First ounces are a process
A first physical holding is four decisions: what form, from whom, where it lives, and what you write down. Skip any one and the others get expensive.
The list
One: decide bar or coin, and the size, before you look at a price. Two: know the premium over spot and the bid, not only the ask. Three: choose storage before the parcel moves. Four: if you buy remote, read buying online. Five: keep invoices, serials, and a note of where the metal is — in a place that is not only the same drawer.
Six: stay off collectibles until you understand bullion. Seven: do not skip the fake filter on spotting fakes, and do not think a blog post replaces a test.