As Silver Coins Get Melted...

I believe that one day all silver coins will be rare. I'm not saying in my lifetime, just one day.

And ... by then, no one will be using coins :P

With silver completely disappearing from world circulation, it is obvious that silver coinage has been heading for the melting pot for some time now, especially with the current high silver prices.

High grade and rare silver coins will not be melted because they will be too valuable. What I have found over the decades, is that poorer grade and common silver coins are comparatively harder to find. That is what you should expect.

Nevertheless, I have noted that desirable silver coins because of high grade or rarity, have registered a continuous rising trend in prices over the long term.

It seems that common and low grade silver coins are not desired for long term collection. Hoarding would be a better word. Those who have such bullion material are thinking ultimately of disposal for a profit, with zero care to the fate of such coins. That helps to explain the statement at the beginning of this post.

I am not so sure that coin silver is being melted right now. I deal with three dealers on silver and they handle a lot of coin and sterling. The sterling is being melted unless it is a very nice piece. All of their coin silver is going into bags and sold as bullion. They cannot get enough coin silver to keep up with the bag demands. Only caveat would be 40%. Not sure what they are doing with this. I don't remember seeing bag lots of 40%.
1im

IMHO, I think that the only coins that get melted are when people take the silver coins to the bank not realizing the true silver value of the coins, and the mint catches them and removes them from circulation.

I remember in the early 80's, (in the years after silver crashed from its' high of nearly $50 per oz.), you could get bags of "junk" silver coins that contained coins with some numismatic value. I bought bags of dimes, and rag - picked my way to many complete Roosevelt dime sets, and filled all the holes in the Mercury folder except for the 16D and the 21's. I still have the coins today!

Pennies are next up on the chopping block... Eventually when cents are discontinued, and as copper prices rise - large amounts of pre 83 coppers will be melted. (after the melting ban is lifted of course).

That makes hoarding copper cents now - a pretty good value I think. Where else can you purchase something for a cent, that is now worth nearly 3 cents - with nothing but upside potential?

I've got patience, I'll store them in the basement till the penny is just a distant memory!

I don't understand the point of melting intact silver coins.

The value of having a silver coin is that you have a known quality and quantity of silver.

If you melt it into a bar, that bar will have to be weighed and assayed for purity. This adds a significant transaction cost.

Also, if things get really bad, smaller silver coins will probably come in handy for smaller transactions.

When I was a little kid, a chocolate bar cost a silver dime.

We may be going back to that scenario.