I just went to a show yesterday. Premiums on silver are still high but I'd rather go to a show, that way I don't pay shipping. I don't think I did too badly though. I picked up a 1917-D Mercury dime in Fine for $13, and 1943-S Merc MS-60 for $8 and a 1918 Walker in Good for $11 among a few others. I don't have a big coin budget as I am getting ready to retire, but I try to find deals when I can. One thing I did see, though, that made me cringe, was a lot of dull looking, cleaned coins that were selling at regular prices with no mention of cleaning (all raw coins in 2X2s). One dealer had a bunch of large cents that he was selling for $15 a pop, that all looked like they spent a lot of time in the ground. Some were cleaned, but all of them were UGLY. I passed...
I was bored and turned on the TV and a Re-run GAMESHOW popped up a question, " what company is the worlds largest consumer of silver?" Needless to say that question popped my attention to full alert. Answer: " Kodac" HUH??? A camera company buys all the silver? (this re-run was filmed back in the 70's and those heavy thick X-rays needed silver). Ok that explains why the "films" are so heavy (shot a few X-rays as a medic in the Army back then) Ok now back to present time and digital X-rays. Is Kodac STILL the king of silver or is there someone else on that throne? Something to ponder on.
The biggest (non-bullion) demand these days is in the photovoltaic (solar energy) industry. Medical industries are also slowly using more.
Yeah, that was one hell of a true story, maybe even made Papa Smurf famous! https://abcnews.go.com/Health/internet-sensation-papa-smurf-dies-blue-people-live/story?id=20368758