Modern Commems as bullion investments

Last week there was a thread about a website giving a promotional price on 1982 Washington halves for at/below spot. It got me wondering - are there any advantages/disadvantages to purchasing modern silver commemoratives as a bullion investment over say ASE's or junk silver? Or would you just really treat them like any other form of 90% silver coin?

Edit: Just to throw it out there, the deal on the 82 halves has since expired! =(

 

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i treat them as another 90% when i buy them, i just scored 90 of those off ebay last week for $10.60 a pop. maybee they will get me some kind of premi when i go to sell, i dunno.

 

The main problem RIGHT NOW is that most 'bullion dealers', who tend to carry these coins on a regular basis in non-numismatic condition, raw: missing capsules/boxes/COA, are tending to be SOLD OUT of them... This may also answer your question in general.

If buying these coins with the OGP, you can certainly still find them for sale, perhaps marked up, but they are always worth buying close to spot price per intrinsic composition value, or better if you find them selling for spot or less. They can always double as numismatic collectibles. Just my 2¢.

 

They are already 90% silver, you can't really treat them any other way especially if buying them as bullion and not numismatic collectibles. Were yours they raw or did they come with OGP? The coins conditions and other numismatic considerations, mintage particularly, will have a lot to do with determining any additional premiums or lack there of with commemorative coins. So too could a massive melt if many meet their fate that way and fewer in original condition remain in the future.

 

The earlier $5 and $10 gold commems have been trading at basically spot for a year or so now... boxes or not.

 

they all came with the box 60 proofs and 30 unc

 

Nice!

 

One can even buy modern commemorative coins slabbed by the top TPGs for basically spot too.

 

Yep, I think those might be a cheaper alternative then to paying big premiums for coins like Eagles.

 

So where would be the best place to purchase these commems as bullion? APMEX?

 

If you compare APMEX to what was mentioned above, eBay is better, when you can find a listing. Provident Metals occassionally has them in stock as well, but are priced more like APMEX. Your local retail coin dealer may have some of a bullion grade for a better price than online bullion dealers.

 

whein i shop i ebay i buy whatever i can find for cheap, i had no intentions of buying commems but when i saw the deal i jumped on it. i was actually looking for kennedy halves when i stumbled on it. it takes patience to buy for under spot on ebay, you will lose many more actions than you win and every now and then you'll catch a sweet buy it now that nobody see's.

 

Apmex sells commems all the time for just over spot. I say why not pick up a bunch, usually they're even in a capsule and in proof shape.

 

"just over spot" depends upon "pick(ing) up a bunch" because when buying from Apmex the price you pay to get something as low as say .99¢ to $1.99 over spot hinges upon which item you select to buy and how many pieces of each item you are buying... and don't forget Apmex has minimum order amounts, hefty shipping costs and surcharges dependent upon payment method. In past threads, 9gun has shared several of his buying strategies used through promotions/rebates on Bing and eBay and has done much better than Apmex can offer many buyers with less obligation on how much he must purchase.

Apmex links below for comparison. I quoted no actual prices from their site in this post since prices are in flux:

Silver US Mint Commemorative 1982 Washington Half Dollars-Scruffy

Silver U.S. Mint - 1982 Washington Half Dollars

Random Year Silver US Mint Commemorative Silver Dollar (PCGS)

Random Year Silver US Mint Commemorative Silver Dollar(Abrasions)

Random Year Silver US Mint Commemorative Silver Dollar

Silver US Mint Commemorative Silver Dollar (Better Dates)

 

It all depends on the volume of your purchasing, that's true.

 

Buying commems at bullion prices is an excellent choice in my opinion. Some of the gold commems from the 1980s have fantastic designs and somewhat high mintages so they can sometimes be obtained for bargain prices.

 

One of the problems I have with alot of these coins is that they don't have the metal content stamped on them. If you ever had to use them in an emergency you may have some problems.

 

But shouldn't most people in the position to buy them from you already know the metal content?

 

Yes. It's not like most people have the silver content of a mercury dime or a 40 percent Ike memorized either.

 

If you have the original packaging, it is in the description. In the far-fetched event that things get so bad that people will be using gold coins to make purchases, it is likely that merchants will quickly become experts on the gold content and value of the various denominations of coins struck around the world.