Hello, I have been doing a lot of research and have already purchased around 35 ounces so far between junk silver and ASE's. What is the best form? Is paying the premiums worth it when buying 150 ounces in one shot and about 35 ounces a month?
I go light on the ASEs, like the coin but not the price. after you have some junk I think generic .999 1 and 10oz are the way to go. easy to value and more silver for the bucks
Well put it this way, If you pay an average of $5 dollars over spot of an ASE @ 150 oz,that's $750 extra spent on premiums. First of I do like the design of the ASE but will not pay the premium for them . As stated above the extra $750 at current price (29.96) would net you about an extra 25oz of silver. So its personal choice, but my choice is NO. There a people that say you will get the premium back when you sell, yes and no depends on who you sell to and if you can find one when you want to sell. Yes via the internet its easier to sell them but are the fees and worry (if you don't know the buyer) worth it or if the price dumps and buyer wants out after you make the deal. What I would do is if you have a LCS is to find out what they pay for the ASE which probably varies depending on their supply and demand and then choose where its worth the premium.
KoinJester, I am overseas so things aren't too simple. I just did the math on providentmetals (Cheapest ASE I have found) and if i buy 150oz of the ASE and sell them back for the same price ill take a 212.00 loss. If i do the same with the indian head 1oz ill only lose 167.00. It makes me wonder if liquidity of the ASE is really all that much better. From what im reading people are saying that ASE are trusted and most dealers/people will take them without a question but that doesn't hold true for generic rounds. I am not sure really. =(
Generic rounds should bring less of a premium when buying, The most trusted in mint made rounds are the ASE, Maple Leafs, Philharmonics. If it were me I would buy the 100oz/kilo bars, over the rounds. http://www.providentmetals.com/100-oz-999-fine-silver-bar-engelhard.html
Would liquidation be any more of an issue with the bars? I mean the premium would come out to like 2.00 more an ounce for ASE's over the bars. Is that 2.00 an ounce worth being able to liquidate/the trustworthiness?
Shouldn't be, but then I don't know how things work where you are. I know I can sell the bars faster than the rounds, but that's here. John, not necessarily, silver is silver in most peoples mind and what ever form you can get it cheapest is the way to go. Granted with 90% you'll eventually take up more space than .999
I've seen this argument over and over again in CT. Down the line, if you need silver to survive, who in the devil is going to "make change" for a 100oz bar??? It will represent $6000 or $7000 in "old" dollars. I buy only junk silver, preferably dimes and quarters. A 5x10 SDB will hold a $1000 bag, and that SDB costs me $35/year at the credit union; that's going up to $41 on January 1, but then should be stable for two or three years. Why would ANYBODY buy silver they can't conveniently USE??? If and when the crunch comes, NO ONE is going to pay a premium for ASEs; in fact, they might be discounted versus junk silver, as the denomination will be too large for everyday commerce and barter. Yes, they're pretty, and an album full is impressive; I have accumulated a few, but I'm not buying more or filling in the missing dates. Now, if you are a numismatist and admire and covet fancy silver, forget all this. My numismatic instincts only extend to cents and half cents, Hard Times and Civil War tokens, not to silver bullion.
I am wondering if coin shops are paying a few percent under spot and a few percent above spot for ASE's as iv read if the margin shrinks enough to where your only losing a few dollars but have the peace of mind of an easy sale/recognizable product. This is a tough decision.
Hi Mikey, There are several things to consider and no really right answer. First, lets talk premium. Right now I'm looking at 4.6% for 90% silver coin, 42% for silver dollars, 12.4% for ASEs and 7.8% for leafs and a 1 oz. round at 8.3%. Note that volume buys will always bring down the premium. Most often you want to buy with the smallest premium unless you have a specific objective or goal. Also, if you're going to want to sell them, you might stick with name brand stuff like ASEs. You can sell ASEs at McDonalds, but it can be tough selling Weasel Mint and Emporium rounds. As mentioned above, for barter type exchanges, you want mixed US 90%. If you want to enjoy some aspect of coin collecting, you can go for present day and historical silver crowns. Some very gorgeous stuff out there. If you simply want to amass vast quantities of bullion, after considering storage, you can go with larger ingots. That 100 oz. ingot painted black makes a great door stop. In my case, I've got a mix of stuff. I have ASE's by the tube, name brand 1 and 10 oz ingots, prospectors by the tube, and a few tubes of junk rounds. I'm also collecting the annual issues from the major bullion issuing contries - pandas, koalas, kooks, libertads, leafs, philharmonics, etc. And I like the older silver crowns also. Oh, and BTW, all dealers have a wholesale (buy) price and retail (sell) price. It's how all trade occurs and the difference is the vigorish. peace, rono
Your comments are factual, but you are slip-sliding away from the very critical issue of use-ability. and Husband: What's that? Wife: A little Rin-Tin-Tin doorstop, made in China. Isn't it cute? Husband: WHERE'S TH...? Wife: ...I got tired of stubbing my toe on that stupid black log, so I threw it away.
Very good. Perhaps that's why I've never done this. I've mentioned it quite a few times over the years when folks talked about what to do with bullion for silver and for gold . . . a tube of 20 aGE's is what, 2" tall and a little larger than a quarter? You can stash it in a oatmeal box and it's worth about $36K take care, rono
I like junk silver fine, it's recognizeable, not as profitable to fake (especially dimes which are highly liquid), and you can get it with no premium in many cases. For bulk purchases I do generic rounds and bars from the private mint that makes them so as to get the most bang for my buck on bullion with no concern of counterfeiting. I like eagles just fine, but I don't buy them in bulk when I can get more metal instead.
If you are doing 35 oz./month, stick with bullion in 10 oz. bars (100 oz. bars are better) from Johnson & Matthey or Engelhardt (I think I spelled those correctly). No matter what, you are gonna get the short end of the stick when you are buying and selling, this is just the way you get a little more stick - plain and simple.
