All Silver is NOT Created Equal

Hey everybody,
I just wanted to share a little something that's been on my mind. Lately I've seen tons of new "mints" or at least silver "lines" (like clothing lines) spring up. A lot of them do have really cool looking designs, and so people pay a premium for them. If you can make money off the popularity of these rounds, by all means-do it. I sold a set of 6 Silver Bullet Silver Shield rounds for $375...$62.50/ea!
But if you are buying a lot of these rounds, be careful. They MIGHT have a short-term collectible value on top of their silver value. But, any and every coin shop will only regard them as 1oz of silver, generic mint. And you will be paid accordingly (usually spot +/- $1).

The smartest way to buy silver I FIRMLY believe (and it can be backed up) is by buying US Silver Eagles. If you want to get into silver and have a good amount of money to spend, buy tubes of Silver Eagles! Year is not necessarily that important. Although, if you can grab tubes of 1996, 1997 or 1995 Eagles, DO IT! Those are the lowest mintage years I believe, and they thus have numismatic value.

Anyways, I advise people to buy Silver Eagles over anything else because you will ALWAYS be paid over spot for them by ANY coin shop. I work at one. The amount over spot you will be paid for them varies. Recently, though, it has been as much as $6/piece over. Yes, Eagles are usually sold with a higher premium than generic rounds. But in the buying environment right now, you'll see returns on your investment. This is all true and can be verified by any coin shop owner-ask them!

Also, other types of silver are ideal to buy. I am talking about ones sold with the lowest premium above spot (no shit). This used to be 90% (maybe it still is in some places), but 90% became very popular. Most likely it is a generic round in a bin you buy from your local coin store. At the end of the day, an ounce of silver is an ounce of silver. You can get great deals buying rounds that say something like "Merry Christmas 1975". And, like I said, bottomline, they ARE 1oz of silver. I often buy these, melt them down in a cheap crucible I got on eBay with a MAPP gas torch, and pour the molten silver into a pot of cold water. BOOM! You've made your own silver shot! Now you can sell by the oz, half oz...whatever! And, silver shot almost always carries a higher premium than a "Merry Christmas 1975" round. So, with just a little work you made money out of nowhere!

Finally, bigger is not better. It is better to have 100 x 1oz JM bars than it is to have 1 x 100oz JM bar. Why? Premiums! Every PIECE of silver can be sold at a higher premium. 1oz JM bars might sell for $2 over spot. A 100oz bar is usually less-$1.50 over spot, maybe. The same principle applies to fractional silver, too. As long as you can store them, smaller units are better than fewer, larger units. So, if you have the opportunity to buy silver at a price regardless of weight, ALWAYS go for the smallest units. Not only will you make more money by collecting a larger quantity of premiums for each "piece" of silver, you are also able to trade much more freely. Its awfully hard to cut 1/2oz of silver off a 100oz bar!

Hopefully all of that made sense. It kind of turned into a rant, sorry. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!