Feeling Anxious About Silver

I agree that when you're talking about the secondary private seller/buyer market than something like ASE's or Canadian maples or other quality silver rounds will sell faster and at a higher premium over spot than say a generic silver bar or round.

However, and I don't know what your personal situation is whether you have access to a local precious metal buyer or not, I am trying to load up on cheap generic bars and rounds because you can get more ounces for your dollar and ounces is all that seem to matter to my local merchants. I've asked them about what they look for when selling back my silver to them like if they're going to buy a englehard or sunshine mint round at a premium over OPM/NTR/Provident bars. The premiums are definitely different when you purchase these bars, but I've been told that when you come back to sell them to the local dealers then silver is just silver and that goes for everything. ASE's, Philharmonics, Kookaburras, libertads. Even early silver like circulated Barber coinage they'll only pay spot for after they cherry-pick the dates/mints but if you've ever tried to buy a roll of silver washingtons vs. a roll of silver barbers you definitely have to pay a premium then.

However, I also think it's wise to treat your silver stash just like any other personal investments: Diversify. Don't just have all your silver in generic bars and rounds because you may miss investment potential in other areas. You gave a good example with the silver pandas. Very popular series internationally that seem to be appreciating. I have silver Kookaburras that I bought 6 years ago at $3 over spot that you can't get anymore for less than $45 apiece. The America The Beautiful 5 oz rounds are a good example now. When they are released yeah you have to pay 3-4$ over spot for them, but many of them now have $60-$70 dollar premiums for them and some like the Acadia National Park and Hawaii Volcano Nation Park ones sell for over $300 when their silver worth is only $80!

TLDR: Personal opinion: Diversify your silver stash. Buy cheap generic silver that's easy to liquidate to local precious metal merchants and buy collectible world rounds that may possibly appreciate.

@ Elimist, Are there any other series besides the Panda's that are appreciating and the mint years if possible?

Yeah exactly. If we as coin collectors could accurately predict what's going to deliver us financial returns in the future then we would all be rich. It's more of a gamble with something like relatively inexpensive modern coins where you really don't know what's going to trend or not it's just educated guessing much like trading stocks. That's why most collectors will tell you don't get into this hobby for investment potential. Enjoy collecting for what it is and what it means to you.

With that said I also don't think there is anything wrong with being financially conscience when coin collecting. After all we are dealing with items that frequently have intrinsic and extrinsic value and those factors can give us either financial losses or gains. I find it just as interesting to buy and love an old piece of history in my collection as I do trying to make wise purchases and potentially profiting.

Personally, I would just try to find what is trending and see what you're comfortable with trying to invest in and CCF can be a big help with that. Look at the two biggest threads in the Modern Coins section right now. They're about the 5oz ATB bullion coins and the March of Dimes collector set.

The ATB coins have been coming out since 2011 and many of them now sell at high premiums. They're popular, low mintage's, they have a track record of appreciating, and you have a whole forum that represents a fraction of the coin collecting world talking about them for 163 thread pages. I'd say drop the money and buy some as they're released, which they will be until 2021 maybe longer. I think the Blue Ridge Parkway one coming up next is a good one to pick up. It's a large and popular park that many people are familiar with and the design on the coin is very attractive. You have your evidence there that this might be a wise series to invest in and if it doesn't go your way then you still have a 5oz puck of silver that will always be worth some monetary cash value.

The March of Dimes Commemorative is also getting speculative investors talking almost exclusively because of the two dimes that are being minted for the set. They are going to be low mintage keys to the Roosevelt series and since they will be only released in the sets then they will most likely warrant a premium. Maybe only for the first five years or maybe not for another 10 years but I think there is solid evidence there that getting a hold of some of these dimes early may be a good investment. Again, this is only speculating and like superdave said the numismatic value of these coins are purely subjective. Nobody can make concrete assumptions, but maybe just better assumptions.

TLDR: My opinion on what might be good gambles when bullion investing right now are America The Beautiful 5 oz silver rounds and the March of Dimes Special Silver Set.

I just have to wonder if its better to buy generic silver rounds and bars rather than mint silver pieces. It just seesm that the premium on the mint pieces will make it tough to realize an acceptable gain. At least with the generic bars with a minimum price over spot you can track the value easier.

Is my thinking wrong here?

Just think of this. Silver could go up, up, up. Or it could go down, down, down. Or it could do both. Best solution. Don't get involved with Silver.