Newb at buying silver and gold,need some direction please.

As the title says Im a newb at this and I'll explain alittle what Im tryn to do here.I'm 19 have a job that doesnt pay much but has potential to pay much more and I plan to get married in about a year or so.What Im doing now is saving for the future you could say and Im pretty much starting from scrap right now and I got about $150 right now that Ive set aside for saving and I want to spend all my savings money on gold or silver.If Ive made enough money in a year to were I dont have to sell it all or any of it then I plan to keep it longer of course so theres a good chance that it will become a longer than 1 year investment.

So thats my plan and today I wana buy some gold and/or silver and Ive been going through the forums abit and Im abit lost as to what would be the best form of gold or silver to buy for this purpose.Im not really partial to anything but I do love old coins.With $150 would it be better to just go with silver this time and wait till I get alot more than that to buy gold? Either way gold or silver whats the better choice for my purpose,bars or coins and what kind would yall recomend?

All help/advice/guidance is greatly appreciated.
God Bless Yall
Jared

 

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Jared,

If you love coins, I would collect silver coins that are just worth melt. This bet would let you love the coins, collect them, but only be betting silver will increase in value. I would go to a coin show and shop around for pricing on junk silver and ask if the dealer would let you paw through the coins to pick them out. You really can put together a pretty set of mercury dimes for not much money even with high silver prices. If you stay with US silver it will be easier to sell them when you want to sell. While you are at it, pick up a few pretty walking liberty halves and franklin halves. I remember I was amazed at all of these cool coins I could buy just for their silver content when I was younger. www.coinflation.com is a good site to see what the silver value in US coins is.

Hope this helped.

 

If you are looking for a sure return, you would be better off opening a bank account with one of the online banks (eg ing direct). Since it sounds like you want the money in a year this would be my recommendation. This money would also double as a nice emergency fund (which if you listen to advisors should be 3 to 6 months of living expenses). But if you are dead set on buying silver, the advice above is solid and I would second it.

 

Great point of course. I was assuming he wanted to invest in silver and still be as liquid as possible while still collecting coins. If the OP needs liquidity, best to stick it in savings.

 

I'm not looking to put any money in the bank.I'm not really parraniod about it but I'd just prefer to have my savings in something that aint as "chancy" as the American dollar right now with the way the economy is and all. I do appreciate the sugestion/advice though.I'm currious,how
would a 1oz silver bar compare to a 1oz silver coin?

So if yall 2nd medoraman's advice would you sink $150 in just the suggested coins or would you get some coin some bar and if bar does it make a dif. what kind? Im looking for sugestions on things i can get online at apmex.com unless yall got a better sugestion of were to buy online with a debit card.

 

One of the greatest traps about collecting anything, for any reason, is that people tend to become partial to things that were initially meant to be sold at a later date. The question You need to ask Yourself is whether or not You will be able to "pull the trigger" when it is time for You to sell.
Regarding silver...I have some that is much more bland than others....therefore it will be much easier for me to unload it when I want or have to. (compared to some pieces that I might be a little partial to)

Bottom line is that You need to shop around for the best prices, (and they WILL vary) and go from there. If You`re looking to cash out in a year though, and have $150 to invest....personally I would go with silver. (either junk, or bullion) Older coins are roughly 90% silver, compared to bullion which is .999 fine. Some Canadian issues are even a little finer at .9999, and therefore will cost a tad more. Keep in mind that when selling back to a dealer You will get a little less than spot value regarding bullion, and of course even lesser regarding 90% junk silver. Every dealer has different buy-back rates. If I were in Your shoes,(and I once was) I would stay away from anything graded and stick to junk or bullion. (just my opinion)

Keep a level head and realize that anything could happen as well, even though I personally think that silver is a steal at its current levels.....only the Lord knows what the future holds. Good luck with everything, and stop by these forums again. : )

 

The reason I suggested a coin show was that you could shop around quickly at different dealers and not have to pay shipping, which will eat into any profits. Only buy via internet if you get a really good deal, so that even with shipping you buy it cheaply.

You can buy silver rounds or bars, they are just as viable as junk silver. I just thought you might like the actual coins if you like collecting.

 

If you're getting married, take all of your silver and divide it by two. That's what you're left with. Seriously though, I prefer the American Silver Eagles. Have fun!

 

If you buy you are likely going to pay over melt for what ever form you purchase silver in. If you decide to sell in one year you will have to sell for less than melt (normally at least 10% less). Unless you think the price of silver is going to go up at least 10% or the dollar is going to lose 10% buying for one year doesn't really make sense.

Even if you are going to keep it longer then 1 year I don't think anyone here would suggest keeping 100% of your savings/retirement in metals.

 

I like all the ideas and stuff yall are saying/talking about! Oh and just to clarify this isnt a one time deal with $150.I'll be puting away money to buy more metals from each paycheck and depending on how big they are I could have another $150 or much more in a little while depending on how my personal life is goin and were I need the money of course.I work as dispatch kinda,I search for loads coming back from Canada or northern states for my dads and bro-inlaws semi's and they got 2 and will be growing.I work on comission and percentage so my income will be different.

I think this time I'll go with mainly the sugested silver coins unless somthing catches my eye on the net more for collecting purposes.I would go to dealers but Im pretty sure the closest to me is prolly in the dfw area which is 100miles away.What about the 1gram gold bars,I know theyre TINY so are they even really worth it or should I just save till I can get like a bigger bar if I want some gold too?Guess what Im trying to ask is like the coins you see that are 1/10oz gold are they worth while or is it best to save till you can afford "the real thing" or are they still considered the real thing?

 

Yeah, but come on, its $150. Its not like he is 63 and investing $200,000 in retirement money in them. When I was 19 I had all of my "savings" in bust halves, junk silver, and a few type coins. I wouldn't think of having all of my money in coins now, but when starting out its not a lot of risk. He isn't endangering his retirement by this action.

 

The problem with small parcels of gold is that you have to pay a premium to buy them, but when you sell the dealer only wants to pay you bullion value. I would stay away from them for investing purposes. You should buy "whole units" of any metal. Save up to buy an ounce of gold. Short of that, you could look at a US $2.50 or $5 gold piece if you can buy it near gold value, (probably have better luck with the $5). I just don't like 1 gram or tenth ounce gold as a bullion investment. At least with a US gold coin there is a numismatic component to the investment as well. Speaking of that, at these high silver prices a lot of junk silver is the same price. Buy Mercury dimes and WL halves if you can get them for melt since IF silver goes down they usually have a better resale price since they are desirable for coin collecting, especially WL halves. When silver was low the WL halves sold for at least $1 more than junk silver did per face value. If you can buy decent SL quarters or good barbers even better! A lot of numismatic premiums go away with rising silver, but if silver stays where its at for long, or goes down, those premiums will return.

 

Question,is it worth paying extra for a certified coin vs an uncertified uncurculated coin? While looking at the Canadian silver dollars I noticed theyre some for around $25 and it say on the coin its 9999 silver so does that mean Im still geting .9999 fine grade silver instead of the .999 cause all the rest graded at .9999 are almost twice as much it seems?

 

Hello Jared and welcome to the forum. 19 and going to get married and $150 to spend. I would strongly recommend that you pursue a higher education, rather than spending it on gold or investments. If you can get a higher education, the payoff will be many times greater than any precious metals or investment now. See a counselor at a community college or university to see what you can get as far as grants and education loans.

When I was your age, I was hanging on the street corner also and decided to go to the university at the last minute. You could do that 50 years ago, but not now, it takes planning. Even if you do spend the money on gold now, please do the college investigation also. You can research how much a higher education, even a 2 yr degree in the nursing/medical area, can increase your wealth over the long run. Remember each child born this year costs over 225,000 to college age.

Jim

 

Its just a question of degree or purity. It all depends on what you want to invest in. If you want to invest in silver, then I would not buy certified. Certification ups the cost, and there will not be any more silver in the coin because its certified.

One ounce silver coins are not a bad way to buy silver either if you want to collect them.

 

Desertgem thank you for your concern but the only reason Id wana go to college is to play football. Im not interested in college at all but I am somewhat familiar with what you can get with 2yrs and stuff like that as my girlfriend is in college and is more than likely going for nursing.I dont wana start any arguement or debate on college,thats just my personel opinion and Im not saying it wont ever change but thats the way it is for me now.

Medoraman that makes perfect sense! Yall have been sooo very helpful and I'll post up here what I buy today yet most likely.

God Bless Yall

Hey just to keep this going,what would yall sugest geting for $500-700?

 

If you could get one, I would look at an older $10 in Xf/AU if you can find it for the price. You get almost half an ounce of gold and a cool 100+ year old coin. For that kind of money you could also put a serious dent in both mercury and WL half sets just from junk silver boxes if you wanted to "collect" more.

 

1Generic Silver .999 Fine - (As low as $0.49 over spot!)$20.56 $20.56 11991 Silver American Eagles - Brilliant Uncirculated$25.26 $25.26 11990 Silver American Eagles - Brilliant Uncirculated$25.26 $25.26 11991 - (1 oz) Silver Maple Leaf - Brilliant Uncirculated$25.76 $25.76 11990 - (1 oz) Silver Maple Leaf - Brilliant Uncirculated$24.06 $24.06 11878-1904 Morgan Silver Dollars - (Brilliant Uncirculated)$31.49 $31.49 11 oz (.999) Fine Silver Bars - (Morgan Design) - NEW$21.26 $21.26


Thats what I just ordered.Anything I should do different next time? Oh and I did one generic just for the fun of it to see what I'll get.

 

That's a dangerous way to think. There are a lot of articles on the internet that might lead you to believe this, but most are garbage. Someone your age with $150 now and more to come should (1) have an emergency savings fund and (2) put the rest into an equity mutual fund. Just about anything else you choose to do will be a mistake.

 

As a beginner, I'd definitely stay with silver bullion coins since you really need to know what you're doing if you're going to invest in numismatic coins. Different types of bullion coins have different advantages and disadvantages. For example, American Eagles are the only coin type guaranteed by the U.S. government. That may (or may not) be important to you.

If you buy silver bullion coins (like American Eagles), you are investing the value of the silver, which does go up and down substantially. Silver and gold are hedges against inflation. For beginners, that is definitely the right approach.