Generally, coin collectors are drawn to gold coins for a few basic reasons. First, gold has historical significance in that there have been major events where gold and or gold coins were key players. Secondly, the pure beauty and artistic significance of minted gold coins is a huge attraction. Lastly is the utilization of gold for exchange as money, having monetary value. US gold coins are still being minted today and can be purchased from the US Government.

Gold coins were minted beginning around 560 BC. They were the primary form of money from then until the early twentieth century. Then, in 1933, the global Great Depression caused a change by the world governments to currencies that had almost no intrinsic value beyond their production costs, like paper currencies and minted coins that were made from much less valuable materials. The American government stopped circulating US gold coins around that time.

Gold is a particularly appealing material for use in jewelry due it's unique color, luster, and extreme malleability. Those same properties make US gold coins and coins from other countries aesthetically appealing to collectors. The stories behind the designs printed in gold coins provide a valuable window into the world's history, in addition to their artistic value.

One reason to collect gold bullion coins is for their cash value. Since bullion coins range from ninety to one hundred percent gold by weight, they're inherently valuable. The price of gold in today's economy fluctuates somewhere around a few hundred dollars per ounce, and gold bullion coins contain a high percentage of pure gold. Just as silver does, gold can act as a hedge for investors against the inflation of paper money, which doesn't carry an inherent value within itself.

Along with a hedge against inflation, a lot of investors will store a portion of their net worth in metals like gold in order to hedge against yet another Great Depression. Such investors will claim that modern currencies with no intrinsic value will also lose value as units of exchange. Under such a line of reasoning, gold coins will gain in value as units of exchange as people flee from banks and other classes of investments in order to find a safer place in which to store their wealth. Over the millennia, unlike stocks and bonds and paper currency, gold has never lost value as a unit of exchange.

No matter the reasons behind your interest in gold coins, you can learn much more online or from books on the topic of numismatics and gold bullion. Although disreputable dealers abound online, as in the physical world, there are many reputable gold dealers from whom you can buy gold bullion or buy gold coins.