I hate to even bring this up, but since your neighbor is out of work and obviously struggling, have you thought of just telling him to forget about what he owes you? Sometimes in the excitement of obtaining silver at a bargain, we can forget about the person on the other end of the deal.
My advice, given your age, would be to hold onto the silver unless you have something else you want to buy now. The price of silver may go up (this is what I think) or it may go down, but if you just get cash then it will eat a hole in your pocket. Then you won't have the silver or the cash. Keep buying in small amounts, even if its just a few silver dimes a month, and it will add up. Just my opinion.
I agree. Even if I were the selling type, I would still wait until I had enough accumulated that if I sold some I would still have some leftover after the sale. Better to have some than not IMO.