are gold and silver eagle coins from the US mint a decent long term investment?

Sounds to me like the problem may be in finding a buyer when you want to sell. I don’t think I’d invest everything I have in them. The best long term investment I’ve seen is a Roth IRA. It’s accessible when you need it, and the money is after-tax, so the only part you’d have to pay tax on is the interest, if you got into it. I’d sink the major portion of my investment monies into one of those. Then, too, there’s jumbo CDs that have pretty decent rates, as well.

You can actually buy gold on the stock exchange. There’s an exchange traded fund that I believe is called Gold Streettrackers (GLD is the ticker symbol). There may also be one for silver.

In practice I think you have to pay steep fees to actually buy or sell gold coins.

I haven’t invested any money in precious minerals in a year or two and don’t have an opinion on where the price of sold or silver are going.

umm.. i wouldnt think so.. since the mint hasnt stopped putting out new coins since it started minting..