Trade 40% Halves for ASE's?

I have a dealer that will give me 91% of melt for 40% halves. He'll trade at that level too. I have a lot of 40% and wanted to know if it was a good idea to trade for ASE's or just take cash when I am ready to sell?

 

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Cash or ASE's. Silver is moving up and 40%er's really are not worth much. The gold/ silver buyers don't even send those to the smelter.
I think turning them into ASE's is a good idea. You are getting quality silver for garbage silver.

 

Before you trade to the dealer, you may want to consider selling some on Craigslist (if you're okay with that kind of thing). I've sold 40%'ers for melt or higher from time to time.

 

Whatever you do, I say get rid of those 40%ers, those just take up lots of space. If you're going to trade, try to get a little better % or get him to lower the cost of the coin you're trading for. Trading helps him dump inventory so it should be more favorable than a cash deal.

 

Once again, it depends whether you're a numismatist or a stacker. If I was offered 40% (or War nickels) at 91%, with no postage or freight to pay, I'd snap them up. Silver is silver. As I have discussed in the past, ASEs carry a significant premium that you will never recover when and if silver moves up, plus they are semi-useless in commerce, as no one will want to use up their more liquid 90% to "make change" for them...

Why do you think the big Five continually run "specials" on them? Follow the money.

The coin dealer in question probably has a few buyers that think like I do, or he wouldn't offer the trade at all. You can be sure he's not offering the trade with the intention of losing money.

This part I agree with:
"Trading helps him dump inventory so it should be more favorable than a cash deal."

 

Oh yeah I would trade in a heart beat.

 

In short, absolutely.

 

Thank you for the advice. If I am understanding you correctly you are saying if you are a stacker, which I am, don't trade for ASE's because of the premium I won't get back and I am loosing out on silver by 9%.

 

That's my basic message, although people should collect what they like. I don't flip bullion, it will be there the day I die.

 

How is a dealer 'dumping inventory' by trading ASE's for 40%. If anything he's gaining inventory as it takes way more 40% to equal that one ASE.

Depending on the dealers ASE price I would take that trade in a heartbeat. ASE's are incredibly more liquid than 40%, that dealer price point though is key to all this. Forget about it if you're losing 9% upfront and then also paying a 15-20% premium on top of spot to meet his ASE price . But if the premium is reasonable sure you're losing a little bit of value but you're also gaining value by trading beat up circulated 40% into uncirc .999 fine.

 

That's what I'm thinking. I can't stand my 40% because of the space it takes up and it's just ugly looking coins. His premiums on 2017 ASE's are $3.00. I could just go for rounds or 10oz bars. I asked about bars and he said 80 40% coins for a ten ounce bar. His premiums on Rounds and bars are $1.25. 91% is the best I can find from a dealer or silver refiner.

 

So how many 40% halves would it take for one ASE?

 

Good question, I am not sure.

 

80 40% coins is 11.8 ounces.

 

One 40% half based on current spot roughly 2.53 (.91) = 2.3
Assuming $17.13 spot + $3 = $20.13
20.13/2.3 = 8.75 so rounded up about 9 40% halves for every ASE which isn't a bad trade IMO. I forget where I remember reading it but I believe that even the mint authorized distributors of ASE's pay a +$2 premium to spot to the mint when purchasing, so $3 isn't horrible imo.

 

I used to do that all day long. I would pull 40% out from roll hunting and then trade them up to ASE's or Maple's. The 40% cost me face value, so it was a no brainer to trade the less liquid 40% for the much more favorable .999+. Sure I lost some silver content in the transaction, but I was still way ahead on the cost per ounce.

 

What about trading for Rounds or bars to get more silver?

 

You may pay less premium to acquire it but when it comes time to sell you'll get no premium either. I think many people who parrot the silver is silver have actually never really sold any of their silver. Once you've sold a bunch of times you quickly learn that silver may be silver, but it's simply not all equal when selling in both ease of sale and return of value.

 

I sold a lot last year and I got $1.50 over spot for ASE's and spot for Rounds, bars, and 90%. That was to dealers.

 

Why would he want 40%'s? In a retail environment he's only getting $3 apiece.
Unless there is some rare variety in the 1965-1970 that he is looking for.
Maybe he thinks silver is appreciating and he plans to make $5 for every $2 he is spending, but that's still not a lot of money even buying hundreds of 40's.
You are better off with the ASE's. You have to pay a premium when you pay cash, so you aren't paying any more this way. If you got the 40's CRH, it's almost FREE ASE's.