Is anybody still buying silver and gold?

Ok, thanks for the help. hmm, so maybe the coins are the way to go, and not the pure silver then...

 

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I would never say that sir. Anyone saying that the coin they buy, (especially a PM coin), cannot go below X is not a statement I would support. I bought quite a few ASE way below issue price.

It depends on many things Ironcowboy. First, decide why you want silver. Do you like collecting coins, or is this purely for profit? Second, think about what market you will sell these into. Some places ASE are popular, so you can expect a premium above whatever silver market is, other places not so much.

Myself, I would choose, if only for silver investment, the cheapest form of .99 silver I can buy. This will most closely track the silver market, in my view. Lesser quality silver gets discounted when you sell, (sterling especially), since .99 or higher is easiest for refiners to process. Others like a little downside protection, and think buying silver in coins provides that to them. Maybe, maybe not. Whenever non-collectors decide to sell their silver and invet in something else, I think the coin industry will be deluged with 2010 and 2011 ASE, much more than any collector desire for them. At that point they are simply bullion again.

Another avenue, if you like coins, is pre-1965 90% US coins. You can "collect them", enjoy that return, and in the future sell them based upon the silver market.

As you can see, there are lots of ways to invest in silver. Pick the one that you like and makes the most sense to you.

Chris

 

I havent been collecting for long, but all my coins have gone up in value. I have one ASE, I dunno how much its worth. I bought it cause I wanted it, but I wouldn't drop all my money into them. They don't excite me really. I find them dull.
But its whatever you want to do.

Problem is i suppose you could ask 50 different people and get 45 different answers Of course someone has to agree along the way.

For me I made the choice to collect coins because I like the feel of them and I like the way they look. They are more interesting to me than silver bars. Now, do I think I will get rich off my coins. Well no. I only have 8 of them. I'm not exactly the next Bill Gates with billions in the bank.

 

For me its more to keep me from spending the money i'm trying to save, and as just an investment against the fall of the dollar...

 

If you plan on holding indefinitely I would lean toward no premiums on bars and rounds. In my other post I did repeat another person's case for coins that do have a bit of a premium, but I only think that's a good way to go if you plan on selling. If you really think the dollar is going to fall then premiums won't be of much importance and you're better off having as much silver as possible.

 

I'm happy to keep buying a little bit every 2 weeks at this level. Since the market plummeted again today, I will use it as an enabling excuse to buy a little silver. I just wish the premiums on some bullion coins weren't so high. I wanted to get a Canadian grizzly and the store had it for $56. Too much premium, though it's a good looking coin

 

A 1 ounce gold coin will cost you around $1900 today when you add in the fees to acquire it. Is this a bargain? That is only in the eyes of the one buying it, why they are buying it, and what they intend to do with it.

Your best bet for buying gold right now, is to look for bullion coins that have been slabbed which are graded MS69 or PF69 or less.

 

Picked up two 1/2 oz lunar rabbits for $33 apiece this week. Maybe not the best deal, but I don't have any that size and I've heard they fit well in jewelry so might make a nice gift someday. Plus they were the last 2. I think the lunar silver premiums will keep going up anyway. In any case, still buying Probably waiting until I can get my hands on some Canadian cougars before I get anything else though.

 

I bought a small portion of gold back in 2000-2003 back when it was around $315 an oz, but sold most of it in 2004, to purchase some decent medievals.

More recently i've been stocking up on gold again since summer 2009 (mostly sovereigns), still purchasing at the moment but in ever decreasing quantities, probably make my last purchase in two weeks. Gold's going too high for my liking.

Silver, well I've was accumulating it from 2000-2010, I've been selling some of this off to convert into gold.

 

Today you can sell this coin back to the place that you got it from for ~$1972. Given the carrying costs, you made about 50 bucks. So if this was your goal, yes it was a bargain yesterday. This gain is equivalent to the takehome wages of a starting Walmart employee for each shift worked.

 

With the current gold price at $1853, who is buying one-ounce bullion coins for $1972?

 

When I posted that, gold had traded at $1876. Though I didn't buy there, go look at the premium on a 1 ounce AGE or Buffalo on Ampex or any of the other on-line dealers. You will be shocked. It's ~$100 now. Apmex simply states its due to what they are being charged. I am of the opinion, there is simply a shortage of 1 ounce coins and the wholesalers are charging the dealers top prices for supplies.

I actually like to surf available MS69 & PF69 slabbed coins for deals and stumbled across one the day before that cost close to spot so I picked it up. Bullion investors often overlook these coins but gold is gold. Dealers will often sell these lower rated coins at far less premium over bullion. It doesn't matter to me if it is slabbed or not. I'll leave it in the slab for now but wouldn't have any issues with cutting it out if it makes it easier to sell. Oh and it had the added bonus of a W mint marked buffalo that was selling for less money than the bullion version simply because it had been slabbed.

 

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I heard Dennis Gartman a couple of weeks ago saying on CNBC that he'd sold 1/2 his gold. One of the the things he mentioned was that a cab driver in NYC was telling him that he'd sold all his stocks to buy gold (at current price levels, apparently).

Also, a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine called me, talking about possibly buying gold. This guy is just your average surbanite, has never owned PM in his life. People are freaking out, about almost everything now, and "assuming" that gold, or T-bonds are the answer. It seems like almost a Buying Panic to me in PM. Good article in the NYT 8/19 "The Hidden Dangers In Safe Havens":

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/y...ngers-in-safe-havens.html?_r=1&ref=your-money

I could tell a story about how a guy in a bar (?) (I worked with a mutual friend) in the Fall of 1979 tried to tell me to sell my gold at $600 I think. I wasn't about to listen. There were the Hayek economic theories, Impending hyper-inflation (according to every G&S Bug than) as in 1920's Germany, Jimmy Carter, how could gold ever go down? It almost couldn't.

I came to a different attitude when G&S crashed in 1980, & kept crashing. I "only" lost about 1/2 my money.......

 

I am buying a lot still now.

 

It takes on meaning when you've lived through it! Yes, gold is definitely in a nascent bubble. That said, bubble-callers are ususally two years early.

 

I'm buying. I don't think the public is driving the price up.

 

So there's some anecdote about a cab driver talking about selling stocks and buying gold, what's that supposed to mean? Cab drivers talk about lots of stuff, half of it's just BS to pass the time.

 

Interesting Observations!!

I was also a Hunt Era "investor", listening to hype, transferring a significant portfolio portion to "numismatic material" silver and gold. I never really lost my investment because of personal strategic investment policies. I still retain much of my "investment", now labeled by "dealers" as "junk". I occasionally sell large quality lots to individuals who recognize the difference between modern trend products and vintage premium "junk".

I'm appreciative that the "dealers" have diminished the pricing for vintage premium "junk", which has allowed acquisition of many bargains. With the "dealers" paying less for, and commanding an appreciable premium for their lesser quality "junk", seemingly few buyers recognize what is being sold until the difference is explained/shown.

With the swing cycles of PM "junk", I can easily resell large lots of "better quality" vintage coinage at less than melt, while profiting, retaining better material. "Word of mouth" has buyers driving an extended distance to partake of relative bargains.

"Dealers" have sold many lots of ASE/AGE at a percentage premium, where the buyers are virtually compelled to retain their purchases because of resale diminished dealer buy quotes, hoping for an unlikely significant appropriate percentage Silver price increase. Numerous buyers are appreciating vintage Silver coinage, along with the pricing and numismatic advantage. Relative quality vintage coins are seemingly now selling at an advantage to "moderns' and PM rounds/bars.

I recognized the "moderns" trend established by "dealers", and the potential advertising for these products by both dealers and buyers. I believed in the future advantage of small denomination Gold moderns. A significant investment was relegated to these PM commodities. When now advertising sale of these items at the "best price" to be found, 10% less than major suppliers, buyers are elated to travel hours for acquisition.

A relatively recent post inquired about what would be the best investment for ROI. I recommended a specific modern Gold coin, complete with promise to repurchase if dissatisfied. My suggestion in opposition of the majority, generally received unchallenged criticism/ridicule. I hope that the OP was not dismayed by unenlightened critics, and is now realizing their ~40% wholesale profit from my advice.

Myself, many informed others, know that at the current pricing levels, there are many buyers of specific PM. However, the purchasing variables and knowledge requirements have been elevated to effect proper "investment". Just my experienced humble opinion. :thumb:

 

This reminds me of a YouTube video I saw last week from SilverFuturist about shoeshine boys in that back in the old days people would say the time to get out of a market is when even the shoeshine boy is getting in. He went on to give the analogy that referring to the shoeshine boys is the shoeshine boy mentality of today, because it's dated. Nothing the little guys do is going to affect the outcome of this market. We are just along for the ride.

 

Exactly. And what a dizzying ride it has been. $1880 gold as I write.