Stearling VS .999

Good morning everyone. I know this discoution has hapened in other thereads, but normly in relation to silver cutlery and non bullion forms of stearling. My question is how much do you discount stearling? I just bought 9 oz for 13.50 an Oz. so like a 1.60 less spot. Any oppioninons. Should I discount more? was it highway robery on my part and I need to say several hail marys?

 

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I asked my coin dealer what he'd buy sterling silver coins for. This was when the price of silver was $16.50. He said, $9.00 per ounce. I think he needs to say some hail mary's. Mostly, I hear people say 60%-80% spot is likely. I wonder though, because some of these sterling silver coins have a collectors premium attached. I really like the 20 Balboa's coins from the Republic of Panama. I'm not about to sell the for $30. I think you did fine in the purchase....I'd just be careful when you sell. Make sure you know what spot is, and what 60%-80% of that spot is, so that you don't get a low offer.

 

Sterling always seems to sell for a discount to .999 and even to .90 silver. It just seems to be less popular.

 

When it comes time for me to sell my sterling, if I can't find a good price locally I will contact a smelter that only cares about paying for the total amount of silver. If I can get a better deal that way, then I will mail the beautiful coins in to be melted, and say bye bye sterling coins. Maybe if everyone did this, there wouldn't be any sterling silver coins left, and this troubling situation would be solved.

 

65%of spot is buy price.
75% of spot is the sell price
froma dealers perspective.
Sterling just has a abd reputation so that we as dealers get to make a lower offer if compared to a same weight in .900
In all reality its more of the customer than the dealer. if customers were educated prices would adjust to their spot.

 

You have Sterling sliver coins for $11 an ounce? What do you have to offer? I'm interested in that price.

 

Most sterling bullion coins still contain 1 oz of silver, so if they're paying less than a .999 silver 1 oz then they're just ripping you off based on a lie. The content is the same per oz, just a higher percentage of additional metals.
Guy~

 

I'm not particularly interested in sterling, but I've seen a lot of coins with about .6 oz of silver.

 

Stearling always trades for less and for good reasons.

Stearling always trades for less and for good reasons.
It is not always a ready commodity.
Many items marked .925 are not - if coins they most likely are but tableware and jewelery can and does vary from 8% to who knows what.
With American coin silver one does not need to take another step to sell it, buy it, or trade it as .900 fine. In any bag of such it is an easy task to find the exact amount of U.S. coin silver contained within.
No dealer I know (about 100 or so) pays as much for for stearling as .900 U.S. - you can either accept it or fight it - you may choose.

 

Although 92.5% silver - sterling has to be assayed because the full metal alloy composition is unknown. US coin silver at only 90% is manufactured to such strict tolerance that assay isn't necessary. Most scrap silver isn't refined - it is dumped as is into the melting pot with additional refined metals added to produce the intended alloy.

 

they aint coins. Its all scrap jewelery, silverware and recovery.
Eitheir way presuming you actually get 92.5% silver and not less which is most likely to happen with sterling silver.
Even with gold it occurs as well. Due to impurities most 14k labeleed assays to about 12k or 11k

However sterling is just an easy flip for dealers, we dotn like to deal with it, so hence prices are significantly lower.

 

Ok, but I never hear about a sell price or ask price for Sterling Silver coins that are minted, quality known. Take for instance this 20 Balboas piece, http://www.australian-threepence.com/blog/2009/03/silver-panama-20-balboa.html

Since it is sterling and minted by the Republic of Panama, what is it's value/price?

 

In all reality I woudl acid test that coin to make sure it was silver. I dont like foreign bullion coins, especially non-european ones. theyre too easy to fake IMO.
If I had to touch them I would pay 50% of spot, then sell it for 65% just because I have never had a request for these coins.
I have seen them occasionally on ebay or $1000 silver bags but none of my customers ever ask for them, mention them
To top it off the fact that from 1980 onwards its only .500 silver, makes me even less want to touch the coin.

 

If that coin is a fake it has been made to an extremely high standard. In my experiance, american coins are the most targeted by skilled forgers all over the world because they carry the most numismatic value. Counterfeiters who produce coins for circulation generally create poor quality copies that are good enough to fool ordinary people, but don't bear close scrutiny by numismatists, because that isn't their primary intention...

P.S. I'd be more than happy to buy British sterling at 65% of spot if you're offering....

 

And I'd be glad to buy a bunch of pre-1980 20 Balboas for 65% of spot. Let me know when you get some in.

But, sadly, if you don't ever offer me any for that price, or Prestoninanus british sterlings for that price, then I don't think we have determined a value of Sterling silver coins. It's easy to say they aren't worth spot, but I won't believe it until I find someone who offers me some for what others on here say they are worth. Mostly, dealers want to sell for spot and only offer 60% when buying....that's a sham. And if I can't find a good buy price for the 20 Balboas, I'll just send these beautiful Proof 20 Balboa pieces to a smelter and this problem will be solved.

 

I have seen more fake silver pandas than silver american coins combined. Thats from me at least. Cant say about other areas or people.

Smelter would be best.
I stick with thet 65% buy price. I harshly doubt ill ever get one though. And I would only offer 50%. so if your getting 60% go for it. Otherwise send it to the smelter. But sterling buy price is usually 65% in general.

 

In that case, I would try to coincide selling the sterling with a trip to the country of origin. I think in most cases, a dealer will demand heavier discounts for coins they are not familiar with, and for which there is little local demand. If I saw sterling at 85% or below, I'd cheerfully buy as much as I could afford because I know I could make a profit simply by selling it again over here in Britain without even waiting for a significant price rise....

 

The value isn't determined until an offer is both made and accepted and a transaction takes place. Otherwise, we are all just blowing hot air.

 

Why in the world would sterling sell for less if the content was the same??

 

If you want my opinion, its the equivilent of undergrading coins when they buy...to get a cheaper price. I call it a sham.