A local antique dealer has quite a few Liberty and Franklin half dollars for $5 each. They are mostly worn down and not attractive. Would it be wise or foolish to go there and buy every half dollar they have for $5 each?
$5 is a bit steep for worn-downs... even bullion value is only abt $4.7 (uncirculated grade)... check the date... or get the lot at special rate.
It isn't negotiable, they are on consignment. Just curious how you get $4.70 each. The redbook lists the weight of pure silver in a half dollar as .36169 of an ounce. I multiply this by $13.00 and get about the same value. Silver price per ounce is for a Troy ounce?
Dont do this. If they are worn down they arent worth much. I would look around some more and see if you can find any better condition ones.
Actually they are not ALL worn down. Some of the Franklins have bell lines. Also included in one lot is a 1893 Columbian expo commemerative. That one is a bit worn but still a nice variety. I understand that coin is the first commemerative the US Mint ever made. There are a few in the batch that are ok looking. The prices are not negotiable. It is a consignment shop. The same place has two nice Libertad silver coins at $18 each and a very nice WaLKER AT $16.
GOD I am so tempted with them. Just as a speculation in silver. One lot is 20 Franklins in a tube for $105. Some are ok and a few are worn. Lot #2 has some junkers, and has the 1983 Columbian Expo along with Walkers and Franklins 9 coins in all for $48.50. The other Franklins and Walkers are loose for $5 each. I have been speculating for a few months now in Silver Eagles. I started buying for $12 each, then a couple at $13, then $14 and now at coin shows they are $15.00 for 2006s. But silver isn't moving up much and when it does it then crashes back to about $13.00. It seems to be staying pretty stable above or at $13. Maybe I should forget the half dollars and stay with the one ounce silver eagles?
Well it would be a speculative venture. Lot of 20 Franklins in a tube $105 Lot of 9 half dollars 3 Walking Liberty 5 Franklins and one 1983 Columbian Expo $48.50 About 7 mixed Franklins at $5 each. $35 About 7 mixed walkers at $5 each. $35 So your looking at about $223.50 For that money I could get a quarter ounce gold Eagle or about 15 one ounce silver eagles. Just don't know what to speculate on anymore.
I will agree. I called a smelting firm in Fairfield, Connecticut today and talked to one of the buyers. They are paying $4.14 each for old half dollars. This is based on today's spot price which is not looking good. So this ends the half dollar idea. Then I went to see a coin dealer who has had a 2002 one tenth ounce gold eagle proof for some time now. His price was firm at $90. It has the box and COA papers. I offered him a very nice (empty) new Walking Liberty half dollar folder and $85 cash and took home the gold proof. So that's enough speculation this week. Both gold and silver as of this morning are nosediving. Good day to buy though.
I'd go there for the commemorative-maybe cherrypick a few others....if you can resist the temptation not to buy them all! Bill
The thing with THAT commemorative is you have to buy a bag of nine half dollars for $48.50. The Columbian coin is worn but not ugly. There are 3 Walkers and 4 Franklins that are included. One Frankie is coated with rust like someone found it down a well or in a basement. I got a Columbian Expo coin on E-Bay yesterday for $16. It is graded at 50 and slabbed by some Colonial Coin Grading firm. My local dealer has 2 Columbian Expo coins for $12 and $16 also. I think I like that coin, esp. the ship on the reverse, Santa Maria with all sails unfurled! Vic
Since you already bought a columbian expo, u might wanna use the fund to invest on a nice/better date franklin or walker... or another better looking columbian piece. Don't go for too many worn-downs or commons... a common coin will always be a common coin. If silver is what you have in mind, then go for the silver eagles.
This is an interesting decision that I can relate to, being a big silver coin fan. Last weekend in an antique shop I purchased a 1964 toned Kennedy half for $3.50; and a 48 coin mixed circulated grade roosevelt dime date and mintmark set 1946 through 1964 for $40. That works out to about $11.52 per ounce or 8.33 times face value. I passed up a couple of overpriced Morgan dollars and Canadian silver dollar. You have to be picky. So from that standpoint, I think you are overpaying a bit for "junk" silver. Paying bullion prices, you should be able to get something other than junk silver, whether it is a date and mintmark set, fairly old coins such as Morgans in F to EF condition, or something like that - and even those frequently sell for a small discount to spot. A mixed bag of junk silver should sell at a discount to spot in my opinion. However, on the positive side, if you are willing to hold the coins a few years, my personal opinion based on an analysis of silver [that comes with no guarantees and is worth exactly what you paid for it] is that you will come out ahead anyway. So the bottom line is, I'd look for a better deal in your situation or keep buying silver eagles. But if you can't resist and buy them anyway, I still think you'll eventually come out okay.
Well thank you for the input, well taken. My feeling is also that silver coins are overdue for a price increase. I am starting a somewhat helter skelter Franklin half collection regardless of potential. Some I have already are in excellent shape. Some I am now getting are not so good but fill in the blank spots for now. I was offered a complete set of mostly BU Franklins for $575. No, if I were to spend that much it would probably be on gold. I own enough silver eagles. The smelter said he only pays $12.12 for new silver eagles. Kind of a losing battle buying them for $15 and more. I have 6 newer (just good grade) Liberty walking halfs and a very nice album that goes from 1934 to 1947. But they are expensive and some years will stop me such as 1938D. So that's on the back burner. I think I will go ahead with the filling in of the Franklins but at a slower pace.
I wouldn't buy a pile of junk coins for maybe one or two decent ones and none really worth the trouble. Then your kind of stuck with the whole thing just as the person that is trying to bulk sell them. Use your money to buy what you want and not what someone is trying to dump.
One other thought... I wouldn't consider a smelter price, or even a dealer price, to be necessarily representative of the value of the coins except for completely worn or damaged items. This basically represents what you could get in a forced liquidation of coins with no desirable characteristeic. I know that some dealers will disagree, and some think the universe revolves around them because it used to, but it doesn't anymore. Ebay and the internet have changed all of that, and many places offer to buy coins such as silver eagles at spot or spot plus a small premium. I saw a couple for sale at a garage sale for a fairly high premium, and they sold to someone [not me]. You could also probably sell a few to people at school or work if you really wanted to. At some point in the future, if silver prices continue to rise, it will become even easier to sell them for full value or more [if that's what you want to do]. Right now silver is still fairly unpopular to most people. Someday this could change. But in case it doesn't, buy something of reasonably high quality, or make sure you pay a significantly discounted price for low quality.
spot tumbles Well the spot prices have slid this morning. That changes everything. Now the $5 half dollars look like they will stay on the store shelf. Darn, silver is at $12.10 right now. What does look good to me is a couple of those 1983 Columbian Exposition Chicago half dollars. For some reason I like that coin. For one, it was the first commemerative. And for two, I like old sailing ships. Is $18 too much to pay for a clean example, probably AU-50 ?
