It's still just an ounce of silver but it looks like more and more companies and coin dealers are getting into the act of dressing up an ASE in the hopes of making more money on an American Silver Eagle. Maybe some of y'all collect these, I don't know cause today was the first time I noticed there's so many being offered for sale on the bay. Flags on coins, enameled liberty ladies on an ASE and everything in-between. I gotta admit, the Singapore coin below is very nice looking but I don't really collect modern, in any form. Any thoughts on this silver selling hustle? Is there a following for these dressed up ASE's? http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-oz-silver...154722?hash=item567cdea9e2:g:TIAAAOSwT5tWGsGe http://www.ebay.com/itm/2015-1-oz-A...144393?hash=item43e3f2bac9:g:CGkAAOSwKIpWEXl~
With the millions of these being minted, people are trying to get creative. Add a few dollars worth of paint or other substance and then double/triple the price...why not if someone is willing to buy them? Here is another popular type of alteration that is being done with many of the bullion coins: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BURNING-Wal...887559?hash=item43e468e187:g:SkEAAOSwHnFVpPAr
We should not fail to remind newbies that this is not exactly a great thing to invest their money in. The coin itself is beautiful as is and should not be "dressed up" to look other than what is. It would be a shame, somewhere down the road when trying to sell these, that a dealer would laugh you out of their store and give you melt value. Canada makes plenty of these dressed up coins right out of the press. They do appeal to some but are strictly novelty items just like gold plated quarters, etc. Not my cup of tea but each to their own. I am surprised that the U.S. Mint has not jumped on this type of thing yet, aside from the Baseball issue. I do like reverse proofs though but that's another subject.
I think you're right. Grandma buys one as a birthday gift for the coin collecting grandson, that makes sense, to her anyways.
Well, that was interesting! I had never heard of ruthenium, have you? According to Wikipedia, it's exceedingly rare. Probably worth more than the ASE on Monday...
Even though I don't care for coins painted, altered etc.... I will give the respect towards it if it is tastefully done, and honors something important.
The only reason I had heard of it before was due to seeing other "burning" or "enigma" bullion coins. It seems to be somewhat popular lately (see for yourself if you search for ruthenium coins on ebay). Also, while rare, the price for ruthenium is only 42 dollars per ounce (much less than platinum or palladium, which it is related to): https://www.quandl.com/collections/markets/rare-metals
I kinda like the burning design, looks neat. Not something I'd invest in, but I'd pay what I'd pay for a normal ASE, maybe a buck or two more. But in the end - ASE's are (don't hate me) bullion to me. That may change in 20 years, but real used currency is highly collectible and tells a story of a country and its people. The millions of ASE's are just stored silver value. Flame on - but this is the bullion forum.
In the past, I've had a couple opportunities to pick up painted ASEs at a small discount. I simply give them a gentle acetone bath and they're good as new!
