Your Thoughts on Silver?

[Que]

The precious metal, not the girl.

I'm interested in anything and everything that you can tell me about it. Things like how it trades versus gold what it looks like now.

How much should I pay over spot and how much should I sell under spot?

I haven't really looked at a chart but I will . Is there enough regular volatility to consider a trading range less the losses between spot and buy or sell?

Are there reporting requirements I need to be thinking about?

For most things like this I like dollar cost averaging but I really don't seem to be out and around when businesses that I could purchase this from are open. I suppose mail is an option but I really don't like doing that either.

 

[bbx56]

you can get fucked by both if you dont play it right

 

[oralaccents]

The precious metal, not the girl.

I'm interested in anything and everything that you can tell me about it. Things like how it trades versus gold what it looks like now.

How much should I pay over spot and how much should I sell under spot?

I haven't really looked at a chart but I will . Is there enough regular volatility to consider a trading range less the losses between spot and buy or sell?

Are there reporting requirements I need to be thinking about?

For most things like this I like dollar cost averaging but I really don't seem to be out and around when businesses that I could purchase this from are open. I suppose mail is an option but I really don't like doing that either.

Try the Hunt Brothers.

 

[silver gurl]

Awww and I thought you were referring to me a precious girl.

I like silver. Thus the name.

 

[RocketLauncher]

I collect silver American Walking Liberty coins. My ex fil buys Carson City mint gold coins. The coins are 99.999999% pure. Uncirculated coins are worth much more than circulated ones. I buy from Silver Gold Bull. They buy back silver at slightly above the going rate.
There are many reasons I prefer coins to bullion. The main one being coin collectors (numismatics). Pure, uncirculated coins can fetch a higher price than plain bullion. They are pure silver so worth their weight in silver alone but avid collector's love them. The trick to investing in silver or gold is to sit on it. It's not a quick turnover but if done right it's a worthwhile investment. I buy American coins cuz the pool of collectors is 10x larger than here.

https://silvergoldbull.ca/?c1=GAW_S...MIw6vQzZ-Z4wIVSr3ACh3h9Qn3EAAYASAAEgLUHfD_BwE

ETA also known as American Eagle coins.

 

[Que]

Last time I had this idea I went to numerous pawn shop looking for Junk silver. I want it circulated u.s. coins. Not only did I not find any of those fortunately for me I only found a couple of ounces of call Ian. I say fortunate because I think I paid something like 30 to $35.

Silver has been flat* for so long and the stock market is so overheated that I had the idea that I should have some.. I'm leaning towards actual US currency I'm thinking instead of just looking for ragtag whatever I can find coins that I want some consistency so I'm thinking of silver dollars and just circulated cheap ones like peace or Morgan dollars


Looks like about $8 / spot


I don't know if that's typical or if that's more or less the ratio that I could expect in the future as the price fluctuates. Obviously I'm going to lose that much on the back end
* the metal not the chick

 

[InsightRiot]

It seems to me silvers new normal spot is $14-15/oz.

Peak Obama silver reached $35/oz.

Pro-tip, if you're buying physical, buy smalls so you can trade with them post-apocalypse.

Also, precious metals are highly manipulated with paper contracts and ETFs.

 

[RocketLauncher]

Last time I had this idea I went to numerous pawn shop looking for Junk silver. I want it circulated u.s. coins. Not only did I not find any of those fortunately for me I only found a couple of ounces of call Ian. I say fortunate because I think I paid something like 30 to $35.

Silver has been flat* for so long and the stock market is so overheated that I had the idea that I should have some.. I'm leaning towards actual US currency I'm thinking instead of just looking for ragtag whatever I can find coins that I want some consistency so I'm thinking of silver dollars and just circulated cheap ones like peace or Morgan dollars


Looks like about $8 / spot


I don't know if that's typical or if that's more or less the ratio that I could expect in the future as the price fluctuates. Obviously I'm going to lose that much on the back end
* the metal not the chick

Most silver items you'd find in pawn shops are sterling, 95%.
Unless you can smelt it down and separate the impurities, not the best buy. Antique value maybe higher than silver value.
If you're going to buy coins buy 40 grade or higher, I think it goes to 58 or 60, can't remember, and it has already been established that I'm lazy so I'll leave you to look it up. Morgan dollars are an excellent way to get in the coin game, not the silver game. Know your dates and grades. Oh, and if you can find a decent grade Morgan for $8 hook me up, they generally go for approx. a thousand for good quality ones, higher for rare coins.
It's an excellent time to buy silver. It's low now but, again, it's an investment worth sitting on.
Oh, and good currency for the zombie apocalypse. Paper money's worth shit.

 

[Aglaopheme]

A lot of scrappers will have both testing kits and scales to pick antique stores. It’s easier to find unmarked gold. But you can buy silver below melting price. I melted a bunch of crap when silver shot up. I wouldn't pay over spot ever.

Also, most auctions will list the weight of silver they are selling. You’ll have more completion, but can still buy at a decent price.

 

[HisArpy]

The ads you see on TV are all hype, the charts they're using are like 2 years old by now.

Precious metals are best held long, long term and even then you might only break even after considering inflation. The market is no longer volatile like it was so expect fluctuations but no run up, especially in silver, since there are reports of hoarding by large investors in anticipation of spiking the market like a pepper king.

If you want to get into currency trading, that's a whole 'nother ballgame. Futures are dead stable compared to that hot mess.

 

[Paul_Chance]

There is some volatility in the silver market, but not enough to make it worth the effort, unless you have nothing but time and the connections to do fast turn-around sales with reasonable over/under rates. There is enough volatility long term (years) to make a decent return, but nothing that touches anywhere close to the market these days.

If you're looking at coins for their numismatic value, you get a better rate of return, generally speaking. There is a pretty good secondary market in commemorative silver coins from the various national mints, but again, return measured in years.

The reason you can't find any good coins at pawn shops is most pawnshop dealers already have a network established to sell anything that comes across their desk, usually with coin dealers. You could, with time, build a relationship and get on their call list, so they call you when something comes in, but you'll end up playing the long game there too. The only way to make a reasonable profit is volume right now as the margins are low.

Out of curiosity, what were you looking at as an investment target initial funding?

If you're just looking at playing around out there - here is what I would do - start accumulating full sets from the various national mints, starting with the current year. A complete set has more value to collectors when you go to liquidate it.

The Morgan's are nice, but a high scored Morgan from a key year is going to get expensive real quick. The various junk Morgan's are pretty, kind of cool to have, but low value.

 

[thør]

I don't have a problem paying $8/lb for silver fillets early in the season. In late season they usually run about $4/lb gilled and gutted.

 

[RocketLauncher]

A lot of scrappers will have both testing kits and scales to pick antique stores. It’s easier to find unmarked gold. But you can buy silver below melting price. I melted a bunch of crap when silver shot up. I wouldn't pay over spot ever.

Also, most auctions will list the weight of silver they are selling. You’ll have more completion, but can still buy at a decent price.

Fancy meeting you here!

 

[Que]

I've pretty much decided US coins. Recognizable, easy to value. Just circulated stuff. Bullion seems cheaper but more volatile. Not volatile enough to trade. The only thing that concerns me is when you look at the actual meltdown value of the various metals in the US coin you're basically paying right now close to twice spot.

 

[Que]

A lot of scrappers will have both testing kits and scales to pick antique stores. It’s easier to find unmarked gold. But you can buy silver below melting price. I melted a bunch of crap when silver shot up. I wouldn't pay over spot ever.

Also, most auctions will list the weight of silver they are selling. You’ll have more completion, but can still buy at a decent price.

Haven't really looked for that and type of thing at an antique stores but second hand stores are pretty picked over. I think they know enough to find the actual silver. I've got a really nice sterling silver bolo tie that I got it at Salvation Army but that was the exception not the rule.

 

[Que]

When you say melted down, do you actually smelt that yourself or that's just when you take it someplace that does that sort of thing?

 

[RocketLauncher]

I've pretty much decided US coins. Recognizable, easy to value. Just circulated stuff. Bullion seems cheaper but more volatile. Not volatile enough to trade. The only thing that concerns me is when you look at the actual meltdown value of the various metals in the US coin you're basically paying right now close to twice spot.

If you do decide to invest in coins do your research. The profit margin can be huge if you know what you're doing. Check into grades and years. Some years are worth a helluva lot more than others. You can pick up some gems if you know your stuff. Be careful if you're going the circulated route, not all sellers are ethical and will put a higher grade on it than the coin's worth. As they say forewarned is fore armed.
I also agree with Paul that if you want to start off easy try this years uncirculated coin sets. Or rolls of uncirculated coins, which is what I do.
Estate auctions are a good place to find deals on coins as long as you don't get in a bidding war and spend too much, which is surprisingly easy to do. If you are looking at online auctions make sure you go to the viewing first to see the quality of the coin first hand before bidding.

 

[RocketLauncher]

When you say melted down, do you actually smelt that yourself or that's just when you take it someplace that does that sort of thing?

You're better off buying your own kit if you plan on doing this seriously. It's not uncommon for pickers to have them.

 

[Go_Fuck_Yourself]

Why don't you try to buy enough silver so that you can "corner the market" on it? That way you will be able to set the price yourself! Also, do you have any wealthy brothers?

 

[colddiesel]

The best reason for buying precious metals is when you are sitting on a pile of cash you should have paid tax on but haven't.

Then stick it in the bank vault in the probably vain hope that you'll be able to convert it into something useful one day without the tax man catching up.

 

[Shelly2inme]

Silver VS Real estate

As you clearly know there is long-term money to be made in silver but if you know what you are doing there is MUCH more money to be made in real estate for both short term and long term. Both have risks but since you are thinking about the big picture you would easily be the kind of person that can see the pit falls. But if you want some silver as part of the financial security that you appear to be looking for then the information about coins posted above is good advice.

 

[Que]

If you do decide to invest in coins do your research. The profit margin can be huge if you know what you're doing. Check into grades and years. Some years are worth a helluva lot more than others. You can pick up some gems if you know your stuff. Be careful if you're going the circulated route, not all sellers are ethical and will put a higher grade on it than the coin's worth. As they say forewarned is fore armed.
I also agree with Paul that if you want to start off easy try this years uncirculated coin sets. Or rolls of uncirculated coins, which is what I do.
Estate auctions are a good place to find deals on coins as long as you don't get in a bidding war and spend too much, which is surprisingly easy to do. If you are looking at online auctions make sure you go to the viewing first to see the quality of the coin first hand before bidding.

I looked for junk silver coins previously and had no luck. The reason that I want US coins is because if I need to take a handful of them and trade them for something I can get online and get someone to more or less agree what they are worth. We're talkin ones with no specific numismatic value associated with their grading. I just want circulated.

So I was asking someone who I know from time to time has dealt a little bit in coins and guns and that sort of thing and he knew a guy who knew a guy.

I picked up 200 Peace dollars at $21 a piece. That's about par, and both less than a dealer would charge and more than a dealer would pay, so we were both OK with that.

I picked through them looking for ones that might be almost good enough to grade and I found about two containers worth or 40 that I shuffled around. The problem is all of these have been definitely circulated and definitely abused. You want a nice natural patina on them but the problem is these were a dirty dirty as in not just tarnished with age but physically dirty. At some point these have been bought in bulk from a dealer somewhere.

I gently cleaned one batch with orange oil and another batch with olive oil. The orange oil I just wiped on and then off and then soap and water and dried them. The olive oil because I figured it was less acidic I let them soak for a bit and those all came out brilliantly clean. Probably too clean. But at least it doesn't have that acid dipped matte finish that you get when you use some sort of anti tarnish product.

Those are going to look great in about a hundred years.

My favorite curiosity is one that definitely would have been something worth grading but at some point someone had a stack of these and it obviously put Scotch tape in a crisscross to hold that stack of dollars together. Then they let it sit. For a very very long time. By the time I got it there was a little bit of gummy residue and on the corners that the scotch tape did not cover their nicely oxidized but the place for the Scotch tape crosses in the center are brilliant uncirculated. It's a weird effect I've got this Bright Silver Cross on a coin with otherwise nice patina.

 

[RocketLauncher]

I looked for junk silver coins previously and had no luck. The reason that I want US coins is because if I need to take a handful of them and trade them for something I can get online and get someone to more or less agree what they are worth. We're talkin ones with no specific numismatic value associated with their grading. I just want circulated.

So I was asking someone who I know from time to time has dealt a little bit in coins and guns and that sort of thing and he knew a guy who knew a guy.

I picked up 200 Peace dollars at $21 a piece. That's about par, and both less than a dealer would charge and more than a dealer would pay, so we were both OK with that.

I picked through them looking for ones that might be almost good enough to grade and I found about two containers worth or 40 that I shuffled around. The problem is all of these have been definitely circulated and definitely abused. You want a nice natural patina on them but the problem is these were a dirty dirty as in not just tarnished with age but physically dirty. At some point these have been bought in bulk from a dealer somewhere.

I gently cleaned one batch with orange oil and another batch with olive oil. The orange oil I just wiped on and then off and then soap and water and dried them. The olive oil because I figured it was less acidic I let them soak for a bit and those all came out brilliantly clean. Probably too clean. But at least it doesn't have that acid dipped matte finish that you get when you use some sort of anti tarnish product.

Those are going to look great in about a hundred years.

My favorite curiosity is one that definitely would have been something worth grading but at some point someone had a stack of these and it obviously put Scotch tape in a crisscross to hold that stack of dollars together. Then they let it sit. For a very very long time. By the time I got it there was a little bit of gummy residue and on the corners that the scotch tape did not cover their nicely oxidized but the place for the Scotch tape crosses in the center are brilliant uncirculated. It's a weird effect I've got this Bright Silver Cross on a coin with otherwise nice patina.

Cleaning coins greatly reduces their value, sometimes up to 99%. Same goes with antiques. Not that familiar with peace coins but I'm assuming they're high grade silver? If so they're worth their weight in silver and worth hanging on to even if they score low on the grading scale. Aglo's the expert when it comes to antiques and antique silver, btw. That reminds me, I have a really cool story to tell her.
Best coin I ever scored was a CC gold coin. Bought it for $550, low grade but still decent, worth at least $800+. Not a great year either but a decent enough profit. Profit, right.
Like I ever let any of my collectibles go.
Happy hunting, be forewarned it's highly addiictive. Nothing beats that rush of getting a piece of history for a steal. I find researching pieces as much fun as purchasing them.

 

[Biggs_Darklighter]

My thoughts are that no way does Silver survive after all the shit the Lone Ranger put him through. Gunfights, train chases, etc. That horse either broke his leg or got shot by a bad guy long ago in real life.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

Either one - US coins or the girl.


My heart still skips a beat when I remember that lost weekend in Vermont.


Coins are heavy and take up space. You might wind up investing in places to hold your horde.


May Allah and Bunkie be with you . . . .


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Walking_Liberty_Half_Dollar_1945D_Obverse.png