7 Best Books on Precious Metals Investing

Precious metals, mainly gold and silver have existed as money far before any modern financial system was in place. They have always been valued due to their scarcity and global acceptance. Even today, central banks in various countries hold large reserves of gold, affirming its role as a monetary anchor.

Precious metals investing is not about fast and short profits, but rather about understanding the workings of inflation and currency debasement in different economic cycles.

The books in this listicle analyze precious metals from multiple angles: investing, historically, ethically and physically. Together they help explain how and why gold and silver continue to play a crucial part in long term wealth preservation and portfolio stability while simultaneously providing the right approach to these assets. 

1. Gold Investment For Beginners: A Solid and Shiny Path to Wealth by Thomas Goldfreburg

Thomas Goldfreburg’s book “Gold Investment For Beginners” is meant to help the reader learn about decision making rather than the theoretical workings of gold investments. Goldfreburg is a renowned precious metals educator and major advocate for physical gold holding. He is most known to break down complex and difficult investment ideas into plain language. Goldfreburg’s teaching’s are aimed to help beginners who feel overwhelmed by the concept of gold investing.

Gold Investment for beginners uses simple and easy to understand examples to help the reader grasp key concepts such as inflation and how gold grows as an asset during these times. Another heavy focus of Goldfreburg’s book is its emphasis on physical gold ownership and its contrast to ETFs. It dives into its liquidity, storage options and how it can provide to an investors portfolio.

This book does not take a “how to get rich quick” stance but rather how to preserve one’s already existing wealth while avoiding beginner mistakes. 

2. The Ethics of Money Production by Jörg Guido Hülsmann

The Ethics of Money is not a tactical approach on precious metal investing, but rather a philosophical approach to money and currency in the modern day. Jörg Guido Hülsmann is a German economist and also a well respected professor at the University of Angers. He is known for his conflicts and various critiques around the central banking system.

The Ethics of Money dives into the moral implications of money, and how inflation adds to the unfair wealth distribution, benefitting banks and financial institutions. He argues that these systems slowly destroy the purchasing power of wage earners and employees that spend their entire lives saving cash.

Gold and silver are mentioned in The Ethics of Money not as assets but rather an ethical form of currency. Since they cannot be made or printed, institutions cannot politically abuse these assets for their own gain.

The Ethics of Money is a strong recommendation for all investors to understand how gold and other precious metals fit into the modern financial system. It is sure to change your views on monetary policies.

3. The Complete Guide to Investing in Gold and Precious Metals How to Earn High Rates of Return Safelyby  Alan Northcott

Alan Northcott’s The Complete Guide to Investing in Gold and Precious Metals serves as a methodical basis to give readers clarity on precious metal investing. Alan Northcott is a financial writer and educator who has an expertise in asset and risk management.

The Complete Guide to Investing in Gold and Precious Metals is an in depth guide to different precious metals, it covers not just gold and silver but also platinum and palladium, explaining which metals drive which markets and why gold dominates the most during market instability.

The Complete Guide to Investing in Gold and Precious Metals’s core strength comes from its explanation of risk management. Northcott explains volatility and how gold can spend long periods underperforming as well. He compares different gold investment methods such as physical holding vs ETFs and outlines which option suits individual investor profiles more.

Northcott’s book helps readers who are already familiar with investing and want to add precious metals into their portfolio as stability assets.

4. Recovery and Refining of Precious Metals by C.W. Ammen

Recovery and Refining of Precious Metals dives into the industry that drives the precious metal market, particularly how gold, silver and platinum are extracted, refined and recycled. C.W. Ammen is a chemical engineer whose work revolves around the technicality of precious metals. Unlike most authors on this list, Ammen talks about gold and silver as chemical material rather than investments.

Ammen explains the chemical procedures and different techniques that lead to acceptable metal yields. This approach helps readers understand the scarcity of precious metals and why they are even considered assets in the first place.

Recovery and Refining of Precious Metals may seem like a step away from investment education, but for serious investors it is a gold mine of knowledge that helps them understand just what they are actually investing in.

5. How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes by Peter D. Schiff

How and Economy Grows and Why It Crashes is Peter Schiff’s way of telling the story of economic growth through multiple factors like savings, investments and production as well as how they all come crashing down. Peter Schiff is a well known American investment advisor and very vocal critic of debt driven economic growth. He gained popularity for foreseeing the 2008 financial crisis before it occurred.

Schiff holds a strong criticism towards central banks for encouraging the growing debt in the United States. Gold is mentioned as a consequence of inflation and currency debasement. Schiff argues that investors are left with no choice but to migrate towards gold and other hard assets.

Recovery and Refining of Precious Metals is ideal for readers who want a macroeconomic view on investing in precious metals. It explains why gold becomes an attractive investment choice rather than promoting a blind funnel into it.

6. The Case for Gold by Ron Paul

The Case for Gold by Ron Paul is a political and economic take on returning gold to its formal central role in modern financial systems. Paul is a former U.S Congressman and has spent the majority of his time advocating for limited governance around currency.

In The Case for Gold Paul argues how the removal of gold as a standard in currency systems had led to financial bubbles. He references historical periods where due to gold backed financial systems there was relative stability in the economy. It also exposes how central banks hold immense amounts of gold while publicly dismissing its worth.

While a highly opinionated approach, The Case for Gold serves as an eye opening take on the strong political forces that run the monetary policy.

7. The Great Gold & Silver Rush of the 21st Century by Mike Maloney

Mike Maloney’s The Great Gold & Silver Rush of the 21st Century focuses on the role gold plays in the 21st century as an answer to long term debt expansion. Mike Maloney is a precious metals expert and founder of GoldSilver.com, an education and investment platform designed to help people understand and buy gold.

The Great Gold & Silver Rush of the 21st Century explains why silver, a precious metal that held a lot of monetary value alongside gold, has slowly become a lot more undervalued relative to gold. Maloney covers debt levels and banking policies in depth, and how precious metals really shine after markets are already under stress and not before.

Maloney’s The Great Gold & Silver Rush of the 21st Century is a book meant to help readers have a forward thinking mindset. Investors who already understand basic economics can use this book to position themselves for major shifts in the markets.