Recommendation? Silver Investing

BOSS1

BOSS1

Gold Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
1,692
Greetings all,

It seems there's been a few advertisements lately for gold and silver investing...to (pinky in the air) diversify your portfolio.

As I don't have thousands of bucks burning a hole in my pocket, gold isn't really a medium where I'd be able to get any type of quantity, and it seems its certainly down from where it was not long ago.

I have been looking more into collectable silver coins. I get this is something where you're probably going to have to sit on them for 10-20+ years (why I'm interested now). But some, such as Silver Eagles, while not huge returns, seem to do OK for the 69 and particularly 70 (mint) graded coins.

But there sure seems to be a lot specific details that all go into the mix...where the coin is minted, finish, number, grading organization (I hear there's 4 major grading outfits), etc.

Any well-versed numismatics that can offer some advice to someone that might have a couple hundred bucks to put into a modest little nest egg, er...diversify their portfolio? Particularly where you don't have to watch spot prices by the hour for the next 10 years.

Thanks,
BOSS
 
I am no expert but my father used to do day trading. The thing he said about investing in silver is that silver has the chance to change by a larger percentage than gold.
 
Unless you are preparing for the world to end as we know it, I don't see much point in putting a lot of money into silver coins. I tend to buy a roll of Silver Eagles every year or so, but that is about it. Frankly, I wonder why I bother. I mean... how do you sell this stuff and get any return? Pawn shop that buys gold?
 
22-rimfire said:
Unless you are preparing for the world to end as we know it, I don't see much point in putting a lot of money into silver coins. I tend to buy a roll of Silver Eagles every year or so, but that is about it. Frankly, I wonder why I bother. I mean... how do you sell this stuff and get any return? Pawn shop that buys gold?
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You sell it to the next guy who thinks the world is gonna end.

For simple investments, buy your first coins in bulk at melt value. This will satisfy your immediate urge, give you the chance to research what you have just bought and give you a better idea of if and how you want to proceed(buying bulk to have volume on hand or buying a single sought after coin).
 
Morgans are going up in value each year, especially pre 1921, and they don't necessarily have to be in BU+ condition to do so. Standing Liberty Quarters have been a hot topic for a while, and are still going strong in resell. It's not uncommon for a legit silver/gold/precious metals site like MPM, PM, JMB, etc. to sell the better condition coins for well above silver spot price. Which is another option - buying rounds, bars or bullion to get your price closer to spot.

Take it from a guy that always enjoys getting his hands on some silver: If you want to invest in something, think real estate. :D
 
22-rimfire said:
Unless you are preparing for the world to end as we know it, I don't see much point in putting a lot of money into silver coins. I tend to buy a roll of Silver Eagles every year or so, but that is about it. Frankly, I wonder why I bother. I mean... how do you sell this stuff and get any return? Pawn shop that buys gold?
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Various legitimate websites (dunno if I can name since I'm sure they don't pay here) will buy your silver/gold cache from you at 95-99% spot price. I'll gladly give you names of a few if I'm allowed to PM it or something.
 
Buy Real Estate in the Toronto market. Prices have been going up up to 20% a year. They say our market bubble will burst soon but as long as there are so many foreigners moving here and Toronto and Vancouver are the only cities they move to I don't know how that is going to happen.

I think when the Baby Boomers start to die out it's going to have a huge downward impact on real estate prices.
 
Thanks for the info. I do like silver, I just really don't know how to sell it other than on fleabay or something.
 
Greetings all,

Well, it's a pretty deep pool of knowledge...so many different versions, markings, finishes, etc. I wound up buying a small handful of various Silver Eagles that seem to be a bit 'rarer' if the sales pitches are to be believed. It's something I'll probably do every year or so. Again, relatively new at the whole idea, but to me, it unless you think SPOT price is going to quadruple or something, and you can afford to buy sizable quantities, not really a profitable investment. Years ago Silver was like $3 per oz, so you yeah, if you've got 100 lbs now, you'd make a pretty nice profit. Not what I'm really after...

That being said, IIRC the websites are to be believed, silver his averaging about 232% return over about a 7 year period. That doesn't seem to be too shaby compared to relatively non-existent savings account returns.

Rather, I'm selectively looking at coins that have some limitations on them making them to *hopefully* be worth several times more in 10+ years. For example, one of the catalogs that I get from time to time was listing a specific version of three 1986 Silver Eagles for $1,800+ each not to long ago. That's the kind of thing you cross your fingers and hope for, so I'm looking for graded coins from smaller/more limited mintings. As any collector knows, grading makes all the difference and makes a whole different animal. For example, some of the graded 2016/30th Anniversary Silver Eagles had first/only edge lettering...depending on the version and grade, much, much smaller number of coins than from the 2016 total mintage. Supply and demand, collectability, desirability, etc.

I think this is a decent market for those of us 'low rollers' that don't have 10's of 1000's of dollars to buy real estate or large chunks of stocks/bonds. At least its an effort to put something away for later rather than squandering it on temporary or petty things. You can take a little time to educate yourself, buy a few, toss them under the mattress or in the safe, and sort of forget about it for awhile and live your life not trying to outwit the stock market every day/week.

As for selling, yeah...,down the road, you're probably going to have to sell at a show, on-line, or at coin dealer/shop, (hopefully not a pawn shop). There do seem to be a lot of coin collectors out there, so hopefully if you've got a few nice ones you can find buyers willing to pay a fair price. But you'll have to know what you have and how much it's worth at the time (which shouldn't be too hard with the internet). I certainly don't intend to sell any of the graded coins I just purchased for anywhere near spot price down the road, that would be an epic loss.

Cheers,
BOSS
 
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If I were yall I wouldn't invest in numismatics itself, but in silver as a commodity. Investing in silver as a commodity such as buying silver bullion bars or non numismatic coins or rounds is the way I do it. Silver is a very volatile commodity. Making it a bit more risky, but could give you a better return if you play your cards right. When it's time to sell never use a pawn shop, you'd be lucky to get half of spot back. I would sell to someone like apmex, JM bullion, provident metals or similar. There very easy to sell to when your ready.
 
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Turnerjustin401 said:
If I were yall I wouldn't invest in numismatics itself, but in silver as a commodity. Investing in silver as a commodity such as buying silver bullion bars or non numismatic coins or rounds is the way I do it. Silver is a very volatile commodity. Making it a bit more risky, but could give you a better return if you play your cards right. When it's time to sell never use a pawn shop, you'd be lucky to get half of spot back. I would sell to someone like apmex, JM bullion, provident metals or similar. There very easy to sell to when your ready.
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If I had more cash, I'd probably try to 'buy in bulk.' But again folks, extremely finite funds. If you've got 4, 5, 6+ figures to play with, or a couple grand a month, I'm not in your league. There's a lot of truth in the 'Those that have money make money.' I'm not in that camp. A few *hopefully* collectable Silver Eagles a year is about all I can gamble with (and its all a gamble). Time will tell...

The one thing I do note is that both gold and silver are down...silver is like at ~$16/oz. That's down quite a bit...and I think all the adds we're seeing is folks trying to stop the fall buy getting others to buy/increase demand. If it gets down to under $8/oz., and I get a couple free bucks, I might buy a couple pounds, just to put away and then loosely track the market for a good time to sell.

If there's anybody out there that has some decent advice (here's a good coin, etc). Give me a shout. Alternatively, if someone is kind of a similar inkling to me and wants to snag a couple collectable Silver Eagles, shoot me an email or message and I'll pass on the sliver of what I've learned.

Cheers,
Boss
 
I have always liked the proof Silver Eagles offered for sale by the Treasury Department yearly. I don't know what return you're likely to get but you certainly don't want to sell them for "spot" or "spot + a discount". Since they started making them, every year or so I pick up a few to put away in addition to the 20-coin rolls periodically.

Added: Been thinking about this subject and you know the reason I own silver is not really for investment purposes. It is more of a last resort value should something happen. I know the coins have value, but what they are worth really doesn't matter to me. I buy the proofs because they are supposed to be perfect rather than simply buying uncirculated coins.
 
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Personally, I don't like graded coins because the premiums are so high and the market can be fickle with respect to what's popular and what's not. I'd recommend low-premium silver bullion (bars, rounds, coins); at least you know where you stand with respect to resale value. As Turnerjustin401 mentioned, most of the reputable online retailers will also buy back from you at spot price. I've also occasionally seen members here buying and selling in the marketplace. Good luck.
 
Lapedog said:
Can't you buy silver stock as well. So you don't have to own bullion?
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Very dangerous. The metals markets are so over-leveraged by the big banks trading paper everyday that IF there's ever a run on the metals your paper claim will be worthless and you'll be left holding the bag for some slimy rich guy like Soros or Corzine. If you can't hold it, you don't own it.
 
Lapedog said:
...I think when the Baby Boomers start to die out it's going to have a huge downward impact on real estate prices.
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They probably said the same thing about the WWII vets or that generation. I have thoughts along your line of thinking relative to Colt revolvers as collectibles, future interest, and hence value. Real estate is almost always a good investment if you buy carefully. It just depends on how long you want to sit on it.

I like silver, but my buying would not be considered investing as you have to be willing to sell it. Some day, somebody will have to figure things out after I croak and they find all these little caches that have value. Years ago I bought a whole life insurance policy and of course everyone said that they are bad investments. But, I was looking for something that was tax sheltered and predictably gained in value. The insurance policy did that.
 
Greetings,

As indicated, with most any 'investing' it's all a gamble...'past performance is no indication of future return.' It does seem that if one were to be buying bulk, now would be a decent time to do it as Spot price is hovering in the $16/oz range. I'd have to look into the history a bit to see where it's been over say the last 5 years. If it does go much lower, definitely down around the $10/0z or less mark (hopefully it doesn't go that low), I'd be inclined to buy a pound or two just to sit on. As I say, I'm not looking for a quick turn around. I've seen some claiming that silver may go to $200/oz, which I think is a large bit of wishful thinking and an even larger chunk of advertising. Sure...anything *could* happen.

As for the coinage, a few one points that I've heard mentioned if you're going to heading down the road to becoming a 'stacker' (bulk silver accumulator) is that Silver Eagles are A. Legal Tender. B. Most shops/dealers will readily transact with them without much hassle as they're clearly recognizable. C. You usually get a little Spot+, not Spot -.

Right now I'm just dabbling. There's been a few Silver Eagle variants to come out in the past few months that would seem to offer some collectability opportunities, so I've picked up a few. in 15-20 years, hopefully they'll bring a decent return. I have no delusions that they'll be fetching 10's of 1000's of dollars (tho it would be nice). But if they bring in $500-$1200 each, that'd be OK. If I had $10K to play with now, I'd be looking at it differently. And this is not my only 'retirement' plan...we've got other things we're doing. This is just 'diversifying' the 'portfolio' a bit as it were.

As I say, if there's any out there that actually have some experience or would like to chat about off-line, shoot me a message/email.

BOSS
 
The difference between the WWII vets to boomers, to boomers to millenials is that only the upper portion of 1% of millenials can afford to buy a house in my city.

I am only really talking about those cities with such inflated markets which are due to burst.

People were getting paid 18$ an hour to lay chains in a warehouse as a starting wage in Toronto in the 1980s. Today that same job starts at 15$ dollars an hour. There are people getting paid 16$ an hour doing the cutting and gunning work for framing houses.

Millenials are the only generation where all the costs of living have gone up but none of the pay has gone up.
 
My comment on bulk was a reference to, example, buy a greater volume circulated Morgans at or very close to spot VS a couple of mint collectors coins for the same $.
 
I've owned silver since the late 60's, all 90% us coinage....mostly Kennedy halves but some walkers and franklins along with morgans and peace dollars. Since the 80's when the Hunt brothers were trying to break Comex, older investors became very skittish of silver. I have sold off most of my silver. There are better investments, IMO. The only guys that make money are the brokers and dealers.

The collector market is fickle no matter the item. Keep in mind they minted thousands upon thousands of newer coins.
 
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