How to Buy Silver & Gold, and Where to Get It!
Beware! Don't trade in your dollars (which are defaulted promises to pay silver or gold) for more promises of precious metal! What I mean is, we are clearly heading into another situation where delivery default is imminent!
Beware! Don't trade in your dollars (which are defaulted promises to pay silver or gold) for more promises of precious metal! What I mean is, we are clearly heading into another situation where delivery default is imminent!
The safest place to start buying precious metal is from your local dealer, which you can find in your local phone book -- look up "COIN DEALER
Types and Kinds of Silver Available
1. Bars:A. 1000 oz. Bars. --These bars weigh about 68 pounds, and vary about 10% as to weight. You may get a 908.8 oz. bar or a 1099.6 oz. bar, and the price is settled on delivery. These are the NYMEX bars.
Benefit: Good for NYMEX delivery to the major exchange for delivery into a 5000 oz. futures contract, and thus, the most liquid for large buyers or sellers.
Also, it is quicker to physically move them in large quantities, rather than moving hundreds of 100 oz. bars.
Drawback: They are not suitable for smaller transactions, but they are always liquid if they are sold to a wise bullion dealer who knows what they are.
The other drawback may be shipping, if you are on the west coast, since the exchange is in New York.
B. 100 oz. Bars. --These bars weigh 6.8 pounds, and are among the most popular with retail investors.
They stack well, and make it easier to inventory than 1 oz. rounds or silver bags. Popular brands are Englehard and Johnson-Matthey.
Those two brands cost a bit more than other brands, usually about 40-50 cents per ounce above the spot price, but that price may vary with market conditions.
C. Odd weight retail bars. --Stamped as 101.46 oz. or 51.23 oz., these bars cost less, and generally have a wider spread, due to the extra work it takes to calculate their value, and extra risk due to the lack of good brand name.
To test that they are silver, try a simple ring test.
Bang them with a wooden spoon, and if you hear a faint, quick, "riiiinnnngggg", they are silver.
Lead filled bars thud or thunk, and do not ring.
But you may be able to buy these as spot, and sell them at spot, depending on the dealer.
These are true "bullion" bars, and not found in quantity. Also, there is the 1 kilo bar, which is 32.151 ounces.
D. 10 oz. bars are also very popular, often harder to get, with a slightly higher cost, as they seem more "affordable" and are very neat to hold, and can act as "change" between the 100 oz. bars, and 1 oz. rounds.
2. Coins: A. U.S. minted Silver-Eagle. --This coin is .999 pure silver, and weighs one ounce. It generally sells for about $2.00 over the spot price, and is thus quite expensive. I don't recommend these.
B. One-ounce "rounds". --They are .999 pure silver, and weigh one ounce. These coins are like the Silver-Eagle, but they cost much less. They are minted by a private mint.
They generally cost about 40-50 cents above the commonly quoted price of silver--also called the "spot" price. These are often very popular, and a very good choice.
C. U.S. minted coins, dated 1964 or earlier. --These are half dollars, quarters, or dimes that commonly circulated in the U.S. Called "Junk silver", they generally contain no rare or special coins.
Sold by the "bag", each full bag contains $1000 face value of coins, such as 2000 half dollars, 4000 quarters, or 10,000 dimes.
A "bag" weighs about 55 pounds. This is typically the cheapest silver you can buy, because there is a cost to melt it down to get the kind of silver that is needed by industry.
But this kind of silver also can become very much in demand, such as prior to the year 2000, when people wanted "tradable" silver, and bags cost up to 25% more than other silver bullion.
D. Commemorative Coins. Often times, the public will buy silver at a rate of 10 times higher than the bullion content if it is made into "Elvis" coins or "Space Shuttle" coins, or "Princess Diana" coins. Often made by the Franklin mint and sold on late night TV, these are generally a rip off.
People pay so much, and sell them to the bullion dealers only for the melt value.
And you can sometimes buy these kinds of so-called collectables at the coin shops very cheap at just over the spot price, or ten times cheaper than found on TV.
So, what kind of silver is best? It depends on your situation. I own and like the 100 oz. bars, and the 1000 oz. bars the best.
But that's because I have a lot of silver. My friends and family typically like the 100 oz bars, 10 oz. bars, and 1 oz. rounds the best.
For storing large amounts, the 1000 oz. bars are most convenient. The 100 oz. bars are troublesome in very large quantities--it takes much more work to move 200 of them than it takes to move 20 big ones.
I also like the bags, but they may require counting with a coin counter which I have purchased, which takes more time. My kids like the one-ounce rounds the best.
Most people find the 100 oz. bars fascinating to hold in one's hand, and the 1000 oz. bars are typically considered too heavy to lift.
http://silverstockreport.com/buybullion.htm
Types and Kinds of Silver Available
1. Bars:A. 1000 oz. Bars. --These bars weigh about 68 pounds, and vary about 10% as to weight. You may get a 908.8 oz. bar or a 1099.6 oz. bar, and the price is settled on delivery. These are the NYMEX bars.
Benefit: Good for NYMEX delivery to the major exchange for delivery into a 5000 oz. futures contract, and thus, the most liquid for large buyers or sellers.
Also, it is quicker to physically move them in large quantities, rather than moving hundreds of 100 oz. bars.
Drawback: They are not suitable for smaller transactions, but they are always liquid if they are sold to a wise bullion dealer who knows what they are.
The other drawback may be shipping, if you are on the west coast, since the exchange is in New York.
B. 100 oz. Bars. --These bars weigh 6.8 pounds, and are among the most popular with retail investors.
They stack well, and make it easier to inventory than 1 oz. rounds or silver bags. Popular brands are Englehard and Johnson-Matthey.
Those two brands cost a bit more than other brands, usually about 40-50 cents per ounce above the spot price, but that price may vary with market conditions.
C. Odd weight retail bars. --Stamped as 101.46 oz. or 51.23 oz., these bars cost less, and generally have a wider spread, due to the extra work it takes to calculate their value, and extra risk due to the lack of good brand name.
To test that they are silver, try a simple ring test.
Bang them with a wooden spoon, and if you hear a faint, quick, "riiiinnnngggg", they are silver.
Lead filled bars thud or thunk, and do not ring.
But you may be able to buy these as spot, and sell them at spot, depending on the dealer.
These are true "bullion" bars, and not found in quantity. Also, there is the 1 kilo bar, which is 32.151 ounces.
D. 10 oz. bars are also very popular, often harder to get, with a slightly higher cost, as they seem more "affordable" and are very neat to hold, and can act as "change" between the 100 oz. bars, and 1 oz. rounds.
2. Coins: A. U.S. minted Silver-Eagle. --This coin is .999 pure silver, and weighs one ounce. It generally sells for about $2.00 over the spot price, and is thus quite expensive. I don't recommend these.
B. One-ounce "rounds". --They are .999 pure silver, and weigh one ounce. These coins are like the Silver-Eagle, but they cost much less. They are minted by a private mint.
They generally cost about 40-50 cents above the commonly quoted price of silver--also called the "spot" price. These are often very popular, and a very good choice.
C. U.S. minted coins, dated 1964 or earlier. --These are half dollars, quarters, or dimes that commonly circulated in the U.S. Called "Junk silver", they generally contain no rare or special coins.
Sold by the "bag", each full bag contains $1000 face value of coins, such as 2000 half dollars, 4000 quarters, or 10,000 dimes.
A "bag" weighs about 55 pounds. This is typically the cheapest silver you can buy, because there is a cost to melt it down to get the kind of silver that is needed by industry.
But this kind of silver also can become very much in demand, such as prior to the year 2000, when people wanted "tradable" silver, and bags cost up to 25% more than other silver bullion.
D. Commemorative Coins. Often times, the public will buy silver at a rate of 10 times higher than the bullion content if it is made into "Elvis" coins or "Space Shuttle" coins, or "Princess Diana" coins. Often made by the Franklin mint and sold on late night TV, these are generally a rip off.
People pay so much, and sell them to the bullion dealers only for the melt value.
And you can sometimes buy these kinds of so-called collectables at the coin shops very cheap at just over the spot price, or ten times cheaper than found on TV.
So, what kind of silver is best? It depends on your situation. I own and like the 100 oz. bars, and the 1000 oz. bars the best.
But that's because I have a lot of silver. My friends and family typically like the 100 oz bars, 10 oz. bars, and 1 oz. rounds the best.
For storing large amounts, the 1000 oz. bars are most convenient. The 100 oz. bars are troublesome in very large quantities--it takes much more work to move 200 of them than it takes to move 20 big ones.
I also like the bags, but they may require counting with a coin counter which I have purchased, which takes more time. My kids like the one-ounce rounds the best.
Most people find the 100 oz. bars fascinating to hold in one's hand, and the 1000 oz. bars are typically considered too heavy to lift.
http://silverstockreport.com/buybullion.htm
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