Where do you buy Gold and Silver?

[rhart]

Ok, so I have been really thinking and acting about my preparedness for SHTF.
I have mixed feelings about the gold/silver thing. I realize the paper dollar could easily crumble but what good is a piece of precious metal going to do anyone? I would think ammo, liqour, cigerettes kinda trrading stuff would be good but I would like to have some gold/silver on hand.
I have some silver bars, but they are just that, no marks or anyhing to convince people that thats what they are.
So, where does a person go and buy these gold medalion things I have seen?
Thanks

 

[insidethebunker]

You probably want to think along the lines of what they call "junk silver". It is primarily pre 1964 silver dimes and quarters and they are a known value at I think 90% silver. The idea, unlike a silver bar, is that somebody will "sell" you a loaf of bread for a real silver dime, or a jacket for a real silver 1/2 dollar, where a silver bar is hard to break into pieces and trade. And like you say, without markings on it, how does somebody know it's real silver. Besides would I want to pull a silver bar out of my pocket to trade or a silver dime? Nothing says hunt me down and rob me like a silver or gold bar. It even says I probably have more at home.

I would hit the coin shops in your town and compare against prices you find on line for junk silver. Google buy Junk Silver and you'll get the education you need.

 

[PeaShooter]

If you have the money, you can buy $1000 face bags over the internet from a reputable gold/silver dealer for a small premium over spot price. If i remember right a $1k face bag of junk silver has approximately 725oz of silver (half dollars have slightly more silver due to less wear from lower circulation). You might be able to buy $500 face bags at some places for a lower entrance price entrance point. At the current exchange rate of $15.04/oz for silver the price for a $1k bag would be approximately $10,904 minus premium, shipping, commission, etc. This would be a signifigantly less premium than buying individual coins from a dealer.

 

[rhart]

thanks for the info!

 

[SKSnut]

Given the record high prices on gold/silver. i recommend waiting off on buying any. Food and bullets are still resonably priced

 

[Scarnucci]

I disagree that $15 silver is at a "record high" considering its price was above $50 in the 80's (due to the Hunt bros. of course) and it had been above $20 in '08, and until just recently was over $19.

It has taken a beating the the past month, but I wish I had the spare cash to buy it now at $15. If it hits $14 I may sell some guns to buy silver.

The dollar is going to fail. We are a bankrupt nation. Whether it happens in 5, 10, or 15 years, I dunno. But when it does I know I'll be happy that I converted some of my FRN's into metal.

As to the OP's question...You can search for local coin shops, you can buy them on ebay, or you can pick them up from large online distributors. Also check Craigslist. That is one place where you will pay little to no premium.

I personally buy 1 oz pieces of bullion. I started with Liberty Dollars and then started picking up whatever I liked at coin shops. Also, Silver American Eagles (SAE) are a good buy if you can get them reasonably priced. I dislike junk silver because I would rather know I am holding a troy ounce, rather than calculating 90% of a dime or quarter or half, and most of those are worn and quite frankly don't look as nice. Just my preference.

 

[Gray Squirrel]

Hey buddy,there is a little coin shop in Monrovia that deels in that sort of stuff.I have delt with him before and he is a nice guy...

 

[Eddie]

Be sure to cover your basic preps first before you add precious metals. It does you no good to starve in a short term SHTF with a bag of silver in your hand and no food. Yes, small amounts of cash and precious metal can be useful preps, but if there is no bread to trade for you will be happier with a bunch of sealed up buckets of grain than you ever will with money.

That being said, as with any investment you should do your own research first before you buy gold and silver. Read, read, read on the topic. Hit some coin stores and talk to dealers. Search the internet.

A couple of other ideas:

If you are married, investing in precious metals in the form of jewelry for your wife has a lot of fringe benefits. Unlike an unmarked bar of metal, gold and silver jewelry would probably trade pretty good since it is easily recognized and has markings to show what it is.

Small coins like the above mentioned dime are good because they are small. If you only have one big bar its gonna hard to trade with and you won't want to spend your whole stock on a single item. If you have a bag of small coins you can use them a few at a time and you can always trade lots of them at once if you need to.

If you are prepping as opposed to investing think about realistically what you will need. A small stash of cash and a small stash of metal can be useful for last minute trips to the store, legal bribes or trade. A big stash of cash or metal in my opinion is not good unless you already have absolutely everything else that you will need. Why plan on trading for food and ammo when you can just stock up on food and ammo for example?

 

[XtremeVel]

Mistake many peple make is buy silver with money they might need in a relatively short time. Be sure to look into the mark up. If you buy when its 15.00 an oz, it might have to hit 18.00 - 20.00 to just break even. Best situation is to buy with money you dont need after all other needs are taken care of then just forget you have it till you need it.

 

[hickuleas]

To give you an idea of what silver is selling for. I just sold 1000 roosevelt dimes, 80 ounces or 5lbs. for $1,775.00. I usually buy from a place up north called Silvertown. Silver and gold are very lucrative but you must have the resources to wait it out for a good time to sell.

 

[FordMan08]

buying scrap gold is a good idea also

 

[Z350Godfather]

There's a guy out in the westside flee market off w.washington street just west of 465. Walk straight in and he's down at the end on the right. His name is Anthony and sells for very little over spot. Most places sell well over. I've bought lots of silver off of him over the past 3 months and i think he's the best in town.

 

[ChrisK]

If you have the cash to spare try Northwest Territorial Mint.com. They have what is called Stagecoach Silver. You can get it in 1oz coins or bars and it is scored so it can be broken into 4 pieces.

 

[patton487]

Silver

I just checked the Northwest page. I like the 1 oz rounds that can be broken into 1/4 oz pieces for barter. Does anyone want to go in halfs on an order. If you order at least 100 of them you get a discount. At current prices that would be a little over 400 bucks each. I am willing to make the initial purchase for the whole thing and when it arrives meet to split it up. Send me a PM if interested. Thanks.

 

[evansvillethompsongunner]

I disagree that $15 silver is at a "record high" considering its price was above $50 in the 80's (due to the Hunt bros. of course) and it had been above $20 in '08, and until just recently was over $19.

It has taken a beating the the past month, but I wish I had the spare cash to buy it now at $15. If it hits $14 I may sell some guns to buy silver.

The dollar is going to fail. We are a bankrupt nation. Whether it happens in 5, 10, or 15 years, I dunno. But when it does I know I'll be happy that I converted some of my FRN's into metal.

As to the OP's question...You can search for local coin shops, you can buy them on ebay, or you can pick them up from large online distributors. Also check Craigslist. That is one place where you will pay little to no premium.

I personally buy 1 oz pieces of bullion. I started with Liberty Dollars and then started picking up whatever I liked at coin shops. Also, Silver American Eagles (SAE) are a good buy if you can get them reasonably priced. I dislike junk silver because I would rather know I am holding a troy ounce, rather than calculating 90% of a dime or quarter or half, and most of those are worn and quite frankly don't look as nice. Just my preference.

Yeah, silver is on a downswing right now, particularly from the past year and a half or so, but especially within the past two months - it's slumped about four dollars an ounce since about late November/early December.

Here in Evansville a guy at a local show had Morgan dollars for eight dollars apiece - with a current meltdown value of just over twelve dollars apiece. I told him, 'Do you realize that you're selling these for several dollars under spot-price?' He just wanted to get rid of them, I guess, cause he didn't seem to mind. He was an older guy, though, and I don't know if he just needed liquid cash or what... but he had dozens of Morgan dollars and Walking Liberty half-dollars. Numismatic value aside, the melt-down value of these coins well-justify me trading paper for a few of them, though when it comes RIGHT down to it, silver is just as useless as paper.

As for calculating values, I use a website to do it and I've tried to memorize the ratio of troy ounces to true ounces.

For those interested,

http://www.coinflation.com/

 

[evansvillethompsongunner]

I just checked the Northwest page. I like the 1 oz rounds that can be broken into 1/4 oz pieces for barter. Does anyone want to go in halfs on an order. If you order at least 100 of them you get a discount. At current prices that would be a little over 400 bucks each. I am willing to make the initial purchase for the whole thing and when it arrives meet to split it up. Send me a PM if interested. Thanks.

Hi. Welcome to INGO!

Good to have you here.

Just so you know (and to spare you the wrath of the mods, heh), this would be more appropriately placed under the Group Buy section of the forum, and only if you ARE going to do a Group Buy, as per site rules.

Also, that is quite a deal, and if I had it to spare right now, I'd certainly jump on it.

 

[RelicHound]

Yeah, silver is on a downswing right now, particularly from the past year and a half or so, but especially within the past two months - it's slumped about four dollars an ounce since about late November/early December.

Here in Evansville a guy at a local show had Morgan dollars for eight dollars apiece - with a current meltdown value of just over twelve dollars apiece. I told him, 'Do you realize that you're selling these for several dollars under spot-price?' He just wanted to get rid of them, I guess, cause he didn't seem to mind. He was an older guy, though, and I don't know if he just needed liquid cash or what... but he had dozens of Morgan dollars and Walking Liberty half-dollars. Numismatic value aside, the melt-down value of these coins well-justify me trading paper for a few of them, though when it comes RIGHT down to it, silver is just as useless as paper.

As for calculating values, I use a website to do it and I've tried to memorize the ratio of troy ounces to true ounces.

For those interested,

Current Melt Value Of Coins - How Much Is Your Coin Worth?

$8 a pop?! Thats a great deal...last time I bought morgan and peace dollars I paid around $12 a peice for them and I though that was a great deal as most guys are/where selling them for around $18-20 per coin.

 

[evansvillethompsongunner]

$8 a pop?! Thats a great deal...last time I bought morgan and peace dollars I paid around $12 a peice for them and I though that was a great deal as most guys are/where selling them for around $18-20 per coin.

He was doing $8 for Morgan dollars and $7 for Walking Liberty half-dollars.
The Walking Liberty Halves were about a dollar above spot, but for the Morgan Dollars, he was selling for, at that time, several dollars under spot price. He really didn't seem to care, though.

I looked and looked but I didn't find an 1871.
If I did, you all would have to say hello to me in Mexico, man.

 

[RelicHound]

He was doing $8 for Morgan dollars and $7 for Walking Liberty half-dollars.
The Walking Liberty Halves were about a dollar above spot, but for the Morgan Dollars, he was selling for, at that time, several dollars under spot price. He really didn't seem to care, though.

I looked and looked but I didn't find an 1871.
If I did, you all would have to say hello to me in Mexico, man.

Id be happy with an 1889cc un circulated probably couldnt go to mexico on it but I could buy a couple new guns

 

[evansvillethompsongunner]

Id be happy with an 1889cc un circulated probably couldnt go to mexico on it but I could buy a couple new guns

Yeah, if I had a silver coin worth anything more than melt-value, to hell with Mexico - I'd sell it and buy ammo. Or more coins. Hehe.

But yeah... it's nice to wish.
Carson City mintmark? Good luck!