gold/silver questions

[nubus]

Actually it's over $35 and nearly hit $37 last week.

 

[Barefoot343]

yikes.

 

[2506]

This from a chart advisor news letter I got today:


The Bottom Line
While silver mining stocks won't necessarily correct all the way to their prior bases or even pull back in the immediate future; the point I'm trying to make is that chasing silver stocks at this point is a dangerous game. These stocks have already experienced huge gains over the past few weeks, and are vulnerable to steep declines with even just a mild pullback. If this is the beginning of a much stronger long-term trend, then there will be plenty of safer opportunities to jump on board.

 

[19 Adam]

Very good advice from the members here.

I buy silver in a local shop and pay less than getting it from the three big Internet dealers (no shipping and insurance). My number one choice is US Silver Eagles but I have bought a supply of one ounce private mint coins/rounds since they are less expensive per ounce/coin. A buddy buys Austrian silver philharmonic coins but I stick to the US coins.

Most of the coin stores have sold out of the Silver Eagles or add a large premium over mint price. Stick to a local gold store.

I have also bought "junk" US silver coins in bags. I like the silver dollars and half dollars better than the mix of dimes, quarters, and half's but that is just me. This should be great for barter since they are easy to recognize and not often counterfeited. I stick to the older US coins and think dimes and quarters may not have as barter value as larger silver dollars, IMHO.

The price continues to rise and there is really no end in sight. I had the opportunity to start buying gold at the start of my career like a buddy of mine did but I told him it was "too expensive and would go down in price" That was 1981 when gold was $300 an ounce after shooting up to a high of over $600 and ounce in 1980. My buddy now has more gold than the gold stores (I have seen it) and he still buys more each month, even at over $1400 and ounce.

I think anytime is a great time to start putting away gold or silver but I have to stick with silver due to the high prices of gold (I missed the boat on gold).

Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

 

[Barefoot343]

so dumb question...I have always wondered, if the currency fails wouldn't ALL paper money and coins be worthless? where would you use coins at? who would take them? now if they were melted down I suppose they would be worth somethin, I guess you could barter?

 

[Sasquatchvnv]

so dumb question...I have always wondered, if the currency fails wouldn't ALL paper money and coins be worthless? where would you use coins at? who would take them? now if they were melted down I suppose they would be worth somethin, I guess you could barter?

Most people know, or can be educated, that pre-64 coins contain 90% silver, and can be valued accordingly for their melt value by weight. It's not too hard to take the spot price and figure the conversion rate for your "junk" silver. It's running about 25-30 right now. (a pre 64 dime is worth 2.50 to 3.00 at todays silver prices) Most people you meet on here (the awake ones anyway) would happily accept silver in lieu of crappy paper as payment for just about anything they were selling. I would for sure, in fact I would prefer it.

Silver goes up and down, but will ALWAYS be worth something - not so the federal reserve note. All fiat currencies fail eventually...

Besides - you have to look me in the eye to steal my silver - paper can be made worthless in an instant at the whim of the bankers.

 

[morroad8]

Well, I have been a coin collector since I was around 5 years old Now I have a pretty intense coin collection (mostly rare dates), however I have to agree with Barefoot343. IMO, the time to buy precious metals have past; you might make some cash, but the big bucks are done. I may be wrong though since I wasnt great in my economics class .

IF the USA ever did get in a bad situation (say a war on the homeland or natural disaster), money (which is controlled by the global economy and the government printing out billions of dollars that we owe to I dont know how many countries -raising inflation-) would be worthless. Besides, isnt the US currency based on faith? Look at your online banking...you see numbers and nothing else. Paper money USED to be backed up by gold (red seal), or silver (blue seal) meaning you could go to the back with a $100 dollar bill and leave with $100 in face value gold coins. I have no idea what the current green seal would represent since pennies arent even made of copper anymore.

Once again, if we were in the above stated situation, metals such as silver and gold would be worthless as well because, as of right now, I cannot think of anything it is really good for in an emergency situation but a good conductor of electricity and awesome silver bullets for those darn werewolves I would much rather have food, water, shelter...ohh...and as far as metal, some lead (pulling a move like in the movie "The Patriot" haha). I think another movie that has some impacting ideas would be a scenario found in the movie "Book of Eli".

Anyways, this is just my opinion and hopefully none of this ever occurs...but it doesnt hurt to prepare.

 

[Brown Trout]

so dumb question...I have always wondered, if the currency fails wouldn't ALL paper money and coins be worthless? where would you use coins at? who would take them? now if they were melted down I suppose they would be worth somethin, I guess you could barter?

the value to coins is dependent on the metal content, gold and silver being the most commonly traded, convenient. and valuable. Precious metals are valuable in and of themselves. Some of course would debate their intrinsic value, but thousands of years of economics don't lie.

When you hear gold is $1400 an ounce that does not mean gold is really expensive, it means the dollar is worth very little. So coins that have a known silver content to them will be valuable when our fiat money fails. As to who would take them, that is when we really learn the meaning of the "haves" and the "have nots", assuming that we do not have a complete mad max type collapse.

 

[Decker]

For those wondering about the silver value of pre-1965 coins: Current Melt Value Of Coins - How Much Is Your Coin Worth?

-d

 

[Barefoot343]

Most people know, or can be educated, that pre-64 coins contain 90% silver, and can be valued accordingly for their melt value by weight. It's not too hard to take the spot price and figure the conversion rate for your "junk" silver. It's running about 25-30 right now. (a pre 64 dime is worth 2.50 to 3.00 at todays silver prices) Most people you meet on here (the awake ones anyway) would happily accept silver in lieu of crappy paper as payment for just about anything they were selling. I would for sure, in fact I would prefer it.

Silver goes up and down, but will ALWAYS be worth something - not so the federal reserve note. All fiat currencies fail eventually...


Besides - you have to look me in the eye to steal my silver - paper can be made worthless in an instant at the whim of the bankers.

I figured that was the general idea. Agree with you on the paper money, we will probably be using it to start fires someday.

 

[pogi]

Welcome to Affordable Jewelry & Precious Metals | Live, Accurate up to the minute pricing! Phone: 1-800-690-4995 - Welcome to Affordable Jewelry & Precious Metals | Live, Accurate up to the minute pricing! Phone: 1-800-690-4995

Good folks to deal with and they are downtown if you want something local.

 

[gunslinger1911]

i get mine in pre '65 us coinage of all denominations...i get it AT spot from the local coin store...idk why you would pay numismatic value markups on you SHTF hedge fund by buying "eagles" or morgans or whatever...dimes, quarters and halves baby!

 

[blinded]

i get mine in pre '65 us coinage of all denominations...i get it AT spot from the local coin store...idk why you would pay numismatic value markups on you SHTF hedge fund by buying "eagles" or morgans or whatever...dimes, quarters and halves baby!

So is that normal to not pay a premium on the pre '65's?

 

[gunslinger1911]

no that's not normal...from what i've found, most will charge you a slight markup...

 

[Grunwald]

I have been buying Gold and Silver for a couple of years now and here is my take on it.
When buying either metal, you want to pay the lowest premium possible over the spot price.
No numismatic coins, not even American Eagles or Canadian Maples - the markup is too high most of the time.
Silver - I've bought junk silver (pre-1964 US coins) from people on craigslist by placing a post there and stating that I am paying spot. I've also picked up 1oz bullion rounds by taking the same approach.
Be careful when buying Ike Dollar coins. There are silver ones and non-silver ones. Look at the edge of the coin and make sure it is silver, or bring your scale and weigh it. The weight of these is different for the silver vs non-silver and is published on the internet.
If you buy in large enough amounts and stick to silver rounds, the best place I have found is Lear Capital (www.learcapital.com) - they have the lowest markup.

Gold - Best deal on Gold is usually at Apmex.com. The lowest markup is on the Mexico 50 Peso and Austrian 100 Corona coins. Both of these are around an troy oz, but not exactly, so just take the price of the coin and divide it by the gold content to get the cost per oz.
Sometimes, when start align just right Lear Capital will have a very low premium on old Prussian (German) 20 Mark coins.

If you have not dealt with Lear before, they also have a first order coupon that gives you free shipping and insurance as long as the order is over $1500.
If you want to try it, here is one - E4B47 (let me know if it works or not, so I'm not posting something that's not working).

I would NOT buy gold from eBay, as I've heard stories of made in China forgeries being sold there, and frankly have not seen any better prices than from the dealers I've mentioned above.

 

[Barefoot343]

I have been buying Gold and Silver for a couple of years now and here is my take on it.
When buying either metal, you want to pay the lowest premium possible over the spot price.
No numismatic coins, not even American Eagles or Canadian Maples - the markup is too high most of the time.
Silver - I've bought junk silver (pre-1964 US coins) from people on craigslist by placing a post there and stating that I am paying spot. I've also picked up 1oz bullion rounds by taking the same approach.
Be careful when buying Ike Dollar coins. There are silver ones and non-silver ones. Look at the edge of the coin and make sure it is silver, or bring your scale and weigh it. The weight of these is different for the silver vs non-silver and is published on the internet.
If you buy in large enough amounts and stick to silver rounds, the best place I have found is Lear Capital (American Eagle Gold Coin | American Eagle Gold | Gold American Eagle) - they have the lowest markup.

Gold - Best deal on Gold is usually at Apmex.com. The lowest markup is on the Mexico 50 Peso and Austrian 100 Corona coins. Both of these are around an troy oz, but not exactly, so just take the price of the coin and divide it by the gold content to get the cost per oz.
Sometimes, when start align just right Lear Capital will have a very low premium on old Prussian (German) 20 Mark coins.

If you have not dealt with Lear before, they also have a first order coupon that gives you free shipping and insurance as long as the order is over $1500.
If you want to try it, here is one - E4B47 (let me know if it works or not, so I'm not posting something that's not working).

I would NOT buy gold from eBay, as I've heard stories of made in China forgeries being sold there, and frankly have not seen any better prices than from the dealers I've mentioned above.

geez, I didn't realize there was so much to it. So I am trying to understand this "spot" price more, when you go into a place do you just ask them what their "spot" price is for something?

Can you share an example of what you would do and say if you had $500.00 to buy silver or gold in preperation for a SHTF situation? (I have no idea and don't want to get burned, I am just wanting to learn from some of you who know obviously a whole lot more about the topic)


Thanks

 

[EZLivin]

Take a look at ajpm.com. Their prices are updated continually. The "buy" price for 1oz rounds will reflect the current AG spot price, while the "sell" price (what you would pay) will reflect what the current spread is. Compare the price of 1oz rounds to the prices for various others (Eagles, Philharmonics, etc.) to get an idea how the spreads differ.

 

[Burt Gummer]

A year from now you will look back a .40/ounce and wish you bought all you could now. I've been telling friends that since $12.80, but unfortunately people cannot see the certain death of the US dollar. All paper currencies return to their intrinsic values; for the dollar which is backed by nothing that would be $-0-. It isn't that Gold/Silver is going up over the last decade as much as the dollar going down. It has lost 96% of its value in the last 100 years.

Silver is the best monetary-related 'investment' you can make. My guess is you will see Silver at $100/once within 6m-1yr. QE1, QE2, QE3 and all the other QEs will see to that .... For more info, watch 'Meltup' on You Tube.

 

[Grunwald]

geez, I didn't realize there was so much to it. So I am trying to understand this "spot" price more, when you go into a place do you just ask them what their "spot" price is for something?

Can you share an example of what you would do and say if you had $500.00 to buy silver or gold in preperation for a SHTF situation? (I have no idea and don't want to get burned, I am just wanting to learn from some of you who know obviously a whole lot more about the topic)


Thanks

If I am just checking prices, than I use Kitco.com as they show price changes in terms of dollars as well as percentage. They also have a wealth of other information.
If I am buying than the sites that I buy from also show the spot price.
If you are really interested in learning what I have learned, PM me and I will give you my contact info. I am more than willing to talk to you on the phone and answer any questions that you might have.

As others have said, it really is not the case that gold or silver are going up in case, but rather that the world's fiat currencies are losing value.
I think I've posted an example earlier on this thread or another one on this subject where a $100 in pre-1964 silver US coins are worth over $2,000 today (value of silver in them). I don't know how old you are, but think what you could have bought with a $1.00 when you were a kid, and what that item costs today. I am sure it is a lot more. However, I am willing to bet that if you had a $1.00 in pre-1964 coins, you could still buy that same item with them.
Think out of the box, and then you will find the answer to what has really changed (A) did the price go up, or B) did the money lose value? )

 

[zberg]

Read the Rich Dad Advisor book by Mike Maloney. Investing in Gold & Silver. It has a lot of good history about precious metals and fiat currancys. Plus a lot more advise on all these topics. Verry easy read too.
Mike Maloneys web site is Goldsilver.com Very good site too! I strongly suggest this to anyone who dosent have thier head in there A$$. He post very good articles and videos with original sources plus his own. GoldSilver.com - Buy and Sell Gold and Silver Online. Gold & Silver Charts, Graphs & News