Buying Gold and Silver (A bit long-winded...)

[airborne1092]

O.K. - call me dum or call me a genius.

I would like to know everyone’s consensus opinion regarding the best place to buy gold and silver in coin, gram and/or ounce. Let me tell you first, what I’ve considered and in doing so, perhaps a cursory window into my mind and way of thinking…


I will not buy stock in gold or silver nor will I give someone money to tell me I have ‘X’ amount invested, that they’re happy to keep for me. I want it in my hand or in my safe. This is a no-brainer for me.

I bid in several online auctions. I bid face value for several coins and of course I didn’t think I’d win the auction on those items, but hey, you never know. I’m sure there are folks out there who know to the 4th decimal place, the value of a certain coin. In this, I’ll be beat everytime and I guess I’m wasting my time and theirs.

I looked at Ebay for gold and silver but after investigating the bid history, I wouldn’t trust an item on Ebay if my life depended on it. I’m sure you all know what I’m speaking of. A lot of 10x1 ounce silver bars, starting bid, .99 cents. After several low bids up to about 10 dollars, the price jumps to 141.00.
Yea, right.
If the dealer paid 140.00 for 10 one ounce silver bars then why not bid what you paid for them. I wouldn’t want to loose money either. You ‘win’ your own item and put it up for bid again next week hoping that either the market price goes up or some dummy pays 150.00 plus 40.00 shipping and insurance and you’ve made some nice profit. So, I won’t be buying there.

I see online I can purchase direct from a dealer, but it appears the markup premium appears to be about 10%. So I can pay spot price plus 10% plus shipping. On gold that might be O.K., but I cant afford too much gold. On silver, that’s almost doubling the cost even though silver is easily affordable. Six of one, half a dozen of another. This venue might prove to be a more of a necessary evil and one of my few viable options.

Another place I found online, I can purchase 40% or 90% coins in bags. After reading the details several times, I still can’t figure out if I’m paying face value or if I’m paying for the silver content (Reading is fundamental!) Also, the dealer says each bag has about 715 ounces of silver – so are we talking troy ounce or standard ounce? It seems this would also make a difference on the cost of the bag if I were paying for the silver content. Of course as much as I distrust the currency as issued by a private organization contracted by the Federal government, I do have a bit of heartburn paying more for coins than their face value. i.e. I don’t want to pay $1.65 for a 1964 Kennedy half dollar; I’d rather pay $600.00 for an 1884 5$ gold coin.

So, after all that, can someone please tell me where to get gold and silver without paying an arm AND a leg. I understand there is going to be “service fees” built in because hey, I understand we all want to make a little money. I thank you all for taking the time to read this and anticipate with interest in reading your replies.

 

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[Emperor Findus Cladius]

I purchased 50 one ounce silver rounds from NWT (Northwest Territorial Mint) earlier this year. They charged me spot plus about 10%, and that included shipping. They mint their own rounds and bars, in addition to selling eagles and other bars. They told me up front it would take about 90 days to get my shipment, it ended up taking about 80 days. This is an option you might want to look in to.

 

[airborne1092]

Again, that would be my "necessary evil" option.

Can you remember, Wayne1956, do they ship USPS or is it a private carrier (i.e. FedEx or UPS?)

My other consideration is that I live in Germany, so technically my snail mail address is a POB in New York where the military picks it up.

I appreciate your input. Thank you for that tip, Wayne1956!

 

[Gettintoknowsomethin]

I myself DO NOT buy any PMs from EBAY! there are just too many scams there. I deal with AMPEX the cost is a little higher but I always get what I paid for! When the dollar crashes the extra cost wont mean anything!. I hold $20,000 worth of gold and $700.00 worth of silver eagles The only reason I am not buying anymore at this time is my safe deposit box at the bank wont hold any more!. AMPEX has allways done me right. The items I get from them are as advertised ALLWAYS!. With the rise of intrest in gold and silver the fraud on EBay will only rise.

 

[cyberdan]

I will not buy stock in gold or silver nor.....I want it in my hand or in my safe.

Wise move, if they go under no one gets their paper gold.

I bid in several online auctions. I bid face value for several coins and of course I didn’t think I’d win the auction on those items, but hey, you never know.

I bid a lot on ebay for coins and sterling items. I only win one out of about 4 or 5 but I do OK. A few times, after adding in shipping, I break even on silver value or lose a little bit. But silver will go up and on those items I just hold a little longer before the melter gets them. I set a max bid in my mind (including shipping) and I do not go over. I never get caught in a bidding war.

so are we talking troy ounce or standard ounce?
I don’t want to pay $1.65 for a 1964 Kennedy half dollar

If they are professional they will always be talking in troy ounces (12 to the troy pound) If in doubt ask but also remember 31.1 grams = 1 tr oz. James, if you can get 64 JFKs for that price buy all you can, silver value today is $5.03 if you meant 65-70 JFK the value is $2.06 not a big profit but still something.

 

[Emperor Findus Cladius]

If I remember right they were sent to me Fedex

[ I do have a bit of heartburn paying more for coins than their face value. i.e. I don’t want to pay $1.65 for a 1964 Kennedy half dollar;
[/quote]

If I could buy a 1964 Kennedy half for $1.65, I would put myself in deep hock to get every one I could. I could then turn around and sell them for $5 each immediately. I do not look at them as a half dollar, I look at them as an indivdual unit of silver, that just happened to have a monetary amount attached to it.

 

[GrayCloud]

Wayne, isn't the 1964 Kennedy Half a 40% silver base? That would make is about four times face value at the most. Anything before 64 would be about ten times face value. Correct me if I am incorrect here.

 

[jim4silver]

I don’t want to pay $1.65 for a 1964 Kennedy half dollar; I’d rather pay $600.00 for an 1884 5$ gold coin.

A 1964 Kennedy is worth about $4.50-$5.00 just for silver content (90%) silver. If you can get them for $1.65 buy all you can and forget the $5 gold coin at that price.

Wayne, isn't the 1964 Kennedy Half a 40% silver base? That would make is about four times face value at the most. Anything before 64 would be about ten times face value. Correct me if I am incorrect here.

1964 and earlier are 90%. 1965-1970 halves are 40%.

Jim

 

[Gettintoknowsomethin]

I like to hord gold myself! yellow is better!

 

[cyberdan]

I like to hord gold myself! yellow is better!

unless it is snow

 

[Seamuss]

I find the yellow stuff mixed with blacksand and stock pile it all summer. Then I separate the yellow metal in winter months to avoid the yellow snow.

 

[erikk]

I like to collect these

 

[Seamuss]

I like to collect these

I can relate to collect these items also.

 

[jewelerdave]

Everything in this pic is for sale for how ever long it lasts!

 

[homefires]

Ok this does not happen all the time but often enough to pay attention too.

I posted this last month on another forum.

-------------------

Well? There are those who Know and Thems Who Don't!!

I bought a 9 Troy oz Sterling Silver Dented Up Tea Pot at a yard sale this week end.

$1.00

Lets see?

Sterling Silver = .925 Silver content

9 x .925 = 8.32 Troy Oz of Silver

Current Silver Price: $17.00 or so

17.00 x 8.32 = $141.44

Do I feel bad about it?

Yea Sorta but I seen 10 people pick it up and walk away.

That one is going to Midwest and will pay my land payment and a bit of (beer Reward).

Being Broke Sucks.




A person I know at the flea market showed up today with 6 yes 6 ,14K gold chains he purchased at a Yard Sale for $4.00 each.

58.3 (14K Gold Content) times 5 Toz total weight.

Yelds 2.915 Oz gold.


Value today?

$3162. and change!

Now Thats how you Do It!

 

[goldsworthy]

I been trying to sell these two coins for some time. I guess not many are buying these days. The mint stopped making these fractional so you would think they would be in demand. I guess I am just stuck with them. Good thing I am not hurting for cash or I would have to send em to cash for gold!

 

[cyberdan]

A person I know at the flea market showed up today with 6 yes 6 ,14K gold chains he purchased at a Yard Sale for $4.00 each.

58.3 (14K Gold Content) times 5 Toz total weight.

Yelds 2.915 Oz gold. Value today? $3162. and change!

$3162 does not sound right.
If the total weight of 6 14K chains is 58.3gr and gold is at $1150
I come up with $1257.54

Or are you saying the total weight is 5 troy oz? (155.5 gr)
Then your total would be $3354.16

 

[alexfm123]

TO bring back the idea of having a sound investment if the current paper money were to devalue, the best thing is silver. How are you gonna "make change" for a half a dozen eggs that could be had for a silver quarter, when all you have are $50 gold coins? Im stocking up on silver bullion (American and Mexican-the mexican bullion i bought was considerably cheaper. but then again, so was the dealer.) and Pre-1964 silver coins.

Just my 2 cents.

Alex.

 

[airborne1092]

alexfm123-

My thoughts exactly. Not that I wanted to be 'labeled', or sound like an alarmist, however; In the case I have to send my family back to the States ahead of me in response to a crisis, I want my wife to have an alternate form of liquid barter material aside from a bill fold full of Federal Reserve paper.

Thank you all for the input.

 

[jim4silver]

TO bring back the idea of having a sound investment if the current paper money were to devalue, the best thing is silver. How are you gonna "make change" for a half a dozen eggs that could be had for a silver quarter, when all you have are $50 gold coins? Im stocking up on silver bullion (American and Mexican-the mexican bullion i bought was considerably cheaper. but then again, so was the dealer.) and Pre-1964 silver coins.

Just my 2 cents.

Alex.

Although I like gold and silver lots and have a bit of both, I don't think we will ever see the "barter" scenario that many talk about. In theory it sounds plausible, but here is why I think it will not happen or if it does happen, will not be sustainable for any length of time.

Let's say the dollar crashes next month. How many people do you know that have silver and/or gold to barter with? I would say for me, 99% of my family and friends only have a couple coins if any (junk silver passed down by grandma, etc.), and no gold except for jewelry.

If things get so bad the dollar crashes and people need silver or gold to live on, there is gonna be a HUGE hoard of folks rioting and pillaging because they have no silver or gold and they are hungry. Many of them will probably have guns, so it would seem to me that if society falls that far due to the dollar going to zero, there is not going to be an environment stable enough to go to the local store with silver or gold to buy stuff. You would probably be robbed and/or killed for your silver and gold and groceries before you made if home. Even if you are armed, the roving masses will outnumber gold/silver bugs greatly I would think.

Also, even if you can use silver and gold to barter, how long will your supply last? I know mine would not last too long if I had to use it to buy food/barter with on a daily basis.

I think there will always be some type of governmental money (medium of exchange), whether it is the dollar or some new currency. Without it society would collapse so bad it would make prior riots, etc, (Katrina, the aftermath of the Rodney King trial) look like Sunday picnics. No matter how well you might think you are able to defend yourself and your family, there is always gonna be a "gang" or group of outlaws that will have more or superior firepower. As long as the government and society desire some semblance of normalcy and survivability, there will have to be a "dollar" of some sort.

In fact, many people say they fear the government if something like this happens, but I fear the unprepared and desperate people in my town more if the crap hits the fan really bad.

I do think that gold and silver will keep going up in value relative to dollars or some other currency and will still be valuable for many years, but I truly hope this "barter economy" never happens because there are too many that are unprepared and they will be so desperate they will do whatever it takes to survive, including feeding on goldbugs.

Jim