Gold or silver?

Another tip about fake coins - the Chinese seem to have problems getting them struck squarely on the planchet. For instance, if a bullion coin or a silver dollar has a narrow rim at the 2 o'clock position, and a wide rim opposite, at the 8 o'clock position, it's a strong contender as a fake.

 

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I would rather have interesting silver coins than a bunch of silver bars, but I am definitely on the side of silver. It's more volatile, but it is fun to collect and can have numismatic value, whereas most gold coins go for melt. Plus it's a lot less expensive than gold, so I can pick it up in small amounts.

 

Revi, and lasers, the real question is, do you want to be a collector or a stacker?

Interesting silver coins = collector, building a collection
Junk silver = stacker, protecting purchasing power for SHTF

You can't have it both ways, at least with the same coins.

And where did you get the idea most gold coins go for melt? Bought any U.S. gold,
1880-1910 lately? Down the line, whatever premium you paid - it will evaporate,
because tens of thousands of sort-of collectors will try to cash in at the same time,
when inflation hits 4% a month, and they will be offered "melt," take it or leave it.
Just my opinion.

 

I agree with what you are saying on junk silver. Junk silver meaning pre 1965 dimes, quarters, halves, and dollar coins which are all 90% silver. However premiums for 90% have gone up substantially over the past year or so. Where you used to be able to buy bulk 90% for melt the premiums are now comparable to generic .999 bullion. About $1.25-$1.50 over spot per ounce. As far as gold for melt you can usually get pamp suisse or perth mint 1 ounce bars for $25 over melt and you can sell them at melt. 1 oz gold Canadian maples are only $30 over spot to buy and you can sell them at melt. Even gold American eagles can be had for $55-$60 over melt and you can sell them back for $25-$30 over melt. That's only a 2-3% premium over melt which isn't too bad. Pre-'33 U.S. gold is numismatic as far as I'm concerned and isn't worth the premium when modern gold bullion sells for a much smaller premium over spot.

 

Silver if in coin form...
Although on the gold side I'm a little funny...
i do invest in quite a bit of gold jewelry.
I look at it like this. I buy at weight...so I'm in it at spot...the nice pieces I put back as there will always be a premium for fine gold jewelry..and at the end of the day I'm in it at gold spot...it's like buying a rare date coin at silver content value...no way to loose

 

Why do people buy gold jewelry, coins, etc. over melt value? I don't really understand why someone would buy that when they can easily buy the same amount of gold for a lower price... Is it because of the date it was manufactured or what form it's in?

 

If I keep my silver for a long time and it loses its shine can I just shine it with car polish and a dremel like some people do to coins that are not valuable? Will the car polish affect the bar in any way?

Also, should I handle my silver bars with cotton gloves just like I do with coins or can I touch them with my bare hands?

 

No, I wouldn't recommend it. Never heard of using car polish but a dremel tool will remove metal and you don't want that. Just leave it alone.

 

Alright thanks, if you didn't tell me not to then I would probably one day get that dumb idea in my head and actually do it.

 

oy vey. lasers, youre killin me. it must be late and GDJMSP or DesertGem havent seen this yet, othersie they would take the time to give you, in detail a thorough explanation. all silver and gold sells at a premium. spot is the current, at the moment price. premium is the price over spot we pay. we all pay. everytime. its not that you can buy it elsewhere for cheaper and just choose to pay kroe here and there. a jeweler says there is a premium because he had to "work" the gold into jewelry. a metals dealer charges a premium because they had to assay and purify and stamp out the bar/round/etc.

date usually is a factor when you are talking about numsimatic items. old coins in great condition.

 

If you don't have too much money, go for silver! If you have some money to work with, get both Most of all have fun with it and buy what you like. For some its collecting different govt mints or different animals, etc.

 

Lasers, you got your money's worth with that question - nearly 5 pages of answers! (I forget the exact question) Now join a coin club.

 

Thank you very much to everyone that answered my questions! I went on PayPal today and found $40, I'm going to buy a safe then with the $100 I have I'll buy 4 silver bars. Wish me luck!

 

Good luck, but you don't need a safe for just 4 ounces of silver. Besides you'll get a really crappy safe for $40.

 

youre going to spend 28% of your money on a safe that my daughter could open simply by dropping it on the floor a few times? all to protect $100 in silver? let me ask you this, do you put your wallet in a safe at night? i would reason that you have held $100 cash before in your wallet and never needed one before....

you need to prioritize and think about this clearly champ.

 

Plus all my well-chosen words about junk silver went by the wayside. Forget bars - buy a roll of silver dimes, and two screw-top plastic tubes. One for the roll you bought, one for the next roll you buy or accumulate. Given a choice, buy 1960s Roosevelts - they contain more silver, because they are less worn. Study www.coinflation.com and read some of the articles listed on the Home page.

 

I guess this means you're all set So, have you decided where to buy and what kind of bars?

 

If you have nothing good to say, please do not say anything at all. You are not entitled to read any of this so I suggest you move on if you are unhappy with my decisions.

I will be buying 1 oz APMEX Silver Bar .999 Fine, 1 oz Sunshine Silver Bar .999 Fine (V2), 1 oz New Morgan Design Silver Bar .999 Fine, and 1 oz Johnson Matthey Silver Bar (New-JM Logo Reverse) .999 Fine. Hope they look great when they come

 

Sorry but I don't want silver coins I want my silver to look nice and in mint condition, not something that every person in america has touch at some point in time.

 

nothing good to say?? not entitled to read your answer-seeking-questions on a public forum? are you kidding?? unhappy with your decisions? what?

your decisions mean about as much to me as whether a dung beetle rolls his pile left or right around a rock tomorrow. unfortunately, you took solid advice, advice that was given to you as an answer to your questions, and took it as an insult. here's an idea; why dont you start another thread about whether you should buy a lockbox, i mean "safe" for $40 to lock up your 4 - 1oz silver bars....lets see if the CT population seems to agree or disagree with me.

my money says you end up selling your 4 silver bars within 3-6 months due to a need for cash. becaus eyou violated the first rule of buying metals; you only buy metals when you have a comfortable amount of liquid funds ready for an emergency. otherwise you fall into the mass majority of people who lose money in metals due to mis-education and/or passion without knowledge. youre going to take this as an insult, and at this point, i dont care, but for future reference, to save yourself a headache, you shouldn't snap at someone with vastly more knowledge and experience than you. good luck champ.