Internet of Fine Gold → Compare
Internet of Fine Gold · the comparison grid
Six ways of owning gold
Compared by the properties of the transaction, not by which is better. Four of these six sit outside the Internet of Fine Gold, and none of them is thereby wrong: they are regulated, widely used, and in several rows plainly superior. The grid exists so that a buyer can see which properties they are actually choosing.
Swipe sideways to read all six columns →
| Coin in your handsthe IoFG case | Vaulted or fractional goldincl. Internet Investment Gold | Tokenized gold | Gold ETF | Bar in a bank box | Local dealer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you hold | A specific coin or bar, in your possession | A claim on metal held for you by a custodian | A token on a ledger, redeemable under the issuer's terms | A security that tracks the gold price | A specific bar, in a box you rent | A specific coin or bar, in your possession |
| Your counterparty once the deal has closed | None | The custodian and the platform | The issuer, the custodian and the chain | The fund and its intermediaries | The bank, as landlord of the box | None |
| If that counterparty fails | Nothing changes for the item you hold | Outcome depends on whether metal was allocated and segregated | Redemption depends entirely on the issuer's ability to honour it | You hold a financial instrument going through a wind-down | The contents remain yours; access may be interrupted | Nothing changes for the item you hold |
| How you exit, and how quickly | Sell back to a dealer or platform; published terms are what make this predictableSlower than clicking “sell”: the item has to travel. | Sell inside the platform, usually same day | Sell on an exchange, potentially in minutes | Sell on the market during trading hours | You find the buyer yourselfThe weakest exit in the grid. | Back to that dealer or another, in person, during opening hours |
| Who verifies authenticity | A known mint or refinery, plus documentation you keep | The custodian, under audit | The issuer's attestations | The fund's auditors; the holder never sees metal | Whoever you take it to | The dealer, and the mint marks on the item |
| Entry threshold | One whole itemThe highest threshold here, except the bar. | Small | Very small | One share | A bar, plus the annual box rental | One whole item |
| Divisibility | None — you sell the whole coinYou cannot realise a tenth of it. | Fractional | Fractional | By the share | None | None |
| Storage | Yours to solveA professional vault does this better than a drawer at home. | Professional, included | Professional, included | Not applicable to the holder | The bank's premises, at your cost | Yours to solve |
| Friction of the transaction | A dealer's spread, plus shipping and insuranceHigher than a fund's fee, and the reason a coin is a poor instrument for trading. | Platform spread and storage fees | Issuer spread, network and storage fees | Management fee and dealing costs — usually the lowest here | Dealer spread plus annual rental and travel | Dealer spread; the price may not be published anywhere |
| Access — what is required of you | An address, and identification where the law requires it | An account with the platform | A wallet, an exchange, and the technical means to use both | A brokerage account; some funds are restricted by jurisdiction | A bank relationship and an available box | Physical presence at the counter |
The grid describes structure, not performance. There are no prices, spreads or returns in it, because those change weekly and vary by market, while these properties do not. Where a row says “depends”, that is the honest answer and the reason question three exists on the checklist.
Where each boundary actually runs
Tokenized gold
The most common confusion, and the easiest to resolve: after the transaction, the holder has a token. The metal may well exist, be audited and be honestly managed — but the buyer's position is a claim that has to be honoured by someone. That is a different structure from a coin in a drawer, and it is the structure, not the sincerity of the issuer, that the definition sorts on.
Vaulted and fractional gold, including Internet Investment Gold
The closest neighbour, and the one most often mistaken for this category, because it looks identical on screen: you buy gold online, and it is real. The metal sits with a custodian; the buyer holds an entitlement to it. Delivery is often possible, at a fee, once you own enough to make up a whole bar. Excellent design for storage, and outside the category, which turns on possession by default. See Internet Investment Gold for the industry's own term.
Gold ETFs and gold-linked securities
Financial instruments that follow the price of the metal, and by far the cheapest and most liquid way to do that. For a retail holder there is generally no route to the metal at all, which is not a flaw — it is the product. If the goal is exposure to a price, this column wins most of the grid.
The local dealer
Structurally the closest of all: the buyer walks out holding a specific coin, with no counterparty left. The whole difference is medium — the transaction is not conducted online end to end, so the price is often unpublished, the exit terms are whatever is said at the counter, and the buyer's ability to compare is limited to the shops within reach. That is what criterion 4 adds, and it is the only thing it adds.
The IoFG comparison grid · internetoffinegold.com/compare · published under CC BY 4.0 — copy this sheet, translate it, hand it on. Structural properties only: no prices, spreads or returns, because those change weekly and vary by market. Written and maintained by JetGold, an online seller of physical gold coins and bars, whose own model is the first column and loses several rows here; the disclosure is at internetoffinegold.com/who. Nothing here is financial advice, a recommendation, or an offer to sell.