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 Replies: 8 / Views: 1,725 |
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New Member
Canada
24 Posts |
Consider. Refiners charge very substantial fees to customers for their services. I just checked three Toronto area refiners and the best deal on a $1000 bag of Canadian 80% junk silver coins was a 10% charge. Yet never have I been offered silver (or gold) coins for less than the contained value of the metal. In fact, I daresay that for any collector to succeed in buying a silver or gold coin for a discount to its metal content is a rare happening indeed. ebay once in a blue moon maybe? Understandably coin dealers do this all the time since a major part of their business consists in buying coins at a discount, and then selling these coins at a premium. Even bags of the junkiest of junk silver coins are priced at a premium. But nonetheless whenever the subject of mintage for collectors' coins is raised, dealers will pooh-pooh the published figures with the words "Oh but you can't go by those figures. So many of these coins have been melted down for their silver over the years that there's hardly any left." Yeah, sure fellow. Pay a smelting/refining fee of 10% to melt down your coins when you never sell them for anything less than a considerable premium?. Who are you trying to kid? Jerks.  Edited by Hepcat
04/12/2016 3:00 pm
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Valued Member
Netherlands
74 Posts |
I think melting happens more than you think. Auction houses get offered a lot of stuff to sell. Some will auction off junk silver and take a 20% commission from both seller and buyer. Others just say to the seller: "I can auction it off if you want, but I can also have it melted for you. The latter will give you the highest return." Even at 10% cost it still beats auctioning it off. And the auction house can't be bothered to try to sell it for actual silver value, since the profit vs. the time investment is just not worth it.
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Moderator
 Canada
10458 Posts |
Quote:
I just checked three Toronto area refiners and the best deal on a $1000 bag of Canadian 80% junk silver coins was a 10% charge. Did you get a price quote for $10,000 or $100,000 face value? Or 10,000 ounces of silver? I bet the prices get better... I know a dealer who does not send gold into melt until he has at least 100 ounces... "Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1078 Posts |
I frequently buy silver for less than melt. That being said, I'm a bargain hunter and know where to look!  Whenever I decide to sell I have a place that offers close to melt value, but not far away. I haven't sold any substantional amounts but when I was scounting around they had the best offer for sure. However, this is where I live... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1911 Posts |
I think a lot depends on location. My LCS sells not "complete" junk silver coins for spot price even a little less since he weighs them and sells for the exact silver content. But I do believe that plenty gets melted off since whatever I don't take basically after a few weeks they send the mostly foreign stuff to get melted down, since no one wants it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1211 Posts |
A lie? It is called capitalism. It is called business.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
By me taking coins to a metal recycler is common. Might be due to so many of those places around.
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New Member
 Canada
24 Posts |
Jerseyben: Quote:
A lie? It is called capitalism. It is called business. It's called bullstink. Well and good when it works of course. Otherwise there's a loss of shall we say credibility.  |
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Valued Member
United States
127 Posts |
Actually 10% isn't too bad. Last quote I got on a $1000.00 bag of US 90% silver was 8.5%.
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Replies: 8 / Views: 1,725 |
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Posted 04/12/2016 3:44 pm
