Silver Has Fallen, Time To Load Up!

Yes, that is a decent deal, even with the sales tax added on. ASEs usually have about a $0.50 or so premium over Canadian Maples. I just bought some Maples from Provident for just under $31.50 each delivered. That's not a bad deal either.

I do like to buy from a couple of local shops, though. I browse them about every 3-4 weeks just to see what they have on hand. In most cases, they will sell for spot plus about a 4-5% premium. One fellow will sell US 90% silver coins for spot because he usually buys them for 4-5% below spot. I just got 5 Peace dollars in VF condition from him today for $115. Not too shabby. I prefer Morgans but do buy a few Peace dollars from time to time strictly for their silver content.

I've been paying $25-30 for Morgans and don't often buy Peace dollars. Lately, though, the Morgans have been harder to find and more expensive. A few of the local stores that have them want $40 each! Yikes! That's quite a mark-up for a common date 90% silver dollar. If I can get an ASE for under $33 or a Maple Leaf for under $32, that seems a much better buy. All of these Peace dollars were from 1921-23, so nothing unusual there. I only bought them for their silver content. It was slightly above spot but not too bad at all. It was better than I could do on-line, especially with shipping added on. Although I live in a state that has a sales tax, silver and gold coin sales are not taxed.

Yes, it is good that these are not taxed... yet. Many states are awfully short of money these days, so this could change at some point. I am hoping that it slides by under the radar and unnoticed for a good long while yet.

You are lucky to be able to buy silver locally! Many of us only have ebay.

In Lake Charles, coin collecting is an ebay only hobby. The chain of coin stores here charge high premiums for non-NGC Eagles. For example: Silver spot was $42.5 and I was quoted $70 (w/tax). Got a similar markup when I visited them two weeks ago.

Quote: "In Lake Charles, coin collecting is an ebay only hobby. The chain of coin stores here charge high premiums for non-NGC Eagles."

Sorry to hear that! When I got my two rolls of ASE's, my dealer knows I live out of town,(in the county), and asked me if I wanted them shipped to me to avoid the city sales tax. After shipping and insurance it was only a differance of about $10 so I said no,(also with so much being mailed for Christmas....), but could you contact a well known dealer and have them ship PM's to you and not only take the good deal but save on the local sales tax?
If everyone in your area is in the same boat, could you place an ad and buy direct? I know back when Gold was about $270/oz. I put in an ad buying Gold and silver at spot. Since I was buying at more than the local shops I had more offers than I could handle! Also, folks liked dealing with a guy that just wanted to buy some PM's and did not want to sell to shops/businesses.

Thanks Ed and Oden for the advice. Hoping to order more from Scottsdale if prices fall. Thank heavens I am not in that market which forgot P/E ratios!

Silver appears to be in free fall right now, dropping below $28 for the first time in a long time. I'm thinking of getting some $100 face value bags of "junk" silver and am just trying to wait and see how low it will go...

US Mint is setting the high for the market by updating prices so rapidly (compared to past behavior).

I see no reason to participate when ebay listings are selling at much higher prices and the number of listings is decreasing.

Demand is killing the supply but US Mint is declaring they will supply at slight premium to market bid. Dangerous tone to set for January 2012 if you ask me!