[dustcoin]

Physical precious metals have some of the worst spreads/fees and friction involved buying and selling compared to other assets.

Stocks: $5 flat fee per trade is typical, index funds charge as low as 0.05% / year.

Bonds: Cheap bond index funds charge 0.1% to 0.3% / year. Buying bonds directly from the treasury carries no fees.

Bitcoin: 0.20-1% fee is typical when purchased online

The only common asset class that is worse in this regard would be real estate, but unlike precious metals, real estate can at least produce income or provide utility while it is held.

[pmorici]

"Physical precious metals have some of the worst spreads/fees"

Here is a site that buys 1 ounce gold bars for $10 below the current spot price and sells them for 30 above. that is 0.8% spread on the side a slightly over 2% on the buy side.

http://www.goldeneaglecoin.com/topProducts

Are there bad vendors out there, sure, but they are in every market. Look at Bitcon ATM's some of those charge fees amounting to 10%