Why does bullion sell for a premium?

My last local quote for 2012 from a local dealer : by the roll spot plus $4, smaller quantities spot plus $8 (in airtites). I wanted ten - the best he would do was spot plus $6 . I passed and bought gold instead.

 

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Coins can be had below spot:

http://www.apmex.com/Product/13023/1_Face_Value_35_Silver_War_Nickels.aspx

It is a matter of form. You are paying for refining costs, minting costs, etc. If you are willing to give all that up, then you can get silver below spot.

 

My local B&M buys Eagles at $1 under spot and sells at $2 over.
I think that's a pretty good deal.

 

All the shops in my area are $4-$5 over spot for ASE's. It's just supply and demand on the physical market. Spot price reflects paper markets. Also, nothing wrong with dealers taking a cut to cover their costs. If you want to bypass that then do P2P transactions. They typicaly benefit both sides.