What to buy? 10 ounce Apmex bars or generic 1 ounce rounds?

Silver American Eagle, bullion silver dollars minted by the US mint. Some people colelct them like coins, and since they are US mint products, have a greater confort level regarding the bullion. For these reasons they are more expensive than generic silver, but still priced off of the silver market.

 

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oh ok got it
thank you

 

I haven't yet seen any generic bars that are any cheaper than Canadian Maples so I just buy Maples and nothing else. I would buy bars if they where cheaper than coins but only if they were from a reputable mint.

 

Don't forget about junk silver and stuff that might be available cheap in your area. I can buy Mexican ONZA's in my area (.925 pure with 1 full ounce of silver) exactly at spot. APMEX sells them for 1.99 over spot; that's a HUGE difference!

 

I buy most of my silver coins from a great place in Switzerland, just over the border from where I'm working in Italy. The Maples are the second cheapest, but the cheapest are the Austrian Philharmonikers.

One thing I've noticed is that the Phil silver coins are a bit smaller and thicker than the average bullion coin, but the Phil gold bullion coin is quite the opposite!

I have to say however that the Maples are much nicer! :smile

... though not as nice as the Australian bullion coins.

Steve

 

I just bought a 10 oz APMEX silver bar on ebay. With ebay bucks and mrrebates, it certainly eases the cost. Its clear that the bars sell at a significant premium to spot (at least on ebay) if you factor in shipping. Do you think that this will always be the case? For example if I paid 310 for a bar when 10 oz of silver is at 290, do you think when silver is at 350 for 10 oz, these bars will be worth 370?

 

Howdy,

When you're buying bullion you can buy offical coins or rounds and/or bars (ingots). You want to consider the Premium (markup over the spot price of the metal) and fungibility (ease of buying and selling). The former is market driven while the latter has to do with something that's a 'name brand'. For example, a 1 oz. silver round from the WTF Mint in BF Nowhere is going to be cheaper than a American Silver Eagle, but if you sell them, the latter is easier to sell at a higher price than the former. You may not even be able to sell the former - or if so, only for a discount.

So, for bullion I stay with name brand stuff like Eagles and MapleLeafs or in rounds and ingots with Engelhard or Johnson-Matthey.

Buy a copy of either CoinWorld or Numismatic News and check the ads. Also, check www.apmex.com. I've had good luck with Paul Sims.

Here's a listing of current premiums for my local dealer. They do NOT have the lowest prices and I'm not pushing them. Just check the relative variations in premiums between products.

http://www.libertycoinservice.com/images/stories/offersandquotes/daily_quotes.pdf

peace,

rono

 

Hey again, marine,

One thing that probably doesn't have to be said . . . but I will anyway . . . is that volume discounts absolutely apply to bullion purchases. The more you buy, the smaller the premium.

Sgt.O,
CoA, 1stReconBn, 1stMarDiv,
FMFWesPac, DaNang
3/68-11/69

or

rono

 

Once again - the responses on this board are great.

Thank you all for the information.

Since my initial query, I've bought a boatload of ASEs, rounds, ingots and bars - all in different weights (where applicable). All at $15 - 17 per oz.

Now all I need to do is sit on them for a while!

SF!

 

Howdy Traveler,

That's pretty much what I have done over the years. I started with a roll of ASE's every year, some tubes of prospectors, 10 oz. Engelhards, 1 oz. Engelhards, Mapleleafs, etc.

One thing that I've done with both gold and silver is to also collect Crowns. For example, I've some AGEs but much of my gold is in bullion coins from around the world. Cripes, there are dozens of countries minting gold coins. Silver crowns are even crazier - literally 100's of different ones. With Mapleleafs, Liberatads and even Pandas, I'm starting a year set. Indeed for the leafs and libertads I've even found albums. ASE's and Leafs are complete, but not the 'tads as yet.

Hey, make it fun and enjoy it. Get some stuff that interests you. For example, I had to get some Canadian Wolfs this past year - one for grandpa and two for the grandkids. And for sure beauty, I don't know of a prettier coin than a Britannia.

semper fi,

rono

 

Rookie here. Did you just say you got silver at $15-17 an oz?

 

I bought a Apmex 10oz bar, very nice looking I like it alot.

 

Yes - but not recently. I was buying like crazy when spot was in the $15 - $19 range. I used "bing," "mr rebates," and ebucks to buy way under spot. I haven't bought any in the past year - way too expensive, especially without bing.

Bing has dried up but Mr Rebates is still available.

SF!

 

Ah ok, i thought this was a recent thing. Yeah, bing and mrrebates is/was cool. I miss the 30% bing days.

 

Why not diversify and get some of both.... That way if you looking to sell a chunk, you break off a 10OZer, if not peel off a few 1 OZ bars or rounds....

When the price of Silver was down at 10-15 an O, I was buying in 10 OZ bars every week, when it broke 15, I started buying 10-15 rounds at a time.... I've really slowed down now that its where its at... I'm putting some cash up and waiting on a dip... If it doesn't come, I still have the cash...

Like someone else said, I also like to collect the Bars.. So I try to buy different Bars in both 1 and 10OZer when I can and not pay a huge premium on them.... I'm also a member of IASAC and collect the Silver Art Bars!!!

Some say its just Bullion, but I like it all... You can Buy/collect anything you want...

 

Can you explain or elaborate a little on what Silver Art Bars are? That sounds like a neat thing to collect.

 

Sure... Silver Art Bars are normally small one ounce Bars of Silver that a smaller Mint has Minted to commemorate a person, an event or something of note...

I think they started becoming popular around the early 70s and are are usually made in small runs of 5K to 10,000 from what I've read...

I got several that say brand names on them Such as Coca-Cola, Corvette, Ford, etc... Some have Presidents or actors, Different guns such as the M-16, Colt 45,

Some have famous event dates, there are just all kinds of things, its pretty unlimited...

The way they are priced in the books is by Spot Price of Silver + Rarity Value which is anywhere from 10-30.00 But thats not set in stone...

Here are some pics I found on the net real quick...








There is also a guide book produced that not only lists many of known art bars but also has a lot of info on the history and making of Art Bars.



Like any collectible, some will hate them, some will love them... I'm in the later group, I'm addicted...

Let me know if you have any other questions and if you really are interested, think about joining the IASAC (International Association of Silver Art Collectors) club... I think its like 15 a year, they have meets and put out a monthly newsletter called ""The Silver Bugle" and have tons of info on the subject.

 

Apmex was selling those same 10 Oz bars just a year and a half ago for $140. I'm glad I grabbed a couple then. Man oh man, silver is really getting expensive.

 

Thanks for the info and pics on art bars. Another question: Casino rounds, or silver strikes as they call em. Anything of value here? I've seen where some people pry or cut off the aluminum edge and just save the silver center. Is that wise?

 

Yea I have a spreadsheet that I inventory all my Bars and rounds, qty down 1st colum, desc down the next, OZ of BAR in the next, Total OZ of that type of BAR/Round then it added up for a total of all ounces, then in another cell I put in the current spot price to see what my little stash is worth... Last time I updated it it was at like 14.06 or something... Lets just say I was pleasantly surprised at the total dollar amount it came too...