Scrapping for Silver

Alright I'm trying something a little different. This year I have a goal to try and obtain a silver bullion coin from each of the countries that offer them(US/Canada/China...etc), to make a 2013 set. However there is a catch. My goal is to do it with money obtained from scrapping/recycling ONLY. I will be hoarding soda cans...copper wire...scrap metal in the form of old car parts(used rotors/tie rods/alternators)...lead and non lead wheel weights...aluminum....the list goes on. My goal is to not have to spend any money out of pocket. I will update as I go along...Oh and by the way....here's the first coin I just picked up today as a result!

Price: $35.03
Spot price at time of purchase: $31.03

 

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Fun thread! Keep us updated, silver for zero money out of pocket is always a great thing.

 

Ive tried scraping and even when its free for the takeing you still have to pay for the gas to haul it your time to clean it and then the gas to take it to be sold.
Your saveing will be little if any.
To get top dollar for copper most has to be cleaned from motors or coils that have metal on each end.
I make money but when i add my time and gas its not that much left for profit.
STILL ITS A GREAT WAY TO PICK UP EXTRA CASH
GOOD LUCK.

 

Normally I would tend to agree...However, I'm banking on the fact that I live so close and I drive by it everyday to work. So a quick stop would just be like stopping for gas. Plus I'm not really doing it to "make money". It's more of an experiment to see if I can make it work. I'm not looking to have a entire retirements worth of silver bullion.

 

This is pretty much the gospel i live by. Free silver is always a plus. I think ive done close to $1000 in free silver since just the start of 2013. Im hoping the year will continue along this path.

 

I'd like to see photos of the stuff you're scrapping. Maybe a before (pile of scrap metal) and after (shiny new silver coin) type of series.

 

It's a great idea. You are not digging into the money you need for your daily life, and it's being turned into a silver coin that will hold its value. I try to do that with the money I make doing artwork, odd jobs, etc. I turn it into silver. My paycheck is for the needs of the household.

 

Silver has been the best way for me to have a real savings. Instead of having a couple thousand in cash laying around I keep it in silver so i cant just spend it when i 'need' it. This helps me to maintain a savings for when a real emergency happens. The other thing i dont have to worry about is inflation killing my cash pile if its mostly in silver

 

I do the same thing. Instead of opening a worthless no interest saving account I collect silver coins in hopes that it will actually make me a few bucks. Its a risk but its also a fun hobby as well.

 

Me three. I put some cash with every paycheck into silver, and put it away. The obstacle of having to cash it in is big enough that I usually find ways to scrimp and save on some things to make it to the next paycheck, and thus I'm slowly squirreling away more. Is it as "safe" as a bank account maintaining a level balance since its value is constantly changing? No, but it looks way much better on my shelf...

I also do the scrap recycling route. I've got the luxury of space and a truck so I can collect several hundred pounds of junk to take it to the salvage yard in one shot, minimizing the expense of diesel to get it there. Being in IT it's easy to over time build a large pile, computers are a good source of scrap iron (anyone who works with HP servers will attest), as well as copper from the heat sinks. I wish I had the courage to try the gold reclaim process, but not sure it's really worth it.

 

It's safer as long as silver can't be printed :thumb:, who knows how many trillions of federal reserve notes will be printed or typed into existence on a computer, that is scarier to me than any temporary fluctuation in silver!

 

Indeed, I wholeheartedly agree. I personally believe it's better than paper as far as wealth preservation given today's tendencies, and fits in very well with my preferences of PM's over cash and bonds. But, I shall not rehash the debate going on in the other threads here...

 

That is incredible, 1000US in 1.5 months. That is more than two times minimum wage in South Africa for same period.

 

I collect cans, do a little vending service at work, and mod power supplies for RC racing. All that profit money goes into silver. I've built a decent hoard of 90% off the sales of ramen noodles, pop tarts, and snickers bars over just the last 12 months. The fatter my co-workers get, the heavier my SDB.

 

Cool! Good luck!

I love love love all metals, but especially silver. And I get some at least every other week. I save some $ in a savings, add to my silver hoard, and set some aside and deposit into a stock account. Eggs in a few different baskets! But the silver is always the most fun

 

That should do it. :thumb:

 

I figured this would be different and a challenge. Instead of surrendering my metal recyclables to curb for free....why not turn it into something valuable. Plus I wanted to see if I could make it work...yeah its a process but the reward of having silver from "junk" is a very tempting prospect.

 

Thats actually a good idea...I will do that from now on...I'll post what I cash in and show how much I get...the above purchase was mainly lead(wheel weights) and a few bad car parts(I work at a local Ford dealer). It doesn't take much lead to make up weight.

 

Well I hit a snag. My local coin shop doesn't have anything in 2013 except the ASE...Should I amend my rule of a 2013 so I can avoid paying 6 bucks in shipping, or should I just try for one of each reguardless of year? I'm also factoring any tips(rarity)I get in this as well which leads me to my next coin purchase....

 

Just amend the rule. Don't go off paying super high premiums because they're not available. Buy whatever you can get. :smile