Today's investor has more options than ever if they want to invest in gold. They can buy gold coins, gold jewelry, stocks in companies that mine gold or hold gold reserves and even gold nugget invest. It's really up to you as to what type of investment makes the most sense for you and your financial goals.

Of course, buying raw gold, in nugget form, is much different than the other forms you can buy gold in. It's important that you educate yourself before you go out and try to find yourself a prospector.

The first thing you want to do is to find several mines that are close to you and that you can trust. Of course, depending on where you live, you may not have one close by, but if possible find several that are located together so you can visit them all at the same time.

Once you've identified several mines that you are interested in, see if they have a phone number or website. If so, it will be an easy matter to find out if they sell gold directly to individuals.

Next, you will need to decide which nugget you want. Since each nugget is unique there is no uniformity in pricing. In most cases the bigger the nugget the higher the price. Since it's not common to have a large, intact nugget you will have to pay more...no volume discounts here.

Nuggets may not be all gold, they can be made up of other rocks and dirt. In order for you to determine how much actual gold is in the nugget, you'll need to perform a gravity test. This is a simple test to make sure that you don't get taken by unscrupulous people.

I won't get into the exact method for figuring out the specific gravity in this article, but it's fairly simple and you can find resources online that will show you how to do it. All you will need is a simple mathematical calculation, and a glass of water and string.

Once you know the actual amount of gold in the nugget you can judge whether or not the seller is asking a reasonable price.

In order to find out how reputable a certain mine is, you can often go online to various forums that cater to those who invest in gold nuggets and ask around. If someone has had a bad experience they are usually very willing to tell everyone about it.

Sometimes it's not quite so easy to hear about the good experiences tough, so keep that in mind. If you want to hear about the good places you may have to dig a little deeper and ask more questions.

One of the neatest ways to invest in gold is to find a gold nugget invest mine that you can buy from directly. This is just a fun way to go about it. Even your kids may enjoy getting into the process. Of course, you still have to use your head and make sure you know what you're doing so you don't get taken, but it is a fun way to invest.