6 Comments on Silver bars or American eagles?

Lawn Gnome on Sun, 19th Feb 2012 2:22 am


Pre 1900 coins should be. They have a Silver Value and a Face Value or Numismatic Collectible Value that may exceed the actual market value of the silver or dead weight.
Of course, many coins were a mixture of metals, that is were experience and a trained knowledge of metallurgy comes into play.
I would go coins, that way when the dollar does not fail, you still have something to share or sell at a profit.

gdolenc on Sun, 19th Feb 2012 2:34 am


I would choose one of the most popular Silver ETFs, probably SLV, which is also physicaly backed-up. Some other interesting silver ETFs can be found here: http://www.stocks-for-beginners.com/silver-etf.html

Alez on Sun, 19th Feb 2012 3:33 am


Coins are easier to trade, when the dollar falls, because it is in smaller unit. It’s a little bit more expensive than the bar, but then when you trade you get a higher price than the bar anyway.

Bar is only good if you planning on buying something big.

What would you rather carry ten (1oz coin) around or one 10oz bar? For daily expense, I would rather carry 1oz coin to trade. I doubt I would need 10oz everyday.

Make sure it 99.99% silver. not the 90% or something like that.

live and learn on Sun, 19th Feb 2012 3:44 am


American Eagles and also Canadian Maple Leaves. I hear Maple leaves are better than Eagle because they are hard to find.

curtisports2 on Sun, 19th Feb 2012 4:42 am


If you want some silver, buy pre-1965 90% silver US coins that have no extra numismatic value. These are known in the trade as ‘junk’ silver coins. They are far from junk, just coins that have value in the silver but not as collectibles.

These are better to own for several reasons:

1. You can often buy them for very close to ‘spot silver’ price, even below. Why pay premiums over spot for bars, and even bigger premiums for Eagles?

2. Should the dollar fall so far as to be almost worthless, you will have a much easier time using dimes, quarters or half dollars to buy everyday items, than having to ‘break’ an ounce coin or ounce or larger bar.

You will need to know the actual silver weight of each coin to correctly compute the silver value.

I recently added over 70 ounces of silver to my holdings by attending an estate sale and paying 85% of spot silver.

BullionData.com on Sun, 19th Feb 2012 4:48 am


Coins
- Easier to trade as they are usually smaller sizes
- Can gain a numismatic premium, depending on the coins you buy (added collector value)
- Cheaper buy-in usually, as they are smaller denominations than the bars I believe you are referring to (although you can get 1oz bars

Bars
- Cheaper to buy per troy ounce
- Easier to stack on top of each other
- Easier to hide because they can be stacked

I would look to either buy bars at close to spot price, or if you are just buying from a dealer and want something fancy, have a look at the Perth Mint Lunar Series 2012 Dragon 10oz and 1kg coins. They have a premium not far off bar prices, yet may gain some numismatic value too.

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