What a Scam.....

Last night, I was watching TV and one of those info-mercials came on advertising $5 gold pieces. Perhaps you have seen it also. It sounded so good, but when you put a pencil to it, this thing looks like a scam! The particulars:
The ad is by the 'National Mint' and is advertising newly minted $5 gold coins (supposedly legal tender) for a discounted price of only $109 each. The kicker of it is that you have to buy a minimum of 5 coins ($545 total) to get that 'unbelievable' price. What's so unbelievable is that anyone would think this is a great deal! Follow along with me now, and I will show you why this is not such a good deal.
First, the gold content of each coin is 1/10 ounce. At the gold futures price on the market today, gold was trading in the range of $860 per ounce, making each coin worth a raw value of $86.....not the 'unbelievable' value of $109 they claim. If you bought a coin today and had to sell it tomorrow, you would lose $23 per coin if you could get the full value of the gold market. Coin dealers are not prone to give you full value, even for gold. They have to make a profit, too, you know!
Even if you could get full value for the gold, prices for gold would have to increase a full 20% for you to just break even on your investment. In other words, gold prices would have to climb to over $1030 per ounce just to get you money back.
What about added value for the coins being categorized as rare coins? I would tend to think not. They are newly minted. Seldom, if ever, do newly minted coins gain the prestige of being classified as rare coins right from the beginning. Now, if these were $10 gold pieces from the early 1900's, that would be another story, because you would be placing value on rarity along with the ultimate value of gold.
Wow! What a deal! I get to invest $109 to get a coin worth $86 and only lose $23 in the process. If some of you out there think this is such a good deal, let me know. I have some 'beach front' property here in the desert of Nevada. We all know that California will some day slip into the ocean, and Hey!, some day you will have the ocean right at your doorstep. Think how valuable that would be. Of course, you may have to wait a little while..............