Welcome. I will take a stab at this from a purely investment perspctive. Hard gold is for keeping as a hedge against the economic uncertainties and is always the currency of safety accepted world wide. It is simply a chunk of metal but has a value associated with it that is accepted as currency. Stocks are for speculation and trading whereby the producer of such metal is recognized now or will be as a source.

Individual preference and investment strategy, certainly not mine to advise.

Best regards and welcome.