Thread: Selling silver.

I needed a little cash today, so I decided to sell a roll of '64 Kennedy halves. Well, I know a friend of a friend of a relative that's into the "We buy gold" business. I called him. After our how've you been--how's the family talk, I told him I wanted to sell some silver. He told me "for me" $11 on the dollar. When I got there, I gave him the roll. He asked me "Is that all you got?", and then he gave me actual actual price for silver, which was 17.01 at the time. He gave me what the roll was worth--123.05. He ended up giving me 125 bucks!!! What a guy!!!

It got me thinking. I rarely sell my coins, so I don't know the ropes.

1. At 17 bucks an ounce, was 11 dollars a good "for me" price?

2. Where does it go from there? Apparently he buys low and sells high. Can the average joe sell it to the same guy the dealers are selling it to?

3. Who eventually ends up getting the full price for silver.

You guys know a lot more than I know.

(I didn't want to ask him)

Well, 1$ face, as we call it, doesn't have 1 ounce of silver in it. It has ~.71 ounces. 11X face is a good price if you are selling. Here's some math.

$17 X .71 = $12.07.

You say you got $11 on the dollar. If you check most coin magazines today, like CoinWorld, some of the best offers for buying silver are 10X face. Now before you run off to your friend of a friend of a relative and say he cheated you on a $1 per face....understand that he wouldn't be in business if he didn't make some sort of a margin of profit....even from a friend.

All in all, you did fine. My take on buying silver is that you end up paying slightly more than spot price. So, if you went back to your friend and wanted to buy back what you sold, you'd probably get a 13X face, "for you" price.

It only goes to show, ask, read then ask again, there are so many people out there to take you for all you have not saying you Pilkenton was wrong or done the wrong thing, I just hate it when people take advantage of others

http://www.coinflation.com/

The above site is great to find the true metal value of coins.
I would say you did well at 11$ face value.

Allright guys, tell me if my logic is wrong. A silver half contains roughly $6.15 worth of silver at the quoted price of $17/oz. 20 pieces in the roll x $6.15 = $123. If my logic is correct good ole Pilkenton made out dead on, actually better. The sale was rounded off to $125

Originally Posted by green18

Allright guys, tell me if my logic is wrong. A silver half contains roughly $6.15 worth of silver at the quoted price of $17/oz. 20 pieces in the roll x $6.15 = $123. If my logic is correct good ole Pilkenton made out dead on, actually better. The sale was rounded off to $125

You are "spot on." TC

Originally Posted by Pilkenton

3. Who eventually ends up getting the full price for silver.

You guys know a lot more than I know.

(I didn't want to ask him)

Certainly not you, the seller. But in this case you did.....

Wow thats a great price.
Current spot for that roll would be a little over $123.
i woudl probably pay $110 for the roll. And so would many guys around here alos, if not cheaper, realistically they would actually pay you around $90-$100 for the roll.
So getting over spot is a tremendous deal.
Keep doing bussiness with this guy.
Also buy price is about 12.5-13.5x face currently. He is doing small margins for you.

I think there is some confusion about the original post.

The OP did not get 11x face, he got 12.5x face, which is "actual atual" spot value.

In the few transacations I've done, you should be happy if you can get 1.5x or 2x less than sell price.

Sounds like your friend did you a favor since you didn't have a lot. He probably wouldn't have done that if you had brought in 20 rolls.

PocketChange is right. If I had a boatload of silver, he would have paid me 11x face. But some of my questions haven't really been answered. Was 11x face a good "just for me" price. What is normally paid? If I'm getting 11x face, what is the buyer getting when he turns around and sells it? Can't I contact his buyer and get what he's getting? I know quantity is an issue here, but some of us have quantities.

Thanks for all the feedback. Your comments are very educational for me.

Originally Posted by Pilkenton

PocketChange is right. If I had a boatload of silver, he would have paid me 11x face. But some of my questions haven't really been answered. Was 11x face a good "just for me" price. What is normally paid? If I'm getting 11x face, what is the buyer getting when he turns around and sells it? Can't I contact his buyer and get what he's getting? I know quantity is an issue here, but some of us have quantities.

Thanks for all the feedback. Your comments are very educational for me.

Ask your friend where he sells his silver. Then call them up and ask them your questions.

I'm kind of leery to ask my friend. I wouldn't want to "step on his toes". He did me a favor buying them for the price he did. I didn't and wouldn't expect him to do it all the time. Plus I don't think he'd tell me. This is his business and you don't give out information like that when you're running a business. John is not a close friend. I see him about once every five years. He did me a favor. I don't want to push my luck with him too far.

Originally Posted by Pilkenton

Was 11x face a good "just for me" price. What is normally paid? If I'm getting 11x face, what is the buyer getting when he turns around and sells it? Can't I contact his buyer and get what he's getting? I know quantity is an issue here, but some of us have quantities.

Thanks for all the feedback. Your comments are very educational for me.

If spot is at 12x, then my dealer is selling me circulated 90% silver at 13/13.5x face, and he'll probably buy from me at 10.5/11x face. But this is my coin dealer.

The coin dealer (and pawn shop, etc) sell the extra inventory either directly to a smelter like Silvertowne (http://www.silvertowne.com/) or to a middleman who goes around and collects this stuff. I'm really not sure what they get, but I would guess somewhere around spot.

Originally Posted by Pocket Change

I'm really not sure what they get, but I would guess somewhere around spot.

That's what I always assumed. Maybe there is a dealer here who can confirm this without divulging his contacts.

Silver goes for over $20 an ounce on ebay every day. You'll lose some fees but you'll be left with spot or more for sure.