Lots of below-melt silver showing up on eBay

I think your guess of the Apmex listing being an error is correct. They could have canceled the transaction after noticing it sold at that price (although it is possible they actually mailed it out).

 

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Just got an email survey from eBay wanting to know how satisfied I was with the transaction. The transaction was fine - but one of the followups was "how do you feel about the following statements", and those statements included "it's easy to find trustworthy sellers" and something to the effect of "eBay is a safe place to shop". I'm afraid they won't be happy with their numbers on those questions...

 

My crystal ball tells me that before the year is over some folks will be unhappy.

 

That's going to be true no matter what happens. It's human nature.

 

I was referring to the sellers.

 

What I find insane is you can get a decent uncirculated roll of silver half dollars for barely above melt, like the Franklins I picked up. Right now 90% coins are on sale, I suppose because refiners prefer 99.9% purity. I think this recent run-up showed that 99.9% bullion is the best option for liquidity, but I'd wager at some point refiner capacity will grow and the market for lesser purity coinage and even sterling silver will pick up. Either way, I'm not complaining about the discount on 90%.

 

My impression from the last ten or fifteen years is that in general .999 trades at somewhat less of a premium than 90%. (You pay less for it, but also get less when you sell it back.)

That hasn't been the case during this latest spike, because refiners are backed up and refining 90% is more costly than refining (basically testing, then melting and re-casting) .999. When times are normal, I think 90% gets traded without getting melted down.

I prefer 90% junk silver to .999 because it's easy for me to verify that 90% minor coinage is genuine. Bars and rounds are easier to fake, and harder (for me at least) to validate. If I see a random hand-poured bar, how can I be sure it doesn't have a chewy solder (tin/lead tuned to have the same density as silver) center? And even if I am sure, how do I convince someone who might buy it from me?

 

I appear to have just won a roll of 40 well-circulated Barber quarters for $350 shipped. We'll see whether the seller backs out. (I bought one small lot a week or so ago that was listed well below melt, and the seller did back out, claiming it was a mistaken listing. I'll always give the seller the benefit of the doubt and agree to cancel.)

 

I agree. But I think this prolonged bull market has been a stress-test of sorts regarding what's most liquid. People speculated in various ways about an economic collapse, saying food and bullets beat silver (it's still hypothetical because that collapse hasn't happened). People also speculated that 90% junk silver would generally be ideal precisely for the reasons you stated. But the fact is, when prices reached the peak at over $120, .999 silver was more liquid and brought the best resale prices. Many coin shops even refused to buy 90% silver due to liquidity constraints. So we can see this scenario repeat in the future, should refiners be inundated with silver.

I agree that 90% silver is great, historical, and easy to verify. I think there will always be buyers for it, especially among fellow stackers. I also think premiums for 90% are likely to exceed premiums for .999 once again. I don't think you can go wrong holding 90% silver in the long run. But I think we've seen that Silver Eagles and Maple Leafs are probably the most liquid in all scenarios, followed by maybe .999 bars and coins from reputable private mints.

 

That’s a great price, like half price. Hope the seller accepts and doesn’t back out.

 

You may be right. I certainly agree with you on ASEs and Maple Leafs, but it's seemed to me that the spreads on those are higher in general.

In any case, I'm not the market, so my preferences are only my preferences. And I'm not expecting silver to turn into my main store-of-value/medium-of-exchange during my lifetime.

 

I'm hoping it works out, but I don't expect to know until Monday - it looks like this is a business/storefront, and I'm not sure how much they work on weekends. (I don't know whether this auction was posted by hand or by automation.)

Edit: looking at their other listings... wow. Lots of industrial/scientific surplus stuff, lots of, well, lots. Random even by my standards. So, they may not know or care how much a roll of Barber quarters should get.

 

Well, they're pretty heavily worn, so they won't be full silver weight. It'll still be a great deal if it comes through, though.

 

I am a collector by nature, so it pains me to admit that bullion beats 90% silver in certain real-world scenarios. I suspect this is hard for many in this forum (of collectors) to swallow. It's hard on me to admit this. But then again, if all I wanted to do was easily buy and sell silver in the most liquid way, I'd probably go with an ETF. I, like many others, just can't stay away from 90% constitutional silver. Perhaps in a true economic collapse scenario in which bartering becomes pronounced, more easy verification would be preferred - giving 90% an advantage. This is speculative.

 

Here's where collectibility or numismatic value might come into play. When the U.S. confiscated gold around 1933 (EO 6102), numismatic coins were exempted (at least this was established in legal cases over time). If the U.S. government decides once again to confiscate gold or silver, it's likely the same exemptions will remain. It's possible 90% silver will be allowed while bullion would have to be turned in. I know, this scenario is unlikely to recur, but there is precedent for this. This is why I'm a fan of pre-1933 gold.

 

Best wishes!

 

I’ve always gotten credit for full silver weight when I’ve sold, even when heavily worn. Not worth their time to weight each piece to get closer to its real value.