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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,177 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1723 Posts |
On Friday I got my shipment in of 4 1oz silver maple and half oz gold maple. I sold my mint sealed silver maple set and the proceeds bought this shipment.  I was so glad to pay less of a premium than I have been used to paying, and I find it very hard to buy full ozs at 5 bucks more than if I buy bulk through an online pm dealer. You see, I don't have a lcs that sells bullion so I have been forced to buy off da bay. We are a family that does not have much money but can afford a few bucks here and there. This makes it very difficult to buy on the dips anything substantial. The problem I have is that I want to stack but the funds just aren't there and if I were to drop 300 in one shot on silver, my wife would have my had on the chopping block. So I have had to scale back for now, 80% "junk silver" has been my thing. The last, say, 5 months I have resorted to coin roll hunting of dimes which so far has yielded me a return of just over 50 silver dimes.  . As well I have been over the last 8 weeks, been buying junk silver off da bay. I started buying junk just before we saw the last spike to 37oz. I have done pretty good buying at an average of 14x face.  . Been a bit lucky snatching up multiple small lots by the same seller so they could combine shipping which greatly reduces the cost average per coin. As well some of those sellers have thrown in an extra dime here and there helping me reduce the total investment. All said and done, I'm glad to be able to stack something. I would like to turn the junk into pure bullion but I think I will have to wait to sell high and then buy back in low. Anyways, just thought I would share with you all the Good and the bad over here. I wonder how many are in the same boat as me and what they are doing about it. Cheers all and happy stacking!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2269 Posts |
I was doing the same thing as you were. Last month I did some spring cleaning of my collection and made two piles, the keepers and the coins I can live without. I started to sell some to coin dealers, others on ebay. I took a half of my profit and put it in the bank to help pay bills and the other half got reinvested into .999 silver. Like yourself, I also have a lot of junk silver. I was looking to get rid of most of it and replace it with .999 fine silver, but the current market level won't leave me with much of a profit. So now I am forced to hang onto the junk silver until the market picks up again. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
863 Posts |
congrats !!! 14 times face is very impressive especially on ebay!! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
863 Posts |
personally I like junk silver better than pure. It has history and age associated with it
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
Unless it is something real special I buy locally mostly now since I have this great local coin shop connection which is a deep supply of old pour bars I can get at about 31 to 32 per oz. right now, an gold close to spot as well.... She has a 24.4 oz. old pour Academy callin my name late at night, I can hear its voice soft in the wind...."Hawk come buy me an flip me on ebay when silver passes 40 per oz., do it now before it is too late"....fades, lol.... Not to mention some old constitution ship 10 oz. old pour gems.... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
863 Posts |
Is it worth flipping things on ebay? The fees are pretty high, how do you make a profit. Nothing ever seems to go more than a dollar or 2 over spot |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
That is a real issue for sure the fees, but generally junk sells for the numbers you speak of. Old pour bars often sell for more on ebay, often I see auctions going for 38 to 40 per oz. if not higher, all depends on what type of silver you are looking at.... I am not in as much of a hurry to sell now, so my flipping will be farther an fewer between after silver moves up substantially from where I buy it at (like 40 per oz. for example) as I want to start adding to my overall numbers an that 24.4 is a good place to start.... I just don't get emotionally attached to anything as well, an I have owned an past on some amazing silver an gold, which gives me a chance to own an examine much even for short periods of time.... The other day I opened a 20 oz. ox. old Engelhard bar, enjoyed it for a moment in time, then re-sealed it an shipped it to TBK.... Not easy for many to do, but I added other great silver in its place.... If silver does still peak out this year one could sell all an sit on it, then buy back in around X-mas at 26 bucks per oz. perhaps.... Edited by Silverhawk74
05/21/2012 02:30 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
Here's a simple, probably obvious, method I've used to get the best deals on ebay. Target brand new sellers with multiple PMs at auction. Bid on as many as you can afford, but find out in advance the shipping charges for each additional coin, ensuring the savings you see from the shipping discount will make the deal that much sweeter. Many buyers shy away from unestablished sellers but if the pic looks good, chances are pretty high that that's what you'll be getting in the mail, usually at a discount for the reasons stated above. It's worked for me, A LOT, and the risk is non-existent due to ebay buyer protection. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
759 Posts |
I don't understand the desire to convert 80%-90% to .999 if you're in this for investment purposes. Would anyone like to elaborate? If it's just preference, well, that I understand perfectly. For investments, you're generally looking for well established markets with high liquidity and I would say both junk silver and .999 meet that requirement. You'd also obviously want to minimize acquisition costs and transaction costs and it's the latter where the conversion desire isn't completely understood. Just curious. I look at 90% as .999's sibling, with some history and numismatic interest thrown in. If your cost basis is 14x, I'd tend to keep that and save for incremental buys. Again, if it's preference at the expense of sacrificing some gain, I get that. Thanks.
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
1723 Posts |
My preference is pure bullion for my long term investment purposes. Not generics, but recognized bullion from the mints which are recognized worldwide, highly liquid and purity guaranteed. There are many listings on ebay that end up going for over 22x face, so to be able to buy silver at such a discount is really exciting. Your profits generally dont come out of a few coins but from a nice sized one. I must say that since I got my gold and been adding my 80% junk silver, I have really enjoyed looking at the diversity in my small stack. Just like TRAEVIN said... there are a few ways to try and find a good deal. Yesterday I was bidding on 4 separate lots of dimes which all have a $5 shipping tag. So factoring in melt value and shipping, I bid an additional amount over spot that most would not pay,knowing if I win them all, I would get the combined shipping discount. Also took into cosideration the long weekend knowing competition would be reduced. In the end I won all 4 auctions. I won 33 pre 67 dimes and 2 pre 68 dimes. Total of 35 dimes for just under 40 bucks. It was around 39.75. Last nights haul was a great one. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1723 Posts |
2 oz of silver for under $40. Cant beat that! :-)
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,177 |
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Posted 05/21/2012 12:49 am
