Hey Im new to this whole silver thing..

Interestingly, that's about three times the total amount of silver currently in the Comex warehouses.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Do you know how to do the math to figure that 400th of 1% that was claimed lost and give the total? Just curious how much that is and I'll tell you why in a minute.

 

I don't know what you are talking about.

 

In the article I posted about Oak Ridge and the silver it says "when finally all the silver was returned in 1970 only 4 one hundreths of 1 percent was not accounted for" how much is that of the 15,000 tons they borrowed?

 

I presume 6 tons.

 

Which if I've done my math right is 175,000 troy oz and at $17 is about 3 million dollars. Not bad for a government project. They most likely spent more in accounting for its return.

 

The accounting and guarding, handling were most liklely tens times that amount maybe twenty times to a hundred times.
To follow up a bit we do see silver stock on occsion come into the market locally. I've never seen the wire but once a guy brought in some silver sheets about 4 or 5 inches wide and a eighth inch thick, two or three feet long. No way to tell where they were from or what they were used for. I don't think they were ever used. The silver content was above 95%.
He said he got it at a yard sale in the bottom of a box markes tools.
He paid $25 for it and had about 80 to 100 oz. I ask him how he knew it was silver and he said by how heavy it was that nothing else other than plantium would be that heavy. Of course you could look and see how white and lusterful it was right off. He scored a home run on that stuff.
It had to be for some kind of industrial use though as it was holed and scored here and there for some type of application.

I wonder how much of West Points silver is still in little old mens homes down in Oak Ridge right now or for that matter in scrap heaps around the plants? You know a little scrap piece now and then could add up - I would like to make that bet in favor of "it is and a not just a little" but I don't know a darn thing really about it and have never seen wire yet.

 

The cost at the time was probably much less than you think. People frequently don't appreciate or recall how inexpensive things were back then.

I seriously doubt that those sheets were silver. And I don't believe the owner could (1) confirm that they were silver, and (2) know that the purity was 95% just by lifting them.

 

Your right about the cost back then in the 1940's silver was very little.
The owner though could easily tell they were silver as you could if you saw them. He did not know what purity it was though that was confimed later when the smelter came and bought them. They were above 95% - that's fact, not an opinion.

 

The rumors about Comex technical defaults usually concern gold IIRC. Until one person, any person with a name stands up in public and says "I wanted a bar and all they would give me was this lousy cash" that's all they are IMO--rumors. Or until we receive credible reports of industrial users having supply problems. Obviously I wasn't speaking of myself as an individual investor.

You can take delivery of a gold or silver futures contract anytime you want, and you will receive your bar at spot price. Until that changes I take all talk of a "disconnect" between the paper and physical price as dealerspeak for "I bought a whole lot of the stuff at $17 and don't really want to sell it for $14, but as soon as the price goes back up give me a call", or, most usually, the crowd over at Le Metropole talking their book.

Which as I said is fine with me up to a point, but I don't see why buyers should believe it. Of course a potential shortage exists in any commodity at any time for any number of reasons but that is a different thing altogether.

 

Since only about 5% of contracts currently take delivery, the spot price is largely a paper price. The point I'm making is that this needs to be watched if you want to understand the big picture and profit from any change in the status quo. If you make the assumption that silver will always be readily available because it has been in the past, you could be operating on dangerous ground - - particularly for industrial users. I cannot condone any participation in a market without a willingness to do the required analysis.

 

Ok, your story changed.

 

Another way to look at it is the cost to produce 90% silver was absorbed by the government since they were circulating coins. With ASEs, the mint is passing the production cost down to the dealer who passes it to the customer. This is why there is a lot larger premium, over spot, on these coins. There is another consideration with 90% junk silver. If you buy by multiples of face value, keep in mind that you probably are not getting the silver that you think if the coins are really worn.

As a reference point, I was at a coin show today, and with just one exception, all the dealers there wanted $23 for a recent ASE. I passed.

 

Is Ebay a good way to buy silver? I have been looking around on Ebay and there seems to be some good deals but I was just wondering.. If I got several different kinds of 1 oz silver bars would a pawn/coin shop care that they're not all the same brand? Sorry If this is a dumb question just want to get all the facts strait.

 

From what I've seen ebay will cost you more then most. Alot of people overpay on there and then you have to pay shipping.
Depending on what you were wanting there are lots of companys online or go to your local store for small amounts.

 

Please read read more carefully, I changed no part of my story.

 

WOW! This is better than "Desperate Housewives" and I don't have to pay cable fees.

Seriously guys, I appreciate this - right, wrong, goofy and just twisted. I am always amazed by the stored up knowledge of CoinTalk people. Ben (BHP34rd) always has valuable comments and the reactions of others just enrich the discussion

 

Yep, Like most everybody has already said eagles will carry a premium
Over spot prices just about every ware!!

 

No they probably would not care what brand, unless there was something questionable about the purity or weight. I would stick with things like Silver Eagles and Canadian Maple Leaves though.

 

In your first post you indicated that he knew it was silver by the weight and luster. In the second post you said it was because of information from the smelter. That's a highly significant change to me.