Graded Bullion?

There are lots of low mintage, graded bullion selling like Numismatic rare coins, and I've been buying some. :rollling:

Some examples are Proof Eagles (Silver proofs mintage of 950,000); the Chinese Panda (8,000,000); Australia Koala, Lunar Dragon, Canadian Wildlife (1,000,000), etc. etc.

It seems like "coin collectors" want their coins made from pure silver and gold, plus a pretty design.

The grading services must love the the high volume of Bullion coins that are submitted for grading. In some cases the "value" of the grading is almost equal to the PM content. The 1/2 oz silver Perth Mint year of the Dragon bullion coin is selling for about $60 with a PM content of less than $17... Thats a 3 banger.

There are some bullion bars, made by some refiners, that are considered "better" than the bars made by other refiners, and thus command a higher premium.

Some are paying a higher premium for the Silver Eagles coming from Monster Green Boxes from the San Fran. Mint!

Have the the Dealers and Mints tricked us into believing that all bullion is collectible, and thus "worth" paying a high premium to acquire? :rollling:

 

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I think we may have tricked ourselves in believing that a graded bullion coin is special and therefore worth more. The dealers and the TPG are only there capitalizing on the market. If no one bought them, they wouldn't be doing it.

 

I think if your bullion happens to be a "key date," you have it graded, then sell it for a huge profit, has the buyer after you been tricked? You certainly would not have been.

 

It's much worse than you think. Not only do we have many people thinking graded bullion is something special, but now the added question is "What flavor of label would you like on top of that graded bullion?" because you can now select from a variety of labels, with different prices, of course. If you have any doubt regarding the dumbing-down of society, take up coin collecting and see what goes on.

 

"key date" bullion

 

These graded bullions are win win for TPGs and dealers, since nearly most new issues end up getting slabbed as 69s or 70s and they get marked up respectively because of that. Just look at the 2012 Perth YotD coins i bet dealers easily got 20-30% profit margin on them.

 

The 2011 ASE set sure is doing well, as are certain gold buffaloes. How about the 2009 UHR? I opted to buy a slabbed PL ATB puck for a few bucks more, since I preferred that look to the matte, and didn't want crappy looking "bullion." Brave new world, folks!

 

I have to agree with you, Clint. I know it's not technically correct, but when I think of bullion I think of the run-of-the-mill bullion, proof or burnished ASEs or other world bullion. The 25th Anniversary Set and 2009 Ultra High Relief (I would love to have 1 of these someday) are pretty much out of the ordinary. I also have a couple of the bullion ATBs in PL and DMPL because I got them at a great price and I also didn't want fugly bullion.

My thoughts refer to basic ASEs, Pandas and Perth Mint items. As jjack stated, the production quality of these is good enough to be at least a 69-grade in most cases. Then, as I mentioned above, there is the added dimension of slapping different labels on the slabs, which is not a big deal in itself, but to charge a higher price for a different label when the very same type and grade of coin is inside. That's crazy. Then, the fact that people are actually willing to pay more for it. Wow. As you said, it's a (brave) new world.

 

Howdy,

I'm with treehugger on this. I refuse to play the sticker games with plain vanilla late date bullion - the First Strike nonsense. I also refuse to collect uber-high graded registry set type stuff. Can't say I blame the folks that do - it's just not my cup of tea.

That said, I had some stuff I sent in to be slabbed and I own slabbed coins. The stuff I sent in was bought from the mint but weird and otherwise scarce - the 06W ASE, the 07 & 08 fractional burnished W stuff. I can't afford to buy all their issues, particularly gold, but I love to get all over deals. I spent over an hour on the phone AND internet to place my order for the 25th Anniversary set and got my 5. I turned around and sold 2 to effectively pay for the 3 I kept for my two grandsons and I. Did the same with the 06W Eagles that came out late in the year. Bought 10 and sold some and had some slabbed.

As for actually buying a slabbed coin, those are key and semi-key date collector coins and stop.

peace,

rono

 

While I fully agree with you 100%, I am only going to state it as my opinion. I cannot see treating bullion any different than its intended purpose. But, there are collecting habits I have that high grade ASE collectors would laugh at. The TPGs have gone completely crazy with some of their gimmicky designations, but as long as they are honest with their labeling, their only crime is filling a market niche.

 

Nope. Just a case of them giving the people what they want.

There's a new generation of collector who has been brought forth by the issuance of these pieces by their respective mints. Their legitimacy and right to collect is valid. It brings new blood and new interest to the hobby.......

 

since when is a UHR "bullion"? someone is trying too hard

 

http://www.coinworld.com/saint-gaudens-ultra-high-relief-gold-bullion/

 

that's nice. has the price ever mirrored bullion?

 

how about this then:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1995-W-1-PCGS-Proof-68-DCameo-Silver-Eagle-1-Silver-American-Eagle-/190666115714?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c64960a82

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1995-W-SILVER-EAGLE-PF70-/221000379180?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3374a62b2c#ht_500wt_949

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1995W-SILVER-EAGLE-PR69DCAM-/270941117713?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f15595d11#ht_500wt_949

 

So true. I started lurking here by chance and when the A25 was announced I became active in both this site and collecting. I thought it was unfortunate the main stream media missed the A25 frenzy. But when they do report on this growing hobby, expect these "good times" to become even better!

Kudos to you all for sharing your knowledge. If you don't want to give yourselves a big pat on the back for promoting this hobby and making it successful, allow me to say, thank you. :bow:

 

Graded bullion is like slapping $3000.00 rims and tires on your $400.00 car in hopes it increases it's actual value. Some things just don't make any sense.

 

Yes the sets sold well but it is in significant compared to revenue generated by tech sector for example hence media did not report on it. Yes there was frenzy of buyers but mainly because of speculation and people buying multiple sets and IMO it did very little grow the hobby.

 

I agree and I always try to dissuade new collectors from collecting slabbed eagles because of the extra price involved, but I do realize it's their call and their collection. And I've experienced, first hand, the slapping of $3000 rims on a $400 jalopy......

 

Exactly! Learn early that an ounce of silver will never be more than an ounce of silver. jmho