Silver coins or silver bars?

My wife and I have been discussing purchasing silver. I have pointed out to her there are two ways-coins or bars. She has absolutely no interest in coins, but I do. Is there any upside to the purchase of coins for 1 smaller weights, like 1 ounce?

I am really enamored with the Maple Leafs and the Pandas (not so much the ASE's, but I wouldn't turn them down:goofer. Larger purchases will be in bar form (5oz+).

Also, is there any brand of bar I should stay away from?

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If you are just starting, start with ASEs. The primary reason is that they are more of a known quantity than one ounce bars and silver rounds, and will be easier to sell someday at a better price. Ease of sale will outweigh any small premium in the price. Many of the older bars out there can be slightly underweight and of doubtful purity. Maple Leafs and Pandas are almost as good as ASEs.

Others here might give you a different opinion.

 

I agree with Cloudsweeper, would definitely start with American Silver Eagles. Get an ounce of silver and a beautiful coin also. Like he said others may give advice to go elsewhere, but whatever decision you make good luck.

 

Thanks guys.

I am off to my first coin shop tomorrow. Hopefully, they have some ASE's and ML's for me to look at. I have only seem them in online images. maybe in person one will stand out.

So I should avoid bars, and just stick with coins? And coins, should I get ones that are graded?

 

I kinda wanna hear the answers to this one because I like the bars but Eagles as well, but I only get eagles that are graded. Is that wrong? Sorry for the thread jack alpha sierra, if you want I'll edit this to take out my question.

 

No worries.

 

Thanks, I seriously didn't mean to thread jack.

 

For your larger purchases, the National Park quarters will also be coming out in 5 oz silver coins.

 

Well you asked about bars or coins. Graded ASE's are going to cost you more that is for sure, and overall you are getting more away from the silver as a base. If you are just considering bullion or ASEs then I would not buy certified ASEs. It is easy for me to say that because I have two sets of ASEs and both are ungraded.

Others may tell you just the opposite of what I'm stating, so try this. First if I was a coin dealer sending in ASEs to be graded I would only sell those slabbed at 69 or 70. Anything less I think I would be better off selling as raw after cracking back out of its slab.

Go to ebay and just compare some prices over a few days of raw, MS69, and MS70. After making this comparison look again at your personal goals at what you want accomplish. I didn't mention proofs because that is getting even further away from silver alone, and definitely more coin oriented.

I hope this helps, main thing is keep in mind what your goals are.

 

Uncertified ASE's are around $21 by me, so it is fairly cheap, but 10oz bars are $195ish, more silver for your money.

 

That is certainly a consideration also, I'm planning on doing these at least the first year. I'm curious about what kind of premium they will be having. I think the very first one I will get fairly early and watch to see how it does price wise by the time the second one is released.

 

When are these expected out again? I haven't heard about them. Can someone shed some light?

 

I'm not a bullion type of person, I'm a collector of coins. Coins are much more attractive to me than bulllion What I read here is if buying bullion, buy from a reputable firm for resale purposes. The ASE will always carry more of premium due to it being a coin and purity guaranteed by the government. Like I said in this area one has to really look at their goals.

 

hmm, I guess I have to agree with you. I am just starting out and bullion to me is more of a hobby. It sure beats bottle caps or stamps! Like I said though, you are right and you have to think about your goals and why you are purchasing what you are. I have a few ASE's and some are certified but I got them cheap and don't care about the investment.

 

Alpha, another way to invest in silver is with 90% junk coins. Junk because they no longer have a numismatic value due to being extremely worn or cleaned harshly. A pre1965 washington quarter sells for about $3.50 and a Franklin half goes for around $7. As there is .36 oz of silver in a half, this puts the bullion at $19.30, which is less than $21 for the ASE's.

 

I have been reading about junk silver, and I will be looking into that as well.

I bought 2 pieces today, a Canadian Silver Maple leaf, and a 1oz silver bar, $20 each. I was able to see and hold a ASE, but the SML stood out to me more. Besides that, they were $1.40 more for the ASE.

I visited 3 different shops in my neck of the woods. One I don't think I will ever go in again, which is unfortunate because it is within walking distance of my home. The second, at which I bought the two pieces, was small but had a decent selection of coins, and a large selection of bullion and bullion coins. The third place was the largest of the three, the busiest, had the most coins, and had a large selection of bullion/coins as well.

Two of the shops were very helpful which, was greatly appreciated. I'll be visiting them again.

 

What was the problem with the one shop? Just curious... there's been a number of threads about "less then friendly" shop owners...

 

Very cold. Getting information out of him was a little hard. The others though were very forthcoming and helpful.

 

The place I go to likes to help me with my decision, they even do the prices on paper so that I can see how much I save if I buy in bulk. They also gave me a free airtight circle thing for my ASE and a box with a velvet lining for free. They also ordered more folders for me for my presidental quarters collection.

 

if your out for strictly bullion silver, go with silver rounds but if you want a combination of coins and bullion go with the silver eagles, also walking liberty halves, both are really beautiful