Since 2007, I have had a fondness for collecting coins. During a stay in NYC, I got to see an old coin collection and was quite taken with it.

As a child, I had previously collected the commemorative State Quarters and Canadian coins from sailing trips up the San Juan Straight.

However I really got a taste for silver after I received my maternal grandfather’s coin collection. He was in the military and also served during the Korean War. I also received a gift of coins from Madeline, my fathers partner.

While working at the pharmacy I also picked up several silver coins and foreign currency mistakenly accepted at the register. Caribbean coins were often mistaken for dimes and pennies.

I also purchased a set of 5 ‘Pride of Two Nations’ silver coin sets for an APMEX deal that they did not honor. I tried listing them on eBay, but APMEX was selling them for next to nothing there and killed the resale market.

I don’t have any gold items or coins, but my mother is always saying we should buy gold.

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In the course of my adventures in the points and miles game I have repeatedly come across deals for gold, whether in an IRA, or an ETF. There was also Bitcoin which was being pushed as a digital gold by some.

I have investment in Canadian gold mining companies, and some royalty trusts that deal in minerals. The vast majority of royalty trusts are in the oil and gas industry which I am not too fond of.

Putting Gold in your IRA

This is a detailed guide to investing in gold through either a Traditional or Roth IRA.

Publicly Traded Gold Mining Firms

B2Gold Corp is a gold producer company in Canada. They have 3 mines; one in Mali, one in Nambia, and another in the Philippines. They also have a 100% interest in the Gramalote gold project in Colombia.

Recently they completed negotiations with the government over a mine and have resumed operations which brought share price up considerably.

I bought in at $2.17 per share back in late 2023, and they are currently trading at $5.23 per share.

The quarterly divided stands at 2 cents per share. Hopefully with productive operations we will see an improvement in the payouts.

Royalty Trusts

Mesabi Royalty Trust (MSB) has ownership of an iron mine and licenses out the mining operation to another company, Northshore Cleveland Cliffs. The Miner pays the Trust for all the iron ore they ship out of the mine plus they pay rental fees for use of the land.

Mesabi shareholders receive a dividend payment each quarter. It’s been steady, maybe more lucrative years past. It varies depending on the price of US Steel among other things.

My Experience with Mesabi (MSB)

I believe sometime around COVID, Cleveland Cliffs idled operations and started refining the scraps from the mine instead of digging out fresh iron ore, which meant they didn’thave to pay for mining, only rental fees.

There was a legal battle over whether the contract allowed the Miner to make such a decision. Mesabi won the case and was paid for the missing months of activity.

In February this year (2025), I received a whopping $909 dividend payment. My average is normally $40-82.

I started with 100 shares and then averaged down with an additional 50 a few years back. I have since made some sales, in part to buy my Nissan LEAF.

My current plan is to sell my shares in the run up to the next quarterly ex-dividend date and then buy them back after the dividend hoppers exit their positions.

I am selling at 35 thru 40 (potentially) with multiple limit orders in place at different price points. My re-entry position should be at $30 per share, if not better.

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Oskiko Gold Royalties (OR) has a royalty interest in a smelter at the Canadian Malartic complex. They have other revenue streams but the smelter is what I first heard about.

They recently changed their name to OR Royalties, I prefer Oskiko. They are interested in gold, silver, and diamonds.The

They pay quarterly, not as much as MSB, but it is good to diversify. This year (2025), I bought 1 share in January for $18.75 and another 4 shares in April for $21.21. Then in May I sold all 5 shares  at $24.57.

A Missed Opportunity with Oskiko

I had a small position but liquidated it in order to invest in Joby and Archer Aviation. I did pretty good with the flying car companies, but I missed out on OR shooting up in value shortly after.

I’m not sure which would have been the better deal in the end, but I do sometimes regret not holding on to some shares.

As of posting, OR is trading at $33 per share.

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Triple Flag Precious Metals (TFPM) is in to copper, silver, gold, nickel, lead, and zinc. They have interests in multiple countries including Australia, Colombia, and Cote d’Ivoire (Africa).

They acquire and manage precious metals, streams, royalties, and other mineral interests.

Dividends are paid quarterly, somewhere around 5-6 cents per share.

My Tradeoff with (TFMP)

It’s the same story as with Oskiko, I wanted to jump on the flying car band wagon and so I divested myself from precious metals.

In January, I bought 1 share at $16.08, then in April 1 share at $19.83 and 3 shares at $19.86. Finally, in May, I sold all 5 shares at $20.90 each.

At time of posting TFPM is priced at $28.86 per share.