silver????

I am a newbie to silver buying and want physical silver. And of course I'm full of questions before I actually buy,so if you can help out I would really appeciate it.

#1. I was looking at some silver the other day and the owner/dealer stated the price and how he arrived at it,I was looking at a 10 oz. bar and he wanted spot price for the ten oz. plus five dollars an ounce "handling fee" is this ligit or is there usually a handling fee per sale or per ounce?
50 dollar handling fee seemed pretty steep to me on 10 ounces!

#2. For those who collect silver,would it be in my best interest to buy 1oz. bars or larger size bars? I plan to buy what I can when I can,so some days it might be more or less,any thoughts or ideas on this? How about resale is it better to have multiple small sizes or a few larger ones?

#3. Are there any brands of silver bar I should avoid or are they all equal?

#4. Is there any special care of silver I need to know?

#5. Are there any fake stuff out there to watch out for?

Like I said I'm a complete newbie at this and a little nervous getting started,I've been researching everything about it I can find,but you all with experience are invaluable if you don't mind sharing the knowledge! Thank You!

Sorry , Also any buying hints other than buy low sell high would also be appeciated,thanks.

 

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FIVE dollars an ounce "handling" fee? That is INSANE!! I hope you did not waste your money. Think about it... silver has to go up another $5 an ounce before you technically break even! Buy some Eagles. You should be able to find someone who will sell them to you at a buck or two over spot, and they are a better investment than some generic bar that some joke was trying to burn you on. Even start buying "junk silver" coins if all you care about is the content. Selling?? You are a long way off from even thinking about that, my friend. Do your homework before you even consider buying again, and unless you are willing to "sit" on whatever you end up with for a while, you might want to reconsider. I wish you the best of luck!

 

Way to high.

 

No I didn't buy,I walked out of the shop,because I fiqured something wasn't right,as for selling yes thats a long way off,but if something were to happen and I needed to sell some stuff then I would like to be able to liquidate if needed,just a CYA type thing,that was why I was wondering about the bar weight size,as in is it harder to move a 1 oz. bar or a 100 oz. bar? Thank you for the info!

 

How does one price "junk" silver coins? what is a realistic price on different coins like silver dollars,halfs,quarters,etc. when buying for silver,I do collect coins but want to buy some silver, for the "next generation" and am clueless. I can get the "spot price" but what else do they add/subtract for pricing? and how much do the different coinages normally weigh?

Sorry for all the questions,I'm snowed in with out access to anything except my computer for research,snow drifts across the roads here ,some 7 to 8 foot deep,I live out in the country,and am waiting on the snowplows to get the roads opened.

 

Absolutely!! If someone is selling at $20 over spot that's alot more fair. To ask for $50 over spot and act like it's some type of handling fee is bad business. Glad you felt it wasn't right!! Maybe that fool will act right next time, sounds to me like he was just trying to take advantage of a newbie!! Don't waste your time with someone like that!!:hail:

 

Well.... what do you think? Last time I checked earlier, silver was mid-17s. Would it be easier for you to come up with, say $20 or $2000?? Seriously though... do not worry so much about bars. You really might want to consider silver coinage as you may find that you can buy it for well under spot. Look into the Eagles as I mentioned before. With these you will have the silver you want and also have something that also has collectible value too. Let me give you an example: I came across a 1996 Eagle at a pawn shop a week or so ago. I paid $18 for it, which was under spot at the time, but it "books" for something like $75 (if I remember correctly). Just spend some time looking into this before you jump in, okay? Good luck.

 

You can learn the "value" of junk silver by finding a "melt value calculator" online. Here....

http://meltvalue.silvermonthly.com/

Check it out and you might learn something that could really help you.

 

Welcome to the wonderful (and sometimes frustrating!) world of precious metals investing!

Ditto what everyone else has said thusfar.

Regarding what to buy, it really is personal preference. Silver Eagles will have the highest premium, but will also probably be the easiest to sell and will always be worth at least a dollar (because they're coins!).

Generic bars/rounds have less of a premium, and the larger the bar the smaller the premium. Englehard and Johnson-Matthey are the standard bearers in this dept and will have a higher premium than any other generic bullion. I prefer rounds to bars, though bar storage is easier. When it comes to selling, I also prefer smaller sizes because your perspective selling audience is greater. With a 100 oz bar, you need to find one person willing to spend $1800 (or so). With 100 1 oz rounds, it can be broken up amongst many buyers.

Junk silver is great. I've been roll searching from banks for months and have found about $100 face value of silver coins. I think the pickings are getting slimmer by the day though!
For selling it, please, please, please stay off of craigslist, etc. I'm getting frustrated by the out and out fraud taking place there. People buying at "10 times face value!" and calling it a great deal. Sad really.

Check out http://www.coinflation.com/ for what the pricing actually comes to via the silver content of various coins. Junk will usually sell at around spot or even under if you catch it at a good time. 90% has a higher premium than 40%. (Or should I say 90% sells at a greater price per ounce than 40%...neither really has a premium)

Check reputable local coin stores prices first. What may seem like a slightly higher price than you see on the Internet can be justified depending on the size of your purchase due to shipping and handling fees. Small orders will kill you in shipping charges. Plus, always good to support your local coin store and local economy.

If there are none available, I love bulliondirect.com (their Nucleo trade is a live market) and you can store your purchases until ready for shipment. Also, Apmex.com and Kitco.com are highly reputable and will give you tremendous value.

feEbay if you can find a steal, or utilize the Bing.com cashback 8% to make it a good deal.

Thats some food for thought. I haven't been doing this long myself, just keep reading and researching and asking questions. That's how to learn!

Good luck with the snow.

~Christian

 

Thank You,Thank You, Thank You!

You all are alot of help,and that calulator is the stuff,I'd never seen that before! And I think I'll take you alls advice and get some silver coin, at least for now,when the time(price) is right!

 

Got to thinking more on this...

Metals investing is also like stock investing. You are well served to dollar cost average your way into a holding. Don't buy all the silver you are going to buy at one time. Had you done that a week ago, you'd already be down with the $1.50 drop in spot we've seen.
Making consistant purchases over time, say monthly, when the price is low and when the price is high, will average you into a good overall price.

I personally sepparate my numismatic collection/investing from my bullion purchases. I wrote this on another thread, but avoid buying slabbed silver eagles. Spend the premium dollars saved on....more silver eagles!

I keep a spreadsheet of every individual purchase I make showing what I bought, how many units I bought, how many ounces a unit is, the price I paid, the shipping (if any) I paid, what spot value was at the time of purchase (useful for tracking premium ups and downs), gold/silver ratio at time of purchase, and other data that provides info on my holdings. I'm a data nut, but having all this info in one place makes tracking how you are doing all the easier over the long term. You can instantly grab your total dollars spent vs the current value, etc.

At least once, when you get a decent looking stack, film yourself in front of it while tapping your fingers together, bellowing an evil laugh, and nodding up and down. If you have a mustache, you may also try twisting it with your fingers instead of the tapping. This doesn't really serve any purpose, but it makes you feel good.

 

Just curious, did you introduce yourself to that guy as a newbie?

 

If you are just starting out, stay away from bars and stay away from local dealers. Stick with one ounce American Silver Eagles from reputable national internet dealers. They are ususally price competitive and you can't go wrong with ASEs. You can go very very wrong with some bars that might be underweight, of doubtful purity, and difficult to resell.

 

Great eye appeal, widely accepted, great to pass down and works for CYA situations?

I would go with Philharmonics. They are government minted, but have a lower spread (price to melt value) than an ASE (at least on APMEX). Second choice are Maple Leafs.

I don't really like generics, but a widely known mint (such as J/M) should be OK. I also don't think it would be the same passing it down. I would be way more excited inheriting a real coin than a generic round.

As far as buying, I agree with Cphine, but you also may get some good deals for junk silver (as I have done) at a show.

Good luck (from another newbie ).

 

Answers to the OP's original questions:

1. He was trying to rip you off. Like a shark, he must have smelt (newbie) blood in the water.

2. Why bars? Sure there is often a lower premium but I personally only purchase coined silver (American Silver Eagles, Canadian Maple Leaves, Austrian Philharmonicas, Mexican Libertads). While the premium over spot is more than the silver content, they have some inherent numismatic value that I appreciate and I know from personal experience, they are much easier to unload than generic bars.

3. See above. I don't purchase bars.

4. Yes, don't touch the obverse or the reverse with bare hands. It will leave fingerprints and reduce resale numismatic value. Handle coins only by the edges.

5. Yes, there are fakes out there.

 

Hey cphine, how many rolls has it taken you to find $100 FV?? Maybe I need to go to North Carolina! As a newbie yourself, you are either searching A LOT (and I mean A LOT) of rolls or people are slow to "catch on" there. I have basically stopped buying rolls to check for silver as I have not found a single quarter in the last 200+ rolls (one 40% in at least 200 rolls of halves and maybe on average of one in every 30 rolls of dimes... and this is "Fed rolled". Have not found a silver dime/quarter in a hand roll in forever). There are "slim pickins" in NY!

 

nope,I didn't advertise that I was lost:smile but it probably was not that hard to tell:smile,but I am done buying anything at that shop, if he tried to burn me once thats on him,but I'm not going back to give him another chance.:smile.

 

I would not stop going in and looking, but ask him about prices, one place I went to and asked about silver eagles I was told 30 bucks, (unslabbed bullion coin) I then asked if he had anything closer to spot, and picked up some old mexican coins a little bit under spot, the next time I went in I asked him how much for silver eagles, that time I got them for 16 which was under spot at the time.

 

Welcome to the world of PM!

I look for deals on anything silver...

I have a bunch of ASEs I bought at spot, and a bunch of rounds and bars that I bought under spot (with the help of cashback and MrRebates).

I stay away from anything over 10 oz. I'm not an expert but I heard some horror stories about drillin' and fillin'. Rather than expose myself to the risk, I avoid them, regardless of the premium. Just last night I could have grabbed a 100 oz for $17 per. Left it on the table.

I've accumulated a bunch of 10 oz bars, not specifically by choice, just as sales have some up. They stack easily and fit in that safe box. As to the 1 oz bars.

Some people sell / buy “art bars.” Silver may be silver, but some are pretty. I don’t pay a premium for them. An ounce is an ounce.

I would recommend that if you accumulate a large stack, you consider keeping them in a safe or the safe deposit box. A small investment when you think about what could happen with the crime rate in some cities.

 

Yea some dealers are just rip off artists looking for the next mark to rip off.
Looking for profit, ANY profit whether its good or bad for the Numismatic community. Some of those dealers are people who we think are the good dealers that just decide to start ripping off newbies to coins/bullion.
The best defense to this is to be proactive. Learn all you can and understand how the business works. There is nothing wrong with paying over spot price for bullion if it's the right kind of bullion.
ASE's are probably the best for any newbie in the U.S.A. or anywhere else really. But you shouldn't be paying more then $2 over spot for any silver unless it's limited production by some factors involved. Also it should be a well known type of bullion such as the ASE or Maples.

Bottom line is people are people and even the best of us can and often do fail at times. I'm not saying trust no one but an education is so you don't need to rely on anyone but yourself. So watch your butt and pick up a book.