I am by no means a big spender on silver coins. I am happy buying 40% Kennedy halves for a buck or two. Lately I've been buying foreign silver. Only problem there is I know nothing of foreign silver, but a buck or so for any silver coin for me is worth it. Lately though, I've been buying a lot of the 10% silver Mexican pesos from the 1960s. I have about twenty of them now. I have paid as low as one dollar for two, to as much as three bucks. I like them because they are huge and they are a good looking coin. The silver is an added bonus. Is a couple bucks a good price to pay for one? I have seen them on ebay for up to 10 dollars buy it now.
I do not think there is a dollar worth of silver in them, so I wouldn't even pay a buck. I have a lot of mexican silver, and a few of these, (came with the lots), but to me they are Ebay scammer dream advertising a big "silver" coin with little silver value. Fool the masses like always...
1957 - 1967 Un Peso's are 10% silver and at today's SPOT have about $1.15 worth of silver in them. I'm not sure what refiners would pay for them though. The older one's from 1909 - 1919 were 90% silver and a very attractive coin in my opinion. I guess if you can get them cheap keep buying them.
Fair enough, but refiners do not like 40% kennedy's so I doubt smelting (the 10% Mexican silver coins) would be very attractive pricing. If you get highly silvered ones they aren't unattractive coins, they just turned ugly in circulation. If you want to collect them that is everyone's right, I would just not put too much value on any silver content.
Nobody need be fooled if they just do their research. It has about the same silver content as a war nickel. 40% halfs sell all day on Ebay for 4-5X face. If you like the coin, buy it. If the price is right, buy it. The silver content is just a bonus.
I seriously do not think they sell for 4x face when the silver is worth 6.4x face today. I could be wrong...
medoraman, I know what silver is worth by the minute. Your comment made it seems like 40%'ers were not worth the trouble. The price depends on who is buying. Most people buying them are looking for some room. Maybe I misunderstood?
I was commenting on the 10% silver Mexican coins, which since they aren't as common as US coins, and have just a trace of silver, are very undesirable for US smelters. 40% half dollars are a pain for smelters, but since there are many of them they can deal with it, the mexican coins they don't want to. We were just talking about two different things man. I went back and changed my post to clarify what I was talking about. You are right, it was unclear.
While we are talking about cheap silver, where would you suggest selling 40% Kennedy's? I have a few, (hundred), and really do not want them, but was offered 3.5x for them.
If you're talking about the Morelos peso, I suggest you look for the higher content silver years! The truth is silver could be at $20 an oz but you won't get that much from a coin shop as they gotta get their cut as well. When all is said and done 90% is the only way to go for me!! It may be time to look at new ideas. Sale prices on what you've already got may be zilch. happy hunting http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-1517.html
I think one issue here to be identified is that you are talking about buying bullion in the form of foreign silver and seeking the closest pricing to the metals intrinsic value. In this case your thread might be better served in the Bullion Investing forums than the world coin forums as I do not take from your post that you have a numismatic pursuit to these acquisitions. I understand though the appeal of the coins over buying plain bullion, though for investment, I think you will do better for future resale if you are just buying government issued bullion, like ASEs or Mexican Libertads whose purity is stated on the coin and is used for a store of value in investing purposes. Buying coins with minimal precious metals content off ebay in small quantities and paying s/h fees for each transaction is going to add up quickly and work against your purpose of investing. You may consider buying in larger amounts if you insist on these type of coins for your bullion holdings, be they foreign or US. Provident Metals sells silver Mexican peso coins if you like foreign silver and want to avoid eBay. Prices change with intraday PM market pricing: Mexico-1-Peso-silver-coin-1932-1945-circ-to-au-or-better Mexico-50-Centavos-silver-coin-1943-1945-almost-uncirculated-or-better.html US bullion/silver/us-slv/90% Silver US bullion/silver/us-slv/40% Silver
Medoraman, I understand now. My opinion is that when it comes to silver sometimes it's better to think outside the box. For instance, people are paying $4-5 over SPOT minimum for SAE's but totally overlooking the pre '67 Canadian proof sets which up until the last couple of months I was buying at 20% below SPOT. The reason was that they weren't popular from a numismatic standpoint to many US collectors. I buy those and other coins primarily for the silver content but appreciate them on a different level as well. It also helps to finance other purchases. But...Krispy is right. This has turned into a discussion on the value of foreign silver coins as bullion. I re-read the first post. He said he liked the coin for the size and design. The silver is just a bonus. I agree and I like them too.
I would not buy anything less then U.S. 90% unless i could get it for a large discount to spot and i would avoid any items with below 40% like the plague.
If you are investing in silver long term then i would recommend that you hang on to them since if silver prices rise the extra cost to get them refined will be a lesser % of the silver value, but if you don't care about silver then 3.5x is not that bad for them.
I think part of it depends on where you are. 90% or 92½% silver coins will be wanted wherever, but the lesser amounts depend on country. So, 40% Kennedys will be fine in the US, but 50% UK silver (1920 - 46) would probably only do well in the UK. I have a quantity of 90% US, 92½% UK and 50% UK, and I'd think that, here in the US, it'd be hard to get rid of the 50% UK coins ... is that true?
I would not buy anything less then U.S. 90% unless i could get it for a large discount to spot and i would avoid any items with below 40% like the plague. Good, More for me!
