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Message:: [QUOTE="-jeffB, post: 2429676, member: 27832"]...in addition that it's really hard to get your money back out. Coin dealers are in business to make money, and they don't do that by selling a coin for $65 and then buying it back for $65. If you're lucky, buy prices will be 70-80% of sell prices; if you're unlucky, you'll get "this is a gem BU coin" when you buy, and "this is cleaned, I'll give you 90% of melt" when you sell. I fight this by prowling eBay aggressively for stuff that's selling well below its actual value. As a result, I can go for weeks without buying anything at all, and when I do buy, I sometimes find someone's trying to scam me (eBay has my back every time) or that I've made a mistake. It's certainly no way to build a nest-egg, never mind make a living. Sure, you might be able to buy lots of silver near melt while it's at $15/oz, and then sell it when it's $40/oz. Or you might do as I did, buy lots of silver near (or even below!) melt when it's $40/oz, and then sit on it while it's $15/oz. Or $8/oz. If you're buying stuff and counting on its price going up later, you're speculating. This can be entertaining, and profitable if you're lucky. But it's also a good way to fool yourself -- into thinking that you're smart when you're actually lucky, or into thinking that you're investing when you're actually gambling. (And, calling back to my first paragraph, the house's cut is pretty hefty.)[/QUOTE]