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Pillar of the Community
United States
849 Posts |
Quote:
The LCS has to make a meaningful profit, and they must have buyers for the product. Even e--bay takes 13% off the top, plus shipping and local taxes. Middle men also take risks like rapid price fluctuations and counterfeits. A 25% buffer seems pretty reasonable. Yes and no. For decades the spread was consistently 3-5%. Sell to a dealer or refinery for a few points under, they sell to the next guy a few points over. There was plenty to go around. Supply and demand were generally stable. There was little risk and quick turnaround. A dealer could make a nice living at those margins. In that world, a 25% buffer would be wildly underpriced, something a pawn shop might offer. But that video @Kurrykid recommended shows the wide range is buy prices out there (25% - 50% under spot) today. That's not natural. That suggests that there is no market for silver in hand at full spot, that's just a number for Comex paper, and supply and demand are out of sync. There are two unlinked markets for silver in hand vs paper contracts (futures). So yes, 25% under is reasonable in this world. PS: with the market volatility the last few months I'd take a 20% hit selling to another collector, but not to a dealer. Edited by jeffbuckes
03/11/2026 10:50 am
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Moderator
 United States
194256 Posts |
Interesting analysis.  |
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Valued Member
United States
189 Posts |
Today I called APMEX and Money Metals to determine what they will pay for $80 face value of 40% silver Kennedy half dollars. The offer from Money Metals ($1,335.20) is much better than the offer made by APMEX. Money Metals calculated this amount by discounting the current spot price of silver by $20(!) per ounce, and then using that figure for the amount of silver in 160 half dollars. The discount (26%) is larger than I anticipated: i.e., they are offering $8.35 for a coin with a melt value of $11.20. |
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Moderator
United States
194256 Posts |
Thank you for sharing. |
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Valued Member
United States
455 Posts |
Yeah, it's pretty brutal what they are offering nowadays. It's a strange time that we are in...a lot of discouraged stackers because of how we believed we could always get close to spot if we ever needed to sell. Lessons learned!
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Valued Member
United States
189 Posts |
Edited by NorthShoreMA
06/02/2026 8:15 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
849 Posts |
Quote:Today I called APMEX and Money Metals to determine what they will pay for $80 face value of 40% silver Kennedy half dollars.... The discount (26%) is larger than I anticipated: i.e., they are offering $8.35 for a coin with a melt value of $11.20. I'm not surprised. Even 90% US silver is going under melt these days. 20% under is normal as discussed earlier in this thread. Plus, those 40% Kennedys aren't really "silver", they're billon. Yah, they have silver, but it's relatively low so they're difficult and expensive to smelt. Thus, they're less desirable and carry a steeper discount especially to a bulk dealer. Same with WWII Nickels and lots of world coins like 20th century Scandinavian and Mexican coins. Having said that, those rolls and bags of 40% Kennedys rarely end up in a smelter, they just trade back and forth like 90% silver. The steep discount with 40% is just a hedge in case the coins ever do get smelted. Edited by jeffbuckes
06/05/2026 5:59 pm
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Valued Member
United States
175 Posts |
What's an updated price y'all are seeing?
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Valued Member
United States
175 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
849 Posts |
From 2 weeks ago, Bay State Coin Show in Mass:
Generic silver rounds were selling at or just under melt. I don't collect those so didnt buy any. They sure are pretty though!
90% was flat. Several tables had bags at melt. Mercs, Roosies, Washingtons, Franklins, Kennedys, didnt matter. Saw some bags and rolls of Barbers and WLH that carried a small premium, but didnt see anybody buying. Lots of caution from buyers and sellers on 90%. Even I didn't bother selling anything. First time in maybe 10 years I didn't sell at least some silver at the show. I think the downward pressure depressed prices more than it should have.
And recently I saw a YT video from a collector showing what he got at the same show: he picked up several slabbed ASEs for melt + 2. That's incredible to me. They were graded. Not that grade has a huge impact on their price but still... graded ASEs at melt + 2? That's why I didn't sell anything this year. I'd be lucky to get melt -5 or even -10 on Eagles. Sure, that's the market, but I'd rather hold and see what happens.
Silver is up about 8% since the show.
PS: another member recommended a YT channel by 'Silver Seeker'. I watched a few of his vids. They're longer and more melodramatic than I like, but it's interesting and seems authentic. He calls shops (anonymously) and asks for their buy / sell prices on Eagles etc. He usually gets a wide range of answers. So you really have to shop around when you buy / sell.
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Moderator
United States
194256 Posts |
Thank you for your report. |
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Valued Member
United States
175 Posts |
Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking of unloading some common date Morgan/Peace dollars and was surprised at the price I was getting offered for them. Guess I'll just hold on to em.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
849 Posts |
Quote:
I was thinking of unloading some common date Morgan/Peace dollars and was surprised at the price ... Silver dollars (Morganand Peace) are a special case, they are not junk silver. Many many date and variety collectors for those series in all grades. They almost always carry at least a small premium over melt, unless they are culls, scratched, former jewelry etc. What prices were you offered? Who offered those prices? IMO, common date, average circulated silver dollars would bring melt + 5 even in a soft market. That's $50 each last week, $55 this week and climbing as I write this (melt on these is $51at this hour, up 10% or so in the last week). |
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Valued Member
United States
175 Posts |
Quote:
What prices were you offered? Who offered those prices? Between 6 and 7 dollars under melt from a couple local dealers I talked with. The big online sellers I looked up are lower than that. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2242 Posts |
I purchased $10 face in 90% ($5 in quarters and $5 in halves) from a trusted seller on Instagram, who I have bought from in the past (AliCat Coins). With shipping and G&S fees the total came to about $492.
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Posted 03/11/2026 10:58 am
