Investment Silver

ASE are always good investments.

I strongly disagree with @schris252.
American silver eagles have been loosing value like nothing. They might go back up
but you'll end up tie your money up. It can take two years to make a profit worth it.

They're nice to own but not to invest a lot in.

I always go with a nice blend of everything. I buy ASE's, 90%, and silver rounds. On the silver swings, I usually see what is selling the best or I can get the most value out of. I have found when silver takes hits, it is not quite as bad to sell silver eagles. I think their flow with the sliver swing is not as great as Silver rounds. When buying, I look to see what I can get the best deal on in relation to melt. Right or wrong, it is my strategy.

Flipping it is not investing in it.

Actually investment 101 is buy low, sell high, exactly the opposite of what you said.

I would stay away from the TV sellers.


When you are buying local, there are several factors to consider.

- In most cases, buy what ever is the closest price to spot or under spot.

- Also consider what you will get when you sell.
-- in my area ASE will have a higher premium over 90% or .999 bullion (bars/rounds), but they will buy the ASE's back at a higher price. In my experience there is around a $4.00 swing on all the above, just at different price points.

For example, with silver at $22.00 per oz.
ASE would sell at $26.00, LCS would buy ASE's at $22.00
90% would sell at $18.00 X face and buy $14.00
Bars/rounds sell at $24.00 buy at $20.00

Again .. factor in what the sell back price is.

- Another factor could be taxes. Here in Florida there is tax on bullion purchases, but not on U.S. coins (ASE/90%)
Of course this is if you are buying from a LCS, check your state tax laws .. and factor that in. I should mention that in Florida, if you buy over $500.00 in bullion there is no tax, ... who writes these laws.

From my experience there are three main groups that purchases bullion.
- Investment. For this group silver would need to increase $4.00 per oz. to break even.

- Insurance against bad economy. This group seems happy to move money from CD/stocks/savings to silver. As a sort of insurance against severe loss in the stock markets or collapse of the U.S. dollar.

- Accumulators. This group make purchases of silver weekly/monthly in efforts to put funds away long term.
Maybe for college or retirement funds.

To sum this up, the prices I use are what I see local to me. You should be able to find out what the buy/sell prices are for your area .. or where you are going to buy and sell, to figure out what the best deal for you.

FYI --- someone mentioned buying silverware. I agree that it can be purchased at a lower price. But in my experience when you go to sell, you may only get 60 to 70 percent of spot.

One thing that has not been mentioned is how silver typically behaves...I say typically, because things aren't always 100% predictable. But TYPICALLY even in times like now with silver in a down trend...people will buy silver/gold as a hedge against a downturn in the economy. What that means is people invest in a position in silver as sort of an insurance policy against the economy tanking or the stock market crashing. On average when either of these two do poorly, precious metals go up. This then gives you a bit of protection on your investment portfolio ( precious metals not being 100% of your total investment portfolio). There are all sorts of arguments to be made about precious metals being a good/bad investment, it all boils down to how much risk tolerance you have, how much time you have to invest, how much time you are willing to devote to managing it, and what goal you are trying to achieve....it is a personal choice.

Thanks for the responses!

I believe this is more for the "insurance against the economy" then actual investment.
I'm thinking they are looking at a "Lear Capital" type advertisement, I'll have to see what info they bring me when we get together to discuss options.

Lots of good info to consider here.
BTW my LCS website advertises silver rounds and bars for spot+2, not sure if that includes ASE, but does buy ASE at spot+1 (doesn't sound like much profit)