Today I went into my local coin shop looking to buy Morgan's as scrap silver. I'm just collecting scrap silver now, I'm new to coin collecting so keep this in mind if my questions sound silly. I just wanted to collect scrap silver coins to be able to give to my daughter when she gets older, she is just 4 now. Two different shops gave me two different prices when I asked about scrap Morgan's one shop said $30 per coin another said $25 per coin. With the price of silver today does $25 per coin sound like a very good deal, I was looking to buy at least ten coins or so this week. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, weather it would be with Morgan's as scrap or any better ways to save silver. Keep in mind I'm never going to be cashing these in they are for my daughter.
$25 is a little above melt price, so it's a good deal. Be sure to pick up coins that have some detail to them rather than extremely worn down / unattractive coins.
24.00 is about spot. use this to determine scrap value. http://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_calc.php
While I respect as a father you putting away assets for your daughter, I think honestly that silver is wildly unpredictable and coins in general if not collected properly are a bad investment. There are many pit falls which can cost you some serious money in this hobby. Im not saying this to scare you off from coin collecting actually i welcome you to numismatics, Im just trying to tell you the truth. That being said I have also have a silver horde and an Ike collection going my two children. $25 for morgans is not bad at all as long as they are not badly worn, silver melt value of a single morgan dollar is around $24. This web site will tell you the melt value of any circulated US coin http://www.coinflation.com/ .
Given what you describe, my suggestion is to buy whatever you can get closest to silver spot price, whether it be Morgan dollars, Peace dollars, Franklin halves, etc., etc. TC
$25 per coin isn't bad. For me personally I'd rather pay $40 and get a nice shiny coin with good relief, since you don't plan on cashing it in, but if your goal is just to have silver for the most bang for your buck then US coinage is a good way to go. If you plan on buying in bulk, go by weight, not face value, since worn coins will weigh less. If you're not set on US coinage you may also want to consider generic bullion such as buffalo rounds, or rounds or bars from another private mint. These will typically be a buck or two cheaper than government bullion, but slightly more difficult to prove the authenticity of.
"scrap" is scrap--I don't think it matters what denomination of junk US silver you have. Also--did you see any of the Morgans they were selling? Ones with full rims, readable dates at least, would be better. Peace $$--look at those too. BTW--buying scrap silver is different from "coin collecting". Maybe decide if you're a silver investor/speculator, or a coin collector?
I'd actually just say, go with ASE's (american silver eagle) bullion rounds then. You can get them a little over current spot price, they're .99 silver and not .90 and they sell easily when that time comes.
For someone with a very long time horizon, the stock market will most likely outperform silver. An index fund will do. But if your heart is set on buying silver, I would recommend American Silver Eagles. They cost a bit more to buy, but will be easier to sell for spot or better than scrap, which frequently sells for an enormous discount to the spot price. And as she gets older, the beauty of the ASE will impress her more than a worn old coin. As a potential bonus, someday the US Mint will discontinue the ASE series, and when that happens it is possible that every ASE will begin to accrue at least some numismatic premium because the supply will be fixed but the demand will continue to rise. As will all statements about future value, this is only my opinion. Nobody knows for sure what will work out best.
Thanks for all the replies, I actually already have some some American silver eagles. I have just started collecting so my supply is very limited right now. I have only three 2012 s mint ASE's that's are ms 70 and three 2012 regular ASE's that are also ms 70. As far as saving the silver goes I wasn't really doing this as a major investment, it was more for something fun for me to do now and hopefully something fun for the both of us to do as she grows up, and money that will be earned from inflation will just be an extra for her.
Silver has been hanging around $31 and ounce most of the day, so if you can get junk silver dollars for $25 a piece, get as many as you can at the that price. Most places retail junk silver dollars for up $5 over spot.
If he offered to sell them to you at $25/coin, that's about a dollar over melt at the current spot price. I'd say that's a good deal for any US silver dollars, let alone Morgans which can carry some numismatic premium, especially from a dealer. Load'er up at those prices.
I wouldn't bother paying a premium for MS70 coins in future purchases. It's something of a fad that may not hold up in the long run. And some folks would even say there is no such thing as an MS70 coin if you examine it closely enough.
Not that there's no such thing as a MS or PR 70 coin, only that raw, most people could not distinguish the difference between a 70 and a 69.
If you go over to the coin chat forum and pose the question of whether there is really any such thing as MS70 or PR70, you might get a lot of different opinions about that. The 70 grade is more of a marketing tool than a measure of perfection.
I realize that, and have participated in such discussions. My opinion of the 70 labels, is quite known on CT :thumb: The point I was making, is raw, many collectors would not be able to see the difference between a 70, and a 69. I know I couldn't.
I just don't think it's a good idea for a new PM investor to load up on 70s without recognizing that at some point in the future they may not command a premium, in which case the 69s are the better buy.
Believe it or not, the 70 premiums have lost some value in the past year. They're not selling for as much as they were in years prior.
Basically, you can't go wrong buying a little bit of silver every month, as long as you aren't neglecting other investments, like your IRA, college savings, etc. Buy what you find appealing, and you'll get to know what is and isn't a good price. IMO - $25 per Morgan is a good price, as long as they aren't too worn. I have a couple of Morgans that are so worn they are a full gram lighter than my others.
I would expect that trend to continue over the long run. A 70 and a 69 are basically the same condition and largely based on grading standards. Only the plastic is different.
