle. My hunch is a perth mint or PAMP certicard bar would be the way to go. Even a perth mint blob. But the coins are impressive. If you are trying to get them excited about stacking, a gold roo might be the way to go. It is very iconic after all. Use your best judgement. As is the case anywhere, the blobs and minted bars they sell here start from 1g and then go up in grams or don. I recently traded an old iPad for a 3.75g (1 don) poured bar, which is really a 'drop of gold' haha. It looks just like the little one on the end. Source: One of those little suckers per month is easily attainable for most working people in Korea.
