India Post, government’s postal department first introduced sale of gold coin through a number of post offices across the country on October 14, 2008. Given the popularity of gold in India, the new service became a great success. 24 carat Gold coins are sold in denominations of 0.5 g, 1 g, 5 g and 8 g. The gold coins are
packed in sealed cover with the certification from Valcambi, Switzerland and the service is provided in association with World Gold Council and Reliance Money Limited.
Given initial success, India Post has recently decided to augment the service. It has announced plans to expand the network of post offices where these gold coins would be sold from 466 currently, to 700 post offices during May 2010. Moreover coins will be sold with its own logo.
India Post charges a commission/service-charge of 4% of the sale value. And for buying coins worth more than Rs.50000, buyer has to furnish a copy of PAN card. If you want to buy physical gold, this service is quite similar to gold coins sold by many banks. Premium charged by banks varies and is usually more than the service-charge of India Post.
However, from investment perspective Gold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is still best bet for retail investors. Advantages of ETFs are that the fund house takes over the responsibility of storage and insurance of this gold, liquidity is high, making charge is not incurred. Gold ETFs are also more tax efficient than physical gold.
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packed in sealed cover with the certification from Valcambi, Switzerland and the service is provided in association with World Gold Council and Reliance Money Limited.
Given initial success, India Post has recently decided to augment the service. It has announced plans to expand the network of post offices where these gold coins would be sold from 466 currently, to 700 post offices during May 2010. Moreover coins will be sold with its own logo.
India Post charges a commission/service-charge of 4% of the sale value. And for buying coins worth more than Rs.50000, buyer has to furnish a copy of PAN card. If you want to buy physical gold, this service is quite similar to gold coins sold by many banks. Premium charged by banks varies and is usually more than the service-charge of India Post.
However, from investment perspective Gold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is still best bet for retail investors. Advantages of ETFs are that the fund house takes over the responsibility of storage and insurance of this gold, liquidity is high, making charge is not incurred. Gold ETFs are also more tax efficient than physical gold.
Related posts:
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