Apathy from coin community towards melting silver coins

Ok, I can't argue with passion, besides they're your coins anyway.

 

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The irony in this is that, the more coins melted equals higher numismatic values for Morgan Dollars and other early coins. Keep melting away! I'll just hold onto my collection.....

I do know there are people who melt Morgan's. I just don't understand why. 1964 Halves I can kinda understand, but really, old collectible silver coins? That's a bit over the top.

 

No one has really melted silver dollars, save damaged pieces, in a long time. Ever sine the early 80's they have been worth more than all other junk silver.

Always remember the largest meter in US history was the US government. All the time they were saying people were stupid to hoard pre65 silver coins the US was busy meltin bIllions of them. This is where the US silver stockpile that was used to make the ASE's at first came from.

 

I found this article (it's older, from 1999) but it has bearing on the discussion in this topic:

http://www.pcgs.com/News/After-The-Melts-Whats-Left-In-Silver-Coins

One quote that echoes sentiment from earlier in this topic:

 

The silver stockpile came from purchases of silver the government made in the early 1930's. They were paying more than market and buying pretty much all silver offered. They built up a stockpile of close to three billion oz. (That did not include the hundreds of millions of silver dollars they also had.) Now I'm sure the coins they melted did add to the stockpile (By the time they ended the silver coinage they were down to under 250 million oz.) How much was added I don't know.

 

You could be right we also had other purchases. I just read throughout the late 60's, the same time the US was sayin the public was dumb to hoard silver coins, they were sorting out all silver that went through the fed and melting themselves.

 

What are you melting them for, the brass value or the manganese?

 

Was referring to 64 and earlier after that I don't even consider coins remotely worth mentioning personally I other then a couple exceptions have little interest in any coins post seated liberty / Morgan dollar era. Though I do love st gaudens $20s but that's just my opinion

 

I think what many mis-understand is that many 90% silver coins are sold at their melt value, but never melted. They trade as silver, but use the fact that they are US coins as their mark of value. Many of these coins are traded in bags and quantity, but never melted.

Some of course are, but typically when dealers sell for melt, they are not actually melting the coins, but trading them for their melt value. They are worth more in the form that they are than melted into a lump unless it's marked by some know silver merchant.

 

Very true I see big bulk lots of 90% silver being traded often I doubt that much is actually melted as it has its own value as currency as a % times face and there's a lot of people that hoard it I go to usually 5+ auctions a week at least 50% have a lot of varying size of 90% coins myself im only looking for coins with numismatic value so I never buy them unless there's something that shouldn't be in there.

 

Well, I am definitely not on the side of the "coin-melters" ... I become very attached to my coins and I don't even consider trading them, let alone selling them, or worst case scenario => selling them to the smelter (aaarrrggghhhh!!)

Yah, I am quite attached to my sweet collection ... when I visualize the "melters" melting-down all of the great ol' coins from days gone-by, I get the same awful feeling in my stomach as when I see dogs and puppies at the humane society (on doggie death row) ...

Don't be a "melter" => please sponsor the "Save-a-coin foundation"

=> merely send your old silver coins to stevex6 (help make a difference!!)

 

I agree. Hurts me when I learn old coins were melted down for their silver, but at some point that should impact the price of the ones left???

 

I might get down on my knees and cry a river or despair and loament along with folks except for one thing:

Coin Collectors have never started collecting coins because of the silver content and those "seed" coins being referred to were probably shiny new Lincoln Cents.

Back in the 30's, 40's and 50's, the actual "seeds" which started many collectors wasn't the almighty "Silver Dollar" as much as it was the ad's run by B. Max Mehl promoting the "riches" that could be found in pocket change which at the time, didn't contain silver dollars.

Those ads ran in magazines, newspapers, comic books (for the youngsters) and on books of matches.

Combine those ads with the availability of the old Whitman Coin Folders and millions of future coin collectors were born.

Of course, the Casino's in Nevada were not hesitant in the least to display all kinds of different Silver Dollar treasures which in and of themselves had NOTHING to do with coin collecting as much as they had to do with figuring out ways of showing off something made with Silver Dollars.

You see, the bottom line is that folks collect coins simply because each piece has, at the minimum, face value. They come in dates and, as some discover, come with different mintmarks. They represent the perfect item to set aside and line up for display. A more refined collector will limit what s/he keeps to only the best examples.

Sure, some folks get all googoo eyed over the fact that a Kennedy Half will show up which they can then sell for more than its face value because of the silver in the coin but then those folks aren't collectors. They're silver flippers who could potentially "turn into collectors".

There will come a point in time (if we are still around) where money of all types will be eliminated and replaced by global credits. We are very close to that point right now with the advent of online shopping and direct deposit. Very few people actually cash paychecks (?) any more and instead opt into direct deposit. A lot of folks use credit and debit cards on a daily basis in lieu of "cash transactions". Heck, even the Welfare Departments around the country issue debit cards in lieu of Welfare checks!

When money goes away in favor of "credits", what then? When common folks no longer have contact with coins and they lose interest in those shiny brand new objects of metal which can be used to...hey wait, can coins be used to buy anything anymore other than a candy bar, car wash or Laundromat?

Do I lament the loss of a silver coin? Not anymore than I lament losing interest in the Hula Hoop.

 

The reality is cash will never go away too many people still have no faith in online transactions and banks. Also many people like to conduct business completely anonymously ie cash where there's no paper trail both legitimate and illegitimate. An awful lot of people don't really trust our dear Uncle Sam and especially the IRS including myself. I often have people that will give a better price for goods and or labor if it's cash

 

Other then revolt. Or create an underground economy based on remaining cash gold/silver etc. I've read several reality based sci fi books where this is pretty much the case and is scary. One of the most terrifying books I've read in the last few years is flashback by Dan Simmons. Is set about 30 years in the future and I can see any and all this happen way to easy. In that old currency (current US dollars) is worth a fortune especially on the black market due to runaway inflation $20 old = roughly $200k new. A highly recommended read if you like stories when the world all goes to crap

 

The thing is Doug we control the government anyone who proposes this should be immediately voted out of office. And if they did away with cash it would likely cause a major economic collapse

 

Accept the government won't. The U.S. is the global dollar and they would never ever do anything to jeopardize that. If the government would take our dollar off the market, we would loose our economic power and financial security. There are several countries that would be happy to replace us if we made such a blunder. We may loose that strength one day regardless. We Americans think credit it used world wide like it is used here. It is accepted by all countries but not popular with all countries. Debt cards are used in Europe quite heavily. And if actual cash doesn't back the card up, there will be no purchase. Then there are parts of the third world that are still waiting for electricity to arrive.