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I have some Krugerrand coins. Please tell me where to sell them.
-- Pris, Singapore

Judging by the surge in gold demand lately you shouldn’t have much trouble selling these one ounce gold coins, which were first minted in South Africa in 1967.

Though prices have recently pulled back a bit, the value of an ounce of  gold has soared above $500 an ounce to its highest levels in more than 20 years – up 15 percent in the last month alone. No ones knows exactly why demand has picked up, but much of the buying is coming from China and India, where traditionally strong demand for gold jewelry has been fueled by rapid economic growth and rising incomes. Buying is also reportedly strong from investors who may be worried that inflation is picking up again.

But though you may have an easy time finding a buyer, the trick is to find one who will give you a fair price. The best way to do that is to find a reputable dealer, and a good place to start would be the dealer you bought the coins from.

If that’s not an option, you’ll need to find a dealer, and then contact them and arrange to ship the coins based on their instructions. In addition to shipping and insurance fees, you may also be asked to pay a “counting fee” – or other charge for handling the purchase. (Always ask upfront and get the terms in writing.)

Don’t expect to get the full spot price you see posted for an ounce of gold; the difference represents the dealer's commission. Just the way stocks trade with a different “bid” (buy) and “ask” (sell) price, you’ll see a “spread” in the price that buyers pay and sellers get for their gold coins.

As of Friday, you could get $495.40 for your Krugerrand (about 2 percent less than the $504 spot price) according to Art Levine, a gold dealer with MONEX in Newport Beach, Calif. Levine says they buy Krugerrands, but if you didn’t buy the coins there, you’ll have to open an account and give them time to test them and make sure the coins aren’t fakes. Apparently, there are bogus Krugerrands floating around out there with less gold content than the real ones, according to Levine.  (That sounds like another good reason to buy and sell from a dealer.)

The bigger question, of course, is whether this is a good time to buy or sell. Some “gold bugs” think prices are headed even higher – especially if rising energy prices begin to stoke inflation in the broader economy. On the other hand, gold has rallied like this before – crossing $500 three times since hitting an all-time high of $850 in 1980 – only to slump back down below the $400 mark. After the last rally fizzled, fell to $250 in 1999. 

DIVIDEND DATES
Is there a Web site that I can pull up to find the dates and amounts of dividends issued by companies?
R.C., Address withheld

Yes, you can find this on MSN, among other financial information sites. Go to http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/charts/chartdl.asp?  and enter the symbol.

If you haven’t been to the site before, you may have to download a piece of software to make charts interactive.

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