Good morning and a big thank you in advance to anyone who can offer me some advice. I am just getting started in the coin world. My dad had a lot of Morgans that I bought from him as an inflation hedge and now I want to get some more 90% junk silver. I have tried to read a lot of the posts here, but couldn't find an answer to this question. Should I worry about buying fakes when it comes to the 90% and 40% junk silver coins? I have been buying some here and there on Craigslist and at coin shows, and didn't know if there was anything I should be worried about. I have seen the pictures of the fake Morgans coming out of China, but do fakes exist with old quarters and halves and beat up dollars? Thanks again - as I said, I'm new to this and have loved reading all the posts in these Forums.
Yes, counterfeits exist. The trick to avoiding them is to buy "junk" silver that has no numismatic value. Almost all silver Dollars have a numismatic value of some kind. Washington quarters from the later years with no mint marks usually sell of bullion value. Franklin half dollars likewise. So, the only way to profit from a counterfeit would be to make it out of something besides silver. If you can identify silver coins as being silver, then buying a counterfeit isn't likely. I did find one coin shop that was selling a magicians half dollar as bullion, but it was obvious that the coin wasn't silver. If you buy coins with numismatic value, almost anything can be a counterfeit or altered in some way to make it more valuable. I once saw a 1909 penny with v.d.b. stamped into the reverse to make it worth more. This is the type of altering I'm talking about. If a coin has $14 worth of silver value, but a rare Carson City silver dollar with the exact same amount of silver is worth $200, then a counterfeiter might make one out of silver just because of the numismatic they could get for it. If the silver coin in question has no numismatic value, you can use this test to tell if it is 90% silver. Balance the coin on the tip of your finger and tap it with another coin, like a quarter. The silver coin will make a nice long rinnngggggg sound that last a few seconds. Try it with one of your silver dollars. So, stick with "junk" silver and stay away from numismatic type coins if you are worried about this. After you've handled a bunch of "junk" silver coins, you should get a better feel for what authentic silver coins feel and look like....this will help you spot those that aren't silver.
Check out http://www.providentmetals.com/, they seem to have a pretty fair price on 90% silver U.S. coins. And most important, they sell at $1.00 increments. Shipping a little steep, but that depends on the amount you buy I guess.
Welcome to CoinTalk. I think a much better way to own silver is to purchase American Silver Eagles [ASEs]. They are easy to buy and easy to sell and look a lot better than the junk coins. They cost a bit more than junk silver, but you will get a better price on the sell side.
Thanks Thanks. I just got back from a show. I held off on buying today - two weeks ago I was able to buy a small bag of junk silver for 11x, but today all the dealers wanted 13.5-14x. And $15 for Morgans with holes in them or in other rough shape. I think I will wait to see silver come down a bit. I know it could go up, but I'll roll the dice.
Sweeper, I keep hearing you say that you can sell ASE for about a $1 over spot. I don't know where you are located, but near Chicago, old bullion ASE are sold just like rounds, for spot price. I'm guessing that the dealer doesn't pay over spot price since he is selling them for spot price. Since you can sell them for $1 over spot price, and I can purchase them for spot price.....when do we go into business together?
http://www.doelger.com/buying.html Here is the link. It's currently spot +$2.00. I guess there are huge geographical differences.
"Buying Junk Silver - What should I worry about?" The price of silver being low if you realy need to sell it.
I can understand the interest in junk silver. I have heard the same argument in regard to silver being a hedge against inflation. I suppose that is correct. I think my attraction might be different - I just like the looks and sounds of the nice quality junk silver (uncirculated). I suppose it does not matter much what my motivation is as long as I am motivated to get more silver. Either way, I feel like a winner. The ecomony can tank, or become terrific, and we will all still have lovely coins to study and admire. BTW, welcome to cointalk. Don't forget to check your local mom and pop coin shops. They are my favorite source.
Interesting discussion. Apmex also lists $1 over spot as their buyback price for eagles and maples, at least for quantity (minimum $10,000), and you also have to deduct the cost of the shipping. So unless we are living near Cloudsweeper I don't think we're doing too well on the spread. There are two ways to purchase bullion as I see it: one is to look for low premiums and hope to sell back for bullion price, the second is to try to find the tightest spread. I've been looking at the spreads, and some of the best (lowest) premium bullion coins--for instance, Austrian 100 Coronas -- also have the widest spreads. Currently, eagles and maples and such have the tightest spreads, and appear to be the best buy. But they also have higher premiums, and there is no guarantee IMO that when it comes time to sell that they will retain the premium. To be sure of this one would have to track the spreads over time--about a decade. Currently, for instance, Apmex is buying back Pamp Suisse 1 oz ingots for under the spot price. Nothing like a "secure store of value" is there? :rolling: No wonder people trade ETFs. Sorry GATA . http://www.apmex.com/APMEXTop40/Default.aspx
I just bought some silver a few hours ago and the shop I went to had sold out of bars and only had ASEs left. He was asking $22 a piece before tax. Personally, I'm buying for the bullion value and am not interested in the numismatic value of the ASE so putting that much more into it isn't worth it to me. However I definitely liked the 'sparkle' of the ASE and may eventually venture into them.
