Which silver bullion coins are the best to acquire?

In your opinion, what are the best silver bullion coins to accumulate for long term preservation / investment?

I have purchased some generic silver rounds but most recently started acquiring ASE's in the original mint tube from a local contact. While the ASE's have a higher premium, I much prefer them to the generics. As many say, there is a premium when buying but also selling ASE's. My goal is to move more of my cash to silver and gold and I want to buy what will be more easily liquidated when needed in the future. Obviously no one can predict the future but I think we can narrow it down.

In my opinion and from what I have researched, ASE's are one of the most sought after silver bullion coins; therefore, they should be one of the easiest to liquidate in the future without having to sacrifice on the premium or price.

While I love the ASE's I have been thinking recently that I should diversify into other bullion coins so as to not have all my "eggs in one basket". This has led me to consider the below coins:

Canadian Silver Maple Leaf
Canadian Wildlife Series Coins
Chinese Panda
Australian Kookaburra
Austrian Philharmonics

I appreciate you thoughts and opinions. Obviously one common response is to buy what you like and I do that and plan to continue to do so.

 

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Don't forget about Britannias! Drop dead gorgeous design and field quality.

 

For your stated purposes (long term preservation / investment), I would stick with ASEs. You will likely be able to recoup the premium on them when you sell. Although I like all the others you have listed, I collect them for design. Not as sure if you will be able to recoup premium on them when you sell though like the ASEs. If not ASEs, then any generic silver round as close to spot as possible or even slightly under spot will do. You may want to consider Prospector rounds. TC

 

1. The ASE is probably the most beautiful of the bullion coins based on design. My knock on it is that it is the same old, same old every year. If you are addicted to a meat and potatoes diet, you will love the ASE. If you like exotic cuisine sometimes, you will look elsewhere also. They are easy to buy and easy to sell. I have found the rule of thumb to be you will pay about $4.00 over melt when you buy and you will get about $1.00 over spot when you sell.

2. Many people like the Maple Leaf. It has a nice-looking design, not as nice as the ASE in my opinion though. It is also the same year after year. Many people like the fact it is .9999 instead of .999 fine silver. I guess I would also if I suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder, but I don't see the big deal. The coin has a face value of $5.00, which appeals to some. I don't own a lot of these because I have found quite a few milk spots on Maple Leafs I have purchased and I absolutely hate milk spots. The Canadian Mint is aware of the problem, but has basically said they weren't concerned about fixing it. I have found the purchase price to be a little less than the ASE.

3. I have some Canadian Wildlife coins. The Timber Wolf was great, the Grizzly Bear was good, but the Cougar design was a little overdone in my opinion. I like the fact the designs change, but these also fall victim to the same milk spot problem as the Maple Leafs. The real positive of these coins is the 1,000,000 maximum mintage.

4. I like the Chinese Pandas a lot. The designs are great and change every year. The coins have a proof-like quality. The premium on these is higher than the ASE when you buy, but is also higher when you sell. I have found these to be the best value in terms of getting back close to the same premium when you sell as when you bought. Also, the value of these tend to rise over the years more than the other bullion coins. Some on this board who are heavily addicted to a meat and potatoes diet will knock the Panda because of potential counterfeiting, but just buy from a trusted dealer and you should be fine.

5. The Australian K-group (Kooks, Koalas and Kangaroos) are all nice coins. The designs change every year and the coins are nice quality. I don't own many of them primarily because I like the Pandas better and would rather own them. Premiums are close to ASE levels.

6. I don't own any Philharmonics. I have found the production quality to be on the poor side and many of them have nicks and dents fresh from the tube. I would never put these on my wish list. For about the same amount of money, I would much rather own ASEs.

7. As Clint mentioned, the Britannia is a very underrated coin. The designs are very interesting and creative and change every year. In my opinion, it has the best finish of any bullion coin I have ever seen. The coin could easily pass as proof quality, even though it is bullion. The premium on the buy side is close to Panda levels and maybe a little higher. I have never sold any I own, so I can't speak for the sell side.

8. Another well-designed coin is the Mexican Libertad. The design is beautiful, close to on par with the ASE. Again, it is the same every year. The premiums are close to ASE levels, but the ASE is easier to negotiate if you need to sell something.



My preference list would be as follows:

1. ASE
2. Panda
3. Canada Wildlife
4. Britannia
5. Libertad
6. K-Group
7. Maple Leaf
8. Philharmonic



I hope this helps. Again, it is just the opinion of a non-meat-and-potatoes person.

 

Depends on the quantity.

In $100 face and above, it's 90% "junk" silver.

Along with 100 oz. bars, it has the lowest premium (if you do your shopping) ... about a buck an ounce. And it's not worth counterfeiting, so no risk of that. It's also real US money in common denominations, so no one will question it. And survivalists and people who think the fiat system will collapse like it, so you have an extended market that makes it easy to sell if TEOTWAWKI does happen.

And occasionally you'll find numismatic-quality coins in the stash.

The one thing you have to be careful of when buying 90% junk is that some sellers on eBay sell it by the pound. This confuses people because they don't know if it's a standard pound or a troy pound. Either way, all the "by the pound" sellers I've checked out have been overpriced.

 

I really like the junk silver as well. I have narrowed down my purchases to junk (dimes, quarters and halves), ASE's and one ounce gold coins. I try to buy up any and all junk silver being sold in the local classifieds for about 10 to 15% under spot. It takes time but I get good deals. I also buy from local coin shops who are usually about 3 to 4% over spot. I tried to buy a bunch last week with silver at $26 and change but some coin shops stopped selling as the price was to low for them.

In the past I have had the 100 ounce bars but opted against them for ease of selling purposes. Say silver does spike and clears $100 an ounce, in my opinion you really narrow down your potential buyer market with the 100 ounce bars. You are probably down to the local coin dealers and they know this and will pay you under spot for your bar. Of course if you get it close to or just under you should be okay but I have decided smaller coins or lots will be easier to liquidate in the future. If you think my logic is flawed please tell me. I'm all ears. Thanks again for the response.

 

What treehugger said.

 

Treehugger, I really appreciate the well thought out response! I was hoping someone would do a list like this and I think you nailed and you read me like a book! I am true meat and potatoes person.

I really really like the ASE's for all the reasons you mentioned and have been pretty stuck on them and it has taken a while to get my eye off of them so to speak. I do though really like the wildlife series; however, they have already really spiked in price. I can't seem to find them for under $40 and if that is the case why go with them when I can stick to the trusty ASE's? Again thanks for the response.

 

I think your logic is good.

I've split my holdings between junk and 100oz bars. Coins have too much premium for me.

When and how to get out could bring up a long discussion on macro-economic themes, so I won't go there. I'm sure everyone has their own opinion. However, I'm currently not buying silver ... but I'm not selling either. But that just suits my personal situation. Heck, the reason I'm on this forum now is to do some research into diversifying my investments. I bought most of my silver 3-4 years ago, so my cost basis is low, and I probably have enough silver for the current economic circumstances.

I also stick to 1oz gold coins (or 1.2oz in the case of Mexican Centenarios). I don't trust bars and I think they'd be much harder to liquidate. I stick to the common ones also ... Eagles, Maples, Krugs, Philharmonics and Centenarios.

 

Why not just start a collection of each? All of these coins are nice.

 

IMO just bargain hunt see what you can grab close to spot price and turn it around & sell it for a profit when time comes'.

 

Get the old junk coins for long term holding. There's no fuss. You don't have to worry about keeping them all shiny. Who knows what those BU Eagles will look like in 15 years when you pull them out of storage. If they don't look like they do today, you lost the premium you paid.

 

ASEs are best by test.

 

This is the main reason for my post, I was leaning towards collecting more than just ASE's and did some research and felt these others were similar to ASE's. Right now I have a great connection that can sell me mint tubes of ASE's literally whenever I want them. I buy them and put them directly in my safe. I hope to hang on to them for years before pulling them out to liquidate them.

To get into the others I will have to do some looking around. Most seem to be very close to ASE's, if not higher, on the premium side so that made me think about just sticking with the ASE's. I really like the looks of the Canadian Wildlife series but their premium is ridiculous! I can't seem to find them under $38 per coin. With such a high premium I think it makes sense to stick to the ASE's.

I will look around and see what kinds of pricing I can find on these others but in the meantime I will stick with my regular purchase of ASE's, junk and gold coins.

 

I go with known generic all the way. 1oz or 10oz. you get more OZs for every 1k invested. unlike many who think going down the road they are harder to sell, I have been down the road and have sold many times over the years and have no trouble getting spot or a little over. with the premiums between buy/sell on ASEs there is no extra gain because you have less OZs if you have say 5k in both types of silver. I have a bunch of ASEs 'cause I like them but not for my main stack for the best return.

 

From a bullion standpoint, silver is silver. It doesn't matter if it is coin, rounds or bars. The big difference, IMO, is the premium difference that you pay for these different forms really depends upon your anticipated exit strategy. That is, what do you plan to do with your silver to get your money back. (whether it be $s or trading for gasoline from a Mad Max warrior)

Silver is also inexpensive enough for most people so that you can have a little fun with the hobby. This is where I go and buy coins that I simply like.

 

you just need to look in the right places...
http://www.apmex.com/Category/1263/Royal_Canadian_Mint_Wildlife_1_oz_Silver_Coins.aspx
cougars are $33+
but you'd want to buy a roll to make it worth it...
also
http://www.providentmetals.com/foreign/canada.html?mode=list&price=1%2C10000
providentmetals has cougars @ $32.24 or lower the more you buy and shipping is cheaper then apmex
grizzlies are $38.38 each or lower the more you buy wolves are $44.88 each or lower the more you buy

you are kinda late in the game to be buying wild life series...when each coin 1st came out they were a $2-3 over spot but the wolf skyrocketed over $50 at one point and the grizzly is at least $10 over now....

you could just save up and buy a tube of cougars and also wait for the 4th design to be released and get a bunch then too...before any large premium grows on them...

just my 2 cents...for what it's worth...
26 wolves I paid $726.63 now I can resell for $1200-1250
26 grizzlies I paid $855.59 now I can resell for that or more money easily
26 cougars I paid $797.09 now I can resell for that or more money easily

I like them cause they are considered low mintage so they are collector valued and also start off being sold at a low premium...it's a win-win if you buy at release that is or while the premium isn't insane...

 

As Alex said, that is the key for those who are interested in this series. If you get them the first few months after release, the premium is not a big deal. It does keep climbing though as time goes on. The ASEs and Maple Leafs do not typically follow this premium increase pattern, so you can wait and wait on those. If you are buying the Canada Wildlife series on a design basis, as well as a stacking basis, in my opinion the cougar is the ugliest of the bunch.

The next coin should be released in March, whatever animal it might be.

 

Can I ask what some of the "known" generic rounds you purchase are? The only ones that I have come across are from local mints. Are there specific mints I should buy from or at least target their rounds?

 

Great information! I will be ready to purchase whatever the next animal is in March. I really would like to get a tube of each one at some point. The cougars seem like the most logical first purchase and then watch and wait for the right time on the other two. Of course getting into the fourth one at release is a no brainer. Maybe I can scoop up several rolls and let the premium increase and flip some of the rolls for the grizzlies and the wolves.

Thanks for the information and sites with cheaper prices on these good looking coins.