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So let's say you buy 10 ounces of coins 90 percent silver and spot is 18 per ounce do you get less because it's only 90 percent? do they buy at melt because they have to melt it refine it for pure silver sorry I know this is complicated but my brain is also lol
If I buy 10 ounces in silver bars for the same price that are 99.9 like Mattheys a reputable company with serial number wouldn't the bars be a better buy cause it would seem you would get spot price plus 10 percent more silver all day long cause they would not have to be refined and is spot lower for coins because being coins are 90 percent to use for silver you would have to melt and refine
hope I didn't lose you guys I almost lost myself. Are 10 ounces in 99.9 worth more than 10 ounce 90 percent coins. Or a better value to get bars cause you wouldn't have to melt or refine. Spot /Melt I still dont get it. Thanks In advance
 

Spot is what silver price is set at for the moment.
90% silver is worth a percentage of that , IF melt value is the price basis.

If you are selling , (regardless of current spot price) to a coin dealer you'll get less too. Or pay more if buying. A fee for being in business pretty much.

A coin (well ,certain silver coins do) has face value. If you can spend it ,it has an intrinsic value. Though you take a hit if only getting a dimes worth of merchandise vs coin approximate value based on silver content or rarity. (There are folks with a stash of junk silver coins as a hedge against something...)

Personally , I'd not sell silver coins for melt value. Even "junk silver" coins.

Bars from a known source are better than iffy sources . Though I'd expect to need to prove their silver if trying to negotiate with them.

Have I made you scratch your head yet? I'm scratchin mine...

Fractional bars can be divvied up easier than oz's. (Troy Oz's...) Oz's can be spent easier than bigger bars.
(No , you have not written anything about spending or bartering with silver). Only a recent spot price would need be known. In theory.

IF you accumulate much silver , it's portability gets to be an issue.
Converting a large amount of silver to more portable gold or other precious metal means you get nicked again in the exchange.
At least I expect sellers and buyers to benefit everyone but me , if not a private sale.

Wanna buy some silver?
Or sell some musty old silver dollars , cheap? L.o.l..
 

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Buy gold. Trade off the silver for it. One of my buddies was stacking silver and had pounds of it, and when he got enough he got gold coins from a reputable dealer (not the internet), although there are a couple reputable dealers out there. With gold you can put an inheritance worth's in your pocket, not so with silver.
 

I buy 1 oz silver bars cause I can afford those here and there for an investment for my Daughters 10 years from now if they go up great if not still a bit of money either way. I get lost in spot/ melt . spot is the price of silver at the moment Right. Im wondering if 1 oz of 90 percent say coins is it only worth 90 percent of spot value. Is melt value used for 90 percent coins because it has to be melted/refined. So there would be no melt price on bars because they are 99.9 silver and dont need to be refined. I am getting closer to understanding this. Then spot price on a bar would be 100 percent because the bar is 100 percent silver.. So say spot is 18.dollars a bar would be worht 18dollars on a 90 percent coin it or 9.25 you use melt price which is about 10 percent less than spot RIGHT....I like the JM bars with serial numbers and seal on them easy to store and I prefer them.
 

Yes, and no.
A bar of 99.99 is worth it's weight of spot price. IF the buyer will give you spot price. It 's worth spot to you.( More so, it's worth the spot at the time you acquired it if spot price drops...)

The buyer I'm familiar with charges /deducts a percentage. A percentage of face value on junk silver coins.Note , Morgans and Peace dollars have a bit more silver and calculate differently.
I have not sold him any bars or bought any from him. As they come cheaper from another source. I did not negotiate with him offering to buy if he sells cheaper either though.
(Did ogle/ fondle a 100 nice heavy silver bar in his shop that I liked....)
 

Thanks for the replies I worry that if I sell 200 plus bars and liquidate them Ill lose all the above at the time price I paid but I guess most everyone has to pay a little more. I think Im making this too complicated. I know you will get different sales and buy prices from different people Im just trying to get the basics. Here is how I think from the replies that it works. and my few more questions then understand or not Ill be done. lol
1. an ounce of 99.9 like a bar worth more than an ounce of 90 percent silver coin.
2. melt referring to 9.25 silver or 90 percent coins only, because only these would need to be melted or refined.
3. spot price giving the value of 100 percent silver at the time so 90 percent coins would not get spot only melt.
4. Silver bars rounds ect dont fall into the melt category because they dont need to be refined.
5..Spot means the now price of pure silver
6. Melt is for scrap 90 percent or 9.25
 

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I have a few, but only a few, but do have about 10 Maple Leaf silvers. When I was planning for survival, most of what I focused on with was dimes, quarters and halves. That way in survival situations, I wouldn't have to trade an ounce for a loaf of bread, so to speak.....
 

I have a few, but only a few, but do have about 10 Maple Leaf silvers. When I was planning for survival, most of what I focused on with was dimes, quarters and halves. That way in survival situations, I wouldn't have to trade an ounce for a loaf of bread, so to speak.....

You ain't loadin them silver dimes in a shotgun still are you?
( I'm kidding. Don't do it. Not only not worth it($$$) but not effective very far. Or better put , point blank at best. Without a full choke too of course so not to blow something up.)
 

What guns? Got no stinkin guns :)
That anyone know of ;-O
 

So let's say you buy 10 ounces of coins 90 percent silver and spot is 18 per ounce do you get less because it's only 90 percent? do they buy at melt because they have to melt it refine it for pure silver sorry I know this is complicated but my brain is also lol
If I buy 10 ounces in silver bars for the same price that are 99.9 like Mattheys a reputable company with serial number wouldn't the bars be a better buy cause it would seem you would get spot price plus 10 percent more silver all day long cause they would not have to be refined and is spot lower for coins because being coins are 90 percent to use for silver you would have to melt and refine
hope I didn't lose you guys I almost lost myself. Are 10 ounces in 99.9 worth more than 10 ounce 90 percent coins. Or a better value to get bars cause you wouldn't have to melt or refine. Spot /Melt I still dont get it. Thanks In advance



For the most part, most 90% US "junk silver" does not get melted down. Damaged coins and coins that show very excessive wear will get melted, but not decent coins.

The reason for this is because there are two factors to think about. You are correct in pointing out the general differences between .999, .925 and .900, but you didn't address the issue of PREMIUMS.

There have been a few times where 90% junk had higher "premiums" than even US Silver Eagles per oz of silver. That is not the norm, but I've seen it get that way since I started "stacking" on at least three occassions. The coin dealers make more reselling junk silver because even with low premiums, they get more that way than if they sell it to a refiner to be melted.

If silver is going to be sent to a refiner than the higher percentage silver is worth the most because the refiner pays less for 90% than for .999, generally speaking. If the silver is going to be sold to stackers and collectors, etc, than the premiums are determined by the "market" which differs over time.

Here is an easy trick to see what you are paying by the ounce of pure silver for 90% junk silver. Most coin dealers sell "junk silver" by X times face value. Right now junk silver here sells for about 13 X face at the coin stores. To see how much you are paying for the actual "silver" in those coins, do this: for dimes, quarters and halves 1964 and earlier, take 13 and divide by .715. That equals $18.18, and with silver today at $17.41, I would be paying 77 cents over melt per ounce of pure silver contained within those 90% coins.

It has been determined by the coin market that circulated junk silver has roughly .715 oz per dollar face worth of coins. That is why that number is used to convert to oz of pure silver within the coins. Uncirculated coins left the mint back in those days at roughly .723 oz pure silver per dollar face if I remember correctly, but they account for wear so they made the number lower at .715. So if the coins you get show very little or no wear, you are coming out slightly ahead by using the .715 figure.

You can do the same with US silver dollars, but use .7734 instead of .715 because a $1 worth of silver dollars were made using more silver than a dollar's worth of dimes, quarters and halves.

So try not to think of X times face for junk silver, and instead convert to price per oz of pure silver. For me it's easier to see what I'm paying and for how much I'm getting for it.

Jim
 

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The most common scenario for you is you will break even in time. It does get complicated. People buy hoping for an appreciation. The key will be the price in the future and finding someone who will pay you spot price. If you sell to any dealer, they won't. If you sell on a place like Ebay, you have to pay the fees and commissions.

You probably won't like this answer...but...the best bet is to sell it at a high point and put the funds in a FDIC account that accumulates interest. My uncle did this and saved his money and over 35 years his $80,000 grew to over $400,000. Silver won't do that unless you get real lucky buying a literal ton of it and selling at a peak.

Silver went up...and in the last 10 calendar days is now down over $1.00 an ounce.
 

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I guess it only matters when you sell it and it seems as though the market factors in the different contingencies. As long as you buy with those ranges in mind I can't see how it matters either way you go. Knowing how the experts and tradesmen buy tells you how you should do it and they have spoken above me. Of course nothing you do right or wrong can overcome the market forces.
 

An oz of junk silver is worth the same or more than a 1 oz bar usually. Especially silver dollars.
It's still worth its weight in silver either way.
Melt value is just what the metals are worth in the coins at current spot price.
 

I believe that most people who buy the coins are hoping to find a special coin for their collection or a key date coin. Then I guess it will really pay to do it this way. I myself prefer the 99.9. Have too much trouble keeping up with coins.
 

Coins are easier to sell at price point than bars, at least that has been my experience
 

Coins are easier to sell at price point than bars, at least that has been my experience

Especially Washington Quarters and Roosevelt Dimes (unless they are BU) , the rest have a small premium on up. Keep stacking
 

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