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But there is very little physical metal to be found for sale. And when found, the premium is huge. I've never seen quite such a steep premium over spot. In a few places where silver isn't sold out, a 100 oz. bar at spot it $1,400 something, but the sell price is $1,900 something, a premium of $500!! Some sold-out sites that still post prices show premiums of around $300+ for the same thing, still very high.

Platinum is a similar story. Price relative to recent history seems reasonable at $725 per oz., there is none to be had except at very high premiums online.

On gold, the premiums over spot aren't horrible but they are highish. But the high price per oz. is keeping gold semi-available.

I've seen all this noise before. Smart PM shoppers will wait this out a while. With productivity falling off a cliff and unemployment going up, there are indications that we are headed for a recession. When that hits, PM prices will likely decline at least temporarily and with this so might premiums. Or if we don't go into recession, spot prices will pick up, panic may subside and you will be paying about the same price for a while as when spot prices were lower but premiums were through the roof.

The virus panic and its effects on the financial picture have caused the usual knee-jerk reaction from the Federal Government to step in a create more money. This will inevitably have a negative effect on existing dollars, and the value of all will go down. There is no reason to believe the dollar will completely collapse overnight. It's end is coming but gradually. However, if the government keeps increasing the velocity of money creation, it might not be all that slow.
 
Demand is a beotch.

Hopefully once this is all over everyone offloads.
 
I was able to snag some for $3/oz over spot.


I didnt even bother looking during all this panic because I figured the panic + market volatility would raise the prices... why buy high?
I happend to check it out the other day and found that it dipped to $12/oz last Wednesday.

Of course i started looking and found that local shops where I used to pick up 1oz bars or rounds for $1 over spot were not jacking it up to the point that it wasnt even worth it to buy.

Kind of like the classifieds here. Suddenly there is a lot of cool bubblegum for sale and ammo in my area...... but its all at elevated prices. Dont even look anymore.


Cant wait for this crap to be over.
 
Somebody in one of the classified threads wanted to know the cause of this wide gap. It's less about panic among retail buyers than it is about sell-offs and other workings in the commodity markets, I'd think. Where so much silver exists and trades only on paper, not as physical metal. So as markets roil, holders of paper assets have to get out because lots of those positions are leveraged debt. If they don't get out, they will get crushed. Financial manipulators are finding out (once again) the downside of intricate and fanciful financial vehicles. Like derivatives and massive amounts of leverage arranged through debt. My data is probably old, but last time I looked the ratio of paper silver traded vs. physical silver traded on exchanges was something like 570 to 1. About twice the ratio of paper vs. physical gold traded. Plus, the exchanges have a bunch of rules that govern silver trading including caps and I don't know how that works but the result favors a lower price for silver from which the spot price is largely derived. Or something like that.
 
My dad and mom just came by. He said he bought 3 boxes of silver. He spent $25,000.
But I'm not sure that's a great buy. Isn't silver like the slowest growth in metals?
 
I rember buying silver at $5 an ounce. Shoulda bought more! Last time I bought some, about 43 years ago, it was around $14 an ounce.

And without looking, it's about the same now isn't it? Once again, your avatar matches your post! :s0140: Well, maybe not funny. :oops:
 
I saw someone asking $25/oz and wondered why so much when spot was $14. Not worth it for that price! Stock up on silver/gold when it's at normal prices....kinda like ammo and firearms!
 
Uh...that should have read 3-4 years ago not 43 years ago!! Liqour & a keyboard.....

I didn't relate to the 43 years. Derp.

Ooo, did you pick it up when it hit around $17.00 some years ago? We cashed in a bunch of coin silver and I decided to have me some silver rounds! I'm not sure why. If SHTF I'd probably one of the early ones to go. Then I'd lose my silver anyway. I've got gold that my dad invested in years ago. Not in my possession, but with the "Guy". I'd debated getting some for the safe. But also using it to get a new, or new to us, car.
 
Ha-suz wept....

Really, you buy into stock/precious metal because of internet x-pert advise....ai caramba....

Now see, this aluminum siding is the best because...uh-huh, I'm gonna be advised by your expertise...

And my snake oil is the best, wait, did I say snake oil?

Huh, forgive me, I meant to say...blah, blah, blah, blah, blah....

x-perts here are a dime a f-ing thousand...

But wait, that's not all.....
 
I read what the folks who say the time to buy is now, and I read what the folks who say dont buy now. I buy a little here and there when the mood strikes me, why, because of that childhood pirate in me who like to fill a chest up with booty...
But I must admit that I enjoy my wifes fine chest and booty far more :D
 
The US and Canadian mints are shut down and there is way too much paper silver out there in relation to the real thing and comex knows it. So do all the big suppliers. This is why the premium is so far over spot.
Imho silver and platinum are way under valued for what they are, their usefulness and their rarity.
 
You sound very knowledgeable regarding precious metals.
Because...?

I have only a personal interest in it, not a commercial one. I have silver I bought in 1980, never have sold any, have only added to as I thought times were right. My dad was a silver saver, started in 1964 when the government demonetized silver coinage. He paid face value for all of his. I remember him saying, "I probably won't ever need this, you'll probably get it." He died in 1984, he was right, it never did him any good. When my mom died in 2017, my sister gave me my dad's silver hoard. Now I tell my son, "I probably won't ever need this, you'll probably get it." Likely. I don't WANT to ever NEED it, I'd prefer to go along fat, dumb and happy with plenty of paper money that people accept without question.
 
Premiums over spot on all precious metals are still relatively high. But for the time being, confidence seems to be rebuilding in the equities markets, less money is flowing into so-called safe havens such as precious metal. Gold has gotten a nice bump lately but is headed down again a bit. If the markets don't do another major down-turn, the high premiums are more apt as not to fade to narrower spreads.

I still think silver is under-priced. In view of inflation and the wide ratio with gold prevailing. Right now, I'd be a buyer of more silver if the premium wasn't so high. At present, a dealer will pay about $1,600 for a 100 oz. bar. Which is over spot. But the sale price of a 100 oz. bar is $1,965 or thereabouts, a premium of
$365. Too high. Ideally, in "normal" times of demand, I'd want to pay $200 or less spread at these levels.

Putting your money into precious metals, and especially silver, has risks. If you don't care about the money, if you're just interested in a theoretical hard medium of exchange for possible emergency scenarios, maybe it's for you. But price swings can be volatile. You need to be in it for the long run to feel good about it.

Prices and values are relative. I was just discussing this with Mrs. Merkt the other day. Gold has had a nice run-up lately, into the $1,700's but now back down into the high $1,600's again. I told her, I don't like the idea of buying "high." When the market seems frothy or effervescent. But on the other hand, if we think $1,700 is high today, if something really bad comes along to collapse the currency, $1,700 might seem like a real bargain when everyone is running around, trying to swap out paper money into PM all at once. Personally, I don't foresee a sudden collapse. I think the government and the Fed will massage events and the currency to provide for a slow loss of value over time. They will do anything to prevent a sudden collapse, including create Exxon supertankers full of newly printed currency. Which while preventing a rapid collapse, will contribute greatly to the long, drawn-out, "invisible" undermining of our currency.

This is all internet provided information, worth exactly what you're paying for it.
 

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