Mint Sets And Junk Silver Prices

Larsdog,

I have recommended late 1950s or early 1960s proof sets to collectors to fill holes in their type sets. I have recommended this since the price of silver was in the $4-6 range.

The premium over spot price has always been minimal.

Basically you pay for the silver coins and get the base-metal coins for free.

Of course, if you were to buy a $1000 bag of silver coins, many of them would be 'uncirculated' or even proof coins of this time frame. They were hoarded in large amounts.

if silver falls that much I will be a major buyer. other countries will end up buying all of our available PMs if that is the case and teh price will end up sky rocketing.

Silver just dropped through $30.
Anyone smell BEAR yet?!?

That's fine if you think this is where it belongs. My point is about the relatively low markup for 90% silver sets (pre-65 U.S.) and how mint sets are selling for little more that their junk silver value so the numismatic value of the sets themselves seems low. Anyone interested in those sets would want to watch the bullion markets to time a purchase, but the markets themselves weren't the focus of the topic.

larsdog,

In 2008-2009, I saw the US Mint sets selling in the low $20's on ebay auctions. Silver was $9-13 at the time. I don't remember the dates of all of them but it seemed to be across the spectrum. Plenty of sellers, also. Some people might have thought about waiting it out but after 6-12 months of falling prices, most seemed to change their tune. Hope that helps.

Silver just keeps dropping!

My prediction is based on history. I remember the spectacular run-up in precious metals in 1980 and the equally spectacular crash. Silver was exacerbated by the Hunt Bros trying to corner the market, but even without that spike it was a big run-up. Shops opened up everywhere - SELL YOUR GOLD! Toward the end of the cycle the airwaves were saturated with ads telling us to BUY GOLD! Then the bottom fell out of the market. Silver tanked all the way to $5. It rebounded to $15 once, back to $5, rebound to $10, back to $5 and pretty much stayed there until 2004. Gold was a more modest crash from $800 to $400. The silver:gold ratio was in the 80:1 ballpark for years. I think silver is still OVERpriced relative to gold. That's why I predict $15 silver and $1200 gold in a year or two as long as the Euro crisis doesn't tank the economy. But hey, guessing is free! I'm still waiting for a while before buying anything I need with 90% silver.