Ohh lord no. I'm well aware that there are counterfeits for just about everything. The guy, think Henning, with the war nickel fakes is pretty much the craziest one I've heard. I buy what I like at a slow drip, as close to melt as possible, but have mixed in some old foreigns and US coins. It's just when I started I only wanted silver, now I'll look at just about anything because I've found the beauty and history of coin collecting to be pretty awesome. I mainly buy from a coin shop auction, where everything is first inspected by guys with tons of experience (some slightly OCD), then I look with a keen eye, and of course it comes from people who are bid board members with their info on file. Every once and a while I'll pick something from ebay, but only from reputable sources and perform the old ping test. I think the biggest motto is "if it looks too good to be true, it is."
I'm out in Southern California, ... Out here, its not to entirely difficult to find silver close to spot. I'm talking generic bars and rounds along with 90% junk. Probably $2.00 over is average, with a few dealers that if you get to know will usually do $1.00-$1.50 over. Now if you get into your Government issued stuff like, ASE's, Libertads, Philharmonics ect... $2.50-$3.00 over. Sometimes I just want to buy a round or two just cause I love the stuff, but I stop myself, because with a little patience and getting to know some people, you'll get a good deal out there. On a side note, I just converted over $100.00 face of 90% junk, into 1 oz bars and rounds. The trick to that is to not lose money. If you have ASW of 70 plus ounces of junk, you should get 70 ounces of the pure stuff, and net the same money or maybe pay a little. Otherwise I dont do it. In my case, I caught a fluke and upgraded and made money in the process. That, again... was just me having an extremely lucky day. Just my two cents.
and then when the premium effect wears off your screwed i dont think the premiums will be there for ever my only ase cost me 34 when spot was 28 i got it because it was my birth year and iv aways wanted one. and then i read somewhere it was worth 38 for some reason
If you are into coins just for the silver i cant see you as a coin collector. You do not need to get into coins if silver is your drive.just buy any silver that comes your way and its no secert that silver will come in more ozs when its bought in silver rounds or bars. Prehaps coins by the oz. are cheeper when bought as junk silver would be the only reason for the silver buyer to get into coins. Just my opinion.
I did a quick hypothetical comparison of bars vs ASE vs 90% using Provident. Metals listed buy and sell prices on a 100 ounce silver purchase. I wanted to see if the premiums for ASE were worth it compared to the tiny premium on 90%. The best bang for the Buck (tightest buy/sell spread ) was 100 ounce bars, followed by ASE, 90% came in last. The differences weren't huge, but were there. Of course premiums on different products can change over time, and you would need to see a few dollar rise in spot just to break even. Also a 100 ounces bar limits your options if you don't want to sell it all at once.
A person can not determine the best buy based on premium. A silver round at spot may not be the best buy over an ASE at spot + $3, especially for the non-apocalyptic buyers and the young. Some may end up holding their PM to their grave, but most will sell before that time, due to changes in family needs, financial needs, educational needs, even legal needs, so as much thought to which is the best "selling in the future" buy should fit into the question. ASE and AGE ( full or fractional ounce) will always be negotiable without much problems, whereas the cute silver rounds won't. If you are buying them for Art, or a personal collection, that is a goal, to buy them for "investment" is not. Many people bought silver at $42-45 an ounce recently only to have it crash from $49 to well below that before they could dump rounds and generic themselves. So the $3 per ounce you pay as a premium may end up saving you much more when selling is a need. IMO. Jim
heres how premiums change http://www.coinnews.net/2012/09/19/premiums-decline-for-us-mint-silver-coins-as-melt-values-rise/
