WTF Precious metals

[vvalter_vvhite]

Last time I bought bullion gold and silver was in 2018.

I wanted to get some this week and checked the usual websites...

Silver spot is around $20 right now, checking my old purchases it was $17+, and you pay around $5 over spot... but NOW, you pay $15 over spot ! WTF!

1 Oz Gold bullion was around $1450 last time I bought, now its reaching $1800 spot + mark up, I tried to purchase a Bullion bracelet, they wanted to charge $150 tax ... I remember Bullion is not taxed...

 

[Bottom Gun]

The precious metals have not become more valuable, it just takes more of our fiat currency to buy it now. This is why people buy it in the first place.

 

[MarkItZero]

Premiums are up but they aren't that bad. What are you shopping for? Silver eagles?

Generally I stick to generic bullion or coins from the less loved countries (Australian and UK coins are usually a good value. Also Austrian and South African silver coins are unloved as well.)

Best bet is to buy kilo or 100 Oz silver bars.


Lowest premiums can be found doing private sales on reddit sub pmsforsale

 

[knockonit]

yeah, silver is kinda silly, in some places, actual silver not certs are hard to come by with some of the big houses,
ive always bought private, both gold and silver, lotsa folks once you get in pipe line who dabble in it.

happy sunday, hope i don't get another warning for commenting. ugh.
rj

 

[MarkItZero]

Also the lower silver coins carry no premium at all and sell for melt (stuff like 1943-1945 war nickels 35% silver, 1965-1970 40% silver kennedy halves, 50% UK coins, 80% Canadians etc)

 

[Cmoor]

It seems many dealers have started playing an added value game with unsuspecting people who are new to investing in metals. They have created a market selling bullion coins as if they are numismatic coins and many people are buying into it. It makes it possible for them to charge premiums on top of the bullion value. This is making it almost impossible to buy anything at spot prices. I also think the dealers are not interested in selling or dealing in just spot priced metals.

Like someone mentioned above large bars are a good way to go with some smaller coins mixed in if you plan to barter with them. People need to be careful when buying metal because of all the fake stuff that is starting to circulate. Even dealers can get caught buying and selling bad coins. A friend of mine a few years ago bought 20 bullion coins at a shop when I tested them several turned out to be fakes. He was lucky the shop took all of them back and he ended up just losing the one I tested.

Someone sold me a home poured 2 1/2 pound bar of silver / scrap metal once. I payed him the $200 he asked for it. I brought it home to test and was very surprised to find it has at least one ounce of gold along with a half ounce or more in platinum group metals. I might have to get around to refining it and separating all the metals.

 

[Ballistic Therapy]

I have more than 40 pounds of silver Mercury and Roosevelt dimes.
About 15 or more years ago they started going up.
They went to about $2.75 each in silver weight.
I was waiting for them to hit $3.00 each and I was going to sell them.
Then they started going down.
Today they are worth $1.30 each in silver weight.
Even the junk ones are worth more as a coin than they are in silver weight.

Now tell me how silver is a good investment.

 

[MarkItZero]

It seems many dealers have started playing an added value game with unsuspecting people who are new to investing in metals. They have created a market selling bullion coins as if they are numismatic coins and many people are buying into it. It makes it possible for them to charge premiums on top of the bullion value. This is making it almost impossible to buy anything at spot prices. I also think the dealers are not interested in selling or dealing in just spot priced metals.

Like someone mentioned above large bars are a good way to go with some smaller coins mixed in if you plan to barter with them. People need to be careful when buying metal because of all the fake stuff that is starting to circulate. Even dealers can get caught buying and selling bad coins. A friend of mine a few years ago bought 20 bullion coins at a shop when I tested them several turned out to be fakes. He was lucky the shop took all of them back and he ended up just losing the one I tested.

Someone sold me a home poured 2 1/2 pound bar of silver / scrap metal once. I payed him the $200 he asked for it. I brought it home to test and was very surprised to find it has at least one ounce of gold along with a half ounce or more in platinum group metals. I might have to get around to refining it and separating all the metals.

Graded bullion coins are so silly. Imagine thinking someone in 2049 is going to be willing to pay more for a 2022 maple leaf in a PCGS plastic holder that says MS69 over an identical coin that's upgraded but also mint and kept in plastic.

 

[vvalter_vvhite]

People need to be careful when buying metal because of all the fake stuff that is starting to circulate. Even dealers can get caught buying and selling bad coins. A friend of mine a few years ago bought 20 bullion coins at a shop when I tested them several turned out to be fakes.

I don't have the capacity to test, that is why I just go with the big names online. We also have two big names in Az, Scottsdale mint and ITM trading.

======================

Now tell me how silver is a good investment.

Precious metals are just to preserve your fiat money's current buying power, like an ounce of gold was worth only $20 many years back. Now gold is $1750 spot price...

That $20 can buy you a suit at that time... if you bought gold at that time and sell it now, you can still buy a suit from the proceeds, but if you kept your $20, you can just buy socks.

 

[Ballistic Therapy]

======================

Now tell me how silver is a good investment.

Precious metals are just to preserve your fiat money's current buying power, like an ounce of gold was worth only $20 many years back. Now gold is $1750 spot price...

That $20 can buy you a suit at that time... if you bought gold at that time and sell it now, you can still buy a suit from the proceeds, but if you kept your $20, you can just buy socks.

In 2011 silver was right at $42 an ounce.
Today it is worth $19.16 an ounce.

Tell me how that is a good investment.
Is $19.42 today worth more than $42 in 2011 ?

 

[vvalter_vvhite]

======================

Now tell me how silver is a good investment.

Precious metals are just to preserve your fiat money's current buying power, like an ounce of gold was worth only $20 many years back. Now gold is $1750 spot price...

That $20 can buy you a suit at that time... if you bought gold at that time and sell it now, you can still buy a suit from the proceeds, but if you kept your $20, you can just buy socks.

In 2011 silver was right at $42 an ounce.
Today it is worth $19.16 an ounce.

Tell me how that is a good investment.
Is $19.42 today worth more than $42 in 2011 ?

Yes I am aware of that, but do you think prices will dip down again to that same amount?

 

[knockonit]

precious metals are only precious to those that ''get it'', crazy market for sure, have some, will probably buy some more, have done ok, with it, not a so called short term investment, harder to work than the stock market for sure, but i've managed to make a few moves and make some money, more than any interest bearing account i've owned for sure.
one helluva learning experience for sure,
rj

 

[Doc]

I’m still investing in copper, lead & brass.

 

[Jack Dupp]

I’m still investing in copper, lead & brass.

This ^^^

 

[Abbey]

In 2011 silver was right at $42 an ounce.
Today it is worth $19.16 an ounce.

Tell me how that is a good investment.
Is $19.42 today worth more than $42 in 2011 ?

Funny you bring that one up. I had a bit of silver at the time and dumped it all at ~$35-40. I decided it just wasn't worth enough for me to bother storing/keeping it.

Sure, fiat currency sucks, but it's not like we keep that currency in cash. The market keeps inflating too. (I realize that 2011 was still coming off of the 2008 recession, but just for comparison)

S&P 500 in early 2011: ~$1350
S&P 500 today: $4150

Gold in 2011: ~$1400
Gold today: $1750

median home price 2011: ~$171k ($231k CPI adjusted)
median home price today: $390k

machine guns as an asset class haven't done bad, but the lack of fluidity and availability makes them a bit difficult to manage in a portfolio. Plus nobody wants to just buy a MG and not use it, so ammo and tooling/accessory expenses may offset capital gains.

 

[Ballistic Therapy]

I am talking about silver prices.
You guys keep quoting gold prices.
I might be wrong , but I believe there is a little bit of difference there.

 

[Abbey]

previous poster already quoted historical silver prices - I added prices of other asset classes as a comparison of "other things you can do with your money". At the end of the day, none of us have a crystal ball to tell us the best investment for our money. Caveat Emptor

 

[Doc]

In 2011 silver was right at $42 an ounce.
Today it is worth $19.16 an ounce.

Tell me how that is a good investment.
Is $19.42 today worth more than $42 in 2011 ?

Funny you bring that one up. I had a bit of silver at the time and dumped it all at ~$35-40. I decided it just wasn't worth enough for me to bother storing/keeping it.

Sure, fiat currency sucks, but it's not like we keep that currency in cash. The market keeps inflating too. (I realize that 2011 was still coming off of the 2008 recession, but just for comparison)

S&P 500 in early 2011: ~$1350
S&P 500 today: $4150

Gold in 2011: ~$1400
Gold today: $1750

median home price 2011: ~$171k ($231k CPI adjusted)
median home price today: $390k

machine guns as an asset class haven't done bad, but the lack of fluidity and availability makes them a bit difficult to manage in a portfolio. Plus nobody wants to just buy a MG and not use it, so ammo and tooling/accessory expenses may offset capital gains.

I’m waiting on the market for unvax’d skeet to peak. I’m gonna make a fortune.