Posted on 01/29/2021 10:56:24 AM PST by amorphous
If you are just buying bars, that's the cheapest. You pay the lowest 'premium' over the spot price for bars. You can get bars from one ounce to 100 ounces, or possibly more.
If you want coins, things get interesting. You can buy bullion from one of several different private mints as either 'coins' (which really are just rounds of .999 silver), or you can buy bullion coins from major mints around the world.
American Eagles are produced by the U.S. government, and carry the highest premium over spot. You can also buy various weights of coins from Canadian, British, Austrailian, or even German mints. Each of these will have slightly less of a premium per ounce than Eagles. Some have rally interesting designs on them. I have bullion from all of the above mints.
Then again you can buy what they call 'junk' silver. This is actually just pre-1965 silver coinage, i.e., dollars, halves, quarters, and dimes. You buy these in bags with a specific face value. That is, you can buy a bag with $100 worth of face value for a set price. A lot of people like junk silver. Everyone knows what it is, and the value is pretty good in a lot of cases. U.S. silver content was 90% pure back in the day.
I would not advise buying one 500 ounce bar. You can, but the damn thing is going to obviously weigh a lot, and will be harder to unload. I'd never buy a bar that is more than 10 ounces, but that's really just personal preference.
Here's the thing to remember about silver: do not expect it to appreciate a lot over time. Gold and silver are really just a way to store value, not to make a boatload of money on the price of silver, unless something really weird is going on in the market. This kind of event might be coming soon, so it might not be a good time to get in.
I've been buying in small quantities for years. I just like silver. IMO, I consider the 'natural' price of silver outside of major market manipulation (which happens from time to time), to be about $20/oz. If you can buy between $15-$22 per ounce, you'll be OK in the long run as far as value goes. Chances are you'll be able to sell in that range.
When selling, bullion bars are the least desired by buyers. Eagles are the best, which is the 'why' of the differences in premiums above spot.
Finally, you might check out these two sites. Browse around and look at prices for different things. Right now, with silver jumping up suddenly is probably not the best time, but if you look at the price/oz listed and then compare it to spot, it will give you an idea of relative price of each type.
Apmex is at https://www.apmex.com/
JM Bullion is at https://www.jmbullion.com/
I've done business with both of the above companies.
One last thing. If you buy 'commemorative' coins, do NOT expect to make money on them unless the price of silver is going bonkers. If you want to buy something pretty for a niece or nephew, that's a completely different thing, but it's not really an investment. It's not a real 'commemorative' coin IMO unless it's potentially a circulating coin, and none of these really are.
Let me add a very important event: I called to order from one company, he said we have it in stock BUT he has 26,000 paid for orders on his desk so it will take at least 3 weeks to deliver.......
Exactly why I prefer silver to gold. It's also another reason why 'junk' silver is useful.
Old silver items can still be found for sale at places like Salvation Army thrift stores.
Nobody wants them anymore.
Personally, I’m more interested in brass and lead.
It will have great barter value, if nothing else.
Then that would be a Canadian Maple Leaf, our are only .99 silver.
I think maybe Krugerands are .999 also, not sure.
Well said. As supply and various forms are getting tight, prioritize what form, Eagles, bars, junk...I am probably one of the few here that remember what happened to silver in the late 70’s....it was known as “ The Great Melt”, ALL forms of silver was melted for COMEX delivery bars, yes, even US coinage. That said, rumor has it the COMEX will very soon have a “ failure to deliver” moment...if/ when that happens, you can see 20/30$ moves up overnight....stay tuned.
Sorry bud, my local gunshop just closed. The owner has crates of ammo and reloading powder, primers left...guess what? He said he will only accept Gold in payment for it. Think hard about it.
Precious metal,,,
Sorta like
“Plata or Plomo!”
I’ve got a large supply of 100 OZ bars in my safe. I was thinking about 1 OZ coins last year but missed that boat. Will purchase them if silver tanks though. Haven’t gotten on board the gold bandwagon at this point in my life. I thank my brother for getting me into a portion of my investments being precious metals, he gave me a 5 OZ bar as a gift for standing up in his wedding.
Those days over with long ago. The stuff you see today is plated, very seldom you find 92.5 anymore. IF you do find 92.5 sterling, keep them for eating and cooking with. Just as good as colloidal silver.
It’s interesting. I know that there were supply issues back when the lock-down BS started but have not had a problem (even then) with either of them being fully out of stock. Could always pick up small bars/rounds. Prices between JMB and APMEX have been pretty close in my observation with bullion but remarkably inconsistent with equally graded ASE’s. A while ago APMEX was selling tubes of 20X 1996 ASE’s for $90 a coin. JBM was and (I believe) still is selling them around 80 bucks. Around the same time I picked one up (same year) PR70 DCAM, blue label for $20 less at APMEX then JMB. So guess it pays to shop.
Or one can always roll the dice and go to EBAY. Lol.
How old is *long ago*?
The stuff I just saw in the SalVa thrift store the other day was antique age. It was old and not that expensive.
It’s probably silver plate. Not solid silver.
“ Silver is a speculative trade, and a pathetic store of value.
As the US continually expands the dollar supply, deflating the purchasing power, I’ve done quite well keeping cash in silver.
Yes, but as cheap as it was, it would probably be worth it.
How do you identify it on old silver items, like from your grandmother?
Try apex, or kitco.
Apmex
I hear 223 (AR-15) ammo is going for $2 a round in some places!
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