Which $100 Face Value Bag....

[optionT]

I wanted to get a $100 face value bag from APMEX but didn't know if there was an advantage to get one over the other (i.e.,should I get the Morgans over Mercury dimes.)

http://www.apmex.com/Category/982/90_Silver_Specific_Coins_By_The_Bag.aspx


Thanks for your input!

[Libertarian_Guard]

If you don't have any junk silver, get a mix. But you would get the most silver in 1964 Kennedy halves, since they circulated the least. Of course the seller knows this, so you will likely pay more.

[Sparky]

I'm with LG. If you can, I'd recommend $50 face in halves, and $25 each in quarters and dimes.

[optionT]

Thanks LG and Sparky!

I have an "ok" amount of junk silver with the least in dimes and quarters. I was thinking, when I decide to sell in the future wouldn't the Barber halves or Franklin halves command more than the Kennedy halves because they may have a semi-numismatic value? Also, what are thoughts about Morgan dollars? I know its hard to say without giving specifics but whats a good amount of Morgans to have with a medium size stack?

TIA

[Libertarian_Guard]

Thanks LG and Sparky!

I have an "ok" amount of junk silver with the least in dimes and quarters. I was thinking, when I decide to sell in the future wouldn't the Barber halves or Franklin halves command more than the Kennedy halves because they may have a semi-numismatic value? Also, what are thoughts about Morgan dollars? I know its hard to say without giving specifics but whats a good amount of Morgans to have with a medium size stack?

TIA


It's very doubtfull that "semi-numismatic" will apply to common junk silver, in say the next 100 yrs. There is just too much of it out there. Morgans and Liberty dollars are an exception, as the mintage numbers tail-off with higher denomination coins. So I guess 100 years from now, two 1960 franklins will be worth a bit more than 10 1960 dimes or 4 1960 quarters.

[PatColo]

But you would get the most silver in 1964 Kennedy halves, since they circulated the least. Of course the seller knows this, so you will likely pay more.


NWTM: http://bullion.nwtmint.com/silver_bags.php

Premium for Half Dollars
Please note that customer purchases of bags of half dollars carry a premium added to the pricing shown on the right as follows: Full bag-$100 premium, Half Bag-$50 premium, Quarter Bag-$25 premium, and Tenth Bag-$10 premium.

I see based on their current spot price quote & sell prices, accounting for 715 oz troy in a $1000-face bag:

Spot Silver Prices per Ounce
Silver Bid $44.50
Silver Ask $44.58

Our Sell Price
Bag $1000 face $32,304

... they've got a premium of 60 cents/oz over the $44.58 ask price they quote ($32,304 / 715 = $45.18/oz). And with Kennedy halves, add 14 cents/oz premium ($100. = 10,000 cents / 715).

Please indulge me for a moment of distasteful boasting: when I made a big silver bag purchase from them, I believe placed on 4/3/04, silver spot was just a couple pennies below $6/oz, and they charged no premium, & delivery was included (still is, actually). The next day, and every day since, silver's been >$6/oz, so that means I bought on the last day it was <$6. That's right, I'm the a-hole! ;D Recall, junk silver bags back then were often known to sell for a few pennies under spot... it seems the robust demand & trade of today, just wasn't there then.

Speaking of delivery as it pertains to NWTM--- some old GIMers will recall my "NWTM Nightmare" thread, which was 10-15 pages of general agreement over NWTM's unacceptable delivery times. I didn't finally see my silver for about 3 months after wiring them "good funds". As bad as that torment was, NWTM/Ross Hansen's (owner) blatant & consistent run-around treatment, false promises, non-responsiveness, making fake excuses for not taking incoming phone calls, etc, as agreed by 10s of other posters to that thread, was what was so compelling as to why buyers should run not walk from NWTM. It was widely agreed that former-jailbird Hansen was "playing the float" with OPM.

Anyone have recent experiences with NWTM/delivery to report? WA State AG did sue them at some point around '07, but I seem to recall that was later quietly dropped, which didn't make any headlines of course.

[hoarder]

Ditto on the halves, 1964 Kennedy and Franklins. You are buying silver not numismatics, stay focused on that. Halves are the easiest 90% to sell.

[Sparky]

If you already have an "ok" amount of junk silver, and from your poll it looks like you already have some SAE, I would spend the bulk of your purchase on 1-oz rounds, and maybe a 10-oz bar or two if you don't already have some. Is there a reason you left rounds out of your poll?

[mightymanx]

Anyone have recent experiences with NWTM/delivery to report? WA State AG did sue them at some point around '07, but I seem to recall that was later quietly dropped, which didn't make any headlines of course.


I walk in ask what they have in stock buy and leave works great every time the place is swamped from open to close and phones ringing off the hook so I would never do mailorder from them or buy a non in-stock item.

[optionT]

I never really was big into "rounds.". My dealers never had much of them and they never appealed to me. I know I should have some more but I preFer SAE, 10oz bars, junk silver over rounds. What kind of an advantage is their in owning rounds other than a break on the premium paid?

[Sparky]

I never really was big into "rounds.". My dealers never had much of them and they never appealed to me. I know I should have some more but I preFer SAE, 10oz bars, junk silver over rounds. What kind of an advantage is their in owning rounds other than a break on the premium paid?


Their advantage is that they are .999 silver without paying the SAE premium, in a smaller increment than the 10-oz bars. Will that matter some day? Maybe. Who knows what scenario could happen in future-world? What if the gov't issues a "recall" on all junk silver coins, claiming it as property of the U.S. mint? Unlikely, but who knows? What if future potential traders aren't comfortable with using a junk coin with no label of silver content? The whole idea of diversifying is because we don't know what will play out. In all likelihood, all forms of silver will be just fine. But you should cover all the bases. Here's the quick list of pros and cons:

SAE, Maples, etc.: Pure bullion labeled with weight and purity, with sanctioned gov't approval, but with premium cost
"Junk" silver: Low premiums for gov't sanctioned coin, but unlabeled weight and purity
Rounds: Pure silver, labeled with weight and purity, but no gov't backing
10-oz bars: Same benefits as rounds, but compact storage, sometimes slightly lower premium
Larger bars: Benefits of pure bullion, usually lower premium, but risk of tampering, and requires "well-capitalized' buyer in order to sell

[Santa]

My experience has been that Walker Halves resell (on ebay at least,) with the highest average premiums for junk.

[horseshoe3]

Larger coins have less surface area per volume and therefore, with equal circulation, will keep more silver. If you have 10 almost slick dimes and 1 almost slick dollar, the dollar will have more silver left.

[optionT]

After I read through all the responses I decided to get a little bit of everything! I mostly got half dollars and some quarters and dimes. I also got more SAE!

But on the way to my car I got robbed by some hoodlums and they stole it all, oh well. 8)

[Shami-Amourae]

Provident sells junk silver @$0.19 over spot, per troy ounce:

http://www.providentmetals.com/1-face-value-90-silver-us-coins.html