Deal with coin shops, not pawn shops! please!?

SilverForBrains

SilverForBrains

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Feb 1, 2012
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Most of you are aware of this, but some are not so here I go. WHEN YOU SELL YOUR COINS TO PAWN AND GOLD/SILVER SHOPS THEY MELT THEM!

So why should you care? well, other than the fact that you will get way less under spot than a coin shop or on ebay (plus you get no numismatic value), you are completely removing the coins from what I like to call the "Circle of Silver". In this model, silver coins are a renewable resource. Silver coins are in circulation in sparing amounts. This is a short term reservoir, with high fluxes in and out. The fluxes in are from silver cashed in at face value from dead relatives, old estates, stolen collections, etc. The flux out is due to CRH. Silver in the possession of a person is a long-term reservoir. They may have the coins 50, 80 years. When they die, maybe the collection goes to someone else and stays in the long-term reservoir, but maybe it gets cashed in at face. The point is, as long as silver coins remain in the possession of people, there will always be a flux into the short-term circulation reservoir, which is what you and I as CRHs want. If you take these coins and have them melted, you are removing the # of coins in existence, and the amount of silver in circulation will continue to decrease. it's as simple as that. This effects YOU as a CRH. Sell your coins to a coin shop. Who knows, you may find the same ones again in circulation someday!
 

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kfs said:
I think you would be asking for the use of a little to much grey matter from this individual!
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Oh you didn't hear? They stopped making half dollars in the '70's. The rolls are so rare. :D
 

SilverForBrains said:
Most of you are aware of this, but some are not so here I go. WHEN YOU SELL YOUR COINS TO PAWN AND GOLD/SILVER SHOPS THEY MELT THEM!

So why should you care? well, other than the fact that you will get way less under spot than a coin shop or on ebay (plus you get no numismatic value), you are completely removing the coins from what I like to call the "Circle of Silver". In this model, silver coins are a renewable resource. Silver coins are in circulation in sparing amounts. This is a short term reservoir, with high fluxes in and out. The fluxes in are from silver cashed in at face value from dead relatives, old estates, stolen collections, etc. The flux out is due to CRH. Silver in the possession of a person is a long-term reservoir. They may have the coins 50, 80 years. When they die, maybe the collection goes to someone else and stays in the long-term reservoir, but maybe it gets cashed in at face. The point is, as long as silver coins remain in the possession of people, there will always be a flux into the short-term circulation reservoir, which is what you and I as CRHs want. If you take these coins and have them melted, you are removing the # of coins in existence, and the amount of silver in circulation will continue to decrease. it's as simple as that. This effects YOU as a CRH. Sell your coins to a coin shop. Who knows, you may find the same ones again in circulation someday!
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Well..not all pawn shops are the same. The one in my area, resells the coins and other silver/gold jewelry and not melts it!
 

Everyone seems to mention this mythical "refinery" where all the silver coins go to be "melted".

Think about it for a minute.

Why would a refinery melt silver coins? They have a healthy market where they are easilly traded in their current form. Everyone knows about 90% silver coins. They have a known percentage, known weights, and ultimately a known value. Just because coins are being sent to a refinery, does not necessarily mean they are actually being melted.

I am pretty sure most of these coins just get traded around in bulk rather than actually get melted down into bars or bullion. There is an added cost to melt down coins so why would an investor spend money to change their investment with a known value into something else?
 

melting beautiful old coins to make an ugly bar never made sense to me, but it's legal so what can you do?
 

This is just another reason I keep my finds.. IMO as more coins are sent off to be melted, the more numismatic value our coins will have.. I would bet that in 20 years, the common date Rosies I find will have more value that just melt..
 

pawn vs coin does bring up a good point. I have called all the local coin and pawn shops and asking them. All my coin shops send out scrap gold and silver to be melted down. I actually picked up a 1986 ASE at a coin shop for 36.50, about 2.50 above spot. I actually asked if the ASE was suppose to be in the junk pile and they said it was so beat up that it couldn't be sold for numinstic value. all it has is a couple of dings but nothing serious. But I called pawn shops and I haven't gotten round to see if they melt their coins but very few in my area have silver coinage at all. On the good side I found a coinshop that sells 2012 ASEs for spot price versus the 40 dollars that another LCS wanted. But it is a good thing to call around, check your local sources. While I think it is a good idea to melt your 40%s into pure silver bars for personal use, for the refiners to melt beautiful coins into metal for cellphones or electrics just makes me ill.

Sincerely,
Garoulady
 

Just wanted to follow up on this topic: Stopped by my local gold buyer with whom I have a good working relationship. I asked him what happens to the 90% silver coins he buys. He takes them to a semi-local coin wholesaler who buys from most of the local retail operations. They then collect all the 90%-ers into $1,000 face bags. Those bags then get traded on the open market for their bullion value. He confirmed for me that 90% silver coins are INDEED already in their final trade-able form. They do not get melted down and made into bars - that is just a myth.
 

jerseyben...that's exactly what our local PM buyer told me. They do not get melted down.
 

Dawg's you should find your own half dollar crimper's and put a few 90%'rs on at the end of each roll. Go to a pawnshop tell them you found these in your grandaddy's basement, and you want $1 a piece. Tell them you don't want to open them to break up the collection. They give you $1000 for $500 worth of halves and you loose two or three 90%'rs not half bad if you ask me. That's how you get back at these pawners.
 

50cent said:
Dawg's you should find your own half dollar crimper's and put a few 90%'rs on at the end of each roll. Go to a pawnshop tell them you found these in your grandaddy's basement, and you want $1 a piece. Tell them you don't want to open them to break up the collection. They give you $1000 for $500 worth of halves and you loose two or three 90%'rs not half bad if you ask me. That's how you get back at these pawners.
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That is the stupidest idea I have heard this week. Not calling you stupid, just your idea.
 

50cent said:
Dawg's you should find your own half dollar crimper's and put a few 90%'rs on at the end of each roll. Go to a pawnshop tell them you found these in your grandaddy's basement, and you want $1 a piece. Tell them you don't want to open them to break up the collection. They give you $1000 for $500 worth of halves and you loose two or three 90%'rs not half bad if you ask me. That's how you get back at these pawners.
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Problem is they'll just weigh them if they know anything. Lol
 

Dear lord why did you guys bring this topic back up, it was a faulty statement to begin with. now I have to look like a jacka$@ twice
 

They do melt some of the coinage into bars which then get sold to companies that use the silver for electronics and medical field. I watched several documentaries in the history channel about this subject. :;sniffles:: its was so sad to watch all that beautiful silver get turned into bars. And I couldn't have any of it!!! Bummer!

sincerely, Garoulady
 

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Apparently a lot of silver has disappeared in the last year

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