The Future Value Of US Silver Coins?

There is absolutely no way of forecasting this with any precision. You have as much chance doing so as in guessing the next flip of a coin or the next roll of dice.

Over the very long run, silver and gold tend to increase at the rate of inflation. So, zero "real" (after inflation) return. The real value is as a hedge against inflationary times or times of economic turmoil as it is tangible and has a very very long term history of maintaining value.

Not at all. But then, they were worth about 2X as much just a few years ago.
I think the days of well circ silver, as a $$ maker is gone, for now.

Considering that in the last few years a lot of those "common date" quarters have been melted, yes, they will hqve greater than melt value. Not huge make you rich values, but an increase.

As you mentioned it is hard to find this stuff in circualtion now. Supply is on a constant decrease and demand remains the same or more. Some kind of increase is inevitable.

It's a low/medium risk investment at this point. Silver saw a massive artificial increase in price (hit a max of $50/oz) in the late 80s due to a couple of big-shot investors trying to corner the market. It then crashed to about $4-8/oz from the late 80s through the mid 2000s. It took off again as the combined result of the failing economy, increased industrial demand, and fearmongering played by companies with lots of silver on hand. It hit a local maximum of $50/oz in early/mid 2011, but has been averaging about $20 for the last decade.

I'm not going to pretend I know enough about the economic factors to guess the "real" price of silver, but we might be in a temporary price bubble--you could stockpile at $20/oz and then be forced to sit on it for decades when the price drops to $10/oz and stays there. Or there could be a massive recession around the corner and we could see prices at $50, $75 or even $100/oz. It's less risky than some of the options that Wall Street offers, but it's still far from risk-free, especially considering the market over the past decade.

As far as US coins go, they tend to carry a *very* slight premium over other silver options, because they are guaranteed by the US government. Keep in mind that Barber and newer coins are worth only pennies above melt for circulated common dates, so growth potential of any modern silver is limited to silver spot only.

Personally if you are doing this out of investing interest only, I would buy when you get a good deal, calculate your desired earnings, and sell it when your silver will net you that amount, adjusted for inflation. It's important to remember to not be greedy and avoid investing so much that you would be ruined if you had to sit on it for a decade or longer.

Five Hundred Morgan's would buy you a new car about 100 years ago. 500 Morgan's today would do about the same.

When parents and grandparents say "Back in MY day..." listen and compare, it holds it value.

Might as well grab some now but like you said don't go crazy. It's a hobby not an investment.

edit: spelling