Hello all, What criteria do you use, to decide, which coins to exchange, for melt value? I appreciate your feedback!
So many factors... mintage, year, grade, supply/demand and also my needs. At the end of the day, if someone is willing to pay more than melt for a coin, then I’d sell every coin for more.
Only criteria I use is Father Time. And at this particular point in time, trading for melt value is something of a losing proposition. Silver is trading quite low currently. Give it a year or so and revisit.
I agree with Abercrombie: wait a while. Wait for the US and World economies to really heat up, so that the physical demand for commercial silver rises, which should push up the price of silver. My arbitrary marker to sell my first round of melt coins is $30 an ounce or higher. Pick your threshold then you can compare numismatic value to melt and decide which coins make sense to send to the coin knacker. I also have a few silver coins that I have kept out of my "melt" bag because they have eye appeal to me, fill a hole in a set, or have what I think is an interesting feature or variety. I would not melt those coins even if their numismatic value were below melt.
Thanks to all! Looks like my need for spending money came at a bad time, as far as melt value. I didn’t realize melt value could be more than numismatic value. That said, is bullion value the same thing as melt value? As for condition, what grade would end up in your “melt bag”?
Bullion, spot and melt values are all interchangeable terms for the same thing. Plug “spot silver” in the google bar. You will get the option to look at several charts. I like the Kitco chart. It’s easy to understand. You can see what your silver is currently valued at at.
I like the kitco site too, but I learned it has a 20 minute delay. The best for current spot prices is www.dillongage.com
Got it, thanks! I've been using CNBC but that appears to be, at least 10 minutes, behind both Kitco and Dillon.
Not comparing the stock market with investing in silver. Quantitative easing, corporations buying back their stock equals higher stock market (which smart investors will ride) but does not necessarily mean a growing economy. Silver prices rise in a strong economic market where there is a strong demand for physical silver.
Thanks! A bit confused... At least, the US stock market and GDP have been solid, if not strong, over those 5 years. That said, what signifies, whether or not US and World economies are strong? Correct me, if I'm wrong but it's my understanding that the bullion, spot and/or melt price of metals like gold and silver is determined by trading on the COMEX exchange, which reflects physical demand.
There are multiple exchange markets around the world which includes: London, Comex, Globex, USA Colorado, Australia, China Exchange, Shanghai Exchange, Tokyo, Switzerland .. and there may be more. If you look at the Kitco charts at the bottom you can see major trading timelines. But if you are in the US then the US market is mostly driven by Comex; which is New Silver. If you are in a trading floor then it would respective of which floor you are on. The economy has been chugging along very well for years. Silver is currently valued at it's current valuation, spot price for new silver. This does not include secondary markets. It comes down to that the silver Spot price is what it is. It isn't what it isn't. Some ppl, economy naysayers; end of world types; etc will say that PMs are undervalued. Unfortunately, they are valued at their current valuation. Silver is used for a variety of things including (a) sale to be processed into rounds/bars; (b) coins; (c) used in industry/manufacturing; (d) jewelry; (e) other uses such as metal ETFs. If silver gets too high in price then (c) may look for alternatives. The others demand may drop. But it all depends. if you look at history of silver it really doesn't correlate well to the economy. It can correlate to the US Dollar Index more often than not. But look at 2011; there are exceptions to everything. You mention "which coins to exchange" this is really a generic statement that you have a context to but we don't. What type of "coins" are you even talking about ? Generic Rounds? numismatic rounds? actual coins? Cull coins all the way to well graded coins? ASE/Maple Leaf type coins? you haven't elaborated enough to give any good advice.
Thanks! That was my point. Difficult for me, to elaborate, as such, since I don't know what most of those terms mean. That's why my actual question was "What criteria do you use, to decide, which coins to exchange, for melt value?"
The junk coins. The heavily worn, damaged stuff that you go "what happened to that coin?" Many generic rounds/bars. Or the cull (badly worn) silver based coins that have no numismatic/collector value. But @Bman33 has experience in the calculations of how much they may be worth to someone. for example, stuff listed here as "junk" or "cull" https://www.providentmetals.com/90-silver-coins.html but let's ask you a question. What Exactly do you have? Can you post pictures? instead of stating a "coin", state "a 1943 Walking Liberty Half Dollar in nice shape". Which would give us a much better idea of what to tell you.
Thanks, that’s very helpful! I have the following : Nickels: Circulated 1913-1938 Indian head 1943-1945 Wartime Dimes: Circulated 1916-1945 Mercury 1946-1964 Roosevelt Quarters: Circulated 1932-1964 Washington Half Dollars: Circulated 1916-1947 Liberty 1948-1963 Franklin 1964-1969 Kennedy Silver Dollars: Circulated 1878-1921 Morgan 1922, ‘23 ‘25 Peace Silver Dollars: Commemorative sets 1921 Morgan & 1935 Peace 1997 American Eagle
Now you'll see the experts chime in on exactly what you have and which are true "melt/spot" coins and which are not. I only know about the Peace dollars & ASE as I don't collect/deal with more worn circulated coinage. for instance, here's price guides for the Peace Dollars although the quality does not look to be too high for them. https://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/dollars/peace/ The 1997 ASE seems to have a heavy tarnish area top left and around the edge although it was the initial year of the ASEs.
Thanks, appreciate ya'! Yeah, the 1997 ASE does look funky. FWIW: I have individual pics of some, and I can take more pics, if needed.
Go here and look at buy back pricing on 90% silver coins. These are junk silver coins, looking at bullion content not collector value. https://www.providentmetals.com/90-silver-coins.html As you can see buy back is slightly below spot silver value on dimes and quarters. Halves command a little more than dimes and quarters. To calculate the spot value in terms of face value mulitply the 1oz silver spot price by .715; for example if spot silver is $14.75; $14.75 x .715=$10.55. So $10.00 face value of a roll of quarters is $105.50. You need to go through all your junk and make sure you are not giving away any key dates. That is a whole other topic!