Hi everyone. I am starting to invest in silver. So far I have baught a silver maple leaf 1 oz, and have a canadian moose on the way. I cant afford gold so silver it is. I like the canadian coins and would like to buy all the wildlife coins due to thier .9999 purity. My question is, am i taking the right approach as a long term investor? Should I be buying larger coins like the "hockey pucks" i have seen on this site? Also should i not worry about the purity and still buy the .999 coins? I just want to make sure that I am heading in the right direction. Thank you all for being here......Joe ps, i would also like to keep my investment as liquid as possible.
I also just purchased 10 38mm cushioned airtights for my canadian coins. I am so exited to get my first bullion in the mail this week.
Howdy and welcome. Few folks that I am aware of are willing to pay much of a premium to get 0.9999 fine instead of 0.999 fine. Therefore, if there is a premium attached to buying the 0.9999 fine and the goal is to get the most silver for the buck it might be wise to avoid buying heavily into these. I do not know the price premiums for the Canadian wildlife coins, but the ASE, Libertad and Maple all enjoy great liquidity.
With bullion coins, .9999 vs. .999 is basicailly a marketing ploy IMO. For all sense and purposes, there is no difference, especially for someone just looking to buy a little silver. What I would be more concerned about is the kind of premiums you are (or may be) paying.
If you are looking to get the most silver for your money I would stay away from the canadian wildlife series. While most of them are beautiful coins and do have a high purity, some of them do carry premiums. The wolf and the grizzly are the ones that will sell well over spot. That doesn't mean you can't get deals on those coins, just most of the time they will sell for well over spot. IMO the best way to invest in siler is to go with pre 1965 US silver coins. Those can all typically be had for melt. Other than that the maple leafs are a good bet, those don't carry as much as a premium as ASE's. One thing to consider is that anything that you buy for a premium can usually be sold for a premium, ASE's come to mind. This is not always the case though. One item may be hot at one time and sell for a premium just because of the demand and then it can cool off quickly and you will have lost money. I found this out the hard way last year when I was fresh in the silver game...bought a half ounce dragon for $40 . The main thing to remember is don't be so quick to buy, shop around, find the deals. There will always (probably) be more silver out there.
There are several reputable site out there, I can't think of all off the top of my head. The only one I have dealt with is providentmetals.com. I was very pleased with the prices I paid and the products I received. They are definitely worth a look.
Personally I wouldn't even buy online if I was looking for the lowest premiums. Sure, provident metals is great if you have big money to spend but if you're small time then your local coin show may be the best place. Either way, you gotta stay away from the shiny or pretty coins because you're not buying to have something to look at, it's an investment and you plan on making a profit. Stick to American Silver Eagle Coins, Morgan, Peace Dollars or plain old junk silver. :thumb:
I usually do my bullion business with local shops - walk in with the cash, walk out with the goods. That way there are no shipping charges, waiting at home for the mailman, lost shipments, ect. I generally stick with ase. Around here they run $4 over when you buy the tube, $1 over when you sell. I avoid junk silver because the spot/sell spread always seems too large. Sometimes I will pick up a wildlife series or a panda or something for the collection, but not for bullion purposes. Just keep in mind that silver will need to go up a few bucks per ounce just to break even - because of transaction costs. Also, money tied up in bullion isn't paying interest or dividends either.
Be advised the SPAM posted above is a website in Poland. And they're spamming about buying gold, which you specifically mentioned you're not in the market for. :rollling: If you're buying one coin at a time from one of the online retailers like Provident Metals or APMEX, it would be hard to get a good deal once you pay the shipping costs. I find I have to buy 10-20 ounces at a time to get a better price than I can get from my local coin store. But, do check out the online retailers. Even if you don't buy from them because of the shipping costs, at least you'll get an idea of what a good price is for whatever bullion coin your looking for. Don't expect your local dealer to beat their prices, but if Provident Metals is selling ASE's for $35 and you're local dealer is selling them for $36, that's not bad. But if they're trying to sell them for $45, then it's a good thing you did your research.
