"Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary, known for his no-dividend-no-deal investment philosophy, has always made an exception for gold, viewing it as the ultimate insurance policy against economic chaos.
While many investors opt for simple gold bars, the "Shark Tank" investor takes his strategy a step further: He holds vintage, collectible gold coins for a double play on value.
"It's been established as a story of value everywhere," O'Leary said in a video posted on X. "It's not a debate, it's not a Johnny-come-lately, it's not a crypto, it's not something where there's still skeptics."
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O'Leary's approach goes beyond the pure commodity price of the precious metal. By focusing on historical and numismatic gold coins, he bets on two distinct value streams: the assay value — the coin's weight in gold — and the collectible value — its rarity, condition and history.
"They actually have an enhanced value because vintage gold coins are collectibles, in addition to how much assay value they have in them," O'Leary said in the X video. "The actual value of these collectible gold coins from the last few centuries have actually gone up in value beyond the value of gold."
In a world increasingly focused on digital and growth assets, O'Leary's preference for tangible, historical gold highlights a calculated nuance in his investment playbook.
O'Leary said that gold has industrial applications, is used for jewelry and is particularly popular during the Indian wedding season.
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Gold is a rare commodity that must be mined and has well-documented use cases, O'Leary said.
"When there is instability in fiscal policy or political instability or concern about risk-on or risk-off in financial markets, gold has traditionally been a safe harbor," he said.
Gold, O'Leary said, is a countercyclical asset that many investors keep at a 5% weighting in their portfolios. In the past, investors would buy a gold bar and pay for storage in a vault.
"The most coveted gold bar is made by UBS with an assay certificate to it and for institutional investors and certainly for me, that's the only gold I own," he said. "I don't own Canadian or Australian gold although they also manufacture it."
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But O'Leary doesn't limit his investments to gold bars and gold coins, which can be difficult to trade. He also invests in gold stocks, such as SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD), which he called a "proxy for gold."
O'Leary isn't the only one touting the benefits of investing in gold.
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, has been telling investors for years to invest in gold, recently posting on X that "gold is hotter than AI stocks" and could be a better store of wealth than technology stocks.
"Gold is more scarce and durable than silver, which makes it a better store of value," Dalio posted on X.
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