Where to buy gold bullion?

I live in a fair sized city in Ontario, Canada... about 70,000 people. Would there be a store in my city that sells gold? I don't want to buy it online. What kind of store am I looking for? Coin dealerships or pawn shops maybe? You can't get it at the bank can you? Or do they only sell it directly in larger cities like Toronto? I don't want collector's coins, I just want pure gold as close to market value as possible. (I know there is going to be a vendor markup.) I already own a gold ETF but I would like to own a little bit of physical gold. Also anything I should look for to avoid being ripped off? Would buying an equal $ amount of silver be as good a choice as buying gold? It's certainly cheaper so I could buy a lot more of it.

Public Comments

1. any gold imported will incur duty tax as a friend found out buying silver on the internet and having it shipped to uk ~uk hmcustoms+excise slapped import tax on it and it worked out to cost more than if he had just purchased it in the uk from the start
2. If you are planning to buy the Canadian Maple leaf coin , try to get the one that four 9s on it - versus three 9s. Four 9s mean 99.99% pure and three means 99.90 percent pure, sells much more easily, especially when you need to sell in a hurry to a pawn shop...Also, sealed would be really nice versus an open one in a small plastic ziplock bag.
3. Coin dealers and some jewellers sell, coins and wafers of gold or silver. I like to have my one only Maple Leaf Gold coin, as I regard it as "A peice of the soul of the earth" It is not for investment, it is to hold for pleasure, it is one ounce of 99.99 gold, face value of coin is 50 Dollars, will cost you about $860. For investment I like gold stocks through precious metals mutual fund (no load, from a bank) I have $700,000 of these.
4. if you can get to Toronto, you should be able to find a pure precious metals dealer there, i don't see why not. better at such a dealer than at a coin or pawn shop, i would think. i can't get metals at any bank here in the US, so i would think it would also be the same in Canada. i live in NYC, so i go to a major dealer here called MTB. i buy Krugerrands for spot plus a variable premium and commission. i can't avoid paying over spot, but i think i'd pay the same or more if i mail ordered, and at least i get the satisfaction of taking it home with me. your idea of buying silver is a good one, considering that the current gold/silver ratio is 56, which is much higher than the historical ratio of between 15 and 20, which means that silver may be considerably undervalued with more upside potential going forward. right now i'm buying more American Silver Eagles and Canadian Maple Leafs than i would normally (i also have 100- and 10-ounce bars which come at much lower premiums), with the idea of riding the ratio down from 56 to a point where it would be profitable to trade my silver for gold. for the ASEs and CMLs i pay spot plus a $1 to $2 premium and commission. the bars only cost me 25-50 cents extra per ounce. i actually prefer the CMLs because they have a C$5 face value vs. US$1 for ASEs, although what practical difference this will make if/when our paper currencies turn to dust may be none at all, since silver is still silver. i don't have any metals ETFs myself and prefer to stay away from them. i feel there is always a risk, however slight, of corporate incompetence and malfeasance by the ETF issuer. the metals they account for may not actually exist. an ETF share is also a form of debenture, and if it were to go under, you would still only be a general creditor. (btw, i don't know where one of the posters gets the idea that your coins have to be pristine. some of the silver i've bought from MTB is tarnished, and they'll buy it back for as much as any of my "pristine" silver. they handle them all like handling bulk grains, anyway...)