Could someone please explain IN THE SIMPLEST TERMS what "spot" means? Also, I'd like to know what exactly "junk silver" is and what kind of price to get from it. I have a walking Liberty quarter with the date completely obliterated. Please use that as an example. Thank you in advance for the help.
Spot is the current market price, (go to Kitco to see ) Spot is the current market price, (go to Kitco to see ). Your standing Liberty Quarter would have been 11.4 times face value at last weeks show, (at 10x face your quarter would be $2.50). Junk silver is virtually any kind of worn out silver coin but the best is U.S. 90% coins silver, everything (dimes, quarter's and half dollars) before 1964.
"Spot" is the minute-by-minute wholesale (in effect) price for large quantities on the professional market. Bullion coins often trade for more than the spot price, because of the difference between retail and wholesale. The difference between the two is highly variable. To get a starting point for what your junk silver is worth, multiply the face value in dollars by 0.715 to get the number of ounces of silver, then look up the current silver price.
Spot refers to either spot silver, spot gold, etc.. Spot is simply an abbreviated way of saying what a particular ounce of precious metal is worth at a given time. Example: Someone says, "I bought this one ounce silver eagle for $2 over spot. " Meaning, if silver is worth roughly $16 an ounce at the moment, they paid $18 for it. Metal prices can be found at Kitco. They fluctuate by the minute. Junk silver can be any modern or older coinage, that's been damaged or worn to the point where the numismatic value is equal to or less than the value of the metal in the coin. Junk silver is often sent in and melted for it's silver content. Anything that has any premium over it's silver content would not be classified as junk silver.
Thank you all for that wonderful information! Now... who is the best person to sell stuff like this to? Jewelers? Dealers? Scrap metal dealers? CashForGold. com?
I would advise NOT to use cash for gold. Very poor returns, low balling values with them is common. I would stick with a local B&M coin dealers shop, most deal in junk silver and gold. Call around to the local shops and ask.
Find a show in your area, call the bourse person before Wait for the price to be at or above $17 - find a show in your area, call the bourse person before and ask if someone that will be there buys scrap silver - find out who it is and ask him when you get there "what's his best offer"? From you research you should (at $17) expect to get around 11 times face and sell it but never (unless it's a have to) go to those you mentioned. My guys that are in that market (that's all they do) always pay more than any of the others - they actually sell it within 10 minutes after you walk away or have it locked in with the modern devices such as cell phones or blackberries with the people they sell it to.
