I'm search challenged, can't find that thread. AG coins do lose 10% + of weight via wear, can't argue that.. 100 year old AG coins have better appeal to me than AU 60's junk silver. There is a point when silver hits the melting pot....in 1980 ( $50 silver) everything melted, stuff like BU original bags of 1922 Peace dollars, Granny's silver set, and Barber stuff, even SL stuff in nice condition. At close to $30/ ounce now...the underweight slicks trade at par. Factor in prices being about 3X more for stuff in 1980, so as $50 Silver in 1980 is about $150 in 2010 dollars, if you follow me....and holds that price ? Everything melts, underweight AG barber stuff and slick Mercs and SLQ's might trade by weight or be discounted with $150 Silver....or what it was in 1980 adjusted for inflation ? It didn't stay at $49.50 or whatever for long in "80". Make it $150 now....a lot melts !
What I'm trying to say is... With silver at $150/ oz ( akin to 1980's $50/0z) slicks might be worth less than 60's stuff that weighs properly?
I've always kinda figured that the "common trade weight" made up for that sort of fiddling. .7234 toz silver / $1 face value was the standard, but everywhere I've ever been, junk silver trades at a presumed weight of .715 toz/$1 face I've always figured that was a median weight for worn old silver, and as such, both sides come out "ahead" a reasonable amount of the time. Saves any fiddling, actual weighing, arguing, etc. Don't see why it wouldn't continue to work at any price, since the WEIGHT isn't going to change with the price...so, again, each side should 'win" an equal number of times, evening things out.
Some would... http://www.cointalk.com/t74774/ http://www.cointalk.com/t133717-2/ Have you ever weighed out the difference? Slicks/Culls vs VG - XF vs AU - MS. The difference is negligible to the typical collector/investor. However, as prices increase or substantial increases in quantity, the difference may be a factor in one's assessment of a potential purchase.
I don't understand why. Whether silver is $15/oz or $150/oz, I'm going to "lose" by the same weight as i 'win' by an equal number of times. The price doesn't matter. One trip, I'll lose out on, say, 1 ounce. Next trip I'll "win" by 1 oz. Net difference = $0
I really haven't used a triple beam scale since the early 80's when I was into cocaine for awhile, to be honest about it !
