New to collecting silver, have a few questions about 90% junk vs silver bars

I am looking into buying a few ounces a month to one day give to my son. I figure if I buy a few oz a month he will have a lot of weight by the time he is an adult. I have found 5 oz silver bars from silvertowne for around $114 with free shipping. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. Then I see sites selling $10 face vaule of junk silver for between $165 up to $185. Since $10 face has 7.15 oz silver that would be between $23 and 25.80 an oz before taking shipping into account. The 5 oz bars come out to about $22.90 an oz with free shipping. Is there any advantage to buying the coins over the bars? Seems to me the bars would be the way to go but I wasn't sure if collectors preferred the junk coins for some reason?

I'd love to be able to buy gold instead but even the 1/10th oz coins are a little more than I would like to spend per month and I figured that my son would be better off with 40-50 lbs of silver when he is an adult compared to maybe a pound of gold.

Thanks for any help and suggestions.

 

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It all depends on what you WANT I've been stacking for almost a year and I think im about 120 oz now but I have a mixture of 1oz rounds generic bars eagles and 90% and even alot of 40% i have a mix. I started with 90% since it was cheaper for me example $23+ per oz or under $20 for $1 face. I feel like 90% will demand more money in the future, also depends on what you plan on doing in the future. Are you going in as just investment? Or you just want you're son to have some sort of wealth? Really you can't go wrong with either. Just try to get silver at lowest price you can. Also Just do your research before you buy. Compare prices! I've been posting YouTube videos of my silver purchase unboxings...

 

Collector's wouldn't want junk silver! Unless its a numismatic coin or in uncirculating condition, key date, error coin. My opinion! I'm not an expert by any means. just my opinion..

 

I'd just buy American silver eagles how ever many per month in ounces your looking to get. When liquidating for whatever reason, including those unplanned for situations that could occur it's easier to sell ASE's. They retain there premium for the most part and you have more options selling as demand is pretty consistent. Also it's quite easy to trade X ASE for Y AGE once you accumulate enough.

 

Mainly just looking to add weight for as close to melt as possible but I want to make sure what I am buying will be easy to get rid of in the future. I was kind of suprised that the old dirty 90% seems to have a higher premiums than generic bars. I have a local coin shop near my house but the sales tax kind of kills any lower cost that they offer.

I'll keep an eye out for deals on ASE's

Thanks

 

Yeah Ase's are a good way to go!! Check out providentmetals there prices are really good. Online stores don't charge tax, but I know what you mean this one time I bought about $140 worth of "junk" and rounds and they charged me like over $8 or $9 worth of taxes it's ridiculous. You're better of buying online. And right now providentmetals are offering FREE shipping!

 

also register at different online bullion companies an get on their mailing list to receive discounts and specials. ive seen 1 oz silver rounds an bars sell for 90 cents over spot...

 

I used to buy more junk silver 'till maybe 2 years ago. you could find it near spot. now the market has changed and the per oz. price for .999 is less as you found. I would go for the new .999 bullion just for that reason. he might like them better unless you turn him into a coin guy as he grows up.

 

Get whatever has lower than normal premium. For that, you'll need a better understanding of what the normal premium is currently. Or you can just pick up ASEs and forget about it. They're easy to liquidate.

 

It's true you should always buy whatever it is that you like because you will be more inclined to buy. That bieng said, to start out I would recommend buying whatever you can get for the best price then later on start buying a good variety of bars, junk, rounds, or ASE. Other good ideas include set a goal like a complete set of bullion eagles for instance

 

You used to be able to get 90% coins for far under spot, but recently have jumped to spot or over. Also, I have found it hard to sell 90% coins. Most buyers seem to now prefer 999 products, which makes me wonder how dealers are still getting over spot on 90%.

 

I would say start looking around and try to decide what interests you the most. I have this same dilemma when I think about what I should be buying so I just buy a little bit of everything. Each year I buy a roll of ASE's as well as one 1 ounce bullion coin from each country. I do this to make it more fun I suppose, so I can have each year of a panda, maple, koala..ect. I also save my pocket change in a jar and when I have enough I purchase a roll of $10 90 percent junk silver.

I honestly cant decide what I like better. Its really cool having brand new 1oz coins or bars but theres just something about having a roll of walkers or mercurys and just thinking about all the hands that these coins have passed through that keeps me buying "junk".

I would say buy a little bit of each at first and when you have them in your hand, try to decide what you like the best

 

I agree!!!! Same things I've done too!!

 

I like the "junk silver". There is always the chance that you might get something with some numismatic value, and you can usually get it for around the silver value, so I don't think you can go too wrong.