I am looking for the largest silver coins mainly world coins since I have the USA big silver coins at least the ones I can afford. I bought some 1947 5 Peso Silver Mexican coins and a huge Turks & Caicos Islands coin 20 crown piece. I don't want to overpay but I do love these coins. I buy them at local coin shop and Ebay. No bargains there! I bought 5 Frac coin but I paid a decent price for it.
The 5 francs of Belgium and France come to mind. Those are priced reasonably in the catalog but it's not easy to find problem free ones. Even more difficult to find crowns with luster are the Venezuela ones of the late 1800s and early 1900s. If you want more modern, very large, and close to melt try the 10 (or is it 5 or 20?) balboa coins that have a little less than 4 ozt of silver. They often sell pretty low on ebay.
Just adding to the above post - France has the 50 Franc with the Hercules design (1974-1980) that can be had for close to melt. Their old 5 Franc with similar design is one to watch for. Also the old French Indochina Piastre ( Trade Dollar ) and the Peruvian 1 Sol (Pre 1917 if you want 90%) can sometimes be found for good prices, and spice up a silver collection.
The 20 Balboa is close to 4 oz silver, and of course there are the American hockey puck 5 oz "coins".
One of my favorite coins is my 1874 5 francs Hercules. Also have a 1834 5 francs and a 1876 5 Lire from Italy. They all have a lettered edge.
Thanks for the replies. I have been collecting Morgans for a while, but now I am left with the expensive ones. I have a decent set of Peace dollars. It seems to me that the prices of Peace dollars including the 1921 and 1928 have fallen. I buy them in AU condition. The foreign coins I don't care so much about condition except I don't want really ugly coins. I have wanted to buy some gold coins but the intrinsic value of gold figures in so much into the price of common 19th and 20th century gold coins that I may just pick a couple up but no intent to actually collect them. Plus, almost every US set has a few ringers in them that cost many thousands of dollars or are impossible to find. So I am not a investor/millionaire. Just a humble collector. I don't think I have ever seen a silver or gold coin I didn't like. When I look at price of both gold and silver over the last 50 years I see two spikes and decades of very little movement. Besides silver and gold don't pay dividends or interest unless you buy the mining stocks. I did that and lost my Azz.
I never bought stocks. My brother did buy some mining stocks after I tried to get him to buy physical gold US coins. He just managed to sell a little below what he had into them.
Yes, I have seen a few of these giant 5oz silver platters. I wonder if you get a better deal on the silver per oz. when you buy it like that? Where do you hide these hockey pucks? I have a large safe deposit box in a bank. I go and commune with my coins every few months.
As a major collector of World Silver coins, I own most of the coins mentioned above and then some. If you are looking to collect nice examples and keep the cost low, look at mint and proof set. If you but them at the right price you will get your silver at the lowest cost. Look for the Franklin mint proof sets. Some of these set have over 2.5-2.8 ounces and some nice coins. The Panama 20 Balboa is 3.8538 ASW. Try and find one close to melt. That's about $60. Most likely you'll spend closer to $130 or more. The 1978 proof set, which includes the 20 Balboa, I purchased at a coin show for $100 has 5.6931 ASW total. I recently passed up a 1974 set for $130 at another show and regretted it ever since. Take a look at the Germany 5 Marks commemoratives. You show be able to pick those up at less that $7 with almost 1/4 ounce silver. World silver bullion is the least expensive. Mexico Libertads are the best quality for the price. Your choice in size, from 1/20th ounce to 5 ounce. I stopped worrying about the melt value of my coins a long time ago. I buy for the beauty and pride of ownership.
Yes, I have seen a few of these giant 5oz silver platters. I wonder if you get a better deal on the silver per oz. when you buy it like that? Where do you hide these hockey pucks? I have a large safe deposit box in a bank. I go and commune with my coins every few months.
I just love silver and gold. I used to go to auctions and buy silver trays, bowls etc. These things were sterling but sold for about the melt price. I will take a look at the mint and proof sets. They are expensive when they first come out of the mint but quickly drop in cost when they start to sell on Ebay.
