scrap silver bullion worth it?

I purchased some scrap silverbullion today.
By scrap i mean broken jewelery, pc pieces, pure silver silverware etc. I am sure we have seen it all.

Anyways I have found that I can usually pay about a couple bucks to $less than a $1 per oz if bought this way. Anyone else have similar experiences.?
Do you guys like buying it as scrap or prefer coins?

While were at it would you buy homemade bars and rounds?

 

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You bought scrap silver ..nothing bullion about it.
Silver comes in a vareity of purity combinations. If you want junk silver stick with well circulated pre 1964 dimes and quarters. You are paying less because the silver content is less.

Sterling silver is not pure and some jewlery, can be silver plated and still marked and sometimes not marked. If you don't know what you are doing, it's a big risk when closer to spot authentic 90% silver coins are readily available.

I would not buy homemade bars or rounds. Period.

 

To be blunt, I think you are wasting you money and vastly overpaying for what you are buying.

 

the thing with homemade stuff,buy selling or whatever is that someone along the line has to eat the assaying cost to prove it's purity,now the maker doesn't want to do it, and if you buy it chances are nobodys going to want to buy it from you without it being assayed first,so any profit you might have realized is gone into the assayers pocket. this is only viable to do with large amounts of bullion,in large quantities you might make a profit,as small time you'll lose money. the us silver and gold coinage is a known silver content where as the silverware and all that isn't,also causing a big hitch in questionable silver content and purity,again on a large scale basis profits can be realized here to,but if you are doing a small time operation ,not so much.

 

I took scrap silver to a reputable scrap dealer. I got 75% of the bullion value, not of the gross weight, but net after they (the dealer, not a 3rd party) assayed the scrap (which was supposed to be pure silver, but turned out to be alloyed such that my 24 oz of silver turned out to be 14 oz of silver and 10 oz of crud.
Even though I didn't end up with 75% of 24 oz of silver, I was happy as I was able to turn that into a very nice 1828 (12 stars) half cent - see avatar

 

Same here the scrap dealer offers me 70% of melt per oz. Which for me isnt bad I am making at least $4 per oz. Now consider if I bought junk silver coins, I am sure my profits wouldnt be as pretty.

However I did get everything to make my own bars since bars sell for more than melt in my area.
I am using .999 silver from the refinery. So its a hgiher quality bar. if i were melting old jewelery and silver and just throwing into the molds, well I would be ripping people off and I am sure I would be prosecuted somewhere along the line.

But I defintely could make bars also, silver is tricky when melting it tho with all the excess by products that are created.

 

I guess the point I was trying to make is that if I as a regular joe were to melt down and make a homemade 100 oz. bar then only a complete fool would buy that bar without having it assayed first,not everyone has easy access to a assayer,and they will get their cut on one end or the other.

 

If your buying silver as an investment you want to buy the highest quality as cheap as possible. I would buy marked or tested scrap for $1-2 ALL DAY! Some of you guys wouldn't? On ebay marked sterling can sell for as much as 90% of spot for silver content and collectible sterling in NR MT can sell for 500% of it's content. So why not sell that way?

Coins are usually overvalued by collectors so that means many coins as a PM are a BAD INVESTMENT. If you are investing in a metal why would you want to pay 30%-40% over spot for that metal? Also it is illegal to melt U.S. coins so you never really have that option. I do buy .999 silver bullion but only at 10% over spot Including tax and shipping. Bullion and coins may be seen as the safest way to invest but in my opinion certainly not the most profitable.

 

From what I have heard, it is only illegal to melt down pennies and nickles. And that started back in 2006. Back in the seventies they allowed melt on the 90% silver coin.

 

This is not true - you pay more for 90% than you do for .925

This is not true - you pay more for U.S. .900 than you do for .925 at least in this part of the world. No dealer I know (and I know a few hundred) pays as much for any kind of silver than they do for .900 U.S. coin silver.
Please search other posts to find out more.

 

I believe it is illegal to melt any U.S. coinage. The nickels and pennies make news and are talked about because they are the only coins worth melting. Obviously in general scrap sterling is worth less than collectible .900 U.S. currency even if the coin is less than UNC. I have tried to buy coins for scrap on ebay and at shops, the best I have seen is right around spot. Even coins with holes or solder welded to them, and worn to barley being recognizable sell around spot. Yet sterling can consistently be bot for 40% - 60% of spot. So the factor at that point isn't collect ability, I believe it is because people put a large amount of faith in believing that governments are accurate and accountable for their currency value. But isn't the exact opposite true of modern U.S. paper money and the reason why we are all buying silver today?

By the way 2 "Homemade" bullion ingots ended today on ebay I dont think either were professionally assayed. One sold for $13.33 per oz and the other sold for 18.40 per oz. Funny thing is that is dead on for spot.. but the bar that did better was only marked .925 and listed as "melted from from sterling scrap".

Ok so seriously does anyone want to sell me some .925?

 

Ag OK

I believe that it is legal to melt silver. It's melting the bronze cents that is illegal.

 

This is dated but it may help.....

http://www.coinflation.com/is_it_illegal_to_melt_coins.html

 

Its illegal to melt any US coinage regardless of silver, copper or what not.

 

To the best of my knowledge that is not correct. The 2006 law only extends to pennies and nickels.

To wit:

SUMMARY: To protect the coinage of the United States, the United States
Mint is adopting a final rule that prohibits the exportation, melting, and treatment of 5-cent and one-cent coins. This rule is issued pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 5111(d), which authorizes the
Secretary of the Treasury to prohibit or limit the exportation,
melting, or treatment of United States coins when the Secretary decides
the prohibition or limitation is necessary to protect the coinage of
the United States. This rule's purpose is to ensure that sufficient
quantities of 5-cent and one-cent coins remain in circulation to meet
the needs of the United States.

DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is effective April 16, 2007.

 

Well since the summer of 2007 every coinsotre has told me strictly they no longer meltthe silver,and the only smelter in ym area was slapped with a huge fine and a cease and desist order for melting silver coins back in 2008. So I am positive that they dont melt silver coins anymore, asked all the coin stores, dealers and scrap dealers, they all said its against the law and nobody does it.

 

I would like to see the news about the smelter being slapped with a fine for melting silver coins. They were probably fined for melting copper and/or nickel coins.

Here is a letter from August 2009 to Numismatic News, by a former Mint director, that specifically mentions his desire to repeal the law prohibiting the melting of pennies and nickels, with nary a word about silver coins. Since silver coins no longer circulate, and the law specifically mentions only pennies and nickels, it can be interpreted to mean that the law does not apply to silver coins

http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/Time_to_end_ban_on_melting_cents_nickels/

Also, the March 10, 2008 edition of Coin World has a front page article about the melting of massive amounts of recent-issue US gold commemorative coins by a private party.

 

I could be wrong but I think that is a stricter penalty amended for pennies and nickels above the already in place general laws for currency. The below code was quoted in response to someone asking if it was illegal to weld pocket change together to make a sculpture.
My only question is does this cover pocket change? One would think, but I am not sure. Obviously "coin silver" items such as servers and candlesticks must of been legal at some point.
United States Code
TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 17 - COINS AND CURRENCY
§ 333. Mutilation of national bank obligations

?Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or
unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill,
draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking
association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System,
with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence
of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than six months, or both.?

 

That law pertains to paper money. The melting of silver coins was legalized by the Coinage Act of 1969.

 

I think you must have misunderstood. This is what I said.
I know a couple hundred dealers as well ..is this some kinda contest ?
Thanks though.

Cheers