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 Replies: 16 / Views: 3,055 |
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New Member
United States
18 Posts |
I was at a coin show this past weekend and one of the dealers was saying that the premium on a wide variety of common date silver coins (Washington quarters, Franklin halves, Roosevelt dimes, etc, etc.) has all but disappeared, making the sell price of some coins in Fine almost the same as one in AU or better condition. That got me wondering: Is now a good time to be cashing in lower grade coins and buying the same one back in much better condition? What about the idea of just outright buying higher grade silver coins, since you're getting them close (or just slightly above) melt price? The idea seems logical and follows the philosophy that I've tried to use since I started collecting (ie - buy coins in the best grade that you can comfortably afford) but I'd like to see what others think. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3278 Posts |
It certainly makes sense to sell the low grade silver coins in your collection.
A lot of the one's I bought even last summer have doubled in value. And like you said,
the gap between melt and AU/BU is closer than it has been.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1817 Posts |
Perfectly logical question. The spot value will always affect the value of low grade common date "junk" silver and be tied closely to it. It will narrow the spread prices between the junk silver and the better grade/date coins until the pm spot starts to advance past them and they will also correspondingly move upward, but start to be matched closely to junk silver, and depending on what it is, could be a relative bargain, particularly if silver falls, but the better dates don't always fall back as well. It would be a good time to upgrade if you can afford it.
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Valued Member
United States
337 Posts |
interesting thoughts I stopped buying silver when silver dimes rose to 2 bucks or more a piece If I was gonna buy I would go the extra buck or so to get a slightly higher grade I've also been tossing around the idea of selling off my roll of silver Roosevelt dimes to buy stuff I cant find as well in circulation, like Mercury dimes. I just have a hard time selling my finds |
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Valued Member
United States
312 Posts |
I've been upgrading - I figure there's hardly a cost to do it, I'd much rather have attractive looking coins, which ideally will also keep more of their value if silver then dips off.
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
Just my opinion...
I would expect the higher grades to eventually increase in value as more people do exactly what you propose. That is, the demand for these favourably priced higher grades will have an impact on their future price.
So to answer your question, yes, this is a good time. Worst case is that silver goes back down and you have nicer coins for the same value, best case is silver holds and your newly acquired coins will gain value.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2602 Posts |
I've noticed this as well- that higher grade silver has not moved up much despite the incredible advance in silver. Seems like those buying silver are buying junk silver OR silver bullion, but leaving the higher grade stuff, like Washington quarters, Franklin halves, Mercury dimes, etc, alone. I would imagine that at some point very soon all the higher grade EF-BU material should move up- but yes I think now is a good time to do some swapping out low grade common silver for higher grade at melt if you can do it. Edited by mycrob
04/05/2011 4:59 pm
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Valued Member
United States
459 Posts |
I would think upgrading is good as your sell and buy prices are so close together. I'm not sure I would add coin right now depending on how you view the current prices.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1817 Posts |
@mycrob: it depends where you are buying. To use the Washington quarters example, common dates (1956-64) in BU were running $3.50-$4.00 just 8 months ago, now they are selling for more than $7.50. It pushed the next tier of coins that were $7-$10 into $15 coins seemingly overnight, and is next poised to affect the $20 & $25 dates/grades. However, the higher tiers are still the same from last year. A $150 coin last year is still a $150 coin with its premium price tag this year. This is mostly evident on e-Bay, probably less so at shows and coin shops. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1348 Posts |
Look at Morgan dollars. You can get some MS63 coins for around $65-75! That seems crazy seeing that a AG is selling for $30 |
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New Member
 United States
18 Posts |
I remember one dealer even telling a customer that the lowest he'd go on some of his later-date Walking Liberty halves was $14.00 apiece. Heck, at 28x face...you could buy and keep the ones you wanted and (given the silver increase since just last Friday) turn around and sell the others for the same price (or more) that you bought them for. That just seems crazy to me. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1817 Posts |
That is volatility of the PM market, the converse is true, buy today and if silver drops $10 tomorrow, someone could lose their shirt or have their life's savings wiped out in one day. That's why most portfolio money managers only risk 5-10% of their holdings in precious metals and only for a short term return. Personally, I'd not put all my eggs in one basket either.
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Valued Member
United States
364 Posts |
Yep. I believe in silver's long term value, but I hedge and diversify just to be safe.
Still, as I've said before -- the long-term trend is bullion value continuing to outpace numismatic value gains, and eroding numismatic value over spot. But as long as you can get a good deal upgrading and you stay near melt, go for it.
Personally, if I had a choice between say, a CC Silver Dollar for $150 right now, and a like value of common-date Morgans, I'd be in the cheapie Morgans all the way.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3184 Posts |
I enjoy buying 90% silver and always upgrade............if I have a circulated quarter and have the opportunity to swap it at the same price for a bu quarter or proof quarter, I do it!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7187 Posts |
Up grades have always made me happy. Replacing a "good" coin with a Au or better has been my focus over the past few years and I would toss the old "filler" into my junk silver. The replacements have greatly improved the eye appeal of my sets and I have the value of the prior coin ever increasing in value in my 90% stash.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3540 Posts |
If you can trade up for free or a minimal uptick in cash, absolutely do it.
Some dealers have let me search bags for high grade anything. You might be extremely surprised what is in bulk bags.
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Replies: 16 / Views: 3,055 |
Posted 04/05/2011 3:48 pm
