Anyone ever had any luck buying ASE's near melt? From what I've seen on eBay, uncirculated ASE's seem to go at a significant premium over melt. I could understand some additional numismatic value for high end uncirculateds (near 70's), proofs, and other special issues. But from what I understand regular ASE's to be (a certified 1 oz coin that doesn't need to be assayed), I'd think these would change hands for around melt, with perhaps a narrow bid-ask spread so dealers and market makers can earn a profit. Thanks, Brian
Ever try a pawn shop? I frequent a few of them for coins and they are usually willing to sell for a near-melt price for decent (AU-55 to MS-60 to 63 in my estimation) ASEs. The one I typically buy from is Spot + $2 for ASEs and silver dollars and Spot + $1 for halves. For example, I stopped in today because the price of silver is kind of low compared to what it was last week, and I talked the guy into selling a common Morgan for $26 and a 2001 ASE for $34. He told me that they tend to buy silver at 50-60% Spot, so pawn shops can get away with selling near spot because they (at least the ones I go to) don't worry much about numismatic value. Happy hunting!
No luck here finding them at spot. I just moved and the dealer where I lived before would charge $3 over spot and not charge me tax if paying in cash. At my new place, there is a dealer is in walking distance who charges $4.90 over spot + tax. So the other day he was selling ASE's for $40. However, the old dealer was about 50-60 min round trip driving my gas guzzling truck so it all equals out to about the same. And to add, I know it's only bullion but the new dealer provided me a real nice grade ASE as compared to some of the ones I got at the old place.
