I recently had the same thought and bought thru Monex in Newport Beach. Seemed to be the most reasonable. US Mint has stopped the production, at least of Buffalos, until January. Many here said not to buy gold but I did anyway. Monex web site:
http://www.monex.com/liveprices
These folks were $70 less expensive per coin than my local gold exchange...yes we have one here in this small town...
Like you, I want to just have some to keep in the safe. May go up...may go down... but at least it's hard money and helps me sleep. I have no plans of speculating.