(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

Buying Silver?

D

DaninKansas

Member
Anyone "investing" or buying silver? I've thought about buying a little from online sites offering "junk" silver (pre 1965 American silver coins - dimes, quarters, half dollar and dollar) but am extremely leary about giving credit card or other financial info to companies I've never heard of. Does anyone have personal experience dealing with any of these?

To make it farm related - how many bushels of corn do you need to buy a Troy ounce of silver? In 1917 it took less than 1/5 of a bushel - today it would would take about about 6 bushels.
 
I would never go to an online "easy to buy" place like that. Go to your local coin dealer. My grandma had some silver blocks that she wanted to sell, so she took them to him. What I found cool, is that you can buy brand new one ounce silver coins, (gold too) I don't remember what they cost, buy you can order one or one thousand! Bryce
 
hey Dan.

I would not buy coins as that subject is a bit technical for me.

However I bought some bullion (stamped by the mint as to purity), held it for 5 months and made 30% profit when I sold it.

The only drawback is that the metal is bulky compared to gold and takes a bit of room in the safe!

Good luck,

Brad
 
I have bought some and continue to watch for more. Generally I buy the 90% coin and the 1 oz silver eagles so there is a gov. stamped face value on it. Silver is being allocated now so sometimes you are buying now for future delivery.

Do a BBB check on the vendor as well as looking for any reviews available for that vendor. Online I mostly deal with bulliondirect.com but I am sure there are other good ones out there also. Other than that, I deal with a precious metals dealer.

I have to stress though, in a lot of cases you are buying for future delivery which means you are paying now for something you will get later and they can't always give you an exact timing on when you will get it.
 
I buy through the local coin guy only, and have dealt with him for 30 years. Very reliable, and he walks with you to your car with the goods, with one hand in his jacket pocket, if you get my drift.

I look at silver as kind of an "Armageddon" play- if the economy goes to pieces, or inflation runs rampant, your silver coins will be worth some multiple of face value to buy stuff. That would be much more cumbersome with bullion.

Lots of pitches to put silver in your IRA or 401k- the only way to do that is to buy the silver and have the outfit store it, and supposedly you can get it anytime by sending in your certificate. No, thanks- If we have an economic collapse, the silver storage folks will be on their way to their secret underground bunker with your goods by the time you even hear about it, and you may as well wallpaper your bathroom with your "certificates".
 
Those "Eagle Coins" are what I was thinking of. When I sold my car that's what the guy paid me with... $17000 of silver, I sold most of it and put it in a savings account though.. They are full blown "certified" by the US mint. I think that they are the best way to go, because when the days of bartering come, you have a few small coins, rather than a block. Seems more logical to me. Bryce
 
The only local "coin guys" are pawn shops. Their prices on "junk silver" (90% silver) are easily 30% to 40% higher than spot price or advertised prices for 99.9% pure silver from places like Balnchard.

https://www.blanchardgold.com/bullion/silver/

Several places sell "junk silver" by the coin or by weight.


http://www.apmex.com/category/528/silver-coins-90-40-35

The pawn shops want at least $30 a coin for siver dollars no matter how worn.
 
That's why I'm looking at junk silver. Silver dimes and quarters from the 1950s and earlier may easily be the preferred currency in 5-10 years. If nothing else they'll make great gifts to the grandkids in 20 years.
 
I still remember the last silver "boom" when a lot of people jumped in and lost a bundle. A couple of bachelor brothers near the farm bought silver bars when the price was high. They stored them in a safe deposit box at the bank, but when the price of silver fell way down, they took the silver bars home and used them as door stops!

I think that silver has not reached bottom yet, so if you plan to make money on silver, be very careful.

I'm still kicking myself that I didn't buy gold when it was $270 an ounce and sold it again when it hit $1700 an ounce. I told my doctor at the time that he should buy the $270/ounce gold; if he did, he would have made a lot of money.
 
Thats very true! I would never buy anything that wasn't true US Mint. I think that you would probably be safe buying any kind of precious metal like that.
As far as I am concerned, a few silver coins and a 12 gauge are better financial protection than a savings account at the bank! Bryce
 
Coinflation.com will give you a lot of information
as to how much Silver or Gold are in what coins.
Monex has a constant streaming of up to date spot prices and coin prices.
I've bought Gold and Silver from Schiff metals several times and they are honest to deal with and a lower premium than most places.Local coin dealers generally have a higher premium then some online places but not always.Generally speaking to get the best price you need to buy at least $15,000 worth.I like to buy US or Canadian minted coins especially Gold ones because everyone would reconize what they were when the need arises to deal in Silver or Gold when the Federal Reserve Notes become worthless.
 
Not sure about further large declines in silver prices- it could happen, of course, but cost of production is nearly $20 an oz., and mines (and every other business except farming) tend to shut down and send everybody home when price is below cost of production, thereby creating a shortage so price goes back up. As I said below, I'm holding it in case everything goes south in the economy. Not much interested in buying and selling as an ordinary investment, although if it hit 60 bucks or so, I might have to give it a hard look.

Even when silver got down to 5 bucks an ounce (where it stayed, for years and years), those 100 ounce bars that the brothers had were still pretty expensive door stops. . .
 
Right now the spot price is $21.98 and the Silver Eagles are going for around $24.50.Also the smaller the denonation the higher the premium over the spot price most of the time.
 
Buying Silver or Gold right now might put you in the "Buy high...sell low" business model. Yes the doomesday prophets say to keep gold, silver, ammunition and food. I suppose the answer might be to keep a balanced approach to investing and if skyrocketing commodity values knock you out of balance you sell the excess % of what increased and buy some more of what decreased in price. If you're making good decisions on what to own you're always taking profit in what's hot and preparing to own more of the next hot item.
 
Back in the late 70"s-early 80"s a bunch of my friends were buying silver. Really putting a bunch of money into it.

Then a couple of years later, the boom went bust and the price of silver went way down. Those guys lost LOTS of money! There was a scandal about a rich family that manipulated the market during that time but I don"t remember the particulars.

I had been invited to join the group where we were supposed to be getting a super deal buying in fairly large amounts, but at that point with 5 kids, I just didn"t have any extra money. So I didn"t invest any, and therefore didn"t lose any. I have always been glad I didn"t get caught up in that fiasco.

I haven"t really followed the prices of precious metals, but have been under the impression they were quite high. Will they go higher or not? It is hard to say. One thing I would consider is that silver is used MUCH less these days in photography, and maybe the industrial use of silver is or will be less important.

I wish I had saved silver coins back when the transition was being made to Johnson"s slug coins. I would guess that I could have made some pretty good gains that way. Even considering all the inflation since the 60"s.

And I wish I had bought some gold when I could have got it for about $350 and ounce. I always said that if it went down to $300/ounce, I would put as much of my savings into gold as I could. It never got down to where I could buy it for $300, so I never bought any. Oh well!

It is discouraging that having some money in savings results in almost no gain these days. Interest on savings accounts is almost nonexistent, and is probably much less than inflation. Precious metals will probably always be worth something, although there is no guarantee that they will continue to be worth as much as you might have to pay for them when you buy them.

I wish I knew what the future would bring. But I will not be buying silver in the near future. You should do what you decide is best for you and your family. Good luck!
 
Gold and silver may be good to have if the whole world goes to h..l but I'd rather have 80 acres,some horses and a bunch of heritage seed,as well as the 12 gauge of course!!!
 
Don't you have to pay fees to buy or sell silver and only get a certificate and not the silver?
 
I think you have the right idea.

If it all hits the fan what good really is gold and silver ? You can't eat it ? Well you could but it won't keep you alive !
 
There is at times some good discussions on agtalk marketing on this subject. I started buying silver during Hunt Brothers run up in the 1980s(took a bath). For pre1965 you can buy bags of junk(nickels, dimes, and quarters) for almost any reputable dealer. When I get ahead a little, I buy some silver either Eagles, bars, or junk. I think of it as a way to store wealth and maybe get a little carry.
After Nixon took us off the gold standard in 1971 the flood gates started to open as to the shrinking value of the dollar.
If gold and silver is so useless, why are China and India the world's biggest buyers. China is encouraging it people to own a little silver and gold.
Things do not have to get that bad for our currency to be valuless. There is not an example of one country in recent to ancient history that printed money and the value has not to zero.
One example of a simple thing that could happen is at your local bank. When you think you are depositing a check in the bank and it is cash. It is really a promisary note. Say we have a banking crisis and your bank does not a shipment from the regional federal reserve you might get your iou back or a certificate for shares in the bank.
I am still going to buy silver, but I will make sure it is not registered and only stored where 2 people know about it. Depositories and banks are totally off limits for safe and secure storage.
Today the yearly Federal Treasury research department report says that the chance of another financial crisis is greater than; it was in 2008.
 
Ray, you can buy and take possession of silver or buy paper that is suppose to entitle you to the silver. Myself, I take possession of what I buy in metals.

Mike, you can't eat stock certificates either so I don't understand your point. If you are only going to invest in things you can eat then you will be pretty limited in what you can invest in.
 
I think you a referring to an ETF(exhange traded fund). They are refered to as paper silver and can be bought and sold like a stock on the market. Might be a good thing to stay away from unless you are a short term holder(cheap commission), easy to buy or sell, no freight, and they track the market. Might be hard to redeem for actual silver in the future.
 
The people that bought silver 2 years ago are in that mode right now. Silver is about half what it was in 2011.

While you can't eat it, there has never been a period of time in history of civilization where gold and silver became worthless in an economy, in fact it is one of the few means of barter that stands when everything else has gone to crap. I'm not planning on buying lots of it but having a few thousand stashed away doesn't seem like a bad idea.
 
Cas, yup. Plus the sellers of the paper don't have enough silver to cover the paper silver that has been sold. That is why I will only take possession.
 
I agree with you on that.

Not too long ago I read the Executive Order issued by Roosevelt that made the private ownership of gold illegal. Kind of makes you wonder if there are truly limits to what the government can do to an individual.
 
You are talking about 10X to 100X times what I'm looking to spend in the short term. I'll check out Schiff and Monex. I'm just looking at a little something to spend some extra dollars on instead of turning it into beer money. If nothing else when the boys open my gun safes when I'm dead they'll wonder WTH I was doing with the all the silver coins.
 
I only have one question, if silver and gold is such a good deal, why do they spend billions buying TV ads trying to sell it. Why don't they just keep it and get rich?
 
it was the Hunt brothers that tried to corner the market on silver,..if you want to hang onto it long enough you may make out, I've bought when it was 4.50 and sold at 7.20
 
Too bad you're so far away I know a private individual thats selling some Silver I bought some coins like you are talking about from him two weeks ago for $7.75 each.
 
You're right about not buying the paper as far as I'm concerned if you don't have the metals in hand you bought then you don't really own them.Germany is finding out the hard way on that one.There is no way the Fed has all the German owned Gold its supposed to have.
 
Pretty much the same reason real estate agents want to sell your property on commission, and don't just buy it and wait for it to appreciate. At some point, no matter how much confidence you have in something going up in value, you run out of money.
 
I got more land than 80 acres,grow open pollinated crops and all the guns and ammo I'll ever need AND Gold and Silver.When the Federal Reserve paper money tanks Gold and Silver may be the only currency that'll buy anything.Got to have have some medium of exchange.
 
Just keep shaking your head, there, Bob, and rolling your eyes- the question seemed worth answering to me.

I've doubled my money on silver, even at today's depressed prices. Care to share your cutting edge investment advice with us?
 
Thank you for your permission Mike but I really don't need it. If you want to spend your time teaching someone why companies advertise then be my guest.

As far as advice, I have never been much on giving advice. If you read my posts on this topic you will see I give them something to think about and research so they can make their decisions based on their research rather than what someone on the internet said.
 
You are pretty safe if you buy online with a credit card. If they dont deliver, your credit card covers the loss. Sure, its a pain in the butt, but you are covered. You could always go down to your local coin shop and buy some silver but there are a few problems with that. Biggest is, there are no deals there unless you are a regular buyer and you tend to buy anything thats silver. For those people, the local coin shop cuts a break because you move the silver he gets, if you only buy certain stuff (being picky), you are not as valuable of a customer and you pay full monty. The other fly in the ointment, and its a big fly, is sales tax. Quite a few states collect sales tax on silver purchaces, here in WI, thats 5.5%. Granted, silver went up 20% in the last month but I dont like giving away my profits like that. Buying in another more favorable state works but who has time to shop when traveling? Just pick a good online seller and pay via credit card, for the amount you are talking about it really seems like the best way.

If you want to know more about your states sales tax policy, check out this site. http://thecoinologist.com/sales-tax-state-by-state-breakdown/

Coinflation was mentioned already but it deserves another quick plug. http://www.coinflation.com/unitedstates/ Quick print off the chart if you are going to buy some junk silver off craigslist or even if you are walking into the pawnshop, its nice to be able to quick see what the value of the different coins are today. Coinflation also has a calculator http://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_coin_calculator.html to punch in melt value. If you buy junk silver off craigslist, coinflation is really nice to have, expect to pay spot. The pawn shops pay 70-80% and sell at 40% over spot on down to about spot (depending on how good at negotiating you are and what spot price is trending). Buying at spot is nice middle ground, while it may seem too much, you make out by buying in the valleys. Even when silver is dropping or low, deadbeats still need a fix so they are selling. When its high, there are still silver bugs buying.

In case you decide to get bullion instead of junk coins, bookmark this site. http://www.comparegoldandsilverprices.com/compare-silver-coin-prices/ If you click the top of the chart, you can change they way the companies are listed. If you want to grab some maples, for instance, click the chart and look for the lowest price maples, then check the details of the seller. Some sellers will for some reason have less (or more) of a price on a specific coin or maybe even free shipping. Shop around, it pays...

Dont forget, there can be tax implications (income tax), while everybody wants to be "under the radar", big brother sees all and knows all.

After that long reply, I will say that I am in favor of buying silver. I would never go all in though but like you are saying, stashing some in your gun safe would be a great idea. Make sure you are good on other investments though, expecially lead (bullets).
 
I invested in silver coins (circulated) a few years back. Not so much recently cause of current market. It's been rather high. My advice for purchasing silver would be to buy circulated coins of no significance other than their silver content. Such as F.D.R. dimes, non key date washington quarters, and any halves you can get a hold of for silver content prices. These type of coins are pretty much only worth the silver content. Stay away from silver dollars. These are hot and selling like crazy right now, perhaps way more than they are worth. I personally dont like buying coins online or through the mail. You will just pay what the coin is worth plus all the other hidden fees. Like shipping and handling, and insurance and all that, on top of it. I'd go through a coin dealer, coin shop, or pawn shop in person.
 
The Fed is negotiating to deliver Germany its gold over a 5 to 7 year period. Government says it will take that long to figure out the logistics.
That seems to say to me that our government does not have the gold on hand that we owe to Germany.
 
(quoted from post at 14:28:11 02/25/14) The people that bought silver 2 years ago are in that mode right now. Silver is about half what it was in 2011.

While you can't eat it, there has never been a period of time in history of civilization where gold and silver became worthless in an economy, in fact it is one of the few means of barter that stands when everything else has gone to crap. I'm not planning on buying lots of it but having a few thousand stashed away doesn't seem like a bad idea.
Click to expand...

The problem I have with this idea, and it's discussed eternally on EOTWAWKI sites, is that if it all go to pot and you come to me with silver, gold, gemstones, etc and want to give me that for a lamb...you're leaving without a lamb. I wouldn't know gold or silver or diamonds from worthless junk. Bring me tools, ammo, spices, sugar, rope, etc., something useful and we might make a deal.

Also, don't forget that FDR seized all private gold (with few exceptions) back in the 30's and manipulated the market so that gold rose dramatically shortly after that to his advantage. My great grandparents had gone through the "Panic" (depression) back int he 1890's and kept everything in gold after that. They lost their business when their gold was seized. It could happen again.
 
They don't because the first delivery was with bars that had been recast not the original bars
that Germany sent over.No reason whatsover to
recast the original bars except for the fact the recast are being sent because the originals are long gone.Pretty stupid on Germany's part to trust the Federal Reserve.I'd say there is way more Gold in 'paper' then exists in reality and that will drive the price up.
 
Another point on taking paper instead of the real physical asset.Thats exactly what banks do when you deposit cash,anyone think banks could cover even 25% of their deposits if everyone needed their cash at once? No way they or the FDIC that supposedly 'insures' them could they'd just close up and leave depositers hanging.
 
Take a look at the historical charts for the price of silver and you will see an overall decline in value. If you are going to buy don't do
it in a period of decline.
 
Where in the world are you getting that non sense?
Siver Dollars that used to be worth just that $1
are now worth far more for their Silver value which means increase in the price compared to Federal Reserve notes we now use as money.When was the last time you saw a 1964 Kennedy half dollar for sale for 50 cents? That was its monetary value when it was minted.
 
There is an outfit in New Orleans by the name of Blanchards. I have delt with them probably 8 or 10 times, starting in 1993.

I think all metals are too high now.

I bought silver in the mid 90's for less than $6 an ounce.
Gold for $567 an ounce, and platinum for $400 an ounce.

I haven't sold any silver. I sold the one ounce I had of platinum for $900 back in about 2004. And I have recently sold gold ounces for $1,000 and $1,300 an ounce.

When you order from Blanchards, you talk to a person, agree on a price, then complete the money transaction. They mail the physical gold to you by insured mail. If you want to sell back to them, you just reverse the process. Although they do have to have the coins in their hands before they send you the money.

They are 100% legit. I dont trust a lot of the places advertising on TV.

I have also bought "numisnatic" coins. The St. Gaudens $20 gold pieces, and Peace dollars (silver) or Walking Liberty (silver). They are sealed in plastic and graded by one of two coin grading service. But you need to do your research. There is a ton of difference in value between say a MS-63 and an MS-65 coin. It depends on the quality, sheen and sharpness of the impressions on the coins surface. Mint state 65's are too expensive for my blood. The value of these coins are based on collectors value and rarity. A $20 St Gaudens gold piece is shy of an ounce by weight.

I have also bought Canadian Maple leaves, gold and silver and they are a real pretty coin. And I think just a tad higher in purity than the American Eagles.

One good thing about gold and silver. When I went though my divorce, they didn't show up on any bank statement.

"Oh, I sold those years ago" :lol:

Gene
 
I'm not looking to buy graded coins. Pretty much cull or slightly above cull is all I'm looking to buy. I have a couple hundred Peace/Morgan dollars. Some are pretty nice, some are badly worn. For the most part I paid melt +10% on all of them. The problem is today the pawn shops are selling the same coins for scrap + 50% or more. They are asking (and getting) $30 for any silver dollar - and a lot more for anything that looks decent. Ebay's pricing is just as bad if not worse.
 
If you look at the charts you will see that over the long term silver has dropped. Wait until It hits bottom and starts up before you buy. Unless you like to loose money??
 
I'm puzzled about your statement that "over the long term, silver has dropped." I bought junk silver coins for 3 times face in the late '70's- that's a little over $4 per oz. True, the Hunt brothers ran the price up to about 40 when they tried to corner the market, but that was a completely contrived event that didn't reflect the real market at all. Then back down to 5 or 6 bucks, for many years. Then gradually up to the high teens several years ago, a brief runup to high 40's, now back to low 20's. Unless you're comparing today's price to the height of the Hunt Bros. fiasco, I don't get it.
 
I suppose I should have said the last 7 years. Your long term and mine aren't the same. If I had bought silver 7 years ago. which I didn't. (Why would you buy into an inflationary bubble anyway.)
I would have been very disappointed today. I guess if you plan to keep it for the rest of your life it will probably go back up.
The old adage of buy low and sell high is how you make money. Not putting it in a safe and leaving it. Different mind set I guess.
Real estate has treated me very well over the years.
 
If you read all the future forecast projections. Metals are going down over the next 2 years. Better change from metals to oil/gas.
 
John, or do both along with a variety of other investments which includes stocks, bonds, property, critters, etc. Spread the risk.
 
Most places real estate other than farmland isn't bringing what it was
in 07 so hows that a great investment?Plus you been paying taxes every year on the real estate no tax on Gold or Silver sitting in a safe.BTW 7 years ain't close to 'long term' you can take a 7 year period and 'prove' almost anything to be a good or bad investment.
 
I look at it this way stash a $1 away what will it buy in the future...
I am going to gamble a oz of silver will not loses its value like the dollar... Will that dollar increase in value is the question you need to answer and be comfortable with to determine how you save it...

The most money to be made with metals is to barter with it wither its high are low... You need to talk with folks you know and find out how they pay for it are call the supplier I deal with APMEX...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cpratt
I can't tell what I've already read?
2
Replies
32
Views
1K
Rich'sToys
R
J
Some other thoughts on renting houses
2
Replies
23
Views
3K
massey333
M
N
OT-- Poor customer service...agree or not?
2
Replies
23
Views
7K
Don-Wi
D
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top