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 Replies: 35 / Views: 4,057 |
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Valued Member
United States
309 Posts |
Some of us still like coins because of what they are. Don't sell them to someone who is just going to end up melting them. Send them to us folks that actually appreciate them! Argh! Just sayin.  |
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Valued Member
United States
293 Posts |
Agreed! One of the sad things about a run up on PMs like this is that many family collections could potentially be pulled out of the closet and sold for melting. I like collecting coins...I don't want to see them disappear!
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Valued Member
United States
152 Posts |
lol then give me some money haha jk jk but I believe coins should be preserve since its apart of our history :)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
737 Posts |
+1 . Luckily for us, I think the sudden influx of people to this forum has been because of the rise of PM's. A lot of people are finding or pulling out collections to see what they are worth and hopefully we can point them in the right direction, a collector.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
I was curious if the older members here, have noticed a major flux of new members, which would again point to more people becoming educated about pm's or just simply taking notice of all the coin and jewelry stores buying gold and silver, and the high spikes in prices for gold and silver....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3184 Posts |
I've read on another forum that lots are being melted already.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
Yeah I don't like the melting either, as it would erk me to work at the refinery, and have the job of melting the nice old rare coin sets possibly....
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
When Australia switched to a base metal decimal currency in 1966, almost all of the poor condition silver florins shillings sixpences and threepences were melted down. Most of these silver coins in top condition survived, in the hands of coin collectors. The changeover to decimal currency at this time spurred a huge boost in numismatic interest. My interest in coins as a kid started perhaps 10years before this event.
What silver coins remained found new price levels in the numismatic market. Now that the silver bullion value of the survivors is way above their face value, I suspect that a FEW more are being melted, but not many.
Don't worry too much.
In the U.S., people here in the CCF are talking about melt value, but I suspect that far more coins are being traded at this price level than are being melted at this price level.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1150 Posts |
I was just thinking about this very subject as I am preparing to sell a large lot of Barber quarters/dimes/halves. I'm half tempted just to keep them because I hate the thought of someone actually melting these pieces of history.
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Valued Member
United States
384 Posts |
So its illegal for us to melt silver out of US coins (not that I would), but it is okay for refiners? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2049 Posts |
I don't get why 90% silver coins would be melted. It's in a form that is recognized and known purity issued by the US government.
I agree....dont melt!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
Quote:So its illegal for us to melt silver out of US coins (not that I would), but it is okay for refiners? Don't know why it would be illegal to melt coins that aren't in circulation. I have never read anywhere that we couldn't melt silver coins, just copper Lincoln Cents as far as I know but I could be wrong |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1450 Posts |
At present,you cannot melt nickels or cents because both exceed their face value in metals value. Since silver coins are no longer part of the normal"circulating coin supply" they can be melted. It is probably only a temporary law until the prices of metals drop or the cent and nickel are no longer produced as coinage,whichever comes first. The purpose of the law is to discourage hoarding and a drop in the coin supply.
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Moderator
 United States
188130 Posts |
Quote:
Some of us still like coins because of what they are. Don't sell them to someone who is just going to end up melting them. Send them to us folks that actually appreciate them! Argh! I agree, 100%  |
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Moderator
Australia
16817 Posts |
Quote:
I don't get why 90% silver coins would be melted. It's in a form that is recognized and known purity issued by the US government. You'd melt them if you needed the silver for reasons other than hoarding - such as, if you wanted to make some nice silver jewellery, or some photographic film, or a computer. Such an end-user isn't going to know or care where their raw silver came from, just so long as they got as much as they needed. Even hoarders might resent the "wasted space" and 10% extra mass that 90% silver coins take up, so they send the coins off to the refiners to make themselves some nice, convenient, space-saving .999 pure ingots. So unfortunately, if coin collectors aren't prepared to pay a substantial premium even for "scrap silver" coins, then the coins will continue to flow to the melters while the price of silver remains high. Still, a remnant will always survive. A couple of weeks ago I took a small hoard of Australian silver coins to a coin dealer on the other side of town to sell on behalf of someone else who just wanted the money; I'd already picked out the better grade coins; these things were typical "scrap silver". I asked the dealer whether those coins were actually destined for the melters; he surprised me by saying no, the guy he sold all his "scrap" silver coins to was a hoarder who preferred his silver stockpile to be in coin form. This dealer could afford to give me near-melt-price for my coins because that hoarder was still prepared to pay above spot for them. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1733 Posts |
I have purchased a lot of collections lately, most of it quite common silver and gold. When someone demands I not melt coins I just shrug my shoulders and shake my head because other collectors don't want them or demand such a steep discount I can't understand what they could possibly be thinking. So I pick coins out that retain coin value for my own coin rolls and scrap the scrap. I get 92.5 per cent return in recognized silver bars (or cash if I want) when I take in over a 1000 oz of silver weight. so the smelter charges me 7.5 per cent , ebay and payal 12-13 ....hmmm. A no brainer. Think of it this way, the coins that are left are just that much more desireable. Any attempt I've made to sell common silver coins here on CCF has been unsucessful even with discounts. I remain unrepentant, into the bucket they go and I know for a fact mine do end up in the electric furnace. |
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Replies: 35 / Views: 4,057 |
Posted 04/26/2011 12:56 am
