$10+ premium on Silver Dollars.

I don't think the high ebay and paypal fees have anything to do with what people will purchase. I know when I buy something on ebay I don't care what the fees are being charged to the selly. But I think you are spot on why people over pay due to ignorance, convenience and boredom. I think ignorance being the main factor.

Most people are not buying junk silver for a numanistic value so it is funny how they will over pay for something they are buying as an investment when from the start they are losing value by over paying.

 

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I just missed the Baltimore show this past year but will be going to a local show next month sponsored by the coin club I belong to. That will be my first show experience so we'll see.

 

I have found some of the best places to buy silver dollars in quantities can be at coin shows, and also from BST boards such as the one on CT. I am sure it is possible to still find bargains on eBay, but you have to sift through a mountain of slop before you find a treasure these days.

 

Detecto-
I'd quibble with your numbers abit. Do these corrections make sense to you? {edited per Tinpot's point : not 421 grains, etc.}

POS @ USD$ 31., a cull Morgan has an intrinsic value of ~$24 at full weight or ~$22.78 (if 5% light.)
Remember, a Seller has to pay ~13% to feeBay/PayPal, plus s/h/i (or that's the Buyer's extra cost, maybe you've included that.)
There's no good reason a vendor should sells BELOW so-called melt (intrinsic) - that's poor business!

Now I just scanned a few completed auctions (SOLD) for cull/common date Morgans for January 1, 2013: ~$33.50 - 46.
That's a 19.5% (> 76%) premium over Spot to the dealer, net fees. I've seen that 10% > 13% premiums cited elsewhere for LCS in different parts of the USA before; I don't think you can really claim "It's high!" (these auction prices) after factoring feebay markup. fwiw I also suppose a buyer probably pays marginally more on average during a major holiday, when more noobs are looking/bidding at the 'Bay. I do think it's possible to find 'better price' on eBay (lower premiums) off-peak but much less often and NOT from powersellers: it's also a long waiting-game with many many missed wins ...and not worth the time (honestly.)

A Seller would be stupid to typically accept less (< "melt") and this auction market - for various reasons - does make up that difference for most sellers.

Others' advice (buying from familiar dealers/solid relationships, etc.) is sound: you're likely to get better deals that way, in person. Is it counterintuitive, why?

 

Hey juan your numbers are off. A morgan or peace dollar contains .7734 oz of silver if full weight, they weigh 26.73 grams and are 90% silver, so 24.057 grams of pure silver.

So a full weight silver dollar is worth $23.97 right now, or $22.77 if 5% light.

Maybe your mistake was that you forgot to calculate the fact that its .90 silver rather than .999

Hope this helps

 

I think the simplest answer is that sellers want to make money. eBay and PayPal fees eat into this premium so naturally they want to offset it.

And I never tell grown adults how they should spend their own money. For some on here the premiums are outrageous, for others it's no big deal.

As a sometime seller on eBay, I appreciate the latter. Of course those who don't like the prices are not force to bid on the coins.

All in all, to each his own.

 

Thanks, Tinpot - you're right, I grabbed the fullweight inadvertently.
The premium looks abit higher than I'd expect, but I didn't analyze this : are there new fees/rates? 2-4x the avg # of bidders, on holiday? Dunno.

I recall ~10% was cited by concensus a few months ago, posting something on this awhile back: http://www.cointalk.com/t216851/
"$10 over Spot" was also considered normal though high-ish. So I guess the correct answer is "It depends"

Suppose 'putative numismatic' premiums rise as POS/POG falls, but you have to compare Ag ingots sold on ebay at the same to confirm that. I think New Years Day is one of the worst times to run this excercise, too.

 

i think the reason some people do pay so much is because they do not have any coin stores near them and their only easy way purchase coins is online/ebay

 

I think Silver dollars are so popular with less knowledgeable collectors/investors, that dealers know they can charge much larger premiums. So they will also pay a bit more for them too. This makes sense up to a point, but I prefer getting halves and BU quarters for around 5% over spot.

 

I agree, closer to 1 in 100. But that just makes his point stronger. Now instead of every collector being able to own 29 of them they can own 290. This just strengthens his point about how they don't deserve a $10 premium, but it really doesn't matter. When it comes to old SILVER DOLLARS, collectors are not entirely rational. Even worn they find them neat, exciting, and are willing to pay a disproportionately large premium for them. Even though they can basically have all they want.

 

I agree. Some coins are just "wow" coins, and the general public always pays more than they are worth in general to coin collectors. Even when I was buying nearly all of the US junk silver I could carry at 3-3.3 times face, silver dollars were $6 minimum.