Perceived value due to "name recognition" (few USA normies know what a Philharmonic or Krugerand is...)
Face value in dollars, which may allow you to take more across borders, should you need to (face value < actual value in USD)
Some tax advantages when purchasing vs other coins
After you feel that you've stacked enough Eagles, you usually start just buying weight (bars, rounds etc) - whatever you can get a hold of because you're just looking to acquire weight - without paying minting fees and other premiums that erode your buying power.
You may want to buy gold Buffalo coins (99.99% gold/24k) vs gold Eagles (91.x%/22k) or a mixture of both. The alloyed Eagles are more durable as an actual coin.
Any "coin" will hold its value simply as a piece of valuable metal. As for numismatic value of the coin (collectability) - that's probably not going to matter a whole lot if the SHTF. Nobody cares if it's silver from 1888 or 2023 if things get that bad. It'll be all about the weight.
Some choose to get Eagles first, due to:
After you feel that you've stacked enough Eagles, you usually start just buying weight (bars, rounds etc) - whatever you can get a hold of because you're just looking to acquire weight - without paying minting fees and other premiums that erode your buying power.
You may want to buy gold Buffalo coins (99.99% gold/24k) vs gold Eagles (91.x%/22k) or a mixture of both. The alloyed Eagles are more durable as an actual coin.
Any "coin" will hold its value simply as a piece of valuable metal. As for numismatic value of the coin (collectability) - that's probably not going to matter a whole lot if the SHTF. Nobody cares if it's silver from 1888 or 2023 if things get that bad. It'll be all about the weight.
I NEVER buy "slabbed" coins-arbitrary values based on visuals that get inconsistant.